2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Session C:
Internet Animation - the Key to the Entertainment Kingdom
Who would have suspected that animation on the Internet would become its hottest entertainment content segment? In a few short months, animation has gone from being another Internet technology into being the “Coolest Thing on the Net.” The technology is great, the tools are easy to use, the industry’s most creative animators have come on board, and the audience of users measures in the tens of millions. That is a formula for success. In this session, Digital Hollywood brings together the executives who are leading the way in Net animation. Their sites are more than making animation the next hot thing, they are setting the stage for untold expansion into other entertainment mediums.
Mark Yahiro, President, Pulse Entertainment
Dean Terry, President & CEO, ideaRAGE
Eric Oldrin, Executive Producer, Shows & Series, shockwave.com
Kevin Bermeister, President, Brilliant Digital
Bob Holmes, CEO, Sudden Industries
Jonathan Marlow, Manager of Affiliate Relations, Mondo Mini Shows
Michael Stroud, founder, iHollywood Forum, Moderator
Jonathan Marlow, Manager of Affiliate Relations, Mondo Mini Shows: Jonathan Marlow joined Mondo Media last year as Manager of Affiliate Relations, bringing with him an impressive background in cinema and online entertainment. In his position at Mondo, Jonathan is responsible for syndicating the company’s rapidly expanding content offerings to its existing Affiliate Network (including Real Networks, AtomShockwave, GetMusic and IFILM). Prior to Mondo Media, Mr. Marlow was with Amazon.com and, concurrently, was the short film programmer for the Seattle International Film Festival. He has also provided curatorial assistance to numerous film festivals and independent motion picture theaters throughout North America and overseas. Furthermore, Jonathan continues to serve as a consultant to a number of online ventures. Mr. Marlow additionally occupied the founding role of Director of Film for the independent arts organization Consolidated Works. He continues to write for a variety of publications and has directed a handful of short films, documentaries and commercials for British television. Mr. Marlow was educated in Berlin. He currently resides in San Francisco.
Dean Terry is the President, CEO, and Co-Founder of ideaRAGE, a developer of interactive entertainment products and services for the wireless, handheld, and online communities. Mr. Terry was previously Senior Vice President of AtomFilms where he produced original Flash animated content for a variety of online and offline syndication partners, including the fastest growing animated series in AtomFilms history with over 2 million views. At AtomFilms Mr. Terry pioneered innovative interactive and nonlinear approaches to creating online content, and initiated research and development efforts in content creation for handheld and wireless markets. This content was instrumental in advertising campaigns for AtomFilms clients and partners including Microsoft and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He also Led the redesign of the AtomFilms web site, winner of multiple industry awards and Œbest of&Mac226; lists Prior to AtomFilms, Mr. Terry was the co-founder of PixelWave Entertainment, a leading next-generation entertainment Internet studio. He led PixelWave from inception in April 1998 to its industry leading status and eventual acquisition by AtomFilms in December 1999. He guided the development of projects for leading Internet and Entertainment sector companies and provided the creative vision for award winning original programming. He developed numerous deals with Warner Brothers (Entertaindom), Sony / Paramount, Broadcast.com / Yahoo, Cisco Systems, Intel, Sprint, Deloitte & Touche, and many others. PixelWave also created the widely regarded Stock Market Psychic; an animated interactive entertainment application that used patented dynamic database driven technology. Mr. Terry also Conceived and produced SmellFunny.com, an award winning humor and destination site. Prior to PixelWave, Mr. Terry spent seven years as an independent producer of innovative Internet, music, and video projects. He holds a degree in Philosophy and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University.
