Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

9:15 AM - 10:15 AM

Track II: Herscher Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 202

Funding, Start-ups & Angels - Financing the Entertainment, Tech, Education, Wellness & Sports Industries

Jen Rudolph, founder, The Actor’s Greenroom

Brian Herskowitz, CCO, Horror Equity Fund

Nicholas Tana, CEO, Smart Media

Keith Newman, Mentor/Advisor, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center

Sydney Armani, President and CEO, Fintech World Group

Gene Massey, Chairman/CEO, MediaShares.com, Moderator

Jen Rudolph, founder, The Actor’s Greenroom: Jen has always had a passion for helping actors succeed. She spent the first 10 years of her career as a casting director under the tutelage of Jeff Mitchell and eventually became a partner at Mitchell/Rudolph Casting. Jen has cast over 40 films and television shows and has helped start the careers of such actors as Michelle Monaghan, Kate Bosworth and Ian Somerhalder, While a casting director, Jennifer began teaching audition technique classes and from there created The Actor's Green Room and then ELEVATE and now the 2% Signature System™ which helps actors become part of the 2% who get called in and book. She believes that every actor has an organic spark that if nurtured properly can become something amazing.

Gene Massey is the Chairman/CEO of MediaShares.com, a company holding an issued U.S. Patent for a new and innovative method of Crowdfunding that enables any company to sell its stock on its own Website or Facebook page. Known as the "Social Media IPO," MediaShares' Crowdfunding methodology can be used in any company's IPO and is fully-compliant with SEC rules that now make it possible to advertise and market a company's stock through social media and even sell to non-accredited investors. MediaShares uses Direct Registration, a process that enables companies that already have online fans, customers, or affinity groups to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others to get the funding they need by selling their shares directly to their online communities. This process is known as 'Crowdfunding." MediaShares' subsidiary, CinemaShares.com, is an innovative film financing company that uses this methodology for building massive online communities around movies. CinemaShares licenses its U.S. patented platform to film production companies who sell single shares of stock to online movie fans and offer a DVD or digital download as a stock dividend. In addition to his expertise in securities, Gene Massey is also known as an Internet Marketing Consultant, with extensive experience in Social Media Marketing and the Branding of Retail products online. In the past Gene has owned and operated a Los Angeles-based advertising and marketing company. From 1990 to 1997 Gene worked personally with Ely Callaway, Chairman/CEO of Callaway Golf, creating over four hundred television commercials that introduced and promoted the "Big Bertha" line of golf clubs. During the period of time that Gene worked with Callaway, their total sales increased from $21 million in 1990 to $843 million in 1997.

Keith Newman, Mentor/Advisor, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center: Keith Newman is an active angel investor, startup advisor and experienced business builder via strategic partnerships with major brands, technology firms and services firms that accelerate revenue and customer growth. Working with Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center in SF and worldwide to develop programs and services to support and develop the next generation of entrepreneurs. Recent engagements: Nasdaq E-C, ReCode/VOX, PowerCloud (sold to Comcast) and others.

Sydney Armani, President and CEO, Fintech World Group: Sydney Armani has more than twenty-five years’ experience in Silicon Valley, active in the community as an entrepreneur as well as an investor. Sydney’s vision and expertise for starting and managing innovative companies have sparked and nurtured the great success of Hello Net (a mobile telephony appliance service), Minitel, and Videotex (an online first-generation of touchscreen tablets). His international experience in the trade and International banking takes him around the world to projects, including OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) for free trade with business engagement in Asia, Europe, and UAE’s Dubai. He has been an active keynote speaker and moderator at conferences and plenary sessions on Blockchain, Technology, Real Estate crowd finance, Cryptocurrency capital, and digital markets, secondary liquidity, disruption in banking and a host of other topics. He has lectured at major universities such as Georgetown, NYU, Hult International Business School, "Běiwài" University, Beijing, VIA Technologies, PARIS. while authoring articles for or being interviewed by INC Magazine, Housing Wire, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, CNBC, Bloomberg, and others.

Nicholas Tana, CEO, Smart Media: Writer, producer, and director, Nicholas Tana, is the CEO of Smart Media, which creates original entertaining content for both traditional and new media platforms. In the past five years, Tana has managed to turn his cat, his camera, and his apartment into an award-winning web-series called Hell's Kitty, which as a franchise became a comic book, a feature film. Hell's Kitty recently premiered as a musical in June 2019 to rave reviews as part of Hollywood Fringe Festival. His debut film, Sticky: A (Self) Love Story, distributed by Vision Films, Inc. and starring Janeane Garofalo and Larry Flynt, was both a top seller and Amazon award winner in 2016. Sticky recently screened at Harvard and was featured in articles by Newsweek, New York Magazine,Salon, and the Daily Beast. For years, Tana has straddled the line between entertainment and technology having worked as an Associate Director for ESPN International, and an IT consultant for Twentieth Century Fox in TV Distribution and NFL's Digital Media. As a writer, he was recently offered an option for his feature length psychological thriller CONTROL from EFG-Renascence Productions and is currently in development on several TV and feature film projects and was hired by Disney Publishing in 2018 to write a prequel story to SNOW WHITE.

