Tuesday, March 30 10:45 AM - Noon Session D: DVD - Producing the Enhanced and Definitive Edition - Where Content, Creativity and Technology Triumph It’s exciting and rare when a new creative form appears on the consumer’s entertainment horizon. Sometimes, like the Web and the Internet, it immediately stamps and shouts upon arrival. DVD has arrived more quietly, but is now about to break open an entirely new world of entertainment, information and appreciation. If as it appears, the consumer is not only going to embrace the current film, TV and music blockbusters, there is a back catalogue of films, television, music and other entertainment forms to be mined, to be explored, to be creatively researched and produced, so as to virtually create an entirely new entertainment production and distribution marketplace. DVD is the next big thing. Rick Dean, Director Technical Business Development, THX Greg Berkin, President/CEO/Founder, Think Digital, Inc. Garrett Cook, Director of Graphics and Design, Technicolor Creative Services-DVD Jeff Levison, Technical Director, DTS Entertainment Mitchell Rubinstein, Executive Vice President, DVD, Creative Domain Neil McGinness, Vice President, National Lampoon, Moderator Richard A. Dean, Director, Technical Business Development, THX Ltd.: Rick Dean has more than 20 years of experience in the motion picture industry. He serves THX Digital Works studio clients, providing QA and process management services in postproduction of motion pictures for Digital Cinema, DVD and VHS release. As the founder of quality assurance programs for superior cinema presentation, THX was established in 1983 by George Lucas to ensure that the entertainment consumer experienced films as the director intended. Today, THX Certification assures the finest picture and sound quality for cinemas, mixing studios, home theatres, DVDs, multimedia products, and luxury automotive vehicles. Neil McGinness, is Vice President for National Lampoon, known worldwide as a leading film and entertainment brand. At National Lampoon, McGinness develops entertainment-based strategic marketing programs through National Lampoon properties in film, television, radio, publishing, online, and on-campus through its in-dorm college cable television network. Before joining National Lampoon, Mr. McGinness spent 10 years working for Lorne Michaels' company, Broadway Video Entertainment eventually becoming Vice President for Marketing & Business Development. His clients have included Coca-Cola, MTV, Nokia, Showtime Networks, Philips Electronics, SONY, TDK, AOL and Airwalk Shoes. He holds a master's degree from NYU's Institute of Film and Television (Tisch School) and received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University. Gregory Berkin, President and CEO, Think Digital, Inc.: Greg is founder and CEO of Think Digital, Inc. of Santa Clara, CA, a media and technology company and distributor producing original works for DVD, high definition, VOD and handhelds. Think Digital, Inc. distributes over 500 DVDs into special-interest markets such as education, antiques, automobiles, productivity, TV on DVD, independent films, film festival compilation and much more. Greg served as Intel Corporation’s DVD Evangelist for 6 years, working with Hollywood studios, software developers and the computer industry to make DVD the most successful consumer electronics product of all time. In March of 2000, Greg was named one of the Top 20 Most Influential DVD Executives Worldwide. In his technology roles, Greg was Manager of Intel Productions development including www.ArtMuseum.net <http://www.artmuseum.net/>, an Intel Corporation public website featuring high brand art exhibits including Van Gogh’s Van Goghs and NYC Whitney Museum’s The American Century Exhibit. Greg managed the engineering and development of twenty million dollar advanced multimedia website design, and implementation. His responsibilities included vertical market segment development, optimized-for-Pentium processor application software development, marketing and evangelism. As a featured speaker for new Intel & industry technologies and an outspoken advocate of scalable, high-end application software for Intel architecture-based PCs. Host and/or chair for four Intel DVD PlugFest’s, author of various industry DVD interactivity whitepapers, architect of a DVD media application taxonomy, and author of several DVD-ROM discs. One of the leading industry proponents of DVD-ROM compatibility and interoperability on PCs. Greg is co-writer, director, producer and star of Act of Magic, an independent feature film, based on an old O’Henry short story, Ransom of Redchief. Greg founded Think Productions, a film and video production studio in New York shooting industrial films, music videos commercials and television pilots including The Antiques Roadshow, a popular PBS show. Greg was Director of Products for Paragraph International, Inc. a subsidiary of Silicon Graphics. Before that, Greg served as Marketing Manager for Communication Intelligence