The Digital Hollywood Experience

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Tuesday, November 12th, 2019

11:10 - 11:50 AM, Film-TV-Production Track - Herscher, Room 303-304

Streaming, OTT & Indie TV - The Gateway to Hollywood Content - Phones, Tablets, TV and PC

Mauricio Rios, Head of Programming and Acquisitions, El Rey Network

Tyler Winton, Vice President, Business Development, TIVO

Fern Feistel, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Content Operations, XUMO

Kayvan Ghavim, Head of Content and Brand Strategy, Vertical Networks

Peter Nordahl-Hansen, Senior Manager, Global Distribution, Studio71, A Red Arrow Studios Company

Michael Thornton, CEO, Orby TV

Jeffrey Thompson, Senior Director, Digital Enterprise, Luxoft, a DXC Technology Company, Moderator

 

Michael Thornton is Chief Executive Officer of Orby TV, a new satellite pay TV service provider in the United States. Thornton is responsible for the strategic vision and direction for the company, conceived as a pay TV alternative with high programming value, the flexibility of pay-as-you-go pricing, and without the need for a high-speed broadband connection. Thornton previously served as Chief Revenue Officer for Starz where he was responsible for revenue growth, affiliate distribution and multiplatform programming acquisitions for the Starz Networks pay television business and oversaw the major Starz

Distribution divisions (Anchor Bay Entertainment, Starz Worldwide Distribution, and Starz Digital). First hired by Starz in 2011 as Executive Vice President, Acquisitions, Business and Legal Affairs, Thornton was responsible for programming acquisitions and associated distribution and monetization strategies for the seventeen Starz channels, on-demand/online offerings and portfolio of original content. Prior to that, Thornton served in several senior executive positions during his career, most recently at Disney/ABC Domestic Television as Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs since 2005. Thornton oversaw multi-platform strategy and negotiations for post-theatrical distribution of The Walt Disney Studios’ film output and the post-network distribution of ABC Studios’ television product. Prior to that, Thornton was Senior Vice President, Programming Acquisitions for DIRECTV since 1999 where he led programming strategy, including the acquisition of all on-air acquired and original programming, and successfully negotiated numerous network, local broadcast station, sports subscription, and one-off event deals.

 

Mauricio Rios, Head of Programming and Acquisitions, El Rey Network: With 20 years of extensive programming experience encompassing international, U.S. Hispanic and English language television, Mauricio Rios serves as the VP of Programming and Acquisitions at El Rey Network, the Latino infused entertainment brand founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.  In his role, Mauricio leads the acquisitions, program planning and scheduling strategy for the linear channel as well as its VOD content offering.  Prior to joining El Rey Network, Mauricio served as the Director of Scheduling Strategy at Universo Channel, the modern entertainment and sports cable channel for U.S. Hispanics, part of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.  There, he executed the short- and long-term program planning and scheduling strategy of the channel, including working with NBCU’s Product Development team to ensure schedules for vMVPDs met content requirements.   Mauricio also held the position of Director of Joint Venture Channel Operations at Comcast/NBCUniversal International, a role in which he provided oversight for the programming, marketing, online, on-air, and operational requirements of international Joint Venture channels in Latin America, South Korea, Israel and Canada.  Prior to that role, he worked for Fox Latin American Channel (now Fox Networks Group), holding roles including VP of Programming & Acquisitions and VP of Strategic Development, where he played an instrumental role in the implementation of the company’s ad supported video portal.  Mauricio holds a B.A. in Film & Television from Cal State Northridge and an MBA with a concentration in international business from the University of LaVerne.

 

Peter Nordahl-Hansen is a Senior Manager of Global Distribution at Studio71 with 10 years of experience in entertainment. In his role, Peter structures new partnerships for the company as well as oversees the day to day operations on all current distribution partnerships. Peter is also heavily involved in launching original content including new brands across digital platforms, podcasts, and live-streaming. After several years of working in film and television production in his native country of Norway, Peter moved to the United States to attend the University of Southern California. Prior to joining Studio71, Peter worked in film and television development.