Mark Yahiro, President of Pulse Entertainment, is responsible for strategic partnerships, pro
duction services, product and technology marketing, new business opportunities and setting the strategic vision for the company. Yahiro joined Pulse from Hitachi PC, where he was the Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Business Development and helped launch the company. Prior to his time at Hitachi, Yahiro was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Velocity, where he spearheaded relationships with Mattel Media, 20th Century Fox and ID software. Yahiro secured the first commercial license of Mosaic for the Santa Cruz Operation in 1993. Additionally, Yahiro was a lead engineer at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the 80's. He holds a software engineering degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from DePaul University. Like Harvill, Yahiro has a background in fine arts. Previous to his engineering studies, Yahiro spent a number of years training at the Art Institute of Chicago.Kevin Bermeister, President, Brilliant Digital: Mr. Bermeister and his partner, Mark D
yne, established Ozisoft Pty. Ltd. in 1982, based in Sydney, Australia, which was one of the first interactive multimedia companies, representing Sega Enterprises Japan in Australia and New Zealand. Ozisoft was later sold to Tech Pacific and First Pacific of Hong Kong. He has served as President of the BDE since October 1996 and as a Director since August 1996 before Brilliant Digital Entertainment went public. Brilliant Digital Entertainment is a leading entertainment content syndicator, producer, and technology provider with an established library of episodic serial content created for the Internet. These 3D digitally animated interactive series feature popular television, comic book, and motion picture characters that include Superman, Xena, KISS, Popeye and Ace Ventura, as well as music artists. Developed using Brilliant's proprietary suite of software tools, the full-screen productions have smaller files for faster downloads. Content is distributed broadly via Internet syndication to partners including Yahoo, Warner Brothers On-line, Roadrunner, @Home and VH1.com. Find out more at http://www.brilliantdigital.com.Bob Holmes, CEO, Sudden Industries: Robert Holmes has long-mastered the art of merging distant worlds. His band "Rubber Rodeo," a cross between Gene Autrey and Devo, became known as the "Godfathers of Country-Punk" after garnering a string of hit singles, receiving a Grammy Award Nomination (1982) for "Best Video," and winning numerous Boston Music Awards. Holmes’ passion for the Wild West goes beyond music. He has collected toys, comic books, movie posters and western antiques since childhood. Growing up in Roy Roger’s hometown and next door to John Glenn, he developed a love of cowboy kitsch and retro-futurism. Fortunately, Holmes was able to combine the two by creating music-driven media properties, including "Campfire Classics," "Wack Pack," and MCA/Universal’s "Ranger Ralph and the Round-Up Ranch." In 1988, Holmes founded Two Chord Music with partner and re-mixer, Tony Maserati, and together they produced albums for artists at MCA, RCA, BMG, Atlantic, Arista and Rykodisc. Their production company continues to identify and develop new talent within the music industry today. Holmes now serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sudden Industries, a leader and specialist in producing high-bandwidth entertainment for Internet, cable, and wireless distribution. Married to the owner of the "Cowgirl Hall of Fame" and father of two, Holmes received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Michael Stroud is the founder of iHollywood Forum (www.iHollywoodForum.com), the first professional networking organization based on Los Angeles dedicated to providing ongoing educational seminars and business development opportunities for entertainment and music industry players, technology executives, investors and new media entrepreneurs. The forum holds monthly forums and executive dinners discussing the impact of the Internet and technology on the entertainment business: film, music, television, cable and video, and is attended by more than 800 people. Michael has been a professional business journalist for 18 years, and is a frequently moderator for Internet business forums in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He previously covered technology, as a senior writer at Investor's Business Daily, then became the Los Angeles Bloomberg News entertainment correspondent for five years, and later served as the Los Angeles Bureau Chief for Broadcasting and Cable. He works as an independent journalist covering technology, entertainment and the Internet for business magazines, and is a regular contributing writer covering entertainment and music for WiredNews.com. His articles have also appeared in the Sunday New York Times, Business 2.0, and The Red Herring. He has a B.A. from UC Berkeley in Asian Studies in 1981, and speaks fluent Mandarin. He previously lived in Taiwan and worked as a foreign business correspondent covering Pacific Rim trade. Michael presently resides in Los Angeles California.
Jan Mallis, Executive Producer for Third-Party Content, Mondo Mini Shows: Jan Mallis has recently joined Mondo Media, as Executive Producer for Third-Party Content, bringing with her an extensive knowledge and background in producing Internet arts and entertainment. In this position, Mallis is responsible for all of the Mondo Mini Shows created by and acquired from outside sources, including such shows as Julius and Friends and This Modern World. Most recently, Jan Mallis was President over her own company, Blitcom, LLC. Blitcom, LLC developed proprietary software for permission based e-mail marketing. Some software created by Blitcom includes MouthMusic, a software animation tool enabling the real time character lip-synching and Animailer; a web based composing tool for embedding multi-media into html mail messages. Prior to co-founding Blitcom, LLC, Ms. Mallis was Executive Producer at Protozoa, Inc where she won awards for Driftwood and the 3-D animation Floops. While at Protozoa, Inc. Mallis also produced an award-winning CD-Rom entitled Squeezils and produced projects for MSNBC, HBO, C-Net, ABC, and SGI. Previously Mallis was a Creative Producer and Interactive Designer at Colossal Pictures. Mallis produced characters for ABC and HBO Productions new series development, designed TV Guide On Screen, and wrote and presented a treatise on the state of Broadband Development. Mallis has attended several world-renown institutions including: Jaques LeCoq School of Theatre and Etienne Decroux School of Movement, both in Paris France, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, and Pratt Institute of Fine Arts, Brooklyn, New York. Jan Mallis is married with one son. When she isn’t working you’ll probably find her surfing off the coast in San Diego.
Eric Oldrin is the senior producer of series and show content for Shockwave/Atom Films. Since joining Shockwave, Oldrin has produced and developed some of its key content, including Tim Burtonís Stainboy and the soon-to-be-released series from Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Prior to joining Shockwave, Oldrin helped build Mondo Mediaís online animation studio, producing The God and Devil Show, Thugs on Film and Like, News. Before that, he created games at Sierra Onlineís Imagination Network and America Onlineís WorldPlay Entertainment. Mr. Oldrin holds a bachelors degree in philosophy from Pomona College.