Corporation (CIC), a Stanford Research concern. Greg founded Think Educational Software, Inc., the first Apple developer and publisher of award-winning Macintosh educational software. As a supporter of the arts, Greg is a private investor in Broadway plays and musicals, including Art, Rent, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Laramie Project, The Last Five Years and many more. Greg earned his MBA with Duke University, sponsored by Intel Corporation and a Bachelors in Computer Science from Potsdam College in upstate New York. Mitchell Rubinstein, Executive Vice President, DVD, Creative Domain: A pioneer in emerging technologies and their application to entertainment marketing, Mitchell Rubinstein has helped Creative Domain become an industry leader in the exploding DVD market. Leading the agency's award-winning efforts in the DVD field, Mitchell oversees all aspects of menu design, added-value production, and content development. A veteran of more than 20 years in the film, television and multimedia industries, Mitchell received recognition early in his career for designing and producing the first major web site for the United States Postal Service. After serving as Vice President, New Media for DMX Inc., Mitchell joined Graphix Zone as Director of CD-ROM Publishing, where he gained industry acclaim for producing and directing Bob Dylan: Highway 61. The groundbreaking interactive CD earned numerous honors, including a Design Distinction Award from International Design Magazine. In 1996, Mitchell joined The Cimarron Group as President and Executive Producer of the agency's Interactive division, eventually overseeing more than 300 projects for such major clients as Pepsi, Warner Bros., Sony, Microsoft, MGM, Nickelodeon, Universal, CAA, Boeing and ESPN. While at Cimarron, Mitchell executive produced the highly successful and innovative DVDs for Ghostbusters and Men In Black, winning VSDA's coveted "Best Use Of Menus Award" for two consecutive years. In 2001, Mitchell brought his unique talents and DVD expertise to Creative Domain, where he and his team continue to push the technical and creative boundaries of this dynamic new medium. Mitchell possesses a BA from UCLA and an MBA from Georgetown University. Garrett Cook, Director of Graphics, Technicolor Creative Services-DVD: The Design Group at Technicolor is a team made up of the best and sharpest creative minds in the business. The leader of this well-rounded team is Garrett Cook who joined the Technicolor DVD team, as Director of Graphics, in March of 2003. Cook, who had previously owned his own design firm, Flex Creative, from 2001 to 2003, has years of DVD experience. His career in broadcast design and eventually DVD design, production and animation began in 1996, when he worked his way up from a production artist at Novocom Studios in Playa Vista, CA, to DVD Design Manager at 1K Studios in Hollywood. Brought on board to help facilitate the growth of a rapidly growing department at Technicolor, Cook has personally overseen the creation of The Design Group which now works seamlessly with TCS-DVD operations to bring the most creative solutions and production efficiency to the high-end clientele. Garrett’s expertise with client relationships and design studio team-building combined with years of experience with the industry’s top artists has prepared him to lead one of the most sought-after design facilities in the business. As a Designer, Animator and Producer himself, Cook has personally been involved in the creation and production of over 200 DVD projects, and has managed a volume of DVD work which exceeds 100 "A"-titles over his 8 year career. His extensive understanding of the creative and technical DVD process in both the international and domestic markets has proved to be a tremendous resource for The Design Group at Technicolor. Since March 2003, the growing creative team of 30 at The Design Group at Technicolor has already created and produced over 150 DVD Menus, Games, and Bonus Features. This incredible effort of assembling some of the most talented and experienced experts in the field of DVD value-added material has recently resulted in the DVD Exclusive Award for Best Game and Interactivity for Fisharades on the Finding Nemo DVD. Jeff Levison, Technical Director, DTS Entertainment: Jeff Levison is Technical Director for DTS Entertainment, where he oversees the creation of 5.1 DVD-Audio and DVD-Video titles, including mastering, menu and navigation design, authoring, and replication. He joined DTS in 1994 as Post Production Director for the Cinema Division and then became Chief Engineer for Warner-Hollywood Studios. Levison returned to DTS in 1998 as a technical liaison to the music and DVD community for the Consumer Division. Prior to DTS, he worked for ORC to launch Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the first digital sound format for theatrical releases. Additionally, he designed audio processing equipment for Aphex and Proton, most notably the Proton surround sound decoder.