Wednesday, March 30 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM Track II: Game Power - as Games Crossover into Music, TV, Movie, Mobile, Advertainment & Custom Branded Experience The Games Industry is quickly emerging as the premier sector of the entertainment cultural experience. As all the new technologies, from chips and microprocessors to display, broadband and mobile reach new levels of sophistication, the quality of the consumer gaming experience is altering and manifestly enhanced. And this process has hardly reached its peak. Games as an entertainment experience is just starting to be felt and embraced by the consumer. As important as film and TV have been in our cultural experience, in the few years, games will emerge as an equal player in the entertainment pantheon. What we are calling Game Power, is the result of new and expanding creative technologies in development, in platform and in delivery. And as Game Power grows, it invades and partners with all the other entertainment and advertising sectors, from movies and TV to mobile and music. Game Power is not only relevant to the games industry, it is relevant to us all Joseph Varet, MTV Business Development & Strategy, MTV Networks Ralph Rivera, VP & GM, AOL Games, America Online, Inc. Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency Jordan Mechner, Videogame Creator, Karateka, Prince of Persia, and The Last Express Karim Sanjabi, President, Freestyle Interactive Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Mark Friedler, CEO, GameDAILY/Gigex, Inc., Moderator Jordan Mechner, Videogame Creator, Karateka, Prince of Persia, and The Last Express: Videogame creator Jordan Mechner's titles, including Karateka, Prince of Persia, and The Last Express, have sold millions of copies and received worldwide critical acclaim. As writer and game designer of Ubisoft's award-winning 2003 hit Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Mechner helped successfully relaunch the franchise he created over a decade earlier. Over 7 million Prince of Persia games have been sold to date. Mechner wrote and directed the 2003 IDA Award-winning short film Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story, scored by Ry Cooder and narrated by Cheech Marin. His current projects include writing a Prince of Persia feature screenplay for Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Pictures, and co-creating a television pilot for 20th Century Fox. Mechner received his B.A. from Yale University. Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency: Leading video gaming executive Jonathan Epstein recently opened the San Francisco office of United Talent Agency, marking the first time a major Hollywood agency has opened an office in the heart of electronic and video gaming industry. Epstein's appointment significantly expands UTA's video game and interactive operations into new areas representing the convergence of gaming, filmed entertainment and the marketing and advertising worlds. Epstein brings more than 20 years of media and marketing experience to UTA,and brings a profound track record of success in creating new products, markets and business models in the Internet and gaming businesses. Epstein has played a leading role in the development of the online media serving the gamer, having worked in key executive roles for all of the top online media supporting that industry. As founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, Epstein reshaped the way by which gamers get their information and the ways that marketers most effectively reach gamers. As president of GameSpy, Epstein transformed the company into a media powerhouse, building the largest subscriptiQn base of any gaming service. He later helped spearhead the merger of GameSpy with IGN Entertainment, where he served as executive vice president and general manager/media, for the bulk of 2004. Don L. Daglow has served as president and CEO of Stormfront Studios since founding the company in 1988. Stormfront's most recent best-seller is "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" for PS2 and Xbox from EA Games, based on the film from New Line Cinema. Don's work has earned recognition in publications ranging from Computer Gaming World to Inc., Upside, The Red Herring and the San Francisco Business Times. Electronic Games called him "one of the best-known and respected producers in the history of the field." Prior to founding Stormfront, Don served as director of Intellivision game development for Mattel, as a producer at Electronic Arts, and as head of the Entertainment and Education division at Broderbund. He developed the first-ever computer baseball game in 1971 (now recorded in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown), the first mainframe computer role-playing game (1976), the first sim game (Intellivision Utopia, 1982) and the first original play-by-email game (Quantum Space for AOL, 1989). Don co-designed Computer Game Hall of Fame title Earl Weaver Baseball (1987) and the first massively multiplayer online graphic adventure, Neverwinter Nights for AOL (1990). He holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pomona College and a M.Ed. from Claremont Graduate University. Mark Friedler, CEO, Gigex, Inc. - GameDAILY : Mark is CEO and co-founder of Gigex, Inc./GameDAILY (http://www.GameDAILY.com) a leading provider of video game news, reviews, free downloads and the leading provider of trade news with the GameDAILY newsletter. He has been with the company since 1995. He has 10 years experience marketing video games online and is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events including CES, E3, Digital Hollywood and events sponsored by Microsoft, IQPC, Jupiter Communications, Digital Media Wire and IEMA. He was chairperson for both conferences "Best Practices for Marketing, Selling and Distributing Software over the Internet" and the European Electronic Software Delivery Conference. Mark’s television experience includes several features in 2003 including NBC’s "TechNow," "NBC Today About the Bay" (San Francisco/San Jose KNTV) and "Silicon Valley Business." He is the video game columnist for the IMedia Connection newsletter and he has written for industry publications Software Business , GameDAILY and SIIA’s Upgrade. Previously, Mark was Director of Marketing at Reach Networks in New York from 1994-1995 where he managed marketing and sales of integrated services to Fortune 500 clients. From 1992 – 1994, Mark was Managing Director of Teleworld Sweden AB, a division of Philips Media. Teleworld developed and operated interactive voice and television-based online entertainment and transaction services together with MTV Europe and other major European broadcasters. From 1988-1992, he founded and operated Sweden’s first chain of cookie stores. He holds a B.A in Political Science from Hamilton College in New York and has taken graduate courses in business law, programming and network management. Mark is 40 years old and lives in the San Francisco bay area with his wife and 2 sons..