Tuesday, May 21st, 2019

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Track I: Finance - Film-TV-Production Track - Haas, Rm. 172 & 173: Webcast

VCs, Private Equity and Corporate Investments: The Funding and Accelerating the Content and Technology Marketplace

Schuyler M. Moore, Partner, Greenberg Glusker

Zach Katz, CEO, Raised In Space Enterprises

Christopher G. Howland, Vice President | Entertainment Industries Division, PACIFIC MERCANTILE BANK

Gregory Bedrosian, Managing Partner & CEO, Drake Star Partners

Megan Jones, Attorney, Withers Bergman LLP

Paul Hanson, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Covert Media

Moderator - Mike Vorhaus, CEO, Vorhaus Advisors

Zach Katz, CEO, Raised In Space Enterprises: Raised In Space is music/tech investment group focused on raising the value of music. Raised In Space shepherds extraordinary entrepreneurs creating solutions for the music value chain by providing sophisticated industry intelligence and hands-on guidance, making investments that range from 500K to 5MM. Raised In Space is a partnership between Ripple’s Xpring, Founder of Ithaca Holdings/Music Manager Scooter Braun, Industry Vet Zach Katz and Forbes 30 Under 30 Tech/Music Entrepreneur Shara Senderoff. Zach Katz is also the former, president, repertoire and marketing, BMG US, spearheads both recordings and music

publishing. Katz and his team are in charge of BMG US rosters including chart-topping recording artists such as Jason Aldean, Lil Dicky, A Perfect Circle, Blink-182, Janet Jackson, Derez Deshaun, Alabama, Iron Maiden, Avril Lavigne, Scarface and many others. They also look after the songwriting careers as music publishers of A-list song writers such as Bruno Mars, Bebe Rexha, Poo Bear, DJ Khaled, will.i.am, DJ Snake, John Legend, Pitbull, Frank Ocean and Quincy Jones.  While currently based in BMG’s Los Angeles office, Katz is also responsible for BMG teams in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville as well as Rise Records in Portland, Oregon. Katz began his career at BMG in 2012 as EVP of Creative. He then expanded his responsibility to the role of  BMG’s US Chief Creative Officer, followed by a promotion to US President of Music Publishing.  Shortly thereafter, Katz took the leading US position as the President of Repertoire and Marketing. Katz brought BMG a run of chart success which boosted the company’s market share to diuble digits and continues leading the company to new milestones today. Key signings Katz has overseen include Janet Jackson, Blink 182, Lil Dicky, Avril Lavigne, Perfect Circle, Alice In Chains, DJ Khaled, Bebe Rexha, DJ Snake, Bibi Bourelly, The Strokes, Greg Wells, Gente De Zona, Pitbull and Nathaniel Rateliff. He currently serves on the National Music Publishers' Association Board of Directors and ASCAP’s Board Of Directors. Prior to BMG, Katz co-founded record label Beluga Heights with his client/partner JR Rotem, where they scored multi-million dollar album sales and tens of millions of singles sales with artists including Jason Derulo and Sean Kingston. Previously, Katz served as music manager for numerous artists, producer and writers. He began his career in 1996 as a music attorney. Katz was born in Moscow, Russia and immigrated to the US in 1979 with his family.

Paul Hanson is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Covert Media, an independent feature production, financing, and distribution company. He serves as producer on all the company’s titles including the recently announced The Ice Cream Man, the star-studded Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts and Clive Owen, and Resurface which is being produced alongside Broken Road Productions. Projects released during Paul’s tenure at Annapurna include American Hustle, Joy, Foxcatcher, Sausage Party and Spike Jonze’s Her. Paul also managed QED’s slate of notable projects including District 9, Fading Gigolo, and Oliver Stone’s W.

