Grant Michaelson is Vice President, Business Affairs at Disney Channels Worldwide, leading one of two teams negotiating deals producing live action TV and movies for Disney Channel and Disney+. He was previously Vice President, Business Affairs and New Media at ABC for 12 years, negotiating digital deals with studios and packagers in series, specials, and other content for on-demand platforms such as AVOD, SVOD, MVPD-VOD, and EST, including closing some of the first network ‘stacking’ deals. He also handled business affairs for ABC.com, ABC Marketing, and ABC merchandising, as well as vetting and producing branded ‘promercials’ combining show and sponsor content during commercial breaks. Before that, Grant was in Business Affairs at CBS, and ABC Legal Affairs even earlier. A proud Cal Bear (’94) and UCLA Bruin (JD ’97, MBA ’19), he started his career at litigation law firms Lavely & Singer and Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan.



Beth Clearfield, SVP, Digital Strategy and Franchise Business Management, VOD US Overheads, BBC Studios - Americas: Beth Clearfield is responsible for the development of new digital markets for BBC programs and has a central role in determining business development activities for BBC Studios – Americas (FKA BBC Worldwide – North America), as well as shaping content strategy for the region and managing the P&L for the company’s transactional businesses. She also serves as BBC Studios’ Global Account Director for Amazon, guiding the company’s strategy in relation to this key client and leading global sales and commissioning activities. Clearfield was previously responsible for all digital distribution for BBC Studios – Americas, managed program supply for BBC AMERICA, and oversaw a department that served as the central program information resource for all BBC Studios sales teams in North and Latin America. A 20-year veteran of BBC Studios – Americas, Clearfield’s accomplishments include the company’s first deals with clients such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, iTunes, Microsoft, Google, Vudu, Yahoo!, AOL, Fullscreen, and iN Demand. She was instrumental in the development of BritBox (BBC Studios’ joint venture OTT service with ITV Studios) and worked on the conception of BBC AMERICA as well as BBC Studios’ joint venture channels in Canada and Latin America. Clearfield graduated magna cum laude from Yale with a degree in Economics and Political Science and also studied at the Yale School of Drama and at NYU.

Himesh Bhise, CEO, Synacor: Himesh Bhise is a leading broadband, multiscreen and mobile executive. Prior to Synacor, Himesh led New Services & Platforms for Comcast Cable, where his portfolio included content platforms like XFINITY Streampix, advanced advertising, cloud products, prepaid services, and X1 apps - all transforming the consumer experience. He also led the Internet business for Charter, the mobile business for AOL, and was a leader in the telecom practice of McKinsey & Company. Bhise received his MBA from the Wharton School.

Jonathan Hurd has been a Director at Altman Vilandrie & Company (AV&Co.)—a 120+-person strategy consulting firm focused on technology, media, and telecom—since 2006. He has more than 25 years of consulting and industry experience in communications, media and related technology sectors. Jonathan’s primary areas of expertise include corporate strategy, product innovation, marketing management, customer segmentation, pricing strategy, and new business planning and development. Jonathan has recently been leading AV&Co.’s unique proprietary consumer survey and simulation techniques to analyze the impact of “skinny bundles” of TV channels, working with video distributors on product design and pricing of traditional and “over-the-top” video services, and advising broadcast and cable TV networks on product and pricing strategy for new video offers. Jonathan is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the group charged with investigating and selecting EMMY award recipients for innovative TV technology. Prior to joining AV&Co., Jonathan was a Vice President with ADVENTIS, a TMT-focused strategy firm, and was a partner at Mercer Management Consulting. He has also served as Vice President of Marketing for a computer peripherals manufacturer, and held marketing and strategic planning positions at Lotus Development Corporation. In addition, he has been a software development manager in industries including financial services, computer peripherals, and video game development—he designed and created the Atari arcade video game “Food Fight”. Jonathan received a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT, where his thesis advisor was Nicholas Negroponte of the Media Lab, and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he received First Year Honors. He is a member of the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.