12:30 PM – 12:45 PM
Keynote Speaker
Warren Lieberfarb, Chairman & CEO, Warren Lieberfarb & Associates
As the President of Warner Home Video through a two-decade pe
riod of dramatic industry change, including his role as the acknowledged architect of the DVD, and now in his capacity as Chairman of an advisory firm to many of the leading global technology companies, Warren Lieberfarb is uniquely well positioned to comment on the next phase of Hollywood content distribution which will be made possible by the continuing surge of technology innovations. In his keynote address, Mr. Lieberfarb will touch on some of the current issues facing Hollywood, the coming evolution of DVD to next generation formats and the rise of digitally distributed content, drawing implications and painting a vision of the future for the media and entertainment industryWarren Lieberfarb recently completed more than twenty extraordinarily successful years as the head of Warner Home Video, the home entertainment arm of Warner Bros. He joined the company in 1982 as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, when WHV had total revenue of only $73 million. Appointed President in 1984, Lieberfarb guided the company through nearly two decades of unparalleled growth, building WHV into the premier video software company in the world, with direct operations in 78 countries. The company’s revenue in 2002 exceeded $4.0 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 22 % over twenty years, with profits having grown commensurately.
However, Lieberfarb’s most significant achievement is his universally acknowledged role as the architect of the DVD, a product that has literally transformed the entire home video industry. In the course of his stewardship of Warner Home Video, Lieberfarb was the driving force behind the conceptualization, development and successful worldwide implementation of the DVD. Called "The Father of DVD" by Variety, he had the initial vision for a high-quality, convenient, affordable digital/optical media for home entertainment. It was this initial vision that evolved into today’s DVD, a single format that has been accepted by the consumer electronics, computer and entertainment industries.
As a result of those decade-long efforts, the entire home entertainment industry has been transformed from a stagnating business facing technological obsolescence into the fastest growing segment of the motion picture industry. In 2002, only five years after its introduction, the DVD generated worldwide consumer revenues for both hardware and software of over $30 billion. This achievement makes it the most successful consumer electronics product launch in history. Today, DVD represents nearly half of the entire global revenues of the motion picture industry, and is by far the leading source of the rapid growth the industry has enjoyed over the past four years. DVD has also been credited with having revived a somewhat moribund consumer electronics business.
In recognition of his unique role in creating the DVD, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented Lieberfarb with an Emmy Award in 1999. In 2002, Lieberfarb was named the first recipient of the Wharton/Infosys "Technology Change Agent" award. In 2003, Lieberfarb received from the Minister of Culture and Communications of the Republic of France the "Legion of Arts and Letters," the Cannes Film Festival "Medal du Festival," and the "MIPCOM DVD Lifetime Achievement Award" for his leading role in making DVD both an artistic and commercial success.
Throughout his career in the motion picture industry, Lieberfarb has been a strong advocate of the crucial role technology could play in creating new methods for consumers to enjoy various forms of entertainment programming. His understanding of the growing marriage between motion pictures and technology has, over the years, helped provide the movie industry with the far broader revenue base it enjoys today, thanks to pay-TV, home video and, more recently, pay-per-view and video-on-demand. These two last-named areas had been added to Lieberfarb’s responsibilities at Warner in 2001.
While at WHV, Lieberfarb combined this appreciation for the transformative effects of technology with a strong belief in the importance of broadening the sources of program-ming available to the company. He spearheaded a series of transactions that gave WHV video distribution rights to most of the extremely valuable MGM/UA library over a 19-year period. In addition, he has successfully brought to WHV distribution rights to such important sources of video programming as PBS, BBC, Thorn EMI, IMAX and National Geographic, adding them to the rich libraries of Warner Bros. and all MGM titles produced prior to 1986. Further, as the result of acquisitions made over the years by then parent company Time Warner, Lieberfarb successfully integrated the home video divisions of such companies as Lorimar, Turner, Hanna Barbera and Castle Rock, as well as making WHV the video distributor for New Line and HBO.
Lieberfarb originally joined Warner Bros. in 1975 as Vice President of Marketing and held subsequent positions working directly for Chairman of the Board Ted Ashley and later as head of International Advertising and Publicity for motion pictures. It was in that last capacity that he successfully introduced mass consumer marketing techniques to movie advertising, transforming the nature of film marketing.
In 1965, Lieberfarb received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and proceeded to obtain an MBA from the University of Michigan. At that point, he was chosen for the very selective finance management program at the Ford Motor Company, spending three years at the auto giant.
However, Lieberfarb recognized that the entertainment business could benefit from the application of modern management techniques that he had learned in the automotive industry. He returned to his native New York in 1970, joining Paramount Pictures as Executive Assistant to its President. Paramount had recently been acquired by Gulf + Western, and was just beginning a rapid transformation from a shaky company to the most successful film studio of that time. Subsequent to this, Lieberfarb was recruited by Twentieth Century-Fox to become its Vice President of Telecommunications. In this capacity he played a pioneering role in the early initiatives that led to such major new methods of distribution for motion pictures as pay-television and home video.
Lieberfarb is on the Board of Sirius Satellite Radio (Nasdaq:SIRI). He serves on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute, chairing its Entrepreneurial Committee. Under his leadership, he guided the AFI to create its ‘Best 100’ collections of top films of all time. These collections have inspired a series of televised tribute shows that have generated vital funds for the AFI, while also creating awareness of the industry’s rich history among younger generations.
Lieberfarb serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Board’s Nominating and Development Committees. He also is on the University of Pennsylvania Library Board of Overseers and the Undergraduate Advisory Board of The Wharton School. He is married to Gail Kamer, a successful portfolio manager with a Los Angeles investment firm, who is the Chairman of the National Mental Health Awareness Committee. Warren takes a very active interest in his three stepchildren and his three grandchildren.