9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Session A:
Enhanced TV Content: Leveraging and Merging the TV and Internet Medias - Entertainment, Sports, News and Finance
The definitions are confusing, but whether it’s Interactive TV programming or Internet/TV companion programming, it is all part of the evolution of what is being called Enhanced TV, and its day is coming. Within the next year, every TV show will have a significant Internet presence and it may even come in the form of real-time companion programming. In this session we bring together the brand name programming executives and creators who are dealing with what it means to leverage and extend their on-air television programming to the Internet or into the Interactive TV space. What is this process really all about? Can you effectively mix entertainment with marketing? What about building a community with programming that keeps an audience coming back? What does it mean to be a TV/Internet hybrid programmer? We are pleased to welcome a distinguished panel of experts.
Tom DiGiovanni, Director of Enhanced Programming, Public Broadcasting Service
Jonathan Boltax, Director, NBC Enhanced Broadcast Group
Gene Falk, Senior VP, Showtime Digital Media Group
Madeline Di Nonno, Vice President, Marketing Alliances, Odyssey, A Henson and Hallmark Entertainment Network
Jeff Craig, Chief Technology Officer, Discovery Channel
Nick DeMartino, Director of Strategic Planning, American Film Institute
MTV Networks, speaker to be announced
Tracy Fullerton, President, Spiderdance, Moderator
Additional speaker to be announced
Jonathan Boltax serves as Director of the NBC Enhanced Broadcast Group (NBC EBG). Boltax has headed and expanded the EBG since its inaugural broadcast, the 1996 Olympic Games from Atlanta. Since then, Boltax has gone on to produce other notable enhanced broadcasts including NBA on NBC, NFL on NBC, Dateline, Homicide Life on the Street, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live and the 1997 and 1998 U.S Open. Current productions include the first ever enhanced digital productions of TNBC and Notre Dame football. Prior to his work at NBC, Boltax worked for the Apple New Media Labs in Boulder, Colorado and Commonground, an Internet marketing/development firm also located in Colorado. Boltax is actively involved as NBC's representative in the ATSC Specialist Group T3/S17 for DTV Application Software Environment (DASE) as well as the Technical Working Group of the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATEVF).
Gene Falk, Senior Vice President of the newly created Showtime Digital Media Group, focuses his efforts on new media and new business opportunities. He is also responsible for formulating long-term business strategies that take advantage of transforming technologies. This includes overseeing the
convergence and web technology, as well as supervising the ongoing task of new channel development. Mr. Falk, a 20 year veteran of the entertainment industry, most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Direct To-Home (DTH), for Showtime Networks Inc. In this capacity, Mr. Falk was responsible for the operation of Showtime Networks Inc.'s Direct-To-Home (DTH) division. He was in charge of a wide range of innovative programs designed to help expand Showtime's reach in the DTH field, and bring satellite TV programming to an even-widening base of American consumers.
Jeff Craig, Chief Technology Officer, Discovery Channel: As Senior Vice President, Interactive Technology & New Media Development, for Discovery Communications, Jeff has overall technical responsibility for Discovery.com, Discovery Channel Education and Discovery Channel Multimedia. As a key member of the senior Interactive management team, Jeff is charged with developing technology strategy, leading technology assessment and convergence planning, and oversight of Discovery's Interactive Technology group. In addition Jeff has the responsibility for leading the broadband and convergence strategy for Discovery. Jeff has a strong background in systems engineering, interactive technology and management. He served as Vice President, System Design and Engineering at Tele-TV, an interactive television and new media joint venture of Bell Atlantic, Pacific Telesis, and Nynex. While at Tele-TV, Jeff spearheaded their systems architecture and design of digital and interactive television systems. Previously, Jeff served as the Chief Architect of Bell Atlantic's Stargazer, where he pioneered the first multiple-stream video server, which delivered interactive digital video over a switched network. Jeff holds several patents on interactive TV systems and has over 10 years experience in broadband video and interactive television.
