Wednesday, October 1 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM Session C: Producing for Interactive Television: Sponsored by The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences What does it really take to produce interactive television? What are the most important considerations? What are the technical requirements? How doe the producers of interactive television integrate with the producers of the television show? What is the actual creative process from inception to air. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presents the producers and their shows representing the best in interactive television selected from submissions from this year's Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television. Producing for Interactive Television will explore the processes, the issues, the barriers and the successes in examining the current state of interactive television programming in the U.S. Karen Lennon is CEO and Founder of Beyond Z Interactive Media Jeffrey Pollack, Managing Director, Broadcasting and New Media, NASCAR Stephanie Otto, CEO & co-founder, Brainstorm Communications John P. Roberts, Senior Vice President Interactive & Online Entertainment, Game Show Network Brian Seth Hurst, President, Opportunity Management Company, Moderator Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of The Opportunity Management Company a strategic consultancy dedicated to helping clients maximize opportunities brought about when technologies bring about changes in consumer lifestyles. The company does this through brand extension business strategies, relationship brokerage and media partnerships. Mr. Hurst is responsible for developing and implementing strategies and business models that enable clients to take advantage of the emerging digital landscape by extending their brands and programming across platforms in traditional and new media. Mr. Hurst has overseen brand and convergent projects for clients such as TiVo, Discovery Health, Discovery Networks Europe, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Gameplay, OpenTV, Mindport, NTL, CTV and Intertainer. Prior to his position at TOMC, Inc., Mr. Hurst was Managing Director of Convergent Media Worldwide for Pittard Sullivan where he developed the very first cross platform brand strategy for TV GUIDE. Mr. Hurst’s media experience includes stints as on-air talent and traditional television production to broadband and connected game consoles. He is considered a pioneer in the area of "Integrated Entertainment" whereby sound business models support content mapping into an overall multi-access experience based on the lifestyles of consumers. Integral to this process has been TOMC’s Media Partnerships Group, which assists advertisers and their agencies in reaching consumers through integrated marketing and product placement across platforms. Mr. Hurst is a member the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy’s) and as Chair of Interactive Media Peer Group Emmy Awards Committee was a driving force behind the establishment of the new Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television Programming. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council and as a mentor for the AFI Enhanced Television Workshop. Mr. Hurst is the co-author with Olivia Newton-John of Simon and Schuster’s best selling children’s book, "A Pig Tale". He holds a BS degree from George Washington University in International Politics. Karen Lennon is CEO and Founder of Beyond Z Interactive Media with over 15 years of experience in diverse media, marketing, and business development initiatives including development of content and business strategies for current and Next Generation interactive platforms. Karen formed Beyond Z in April of 2000 and has, with her team, built the company to a leadership position in interactive television and cross-platform interactive production services. The company recently received the first Primetime Emmy ever awarded for technical excellence in Interactive Television for its work on the enhanced television production of Band of Brothers with HBO. Karen and Beyond Z work with many blue-chip television and technology brands including HBO, The Scripps Networks, Worldspan, The Weather Channel, PBS, Metabyte, Starcom, and more. Prior to forming Beyond Z, Karen was Vice President, Next Generation Platforms for The Weather Channel, a top 12 cable network. In this position, she was responsible for the business and product direction for emerging interactive platforms. She advised the company on industry trends, technology trends and led business modeling, and product and content direction for platforms including broadband, interactive/enhanced television, and wireless. Karen has consistently established a first mover advantage for her customers and employers. Prior to coming to The Weather Channel, Karen initiated the business to consumer strategy for online travel transaction processing at Worldspan. As the Internet was just emerging as a platform for online commerce, Karen saw the potential for new and incremental revenue streams and worked to position Worldspan as the definitive source for online travel booking capabilities. Today, Worldspan enjoys the majority share of online travel transactions by powering top travel sites including Expedia, Priceline, and Orbitz. Karen is involved with many industry organizations including serving as Co-Chair of the Interactive Television Alliance, Executive Advisor at Large for the Atlanta Chapter of Women in Cable & Telecommunications, Member of the New Media Peer Group of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Advisor to the American Film Institute. Karen completed her International Business undergraduate degree in three years in the Honors Program at the University of Georgia. She went on to scholarship graduate study in International Marketing at The Friederich Alexander Universitat in Germany, returning to