 

Kayvan Ghavim is the Head of Content Development and Brand Strategy at Vertical Networks, the world’s leading mobile-first content studio that produces daily editorial and video properties driven by real-time insights. In his role, Kayvan leads Vertical Networks content team and executes a data-drivencreative strategy to enhance mobile viewing experiences. Prior to joining Vertical Networks, Kayvan served as the Director of Video at Mashable, where he was responsible for all editorial video content across Mashable’s video channels including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat. Previously, Kayvan was Director of Branded Content at Defy Media, managing branded videos, and Senior Creative Producer at BuzzFeed, producing and directing branded entertainment. Kayvan moved to digital content development after four years in traditional advertising, leading broadcast campaigns for Sony, Microsoft, AT&T, EA and more. Kayvan started his career with CNET, leading entertainment projects, prior to the acquisition by CBS. Kayvan has a B.A. in English Language and Literature/Letters and a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Utah, and an MFA in Motion Picture and Television from Academy of Art University.

 

Tyler Winton, Vice President Business Development, TiVo: Tyler Winton works to connect the media and entertainment industry with transformative technology solutions with a goal of creating the ultimate entertainment experience.  Tyler has engaged the market as a panelist, consultant, account manager, solutions seller and a thought leader.  Currently Tyler is most interested in the ways that data will enable deeper personalization of the entertainment experience.  Tyler holds a Bachelor's degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.

 

Fern Feistel, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Content Operations, XUMO: Fern Feistel serves as XUMO’s SVP of marketing and content operations. In her role, Feistel is focused on achieving overall business objectives, including building new and return audiences across owned and operated, enterprise and extended distribution end-points. Feistel joined XUMO in 2015 and has been promoted twice, most recently serving as VP of marketing, where she continues to be an integral part of the company’s executive management team. During her tenure at XUMO, Feistel has been instrumental in leading cross-departmental strategies and crafting the company’s consumer-facing persona, messaging, mission and offerings. Additionally, she has achieved high visibility objectives that have directly led to a viewership increase of five times while also increasing total hours streamed by more than four times—ultimately tripling XUMO's revenues year over year. Prior to XUMO, Feistel developed, implemented and oversaw the social media division for Bastion Elevate (formerly LFPR), a leading Orange County-based PR firm. At Bastion, Fern led creative, innovative and disruptive social media campaigns for clients across multiple industries. She has also held a number of marketing and sales positions with companies such as House of Sillage and The Orange County Register. Feistel holds a triple major of bachelor’s degrees in business administration with concentrations in marketing, management and international business from Mount Saint Mary’s University.

 

Jeffrey L. Thompson is a media and technology executive who has participated in and led operational, marketing and strategic initiatives across core business functions within the Media, Entertainment and Technology sectors with companies to include The Walt Disney Company, IBM, Conde Nast Entertainment and VC-funded startups such as Shout Factory, RNN TV and Parrot Analytics.  Jeffrey also teaches a course, Introduction to Digital Strategy at UCLA’s John E. Anderson Graduate School of Business.

His past roles include GM/Senior Vice President of RNN TV; VP, Global Business at Walt Disney Motion Picture Group; VP, Global Diversity, Walt Disney Company, VP, Digital Conde Nast Entertainment, VP & Director, Walt Disney Corporate and Associate Partner at IBM.

Jeffrey has recently played a pivotal role in helping media organizations transition to Direct-to-Consumer business models, including operational launch of D-to-C digital channels leveraging OTT platforms.  In addition, Jeffrey has direct experience helping companies like Disney and Conde Nast explore new business models that has helped them navigate the most disruptive period in the Media, Entertainment & Technology sectors in the past 60 years.  This includes leading Disney’s digital transformation, launch of Blu-ray disc and transition to digital streaming products in over 100 markets around the world. In addition, Jeffrey helped lead Conde Nast’s transformation to digital streaming and digital print products beyond the premium print magazine business.

Jeffrey also has the unique distinction of being appointed by The Walt Disney Company’s CEO as the first Global Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, an important role focused on diversifying Disney’s workforce across television, film, theme parks and international operations in addition to diversifying Disney’s content offerings to better target global audiences.

In addition, Jeffrey has been involved in developing operational launch plans

and  strategic initiatives for entrepreneurial startups in the media sector. Specifically, Jeffrey has been involved with three startups focused on disrupting current business models by advancing content distribution, social platforms, streaming content, content monetization and improving the ability to monetize content in US & global

markets.  These include leading edge marketing, product distribution and operational use cases integrating technologies that will continue to reshape the M&E landscape, including: analytics, artificial intelligence/machine learning, content management, rights management and meta-data management.