Brian Herskowitz Is the CCO of Horror Equity Fund (HEF).  An exciting, innovative platform designed to help the Independent horror film maker finance their projects through an SEC compliant equity internet based funding platform.  HEF's first feature, STAR LEAF (Co-EP) available now on Itunes has garnered rave revues, and their second feature, ZBURBS, is currently awaiting distribution with Nandar Entertainment, with another dozen films and transmedia projects in the wings. As a writer, Brian has completed well over a dozen feature films. His first screenplay KAMI HITO E (THE THIN LINE) was based on his experience as an international Judo champion training in Tokyo.  From there he continued to write and his first produced feature was a low budget slasher titled DARKROOM. He wrote and directed the award winning short film ODESSA OR BUST starring SEINFELD’S Jason Alexander, ACADEMY AWARD WINNER Red Buttons, and RUSHMORE’S Jason Schwartzman. Brian wrote, directed, and produced the documentary 1736: SOMEWHERE TO TURN – about a family crisis center for domestic abuse victims, and the short film JOANNE - the story of a woman going through hard economic times and a mid-life crisis. Brian recently took on the duties of Voice Director for the new Animated Children’s series ANNIE SUNBEAM produced by Debbie Margolis-Horwitz. Brian’s theatrical directing credits include the world premieres of I.A.N. (THE ITALIAN AMERICAN NETWORK), CONFESSION AND AVOIDANCE (based on the book of the same name written by his father, prolific biographer Mickey Herskowitz), JESSICA AND THE COUCH POTATO, the west coast premiere of  SHUFFLE OFF THIS MORTAL BUFFALO, the recent hit CIRCLE OF WILL, and the New York reading of the new Musical LOCH LOMOND. As a writer in TV his credits include a staff writing position on the NBC sit-com BLOSSOM, multiple episodes of the syndicated series HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, and ACAPULCO HEAT, the HBO hit comedy DREAM ON, CBS’s RENEGADE, THE EXILE, MURDER, SHE WROTE, the TV movie MURDER OF MY AUNT, the FOX Network’s YOUNG HERCULES, and CBS’s critically acclaimed was series TOUR OF DUTY (associate producer). Brian co-wrote the FOX pilot MANTIC with Jason Alexander. In addition, he worked as a punch-up writer on BOB PATTERSON, and LISTEN UP. Working with Co-Op Productions in New York (THE GUITAR, THIS REVOLUTION), Brian line produced Candace Bushnell’s web series THE BROADROOM, which starred JENNY GARTH, JENNIFER ESPOSITO, and TALIA BALSAM. As a feature film producer Brian just finished principal photography on UNTIL SOMEONE GETS HURT (co-writer), and BUCKY AND THE SQUIRRELS a comedy from director-writer Allan Katz (M*A*S*H*, BIG MAN ON CAMPUS),  MUSICAL CHAIRS, directed by Susan Seidelman (DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN), TIO PAPI directed by Fro Rojas, which he co-wrote.  He will producing the feature films SUSPENDED and AN INVISIBLE MAN for Scatterbrained Media, and TECHNICAL SUPPORT for director Terri Hanauer. In addition, Brian has several producing/directing duties on the boards including the slacker comedy MARTY AND VAHE TAKE A RIDE, and the HEF supported projects,  SHE FEEDS (Writer-Director), THE WHANGDOODLE (Writer-Director), and CREATURE FEATURE:THE MOVIE MUSICAL (Writer-Director). For the last twenty-five years Brian has taught screenwriting, first with WRITER’S BOOT CAMP, then with UCLA EXTENSIONS, and for the last nine years he has held the post of Lead Faculty for the prestigious BOSTON UNIVERSITY in LOS ANGELES WRITER IN HOLLYWOOD graduate degree program.  For five years he was a guest speaker/lecturer at the SCREENWRITER'S EXPO, and the video of his lecture on OUTLINING YOUR SCRIPT is still available at The Writer's Store.  He has recently contracted with Hollywood International Film Academy, and LIMS Institute to create and head-up their screenwriting programs.  His script writing textbook, PROCESS TO PRODUCT: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THE SCREENWRITER, is available at Samuel French, on Amazon.com, and for the kindle. Brian is married to actress Gina Hecht (Mork and Mindy, 7 Pounds), has two amazing daughters (both pursuing careers in the Entertainment Industry), and a loving Labradoodle.  In what little spare time he has, Brian, a fifth degree black-belt, teaches Judo and has multiple national and international titles to his credit including the last 5 national championships, as well as a bronze, a silver, and a gold medal in the 2016 World Masters Championships.