Monday, October 20th

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Track II - Poolside Tent I

Multichannel Networks, the Next Wave in Entertainment and Media Programming, Part II

Peter Morris, Vice President, Business Affairs & Development, Funny or Die

Danika Vittitoe, Director, Media Legal, YAHOO

Ken Basin, ‎Business Affairs and Business Development Executive, Amazon Studios, Amazon

David Ho, Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Fullscreen

Chris Riley, General Counsel, Machinima

Kenneth N. Swezey, Partner, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP

Judith Dornstein, Esq., Law Offices of Judith C. Dornstein, Moderator

Kenneth N. Swezey focuses on transactional counseling in copyright, corporate, digital media, entertainment, publishing and other intellectual property and commercial matters. He has substantial experience representing companies and individual clients in the emerging fields of digital media, social media and transmedia. He represents clients ranging from broadband television companies, well-known authors, publishers, entertainers, literary estates, visual arts agencies, as well as not-for-profit organizations in the areas of intellectual property and entertainment.

 

Danika Vittitoe is a member of Yahoo’s Media Legal group and the lead attorney for Yahoo Screen, Yahoo Studios and Yahoo Sports.  She handles business and legal affairs for the acquisition and production of Yahoo’s  television-style series and features content and is responsible for negotiating and managing all legal aspects of Yahoo’s owned and licensed video content, including agreements with distributors, creators and on-camera talent.  Prior to joining Yahoo, Ms. Vittitoe was a legal affairs director at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network during the network’s launch and first years of operation.  Ms. Vittitoe gained her legal background in intellectual property while a litigator with Arnold & Porter LLP in its Los Angeles office. Ms. Vittitoe obtained her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and her B.A. from Dartmouth College.

 

Chris Riley is General Counsel of Machinima, Inc., where he is responsible for managing all of the company’s legal affairs.  Prior to that, he was a partner in the Corporate Group at Bingham McCutchen LLP in Los Angeles.  Earlier, he acted as a legal consultant to Disney Interactive, was General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Secretary of Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., and served as General Counsel and Vice President of Match.com, L.L.C.  Mr. Riley was a corporate associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles and Sidley & Austin in Chicago.  Mr. Riley received his J.D. in 1995 from Boalt Hall (University of California at Berkeley) where he was book review editor of the California Law Review, and his B.A. in philosophy with honors from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1990.

 

Judith Dornstein, Esq., Law Offices of Judith C. Dornstein:  Judith has been honored to be named consistently to the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers by Martindale Hubbell. This is the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standard from her peers. Less than 5% of women lawyers are recognized with an HV Preeminent rating. In that capacity she has drafted and negotiated above-and-below the line contracts for many television and motion picture productions, and has negotiated deals and contracts for many actors, writers, directors, producers, authors, musicians, songwriters, publishing companies, companies in the motion picture, television, music, video and Internet fields. Her expertise ranges from the acquisition of rights, through the development, production, exhibition, distribution, merchandising and exploitation of projects. In such capacity she has negotiated and drafted agreements with above-the-line and below-the-line talent (casting agents, writers, producers, actors, directors, composers, consultants, executives), financing agreements, location agreements, product clearance releases, guild and union agreements, composer, conductor and arranger agreements, soundtrack agreements, animation agreements, reality show agreements, synchronization and master use licenses, management agreements, tour agreements, merchandising agreements, network agreements, licensing agreements for television (free and cable) and video, joint venture/co-production agreements, distribution and financing agreements, minors' agreements, as well as copyright and trademark filings, and production joint ventures, partnerships and corporations. Judith has previously served on the Board of the Beverly Hills Bar and of Women in Film,as Chairperson of the Los Angeles County Bar Intellectual Property Committee, as a lecturer at UCLA Extension on "Starting and Operating a Production Company" and many other forums, and most recently as Chairperson and Moderator of the Brand Integration seminar on May 19, 2010 for the Beverly Hills Bar Entertainment Section. Judith is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Entertainment Executive Committee, the LA County Bar Entertainment and Intellectual Property Executive Committee and the Subscreen Section, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel (AMEC), the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP), the Planning Committee of the Beverly Hills Bar/USC Entertainment Law Institute, and has been a mentor to students in the L.A. city schools through the Fulfillment Fund and the Community Magnet School.

David Ho is senior vice president of business and legal affairs and general counsel of Fullscreen. Prior to joining Fullscreen, David was divisional general counsel for Demand Media’s content business and helped lead the company through its successful initial public offering. David previously served in executive business affairs roles with Fox Sports and Universal Music Group. David began his career at Irell & Manella LLP, where he managed corporate and IP licensing transactions in the media, technology, and sports industries. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago Law School. He is also an adjunct professor at the USC Gould School of Law, where he teaches a popular course on digital media transactions.