The Digital Hollywood Experience

The Digital Hollywood Experience

Thomas K. Arnold is one of the leading home entertainment journalists in the country. He is publisher and editorial director of Home Media Magazine, the home entertainment industry’s only trade publication. He also contributes home entertainment analysis news features and weekly home entertainment sales and rental updates to Variety. He has talked about home entertainment issues on CNN’s “Showbiz Tonight” and “Entertainment Tonight,” and was a frequent guest on the G4 network’s “Attack of the Show.” Arnold is a frequent speaker, moderator and keynoter at entertainment and technology industry conferences, summits and other events, including the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Digital Hollywood, and the EMA’s Digital Pipeline. He has been quoted in numerous publications, from Advertising Age and Billboard to USA Today and the New York Post.

Alexander Drosin is President of Massive Interactive, a company with over 20 years of experience in delivering and building industry-leading tools to manage, productize and sell media assets on next-generation connected devices. The company delivers cost efficient, fully customizable and scalable media playback and commerce systems. Many of the world’s largest telcos, broadcasters and cable TV operators rely on Massive to architect, develop and design their next generation IP Video entertainment platforms. Clients include Sony Pictures Television, Bell Media, Lionsgate, Quebecor, BBC, Perform Group, Viacom and many more. Prior to joining Massive, Alex spent several years successfully establishing The Filter, a bespoke B2B recommendation solution, in the North American marketplace. The Filter is backed by Peter Gabriel and Eden Ventures. Alex has held several senior corporate positions in the entertainment and digital space in the past 25+ years and  has served as a strategic advisor to a multitude of companies. Alex became enamored with the digital arena after spending 10+ years working for Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video where he helped establish Saturday Night Live’s presence around the world. Alex left Broadway Video to launch his own company, Glowcast Ventures, with Ken Seiff, the founder of Bluefly.com. Alex began his career as a journalist/copy editor at The Wall Street Journal Europe in Brussels.

Robin Wilson, VP of Business Development, NAGRA: As VP of Business Development at NAGRA, Robin Wilson’s responsibilities include ensuring that the company’s current and future solutions are developed and applied whenever new opportunities or markets arise. Robin has over 25 years of international broadcast technology experience in companies that include BBC, NBC, RCA, DiviCom, Grass Valley and Modulus Video where he has held various marketing, engineering, management and founding positions. Robin’s technical expertise encompasses compressed video (MPEG-2, MPEG-4), content distribution (satellite, cable, IPTV, OTT,OVP, broadband), content security (DRM, CAS) and user interfaces. He recently had the opportunity to participate in government relations and lobbying on regulatory matters affecting digital TV, OTT and broadband. Robin has participated in and presented at many industry organizations including SMPTE, EBU, IBC, ATIS, and IEEE. He is also a member of NATAS, the group charged with investigating and selecting EMMY award recipients for innovative TV technology, and of the FCC advisory committee on Downloadable Security for US operators (DSTAC). Robin graduated with a BSc. degree in Applied Physics (EE) from Dundee University, Scotland, and holds a watermarking patent. NAGRA is the digital TV division of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) and a pioneer in pay-TV technology. NAGRA solutions include DRM, Conditional Access, Digital Media Security, User Interfaces for Tablets, SmartTVs, Set Top Boxes for operators using MPEG-4, HEVC, Streaming Media, OTT, IPTV, Cable, Satellite, Mobile TV & VOD.

Dan Sweeney is currently Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Nevelex Corp, a digital video and IoT embedded systems Software Engineering Services Company.  Dan is responsible for business development reaching into the Cable MSO, studio, networks, OTT, consumer electronics, and broadcast industries.  Nevelex long time key customers include AT&T’s DirecTV division among others.  Previously, Dan was Western Division Vice President for the Allant Group, an advertising data integration analytics company focused in media (sold to Axciom).  Allant customers included Comcast, NBCU, Charter, and Suddenlink.  Dan was also Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Solekai, working for customers including Ultraviolet, Time Warner, DirecTV and TiVo.  Dan’s career also included stints as sales and marketing chief for meta data and entitlement software company Cauldron Solutions (now Blinkx), and ITV multiplayer gaming company Buzztime.   A telecommunications veteran, Dan also held senior level positions at Gemstar-TV Guide International (now Rovi), Cooke Cablevision and Showtime Networks, Inc.  Dan is currently the Co-Chair, Digital Media Group for CommNexus in San Diego. During his career in the digital video industry he has held several committee and chair positions within CTAM, NATPE and the ITA.