the US to complete a Masters in Marketing at Georgia State University. JOHN P. ROBERTS, Senior Vice President, Interactive, and Online Entertainment, Game Show Network: iTV pioneer and the visionary behind the 2002 launch of Game Show Network’s (GSN) ground breaking interactive television services, John P. Roberts brings to GSN a rich background in developing new technologies for the high-speed, broadband universe. While fostering industry-wide acceptance of new interactive technology applications, Roberts has positioned GSN a new era of high-speed, broadband entertainment. As senior vice president of interactive and online entertainment, Roberts and his team have created a futuristic template for cable and satellite TV distributors to offer more innovative interactive services to their customers. His relationship with the interactive arm of the MSO’s complements that of GSN’s affiliate sales team and helps complete the package of available GSN services. Tying the launch of GSN’s interactive services with the launch of a half-dozen original game show series, the network now features 84 hours per week of interactive TV (iTV) programming. Remarkably, in one year’s time, the number of iTV users registering as GSN interactive players has increased from 6,000 to over 1 million strong. In addition to Roberts’ duties producing the interactive programming, he is also charged with overseeing GSN’s website, gameshownetwork.com, including the production of multi-player Shockwave games. Of GSN’s four television multi-player games, the most popular is the newest, LINGO PLUS, a five-letter word-guessing-game tailored after GSN’s popular primetime counterpart. Prior to joining Game Show Network in June 2001, Roberts was senior vice president of internet and iTV development at Vulcan Programming II, a division of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures. He was responsible for the development, supervision and implementation of interactive and convergence strategies for Vulcan’s digital cable networks and other Internet-based Web programming content. Previously, Roberts served as vice president of new media for Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., where he oversaw all aspects of Internet development for the networks’ websites including foxkids.com and foxfamilychannel.com. Additionally, Roberts spearheaded the Fox Family convergence task force, which explored opportunities in interactive television. His background includes business development at Universal Studios New Media Group, where he set up strategic relationships with outside partners and brought in new business for the online production group. For Fox Broadcasting Company, Roberts created the corporate online department and supervised the launch of the network’s website. Additionally, he was part of the marketing team that launched the cable channel FX, for which he also oversaw the premiere of network website launch. A frequent speaker on new media, Roberts has appeared on panels at the American Television Academy, the National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE), and Digital Hollywood conferences, among others. He also recently served as a judge for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) first-ever interactive Emmy Award and is a member on the organizing committee for the cable television’s Western Show. He also serves on the advisory boards for Digital Coast Roundtable and Interactive Television Alliance (ITA). A native of Rochester, New York, Roberts graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in TV and film production from the State University of New York, Fredonia. Jeffrey Pollack is Managing Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR Digital Entertainment. In this position, he helps manage NASCAR’s national broadcasting partnerships with FOX, FX, NBC, and TNT, and leads the development of all Internet, cable television, subscription television, advanced television, satellite radio, and new media ventures for the sport. Pollack is responsible for NASCAR’s partnerships with America Online, Turner Sports Interactive, Speed Channel, iN DEMAND and XM Satellite Radio, and he directs all business development and strategic communications initiatives for NASCAR Broadcasting and NASCAR Digital Entertainment. He also serves as Executive Producer of NASCAR IN CAR on iN DEMAND – television’s first enhanced multi-channel digital sports package. Pollack has 15 years of executive experience in media, communications, and sports management. In 1994, he pioneered a new genre of sports journalism when he founded The Sports Business Daily – the first daily trade publication for the sports industry. Under his leadership as President and Publisher, The Sports Business Daily quickly became a ‘must-read’ for leading decision-makers in the sports, entertainment and television industries – a status and tradition the publication maintains today. Pollack also served as Vice President of New Media Publishing for Broadband Sports, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications for the National Basketball Association, and as the NBA’s Communications Consultant during collective bargaining negotiations in 1998 and 1999. Prior to starting The Sports Business Daily, Pollack was Vice President of Winner & Associates - one of the nation's leading strategic communications and public affairs consulting firms. In this capacity, he provided communications and political counsel to category-leading corporations throughout the United States and helped manage statewide ballot issue campaigns. Pollack has twice been named to The Sporting News 100 and was named to the inaugural list of "40 Under 40" published by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal. Pollack holds a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; a master’s degree from The Graduate School of Political Management; and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.