2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Session A:
Live Entertainment on the Net
Special event webcasts on the Internet do not have to be an exact copy of what’s on TV. They can take on their own characteristics. For example, the biggest webcasts on the Internet so far are a tie between the rover landing on Mars and the runway models at Victoria’s Secret. All kidding aside, Internet webcasts range from small groups who are holding interactive meetings to large broadcast style events. However, as all webcasters know, it is not a do-it-yourself affair, you need substantial technical infrastructure as well as a marketing and partnership plan to succeed at a large broadcast style event. We are pleased to bring together some of the most expert webcasters in the country in this session.
Michael Murphy, President, Michael Murphy Productions
Mayra Riesman, President, Film Scouts
John Rubey, President and CEO, Spring Communications
Marc Scarpa, President, Jumpcut (Tibetan Festival Online)
Adam Tyler, Senior Vice President, Rotor
David Schulhof, CEO and President, World Entertainment Network
Terrence Montgomery, VP Media/Entertainment, GeoVideo Networks
Josette Bonte, IP Content Strategist, PanAmSat, Moderator
Additional speaker to be announced
John Rubey, President and CEO, Spring Communications: John A. Rubey, known for his innovative approach and creative solutions, is a marketing, production and distribution professional with a successful track record spanning over 20 years. In 1991, Rubey founded Spring Communications, Inc., an electronic event marketing and distribution company headquartered in Los Angeles. Today, Spring Communications has become the leader in live pay-per-view (PPV) concert, entertainment and special event production, marketing and distribution company. Spring Communications has pioneered innovative event promotion and marketing by integrating Internet and new technology with traditional cable television, radio, print and other media. The company specializes in audience-targeted marketing and cross-media promotions, aimed at generating increased client revenues through proprietary brand-building strategies. Prior to founding Spring Communications, Rubey served in key executive offices at The PACE Companies, a leader in Broadway theatrical, concerts, amphitheater development and motorsports events, from 1986-1991, where he led the transformation of this diversified entertainment company from an event producer into a major entertainment conglomerate. As President of PACE Communications, he created a jointly funded marketing and production company, PACE/United Communications, to exploit new electronic event promotion opportunities. Among his achievements as President of PACE Communications, Rubey produced a national boxing pay-per-view event, Camacho vs. Pazienza, and developed and negotiated a hugely successful Fiddler on the Roof tour of Japan. While at PACE, Rubey also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Earlier in his career, Rubey oversaw the creation of a new summer concert series and the development of amphitheater events in Phoenix and Kansas City for Feyline Presents, Inc. He was also responsible for creating new marketing and ticketing systems that enabled the nationwide promotion of the U.S. Festival and the Jamaica World Music Festival. Rubey received his Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston and his Bachelor of Science from Regis University in Denver, Colorado
Marc Scarpa, President, JumpCut Productions: Running a creative business venture requires both business acumen and a passionate appreciation for the product. This is precisely what led Marc Scarpa to launch JumpCut in November of 1996. As founder of JumpCut, a webcast and integrated video services venture, he has become the authoritative source for live broadcast production on the internet. Under Scarpa's direction, the company enjoyed dramatic growth in its first year with little start up capitol and no outside investment. Currently, JumpCut has produced several of the largest live internet broadcast events. The company is winning awards for its' clients and continues to receive nominations for new projects. With impressive viewer attendance of over 120,000 persons for a single event and multi-day production resources at his disposal, Scarpa is positioning JumpCut as an innovator in the exploding genre of webcasting. Under his direction, Scarpa is moving the company towards longer format broadcasts and the creation of an integrated user interface. Prior to starting JumpCut, Scarpa was the New York Bureau Chief of C|NET television. He successfully produced or was involved with well over 100 television segments for C|NET programs "TV.COM", "The Web" and "C|NET Central". He forged relationships in the fickle NY media market for the company that are still in use. Scarpa was also integral to the development of C|NET's video on demand deployment and produced C|NET's first live webcast from the floor of the 1997 PC Expo.
Adam Tyler, Senior Vice President, Rotor: Adam Tyler is Sr. Vice President of Entertainment. Prior to joining Rotor, Mr. Tyler spent the past year as a creative and executive producer at MTV, where he created and produced such shows as "The Cut", "Drop Spot", and "Playback." He also served as Executive Producer on a groundbreaking interactive series for Sony's Game Show Network, titled "Throut and Neck" that allowed viewers to control animated characters in real time using the keypad on their touch tone phone. Tyler spent the previous three years as Vice President of Programming and development for Partner Stations Network, where he was responsible for creation and development of original shows and production. Tyler has also worked as a freelance producer on "Sunday Comics", "Studs" and "Haywire" and won an Emmy for the CBS television alternative news magazine show Best Defense.
