Wednesday, March 31 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM Session A: Producing for Interactive Television 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. Brian Seth Hurst, President, Opportunity Management Company John P. Roberts, Senior Vice President, Interactive and Online Entertainment, Game Show Network, Moderator Additional speakers to be announced JOHN P ROBERTS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, INTERACTIVE AND ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT, GSN: The visionary behind the launch of GSN's groundbreaking 84 hours of weekly interactive television services, John P. Roberts, GSN's Senior Vice President, Interactive and Online Entertainment, is recognized throughout the industry as an iTV pioneer. Roberts is credited with positioning GSN as the leader in the new era of high-speed, broadband entertainment, and has been instrumental in fostering industry-wide acceptance of new interactive technology applications. Working closely with the interactive units at MSOs across the country, Roberts and his team have devised iTV models which cable and satellite distributors can execute to expand innovative interactive services for their customers, driving consumer demand through a full complement of GSN interactive play applications. In addition, Roberts has also overseen the development of five stand-alone 24/7 multi-player Shockwave games, including GSN originals Lingo Plus and Whammy Plus as well as Pokerface, Phrase Frenzy and Opinionation. It is this combined approach to iTV that has attracted more than 1.5 million unique users to the GSN website (www.gsn.com), further establishing GSN as the network of choice for tech-savvy young adults. In fact, Roberts' innovations are credited with providing the stickiness for GSN's interactive programming, as research reveals that sync-to-broadcast players view, on average, 29 minutes out of every half-hour program. Prior to joining GSN in June 2001, Roberts held the post of Senior Vice President of Internet and iTV Development at Vulcan Programming II, a division of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. In this position, Roberts was responsible for the development, supervision and implementation of interactive and convergent strategies for Vulcan's digital cable networks and other internet-based programming concepts. Roberts has also served as Vice President of New Media for Fox Family Worldwide, where he oversaw all aspects of internet development for the network's websites; worked in business development at Universal Studios New Media Group; created the corporate online department at Fox Broadcasting Company; and was part of the marketing team that launched the cable channel FX. A frequently quoted expert on new media, Roberts has been a guest speaker at American Television Academy, NATPE and Digital Hollywood conferences. He has also served as a judge for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) first-ever interactive Emmy Award. A native New Yorker, Roberts earned a BA degree in TV and Film Production from State University of New York, Fredonia. 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.