Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, Santa Monica Wednesday, June 13th 3:50 PM - 5:00 PM Track I: Programming, Content & Advertising Innovation: Cable, VOD, DTV, IPTV & Broadband Scott Sternberg, CEO, Scott Sternberg Productions Stephen Macias, SVP, Corporate and Marketing Communications, here! Networks Ron Frankel, president and CEO, Synacor Sangita Verma, CEO and Founder, TAG Networks (formerly TV Head) Dan Hughes, Director of Business Development, Visible World Josette Bonte, Vice President, Digital Media, Cookie Jar Seth Shapiro, Principal, New Amsterdam Media Inc, Moderator Ron Frankel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Synacor: Ron Frankel currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Synacor, a leading technology company that simplifies the online content exchange between service providers and consumers through its acquisition, integration and management of valued online content. Since taking his leadership position at Synacor, Frankel has been instrumental in advancing the company’s market-leading ID management and authentication technology and online content portal solution to enable both service providers and consumers to personalize and align their online user experiences. In prior experience, Frankel served as president of MGM Interactive, Inc. where he oversaw the division's launch of advanced games and online services designed to extend the economic and brand value of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio's movie and television properties. Frankel studied International Relations and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley, and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California Law Center, with a specialty in corporate finance and technology. Scott Sternberg, CEO, Scott Sternberg Productions: Scott has been producing cable shows for more than 30 years, he currently produces Sunday Morning Shootout (AMC) with Peter Guber and Peter Bart, Paula Abdul’s new reality show Hey Paula (Bravo), That’s the Question (GSN), The Academy (Fox) and Square Off (TV Guide) with Andy Wallenstein and Brian Lawry. STEPHEN MACIAS, SVP, Corporate and Marketing Communications, here! Networks: As Senior Vice President of Corporate and Marketing Communications, Macias is responsible for overseeing the overseeing corporate communications, public relations, and consumer marketing efforts for all of here!’s programming which includes original series, specials and made-for-network movies. These include: John Waters Presents, a film series hosted by the legendary director from his hometown of Baltimore, MD; Birch & Co., in which the former Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) sits down with the most notable politicians, activists and entertainers, including Pat Buchanan, Rosie O’Donnell and Chris Matthews; Ryan’s Life, about a gay teenager coming out and navigating the hilarious and harrowing waters of teenage dating; and Dante’s Cove, the network’s wildly popular gothic soap recently named Best Soap Opera by The Advocate. Macias is also responsible for spearheading community partnerships with many national and local gay and lesbian organizations including: the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The Trevor Project and GMHC. Macias had previously been Entertainment Media Director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) where he guided the organization’s national entertainment media strategy. During his time at GLAAD, Macias successfully lobbied Nielsen Media Research to begin the process of including gays and lesbians in their demographic count, convinced FOX to remove a show from their scheduling deemed homophobic (SERIOUSLY, DUDE I’M GAY), and worked with Univision in groundbreaking work on how Spanish-language media portrays the gay and lesbian community. Prior to that he was Vice President of Michael Levy Enterprises, a Los Angeles-based production and management company where he was directly involved in film and television development and production. Macias currently serves as co-President of the Board of Directors of Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and is also on the Board of Directors for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He also served on the City of Los Angeles’ Cultural Arts Commission and as an advisor to the National Hispanic Arts Organization and was named by cable television’s AIDS organization Cable Positive as one of the top 25 leaders in the industry for fighting AIDS and was named one of the top Public Relations and Marketing professionals of 2006 by PR Week. Sangita Verma, CEO and Founder, TAG Networks: After identifying an opportunity to bring a dynamic games experience to the television screen, Sangita Verma leveraged 16 years of executive experience in the videogame industry to found the world’s preeminent interactive games-on-demand network in May 2003 – TAG Networks (formerly TVHead). A comprehensive turn-key content offering, TAG Networks delivers important new revenue streams, as well as builds customer loyalty for its network operator customers. In her role as CEO, Ms. Verma has secured Series A and B rounds of funding from private equity investors, established exclusive content agreements with leading game suppliers and global brands, and has filed seven patents covering key proprietary technologies for delivering interactive content under the TAG brand. A strategic planner, veteran marketer and business visionary, she taps skills gleaned from a varied yet focused career to lead TAG Networks’ management team of seasoned game, licensing, video-on-demand, interactive television, technology and consumer entertainment product specialists. Prior to founding TAG Networks, Ms. Verma worked with Midway Games, starting with the company in 2000 as director of worldwide syndication. Previously, she had her own online marketing company, Craig New Media, working with Panasonic, among others. Before that she was group marketing director for Panasonic Interactive Media Co. Other work in the games field included marketing support for I-Motion Inc. (now Atari Corp.) and Data East Europe Ltd., where she oversaw the launch of Nintendo and Sega product lines in Europe. Sangita Verma is a member of the CEO Council of the Entrepreneurs Foundation and was voted one of the Top 50 Women in Technology by CableWorld magazine in 2006. She is a graduate of UC Davis, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communications and Economics. Dan Hughes, Director of Business Development, Visible World: Dan Hughes spearheads Visible World’s external relationships with advertisers, agencies and other strategic partners. An accomplished marketer, Dan brings to Visible World broad experience leading direct and interactive marketing efforts at several financial services companies including American Express. Dan is a recognized thought leader in the areas of direct and interactive marketing and has spoken at leading industry conferences including the Claritas Precision Marketing Conference, the Zenith Emerging Media Summit, the Mediavest Advanced TV Conference and IAB luncheons. He now focuses on helping advertisers redefine their approaches to television advertising and online video, making it more relevant, targeted and effective through the use of Visible World’s technology. Dan has a bachelor’s in Economics from Trinity College. Seth Shapiro – Principal, New Amsterdam Media Inc.: Seth Shapiro is a two-time Emmy® Award winner, a pioneer in the application of technology to some of the world’s leading entertainment franchises, and a leading expert in the application of new technologies to emerging business models. He has managed digital media initiatives for Disney, Warner Bros, DIRECTV, Cendant, Jones Intercable, ACTV and others, with partners including HBO, Showtime, STARZ, CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, the NFL, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, Sony, TiVo and Wink. As Head of Production for DIRECTV’s Advanced Services Group, he managed over 20 service launches, designed the groundbreaking NFL DVR Highlights On Demand Service, and was a key contributor to the 2002 DIRECTV/TiVo Master Agreement. With extensive consulting experience in strategy, business intelligence, design and development, he has facilitated strategic and technological relationships for four of the six major media corporations, has produced gaming content for the Walt Disney Company and others, and has managed over 15 cross-functional teams of creative, technology, video and code talent. Seth is a magna cum laude graduate of New York University and was Adelbert Alumni Scholar at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Originally a composer/arranger, he began his began his career as a startup employee at ACTV, founded internationally distributed record label KOE Recordings, and produced MTV-selected video Realife I. Seth is Senior VP, Cross Media Strategy for The Opportunity Management Company, and principal at New Amsterdam Media LLC . He sits on the Advisory Board of Olympic Venture Partners, the Executive Board of the Media Entertainment and Technology Alliance and the Executive Board of the ITA. He is a member of the Television Academy (Interactive Media Peer Group), the PGA (New Media Council) and a mentor for the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab.