Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, May 3-6, 2010 Tuesday, May 4th SuperSessions 10:45 AM - Noon Track IV: HGmz-6 Games and Hollywood: Games, Feature Animation, Brands, Advertising and Commerce: Establishing the Cross Platform Business Strategy 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. Geoff Keighley, Host and Executive Producer, Spike TV Aaron Lassila, Director, Global Media Sales, Electronic Arts Dean Carignan, Director, Advertising Business Group, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation David Getson, ceo, g-NET Peter Marx, Vice President, Production and Technology, Mattel Keith Boesky, Principal, Boesky & Company Gordon Bellamy, Sr. Producer, Emerging Media, yU + co., Moderator Geoff Keighley, Executive of Game Publisher Relations, SpikeTV: Geoff Keighley is perhaps the most respected video game journalist working today. His work spans on-line, print and TV outlets, and he has been writing about games since the year 1992. He is most well known as the host of the Spike TV video game show Game Head, which is consistently the highest rated video games show on television. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Business 2.0, Electronic Gaming Monthly and Entertainment Weekly, among others. Currently, besides hosting Game Head, Keighley can still be seen as a correspondent on another G4 show, The Electric Playground, and his work can be read in monthly columns in the Official Xbox Magazine and on the Gamefly website. He is known for not just writing reviews and previews, but going behind the scenes of the game industry for in-depth business profiles and lengthy feature pieces. In 2005 GameDaily named him as the best journalist of the year, and in 2004 NewsBios.com named him one of the best 30 business journalists in the world under 30. He is also only one of two journalists -- the other being 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace -- profiled in the Harvard Business School press book "Geeks and Geezers" by noted leadership expert Warren Bennis. Aaron Lassila, Director, Global Media Sales, Electronic Arts: Responsible for creating partnerships with brand marketers across all EA properties on three screens (web, TV and mobile) via EA's broad consumer audience. Dean Carignan, Director, Advertising Business Strategy, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation: Dean Carignan currently develops long-range strategic plans for E&D’s investments in streaming video advertising, mobile marketing and game-based advertising. Dean also spent several years with Microsoft’s adCenter group, where he drove product strategy for Paid Search, Display Ads and Contextual Advertising. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dean was a charter member of McKinsey & Company’s e-Business Strategy Practice. He holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD. David Getson, CEO, 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. Peter Marx, Vice President, Production and Technology, Mattel: Peter Marx is Vice President of Production & Technology for Mattel, where he handles digital and online experiences for the world’s largest toy company. Previously he managed Analog Protocol, a small consultancy whose clients included Fox, Viacom, Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Qualcomm and others. He was the chief technology officer for Vivendi-Universal Games and vice president of Emerging Technologies for Universal Studios from 2000 to 2005. Prior to that he made video games for Electronic Arts. Marx is an adjunct professor for the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Keith Boesky has been active in the content and technology communities as an attorney, a senior executive and as an agent. Representing owners of intellectual property and game developers, his company, Boesky & Company, closed more intellectual property and game development deals, than any other agency in the world. The company’s clients are responsible for creating franchises including Call of Duty, Midnight Club, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider: Starring Lara Croft, Command and Conquer, Assassin’s Creed, Medal of Honor, Red Dead Revolver, Robert Ludlum’s: Jason Bourne and Afro Samurai. Developer clients represented by Boesky & Company are also responsible for expanding well known brands into games including, Marvel, The Tolkien Estate, Gracie Films (The Simpsons), The Roald Dahl Estate, Hasbro, The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, Pixar and Nickelodeon. The company also provides financial input to entities including Morgan Stanley, Thomas Weisel Partners and various venture capital and private equity firms. Between November 2002 and November 2004, Mr. Boesky worked at International Creative Management where he assisted ICM clients in the migration of properties to and from video games. During this time he facilitated relationships for writers and directors, including John Milius and Peter Jackson into games as well as Jordan Mechner’s transition from game creator to film writer during the sale of Prince of Persia. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Boesky established Boesky & Company to help clients bridge the communication gap between the worlds of content and technology included Universal Studios, Paramount Studios, Squaresoft and The Upper Deck Company and advice to Apple and Pacific Century Cyberworks. In 1996, shortly after representing Eidos plc (NASDAQ: EIDSY) in its initial public offering, Mr. Boesky left the practice of law to join Eidos Interactive, Inc. as president. While at Eidos Mr. Boesky focused on expansion of Eidos properties, including “Tomb Raider” and “Lara Croft,” into film, toys and publishing as well as the acquisition of new properties, such as “Final Fantasy VII PC” and “Fear Effect.” From 1992 to 1996 Mr. Boesky worked as an attorney with Cooley Godward, where his practice included public and private finance and intellectual property protection. Over the next few years Mr. Boesky grew the practice from the representation of industry pioneers Presto Studios and Angel Studios, into one of the United States’ largest new media practices, covering developers and publishers of content ranging from home gaming platforms to location based entertainment. He has given keynote and other addresses at the Consumer Electronic Show, Showbiz Expo, E3, Game Developers Conference, Game Developers Conference Austin, NATPE, Digital Hollywood, The Rotterdam Film Festival, Xmedia Lab – Sydney Australia, Europrix- Vienna Austria, The UCLA Entertainment Law Forum. Mr. Boesky graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of San Diego School of Law in 1990 and received a B.A. in Economics from UCLA in 1987. He lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife Sari and son Kevin. Gordon Bellamy, Sr. Producer, Emerging Media, yU+co.: At yU + co., Gordon is responsible for producing marketing and interactive content. He also develops strategic business partnerships with Video game publishers, social media developers and technology partners. As an executive consultant for MTV, Bellamy provided creative guidance on the content, direction and strategic marketing partnerships for the annual Spike TV Video Game Awards show and the highly rated weekly program GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley also on Spike TV. Previously, he was Executive Director of the game industry's trade organization, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Bellamy has also played key business and product development roles at Electronic Arts, where he was named the company's Rookie of the Year for his work on the best-selling Madden Football franchise, THQ, and Activision subsidiary, Z-AXIS. Gordon serves as Chair of the Board of the International Game Developers Association and serves as a judge for the Promax/BDA MI6 Awards, which celebrate the best in marketing, advertising and design within interactive and game entertainment. He earned a BA degree from Harvard College in engineering, where he was also a John Harvard scholar and an AT&T/Bell Labs Engineering scholar.