Virginia Juliano, CEO & Founder, CobbleCord: Last year, Virginia Juliano left Showtime Networks Inc. after a decade long tenure to launch CobbleCord, a first of its kind, free, consumer  website and App that, through a proprietary database and patent pending algorithm, helps users 'cobble together' the best combination of OTT (Over the Top) services -- just for them. CobbleCord goes a step further than the so-called skinny bundle by showing consumers how to craft their own 'meta-bundle' – a customized mix of free and paid OTT services perfectly suited for their unique preferences. At Showtime, Juliano was most recently the Vice President of Multi-Platform Marketing, focusing on customer acquisition and retention. She was instrumental in the development, launch and marketing of the Showtime OTT Streaming Service, as well as Showtime Anytime, the network’s TV Everywhere product.  Working in partnership with distributors as well as via direct-to-consumer efforts, Juliano led multiple award-winning integrated marketing campaigns that included strategic content development across online, social, mobile, linear, on demand and interactive TV platforms. During her time there, the network’s subscriber base grew over 70%.  Juliano is passionate about ‘cord choice’ and with CobbleCord, aims to educate and empower consumers on getting the best entertainment options for their personal situation, give them the tools and information needed to determine if cutting the cord is the right option for them, and help them understand the tradeoffs involved.  Juliano earned an MBA in Marketing and Management from NYU Stern School of Business and co-authored the book, How Can I Help You? The Most Important Question in Business and In Life.

David E. Leibowitz is Managing Partner of CH POTOMAC, working at the intersection of entertainment, media and technology and focused on bringing new innovative ways for people to enjoy and experience content.  David brings many years of experience in business, law and policy issues facing the entertainment, new media, CE and IT industries.  Among other activities, David is a Senior Advisor to Gibson Brands (parent company of such iconic brands as Gibson Guitar, Baldwin, Onkyo, Philips Home Entertainment and TEAC); Co-founder and Chairman of Sir Groovy (an award-winning solution for creating enhanced search metadata for musical recordings); Co-Chairman of Golden Shores Enterprises (a marketing and advertising technology firm that utilizes point of sale consumer data to deliver hyper-local digital advertising and lifestyle content across multiple digital platforms); and Chairman of Moonrider (an interactive advertising and content generation company whose platform is used to create engaging “magnetic” HTML5 and iOS experiences for tablets, smartphones, and other interactive devices).  David also serves as a member of the CEO Advisory Board of The Silverfern Group (a merchant bank specializing in buy-side M&A opportunities) and as Chairman of the Advisory Board of FIGHTER Interactive (a transmedia strategy and marketing services company for celebrities and brands).  In recent years, David has served as an Advisor to The SingTel Group (Asia’s leading provider of telecom, data and media services in 25 countries); as a Senior Advisor to Motorola Mobility; as Chairman of EZMO (one of the early cloud-based music social network and storage locker services operating in Europe); as Executive Vice President of Gotuit Media (a leading provider of premium metadata based video tools – since acquired by TiVO via Digitalsmiths); and as an Advisor to others in the content and technology industries.  Earlier in his career, David co-founded and served as Chairman and Co-CEO of Verance (the preeminent audio watermark technology provider used by the motion picture, music, CE and IT industries to protect, manage, and monitor the use of audio and audiovisual content); was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America; was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Wiley & Rein; served as Policy Planning Advisor to the Register of Copyrights for the U.S. Copyright Office; and as an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Miami Law School, and at the Communications Law Institute of the Columbus School of Law (Catholic University).

Thursday, October 20th, 2016

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Track I: Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, 303-304, Webcast

Ultimate TV: The OTT, Cross Platform, Multiscreen Experience - Navigated by Set-top, Mobile Device or Console

Thomas K. Arnold, publisher and editorial director, Home Media Magazine

Robin Wilson, VP of Business Development, NAGRA

Campbell Foster, Director of Product Marketing, Video Solutions, Adobe

Alex Drosin, President - North America, Massive Interactive

Dan Sweeney, VP, Sales & Marketing, Nevelex Corp.

Virginia Juliano, CEO & Founder, CobbleCord

David Leibowitz, Managing Partner, CH Potomac, Moderator

Campbell Foster, Director of Product Marketing, Video Solutions, Adobe: Campbell Foster is director of product marketing for Video Solutions at Adobe, leading global efforts to drive adoption of video engagement, data, optimization, and monetization technologies with Adobe Primetime. He is a published author and researcher, and frequently speaks at industry events on TV Everywhere, video monetization, and IPTV trends and topics.