Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood Fall 2006 Tuesday, October 24 10:45 AM - Noon Track I: Hollywood and the Digital Consumer: How Technology, Content and Services Establish the Next Level of Consumer Entertainment Experience The next generation of technology within the digital home will bring with it not only more content to the consumer, it will bring with it greater choice and more individual personalization into the process. While the actual definition of the digital home is still emerging, the idea of a fully connected consumer, living in a high speed DTV, PVR, HD, broadband and wireless environment is a good jumping off place. Hollywood, the provider of the content will not only flourish in this environment, it will probably enter a new golden age of production as it discovers how best to relate to it consumer base. How Hollywood will respond to a fully realized OnDemand television, film and games universe is the latest challenge to be faced. The technologies now finding their way into the home are disruptive, not only to the content community, but to the consumer electronics community as well. The brave new world of the digital home is not only an exciting new market opportunity for Hollywood, it is also brings with it a complex labyrinth of difficult options. Jordan Levin, co-founder, Generate, former CEO of The WB Jordan Hoffner, Head of News and Premium Content Partnerships, Google Video Shawn Gold, CMO & Head of Marketing and Content, MySpace.com John Penney, Senior Vice President, New Media Business Planning, HBO, Inc. Albie Hecht, founder & CEO, Worldwide Biggies Inc. Joe Michaels, Director, Business Development, MSN Entertainment, Microsoft Alan Citron, General Manager, TMZ.com Ira Rubenstein, Executive Vice President, Sony Pictures Digital, Moderator Shawn Gold is SVP, head of marketing and content for MySpace.com, an online social network with over 85 million members focused on Personal expression, human connection and the discovery of popular culture. He comes to Myspace with a 14 year history in digital marketing and business strategy. Previous to MySpace, Shawn was publisher of WeblogsInc (now an AOL company), the largest publisher of professional blogs on the web with over 8 million monthly readers. Among his 85 Blogs were category leaders Engadget, AutoBlog and Joystiq. Prior to WeblogsInc, Shawn was president/chief strategy officer of publicly held Intermix.com. At Intermix, during the dotcom downturn, his team created the webs most popular entertainment network online (24 million monthly visitors) and achieved profitability. Prior to Intermix, Shawn headed marketing and communications for ecommerce company WHN, providing ecommerce and marketing service to entertainment brands, including The 2002 Olympics, ABC, NBC, Comedy Central, MTV, and Fox. Prior to WHN.com, Shawn served as head of strategic planning at Rare Medium where he created the inaugural interactive communication strategies for P&G, General Foods, Mattel and Nestle. In 1995, Shawn was GM and Founder of Icon New media’s Advertising Division, publishing Word.com and Charged.com. There he created the first interstitial ads on the web and an industry-leading advertising system based on time rotation and contextual integration. He started developing interactive content in 1992 as a partner with TouchTunes Interactive, a telecommunications music marketing service in the USA, Japan and New Zealand. He is a founding board member of the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council. Jordan Hoffner, Head of News and Premium Content Partnerships, Google Video: Jordan leads Google's premium, archival and information video content efforts, focusing on cable television, music, and university and archival video content. He also assists with the ongoing business strategy and business development for Google Video. Prior to joining Google, Jordan was Vice President of NBC Universal Digital Studios and led the Digital Studios team in acquiring general original broadband content. He began his career at NBC in 1992. During his tenure there, Jordan served as a production assistant, producer, Director of NBC Corporate Development, Vice President and General Manager of NBC Weather Plus, and Vice President of Programming and Operations. Jordan graduated cum laude from Vassar College in 1991 and earned his MBA in Finance at New York University's Stern School of Business in 2001. He and his wife, Alex, have two children, Kate and Nick. Jordan Levin, Partner, Generate: Jordan Levin oversees Generate’s broadband and mobile initiatives and is responsible for the company’s television development and production along with Pete Aronson. Former CEO of The WB, Levin was instrumental in the development of numerous hit series shows for young adults and family households that established the distinctly youthful brand identity such as "Dawson’s Creek," "Gilmore Girls," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "7th Heaven," "Charmed," "Felicity," "Smallville," "The Jamie Foxx Show," "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch," "Sister, Sister," "Smart Guy," "The Steve Harvey Show," "What I Like About You," "Popstars," "The Surreal Life," "One Tree Hill" and "Everwood," for which he also directed an episode. In addition to The WB, Levin oversaw Kid’s WB and helped to launch the American Girl film franchise under The WB’s original movie division. Prior to The WB, Levin was at Disney where he was associated with family hits "Home Improvement" and "Boy Meets World." Over the past year, Levin lent his expertise as a consultant for a leading broadband company and cellular content provider as well as a new media start-up. John Penney, Senior Vice President, New Media Business Planning, HBO: John Penney is senior vice president, New Media Business Planning, for Home Box Office, responsible for strategic planning and operations of HBO’s New Media Programming group. He joined HBO as vice president of Business Development in August 2003. Before joining HBO, Penney worked as executive vice president, Licensing & Business Development, for ACTV, Inc., now a division of OpenTV. Prior to joining ACTV, Penney worked at Viacom, Inc. from 1997 to 1999 as vice president, Planning and Development, managing the formation and implementation of domestic and international corporate business strategies. Prior to his tenure at Viacom, Penney was a media & entertainment securities analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc. and a media & telecommunications financial analyst for The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. Penney has also consulted for major media and telecommunications companies, most recently with AT&T, providing strategic guidance to senior management around the company’s roll-out of its IPTV service. He holds