Gregory Bedrosian is Managing Partner & CEO of Drake Star Partners. Gregory is an award-winning, seasoned investment banker and private equity investor whose experience spans both domestic and cross-border M&A and private equity transactions across the US, Europe and emerging markets.  Amongst his numerous honors, Gregory received the 2016 M&A Advisor Leadership Award and is an M&A Advisor Hall of Fame inductee. Prior to Drake Star Partners, Gregory was a co-founder of Renaissance Capital, a leading investment bank focused on the emerging markets of Russia, Eastern Europe and Africa and co-founder and General Partner of The Sputnik Funds, a $1 billion private equity investment firm. Gregory began his career in the merchant banking department of Credit Suisse First Boston in London and the leveraged buyout group of Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup) in New York. Gregory is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and he is a regular speaker and panelist at leading industry and academic forums. He has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards across the US and Europe. He is currently an Advisor at the Harvard Innovation Lab (i-Lab) and sits on the Business Advisory Council of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He also chairs the Investment Committee of a $100 million New York-based foundation and sits on the Board of a $100 million emerging markets investment fund. He previously served on the Harvard Business School Alumni Board of Directors (Emeritus). Gregory holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Schuyler M. Moore is a partner in the corporate entertainment department of Greenberg Glusker, practicing entertainment, corporate, and tax law. Mr. Moore holds his undergraduate degree from UCLA (Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude) and his law degree also from UCLA (first in class).  Moore has been practicing in the entertainment industry since 1981, and he represents a broad spectrum of clients throughout the entertainment industry, including producers, sales agents, foreign distributors, and financiers.  He has handled some of the largest financing transactions in Hollywood, including Reliance’s investment in DreamWorks, the Ratpac-Dune slate financing for Warner Brothers, the Hemisphere slate financing for Sony and Paramount, and the Hunan Group slate financing for Lions Gate.  He is the author of several books, including The Biz: The Basic Business, legal, and Financial Aspects of the Film Industry, a popular book in its 4th edition, Taxation of the Entertainment Industry, the leading treatise on that topic, and What They Don’t Teach You in Law School.  He was an adjunct professor at both the UCLA Law School and the UCLA Anderson School of Management, teaching Entertainment Law and Finance for many years, and he is a frequent speaker and writer on a wide variety of entertainment subjects. Mr. Moore has been named (a) one of the top 100 entertainment lawyers by the Hollywood Reporter, (b) one of the top 25 entertainment lawyers by Variety, (c) one of the top 100 lawyers in California by the Daily Journal and (d) one of top 3 "Most Influential Lawyers" in media by the National Law Journal.

Megan Jones, is a tax attorney at Withers Bergman LLP. who advises on business, estate planning and complex structuring issues. She has extensive transactional and fundraising experience.  Ms. Jones has both a J.D. and an LL.M. in tax from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Undergraduate work was completed at Pepperdine University. Megan focuses on advising clients on a wide range of tax and other structuring and administrative legal issues.  Having worked as an investment banker for Lazard Freres and Needham & Company, her grasp of financial complexities provides a solid foundation for transactional, valuation or fundraising issues.  She has sold businesses from inside and outside trusts, handling complex partnership, S Corporation or public company issues.  Her expertise includes both domestic and international estate planning.   Megan’s clients include individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Ms. Jones is a member of the Beverly Hills, the San Fernando, the Los Angeles and the American Bar Associations. She is a continuing education instructor for Loyola Law School, CEB, Pincus Professional Education, PFAC and NBI, among other organizations, and speaks at numerous conferences. Ms. Jones is a STEP member, has written three books and has a California real estate broker’s license.  Megan is an education advocate and on the board of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Mike Vorhaus founded Vorhaus Advisors in November 2018.  Previously, Mike worked at Magid for 25 years.  His final role was President, Magid Advisors. Mike founded the Magid Internet practice in 1995 and began the Magid Gaming Practice in 2001. The Magid Internet and  Gaming practices worked with many of the top digital and gaming companies in the U.S. and abroad. Mike provides consulting services focused on strategy, investment opportunities, product development, and marketing to a number of leading digital and gaming companies. He has also provided advice to venture capital and private equity firms in regard to investments in the media and tech spaces. Mike has also been very involved with many start-ups in the digital media and technology industries. Mike focuses on strategic and tactical consulting, including the launch of new services and programming, as well as development and implementation of online and offline programs. Mike has provided many companies with assistance on their early-stage fundraising, as well as business development introductions and advice. Mike is a member of the Board of Directors of Perion (Nasdaq: PERI) and Chairs the Nominations Committee, as well as serving on the Compensation and Audit committees.  Perion is based in Israel and trades on the US Nasdaq, as well as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Mike has appeared regularly on MSNBC, CNBC, CNBC Asia, NPR, and Fox Business.  Mike has regularly been quoted in various newspapers and Websites, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, MarketWatch, TheStreet, and others.  Mike previously wrote a monthly column  for Ad Age. Mike holds a B.S. in psychology and sociology, cum laude,  from Wesleyan University and has worked as a fundraiser and transfer of technology officer at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Mike also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, The U.S. Senate, and as a part-time Advance Man in the Carter and Clinton White Houses. Mike has also consulted on a number of film projects such as You’ve Got Mail and The Matrix. Mike also appeared in Eddie Murphy's movie, Imagine That, and is an active SAG member.