David Schulhof, CEO and President, World Entertainment Network: In his role as CEO and President of World Entertainment Network, Mr. Schulhof oversees the direction of the entire company, formulating strategic relationships, negotiating acquisitions and managing relationships with the investment community. Schulhof brings an extraordinary entrepreneurial track record to World Entertainment Network, having been instrumental in the ground-up creation of four successful companies. In 1986 Schulhof founded the first of these, Complete Computer Services, Inc., which was the first company to offer computer-aided design software (CAD) for under $100. After growing the company to be a leader in the market, Mr. Schulhof in 1988 led the company through its acquisition by Logitech, the world's leading manufacturer of computer mice. One year later Schulhof founded Envisions Solutions Technology, Inc., the first company to provide a complete line of flatbed and handheld scanners and scanner solutions directly to the consumer. As a result of the prosperity of Envisions, Schulhof was recognized by Success magazine as one of the Top Young Entrepreneurs in the country in 1993. Envisions earned numerous accolades, including in 1994 being named one of the Top 40 Computer Mail Order Companies by PC Computing, before being sold to industry leader Umax Technologies. Schulhof's next venture was launched in 1995. Make It So, Inc., an Internet-based marketing firm, used its proprietary technology to help clients such as Excite, Hickory Farms and Hitachi increase Web traffic and market their products and services online. Three years later he agreed to sell the company to ViaGrafix, a leading provider of technology-based IT training products and graphics software products, where he briefly served as the company's Chief Marketing Officer. Schulhof is a founding and active member of Young Entrepreneurs Organization, a group devoted to bolstering the personal and professional goals of entrepreneurs who have achieved their success before the age of forty.
Terrence Montgomery, Vice President of Media/Entertainment, GeoVideo Network
s: Terrence Montgomery is the vice president of media/entertainment for GeoVideo Networks, responsible for developing strategic alliances with the film, television and media industries. Previously, Terrence worked in the business services division of Global Crossing, developing digital studio initiatives. He also worked as an Internet music industry consultant, based in Los Angeles and as account manager in the network communication services division of MCI Worldcom. In addition to directing sales efforts for GeoVideo's services, including HDTV-over-fiber, video archiving, and multi-point collaboration, to West Coast clients, Montgomery will oversee the build-out of GeoVideo's showcase network, which currently includes the KCET-TV studio in Los Angeles. Montgomery is a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). He holds a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.Josette Bonte, IP Content Strategist, PanAmSat: Josette Bo
Mayra Langdon Riesman is the founder of Film Scouts LLC. Completely self-taught in computers, Riesman created and produced the Film Scouts site—online since 1995--as well as numerous real-time media events, such as six annual installments of Film Scouts at The Cannes Film Festival (Film Scouts on the Riviera); Hal's Birthday (Arthur C. Clarke, Live From Sri Lanka), and Film Scouts at Sundance. The New York Times has called her "...a pioneer in media on the Internet." CNN has called her "...one of the true visionaries for new media." Ms. Riesman pioneered the concept of original broadband Internet programming and developed the first Mbone TV station and channel concept on the Internet—utilized in the service of the 1997 Film Scouts on the Riviera Webcast. Ms. Riesman has also served as a keynote or guest speaker at numerous entertainment and new media industry convocations. For example, last April she spoke alongside Hewlett-Packard at the IPMI Summit on "Entertainment and Convergence" in San Francisco, as well as on the "Future of Webcasting" with RealNetworks , NBC and Microsoft. In May, she spoke at The Cannes Film Festival on "Entertainment and Convergence" for Variety. At the upcoming NAB conference in Las Vegas this April, Riesman will serve as co-producer and Visionary Keynote on "Hollywood and Technology 2010, a series of three panels looking at content, commerce and technology ten years into the future. Additionally, Ms. Riesman has worked on media related film projects with Philip Glass, The Berlin Film Festival, The Cairo Film Festival, The Doors’ Ray Manzarek, David Byrne, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Luis Valdez, Little Magic Productions (Amuse Video), NHK (Zbig Vision) and David Bowie's production company Isolar. Ms. Riesman is represented by Creative Artists Agency (Los Angeles). She lives in New York City.
Michael Murphy is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and a graduate of Loyola University. In 1987, he formed Michael Murphy Productions, specializing in music based programming for television and radio. Murphy has produced programs that have been broadcast by networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, TBS, A&E, VH-1, E! Entertainment Television, BET, ZDF (Germany), NHK (Japan), and RAI (Italy). His radio programs have been heard over the CBS/Westwood Radio affiliates network, National Public Radio, and distributed internationally by WGBH. He has also produced EPKs and magazine format programs for record companies such as A&M, Polygram, Warner Brothers, Motown, and House of Blues Records. In 1992, Murphy began working in High Definition, producing a multi-camera, multi-location program from Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This was followed in 1994 by a ten hour music special from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In 2000, he videotaped 30 bands in High Definition and recorded the audio for surround sound. Additionally, Michael Murphy Productions has produced festivals and concert tours in Japan from 1990-1995. These music events were broadcast throughout Japan by NHK. In the fall of 1992, Michael Murphy Productions was hired by House of Blues to create programming that would imprint their brand. As President of House of Blues Productions, Michael created the "Live From The House of Blues" television series (26-one hour shows) which aired on TBS in 1995, and a 20 part music series during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, resulting in a 90 minute special for VH-1, daily live satellite broadcasts, and television programming. These productions also provided content that were broadcast on the internet and turned into DVDs released by Pioneer and Platinum Technologies of Chicago. Michael also created and co-produced the award winning "House of Blues Radio Hour" in conjunction with Ben Manilla Productions and CBS Radio. In August 1997, Michael left House of Blues, re-establishing Michael Murphy Productions, Inc. His company continues to produce entertainment programming for all media, working on enhanced DVDs, documentaries, television, and internet programming. In the spring of 2000, he created 48 hours of internet programming from The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to be broadcast on Riffage.com. Footage from the festival will be also be used in two television programs a VH-1 "Jazz Fest" Special; and "Legends of New Orleans: The Music of Allen Toussaint, Dr. John & The Neville Brothers," which chronicles the hey day of R&B in New Orleans for PBS.