Madeline Di Nonno, Vice President, Marketing Alliances, Odyssey: Madeline Di Nonno is Vice President, Marketing Alliances for Odyssey, A Henson and Hallmark Entertainment Network. She is responsible for the development and execution of all marketing alliances and corporate partnerships, with an emphasis on on-air and off-channel marketing programs. She also spearheads Odyssey’s interactive initiatives and web-site, odysseychannel.com. Ms. Di Nonno joined Odyssey Network after serving eight years at Universal Studios Home Video. As Vice President, Strategic Marketing, she was responsible for strategic alliances and added-value marketing programs to leverage Universal’s home video products. She also launched Universal’s DVD product line and was responsible for the division’s web-site and internet-related activities. She joined Universal in 1991 as Director of Marketing, where she developed branded video product lines. Her accomplishments included spearheading the marketing campaigns for major video releases including Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Casper, Babe, Apollo 13, The Land Before Time Series and The Mummy which generated promotional partnerships with brand leaders such as Pepsi, Jello, McDonalds, Tropicana, Discover Card, Hershey and Polaroid. Prior to joining Universal, Ms. Di Nonno has served in marketing positions with corporations including ABC Television Network and Lancome Cosmetics. Ms. Di Nonno holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University. She is active with trade associations including the Promotions Marketing Association, The Marketing Society for the Cable and Telecommunications Industry, Women In Film, Women in Cable and Telecommunications, Independent Feature Project/West, and serves on The Venice Family Clinic’s Art Walk Event planning committee. Ms. Di Nonno has been profiled in Brandweek Magazine’s Brand Builders series. Ms. Di Nonno is a frequent presenter at entertainment and technology conferences and seminars.
Tom DiGiovanni, Director of Enhanced Programming, Public Broadcasting Serv
ice, Alexandria VA: Tom DiGiovanni leads the strategy, development and execution of enhanced television programming for PBS. Prior to joining PBS in 1999, Mr. DiGiovanni was a producer at National Geographic for Internet and CD-ROM venues. His CD-ROM products were nominated for the prestigious Codie Award. Over the past 22 years, Mr. DiGiovanni has been a performing arts administrator, writer, book editor and producer (museum, tv, interactive) for Time-Life, CBS, Scholastic, Arena Stage, and others. Mr. DiGiovanni holds a Bachelor of Arts degreeTracy Fullerton, is President of Spiderdance, Inc., a start-up firm engaged in t
he development of multi-user activities and applications. Spiderdance has recently released its first product, the Spiderdance Activity Network, an online suite of social games and activities that was named Best Online Gaming Site at SXSW '99 and Best Online Program at CIE '98. Prior to forming Spiderdance, Tracy served as a Creative Director for R/GA Interactive, NY, designing and producing online games and websites for clients such as Microsoft, Intel, Sony Online Entertainment, Ticketmaster, Advertising Age, Warner Bros., and Compaq. Tracy's most current work includes the designs for the multiplayer versions of the classic game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. She also worked with Ticketmaster and Intel to design the recently released My.Ticketmaster.com, a customized online ticketing application that offers purchasers VRML seat previews before they buy. Another new project, the Ad Age Edge, delivers breaking ad campaigns and industry news, including full motion video of new spots, to subscribers via DirecPC. While at R/GA, Tracy also created the award-winning multiplayer game show NetWits for the Microsoft Network. This animated show was named one of the top ten websites of 1996 by Time Magazine. Prior to joining R/GA, Tracy served as Creative Director at Interfilm Technologies, NY, where she was part of the team that brought the first interactive "movie games" to motion picture theaters nationwide. She began her career at Synapse Technologies in Los Angeles, where she was an interactive designer on the groundbreaking educational titles Columbus: Discovery, Encounter and Beyond, Evolution/Revolution: The World 1890-1930, and Air Power: WWI. Tracy holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television and has been a faculty member at NYC's School of Visual Arts. Her work has received numerous industry honors and has been included in two ID Magazine Interactive Design Reviews, the Communication Arts Interactive Design Annual, and Time Magazine's Best of the Web. She currently serves on the advisory board for the AFI-Intel Enhanced Television workshop.