Sheereen M. Russell is a seasoned media executive and Executive Vice President, Client Partnerships at Warner Bros. Discovery. In her current role, Russell is responsible for overseeing direct client and brand relationships and leading new partnerships with Entertainment and Creative Agencies to drive sales, educate marketers, and develop content and data-based solutions across the Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio of cable, social and digital platforms. She also leads the company’s One WBD enterprise monetization efforts, focusing on revenue development, multicultural content solutions and partnership strategies with key advertisers across all WBD properties. Russell has received numerous industry accolades including being honored by Cynopsis Top Women in Media in 2023. In 2022, Russell was selected to Ad Age’s “The List,” a select group of marketing, advertising & media leaders recognized for their work toward addressing underrepresentation and work-life balance in the industry as well as Ad Age’s mission to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in senior leadership. In 2020, Russell was named to the board of the New York Women in Communications as Vice President of Memberships, joined the Ad Age Diversity Council, spearheaded OWN’s partnership with the ANA’s SeeHer initiative to expand positive representation for Black women in media, was a 2020 ANA Multicultural Awards Judge, and was named to the Cablefax 2020 Diversity List. In 2019, Russell was recognized as one of Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” list for her commitment to inclusive brand narratives and representation of Black audiences and accurate portrayals in all content. In 2018, NAMIC identified Ms. Russell as a “Next Generation Leader”. Russell serves on the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), the New York Women in Communications (NY WICI) and Vox Media Board of Directors. Prior to WBD, Russell had a successful decade long tenure at Viacom, where she rose through the ranks and became VP of Brand Sales at Viacom—building innovative solutions for key advertisers within MTV’s portfolio of live on-air awards shows, experiential tentpoles, premium programming and digital platforms. She was awarded the 2013 Presidential Award at Viacom for her revenue driving performance and team leadership. Russell made the leap to Viacom from Time Warner/Time Inc. in 2006 after serving as the National Sales and Marketing Director at Sports Illustrated. While at Sports Illustrated, she was instrumental in developing and launching a college sports magazine, Sports Illustrated on Campus. She designed and spearheaded a successful influencer panel to offer national marketers both custom marketing and insights around college millennials. Russell began her media and entertainment career as a Publicist for Time magazine.

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, formerly Paramount Global: Ted spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the entertainment industry. Ted works across the leadership and the technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality and Web 3.0/ MetaVerse pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling, Ted was part of the creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes and Predator VR experiences at Fox, and at his current home at Paramount Pictures, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease Mixed Reality experience, the Light as a Feather mixed reality experience and the Quiet Place Virtual Reality experience to life. Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made a significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are now being shot with these ultra high resolution digital movie cameras. Ted is one of the founders and creators of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As one of the most recognized brands in that industry, they are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema, episodic television, sports and news production. In his role as Chief Creative Officer at Barco Escape, he spearheaded an experimental immersive cinema project for movie theaters worldwide.

Matt Gielen is the President and co-Founder of Kynetic Media Ventures. Prior to Kynetic, Matt had a 20 year career at the forefront of the Creator Economy including as VP of Programming at Frederator Networks, as the Founder & CEO of Electric Monster (sold & exited in '24) which completed seven acquisitions of digital media businesses, and as Founder and CEO of Little Monster (sold & exited in '24) which provided YouTube consulting and operational services to some of the largest brands in the world such as NBCU, Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, the NHL, and the BBC. Matt is also a prolific writer and speaker within the Creator Economy giving presentations and releasing research papers on topics such as how the YouTube algorithm works and developing original content.

Seth Shapiro, Two-time Emmy® Award winner Seth Shapiro is a leader in media, tech and fintech. His clients and partners have included AT&T, Betfair, Comcast, Disney, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel, NBCUniversal, News Corp, WarnerBros, and a range of new ventures. He served previously as an Adjunct Professor at USC Cinematic Arts as a Governor of the Television Academy, and as a Senior Producer at Disney Interactive. He is author of Amazon bestseller TELEVISION Vol. 1, a history of the media business 1890-1980. As Head of Digital Production at DIRECTV, he was key to the launch of over 25 services including TiVo, the first major DVR platform. An active investor and trader, Mr. Shapiro was an early advocate of blockchain for the media sector and has been active in the fintech sector since 2017. In the public sphere, he has served as an Expert before both the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

David Alpert is CEO and co-founder of Skybound Entertainment, a creator-first, multiplatform entertainment studio dedicated to transforming bold ideas into global franchises. He co-founded Skybound in 2010 as an alternative to traditional entertainment pipelines, giving storytellers both the creative freedom and infrastructure to build audiences across multiple platforms. As CEO, David oversees Skybound’s operations, creative development and production, corporate development and strategic business initiatives, including the company’s international growth and expansion into new markets. A prolific producer, David’s credits include some of Skybound’s most successful IP, including The Walking Dead and its numerous spin-offs, as well as Invincible, which debuted at number one on Amazon Prime Video in more than 100 countries and is now in its critically acclaimed fourth season.