a B.A. in Social Psychology from Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy & Administration, concentrating in Science & Technology, from Columbia University. Albie Hecht, founder & CEO, Worldwide Biggies Inc.: As president of film and television entertainment for Nickelodeon, Hecht oversaw the development and production of SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairy Odd Parents, Blue’s Clues, and the long running live action hit All That, the first multicultural sketch comedy show for kids, which spun off the hit series’ Kenan and Kel and The Amanda Show. He also co-created Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards as the founding principal and Executive Producer for Chauncey Street Productions. During the 14 years he was executive producer, the award show became a must attend event for Hollywood A-listers. At Nickelodeon Movies, he produced some of Paramount’s biggest films of the last five years, most recently, Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events (four Academy Awards Nominations) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Hecht was also nominated for an Oscar in The Academy’s inaugural Best Animated Feature category, as the Producer of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was a Golden Globe Nominee, as well. The Rugrats Movie was the first non- Disney animated feature to cross the hundred million dollar mark. Other Nick Movie hits with Albie Hecht as either producer or executive producer include Rugrats in Paris, and the live-action success, Snow Day with Chevy Chase. In all, Albie Hecht’s movie projects brought in over a billion dollars for Paramount and Nickelodeon in box office and licensing revenue. As the creator and President of MTV Networks’ Spike TV, the First Network for Men, Hecht launched what is now an 89-million-subscriber, basic cable network. Time Magazine hailed Spike as "…an example of how media and marketing are reshaping the idea of American manhood." Hecht scored Spike’s first hit with The Joe Schmo Show, a program that gave birth to the genre of faux-reality. He also introduced the cult hit, MXC: Most Extreme Elimination, which Entertainment Weekly rated an "A" saying "take one part Jackass, two parts Iron Chef and 18 parts pure insanity and you have the recipe for MXC." Joe Michaels is Director of Business Development / Entertainment and Video Services for MSN, charged with the ramp up of strategic growth in entertainment-related partnerships for the MSN network and its customers. MSN.com is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers. Michaels drives entertainment deals and opportunities covering MSN Video, Movies and TV and other areas of entertainment. He has been at Microsoft since 2001 and in his previous position as senior business development manager at MSN Video, negotiated digital media deals with numerous television networks, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Mark Burnett Productions, and many other major media companies. Before joining Microsoft, Michaels co-founded Nexchange Corporation, an online affiliate marketing company. Ira Rubenstein, Executive Vice President, Sony Pictures Digital: Ira Rubenstein has built a career on identifying and implementing new marketing and distribution tactics for entertainment properties through interactive, online and mobile initiatives. As executive vice president of Sony Pictures Digital, Rubenstein is responsible for overseeing the division’s production efforts to extend Sony Pictures properties into the digital marketplace through SonyPictures.com, mobile games and personalization products, casual games, and innovative strategic partnerships. Rubenstein manages the digital growth of the studio’s most important brands including Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! as these and other properties have progressed through various platforms including broadband, interactive television, mobile, and emerging platforms such as the PSP and PS3. Most recently, Rubenstein’s team launched a full suite of digital products on behalf of two of Columbia Pictures’ most highly anticipated films – THE DA VINCI CODE and CASINO ROYALE. In addition, Rubenstein oversees production for all Sony Pictures properties breaking into the growing mobile marketplace. His team has developed an array of successful mobile entertainment offerings such as the award-winning games Ratchet and Clank: Going Mobile and Spider-Man 2: The Hero Returns, retro titles such as Elevator Action and Q*Bert and personalization products for "The Boondocks." Under Rubenstein’s leadership, SonyPictures.com generates online awareness for the studio’s film, television, and home entertainment properties by driving traffic with partnership marketing, media buys, community building, e-commerce, auctions, games and original content. Prior to his role as executive vice president, Rubenstein was senior vice president and directed the division’s brand integration and sponsorship strategies and was also responsible for the production and creative direction for SonyPictures.com.Beginning in 2000, Rubenstein oversaw the establishment of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment’s on-demand movie initiative to offer theatrically released motion pictures via digital delivery for broadband Internet users. From concept to working technical trials, Rubenstein directed the project (developed under the name Moviefly), which ultimately became Movielink, a groundbreaking partnership among five studios. More recently, Rubenstein helped to develop Sony Pictures Digital’s "Movies on Memory Cards" initiative in Europe. Several films, including SPIDER-MANTM 2, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, HITCH, GHOSTBUSTERS, CHARLIE’S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE and STUART LITTLE are now available on memory cards to view on mobile phones. Before the establishment of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, Rubenstein was vice president, marketing, Columbia TriStar Interactive. In this role, he managed the strategic implementation of media planning, promotional and creative advertising campaigns for more than 100 film sites including STUART LITTLE, MEN IN BLACK, AIR FORCE ONE, AS GOOD AS IT GETS and THE MASK OF ZORRO. Recognition for his work includes Webby Awards, Mobie awards, a Gold Clio and The Hollywood Reporter Key Art award. Before joining Columbia TriStar Interactive, Rubenstein served as manager of media research and interactive marketing for Twentieth Century Fox. Rubenstein was recently included on the highly regarded "Digital 50" list, a distinction given to fifty new media innovators by The Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council and The Hollywood Reporter. He is a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC.