Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, May 4-7, 2009 Tuesday, May 5th 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Track II: Digital Blockbusters: Feature Animation, Games, HD Movies, TV Shows – Content & Commerce Across Platforms In today’s global entertainment environment, the successful extension of a franchise is not only part and parcel of the business plan, it is also welcomed and embraced by the consumer. The power, quality and popularity of the various entertainment mediums, make it possible for a game to enable a successful movie franchise, just as a successful ‘70s TV show can be recast as a worldwide movie blockbuster. This of course can start the cycle all over again, generating the next generation of game, DVD, toys, CD, t-shirts, live events and so on. Unique to this phenomenon today however, is the need to protect the brand as it is extended into each category. Competition and consumer sophistication today demand a level of creativity in the games, movies and TV shows produced, something that brand extension itself cannot overcome. Matt Candler, Vice President, Interactive Development, Paramount Digital Entertainment Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Riley Russell, Executive VP of Business & Legal of Sony Computer Entertainment of America David Getson, co-Founder, CEO, and Board Member of g-NET Media, Inc. X-Box, Microsoft, speaker to be announced Daniel O’Connell Offner, Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP, Moderator Daniel O’Connell Offner, Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP: Mr. Offner has a corporate and intellectual property practice where he represents businesses and individuals in the videogame, new media, digital content, wireless, and merchandise licensing industries. He performs a wide range of services for his clients, often functioning as outside general counsel. He regularly handles licensing, publishing, and distribution transactions, as well as corporate formation, financing, and mergers and acquisitions work, in addition to dispute resolution matters. Mr. Offner has represented numerous companies in the videogame and internet industries, including some of the leading videogame publishers and developers in the videogame business since the mid-1990s. Mr. Offner's clients often are working directly at the intersection of content and technology where new products, companies, and industries are emerging. Matt Candler, Vice President, Interactive Development, Paramount Digital Entertainment: As Vice President Interactive Development, Candler will identify, package and negotiate game development deals for the studio. Matt Candler entered the Game Industry in 1995. He has a successful 12-year track record of product management, development and content creation. Mr. Candler spent the first 5 years at Activision participating in the development and code release of some of Activision’s top titles from 1995 to 2000. During this resurgence of Activision, Mr. Candler was invaluable in the process of leveraging every possible title published by Activision to the 3D card manufacturers. Mr. Candler moved to Check Six Studios as President/CEO, and managed that company through its growth from 6 employees to a studio of over 50 talented individuals. Check Six was a leading developer of 3D technology and launched the software Maya Real-Time SDK with Alias|Wavefront. Mr. Candler also was a producer at Seven Studios and produced titles such as Defender for Midway, Charlies Angels 2: Full Throttle and The Fantastic Four. Mr. Candler then co-founded Grind Games Inc, a mobile game developer and publisher. Grind Games developed and published the first ever wireless Texas Hold Em game, Heads Up Hold’ Em a top 10 hit title on Verizon, Grind Street Domino, Cingular Shuffleboard and Madagascar Shuffleboard. Mr. Candler holds a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon. Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Inc.: has served as president and CEO of Stormfront Studios since founding the company in 1988. In 2003 he received the CGE Award for “groundbreaking achievements that shaped the Video Game Industry,” and Electronic Games has called him “one of the best-known and respected producers in the history of the field.” Stormfront's major titles include the upcoming action-adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (based on the film by Peter Jackson), EA Sports’ NASCAR Racing and Madden NFL Football, and the original Neverwinter Nights on AOL. 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 designed and programmed 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 ("Dungeon" for PDP-10 mainframes, 1975), the first sim game (Intellivision Utopia, 1981) and the first game to use multiple camera angles (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, 1983). Don co-designed Computer Game Hall of Fame title Earl Weaver Baseball (1987) and the first massively multiplayer online graphic adventure, the original Neverwinter Nights for AOL (1991-97). He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences in 2003 and again in 2007. He also is a past winner of the National Endowment for the Humanities New Voices playwriting competition. Don holds a BA in Writing from Pomona College and an Ed.M. from Claremont Graduate University. David Getson, co-Founder, CEO, and Board Member of g-NET Media, Inc.: America’s leading video game entertainment and marketing company. Getson focuses on the direction and growth of the company, which specializes in the creation and distribution of video game related marketing, programming, and content across all platforms, including TV, VOD, Web, and DVD. With partners that include all leading video game companies such as Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts, Activision, & Ubisoft, as well as the largest entertainment companies such as Viacom, AOL/Time Warner, NBCU, and Rainbow Media, Getson & g-NET have helped pioneer the way video games can extend their IP and expand their audience through branded content, entertainment marketing, and strategic cross-platform partnerships. Prior to g-NET, Getson was the Founder, CEO, Publisher, and Editorial Director of ICON Magazine. Getson graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1994 with a BA as an Academic All-American.