Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Track II: Haas Conference Center, Room 171

Content Strategies in Hollywood: TV - Film - Internet - Branding & Influencers

JR Griffin, Vice President, Digital Marketing & Business Development, FremantleMedia North America

Chris Borelli, Vice President, Brand Partnerships, IMGN Media

Marlina Fletcher, Managing Director, Stink Studios

Mike Esola, CEO & co-founder, Fiction Riot

Elsa Remo, founder, Ramo Law PC, Moderator

Chris Borelli serves as vice president of brand partnerships for IMGN Media, the leading publisher of meme content that drives social conversation and culture. IMGN is home to 12 distinct content brands that super-serve social audiences across cultures and niches, such as hip-hop, esports, slime and Gen Z comedy. The brands have over 30M followers and produce over 1B video views monthly. Borelli is responsible for orchestrating all strategic business partnerships with advertisers, brands and social content producers, developing custom content strategies and procedures to best monetize IMGN’s considerable content channels and educate partners and brands about meme culture. Borelli has extensive experience developing and executing digital media and broadcast

partnerships, with a specialty in content strategy and event integrations and activations. Prior to joining IMGN Media, Borelli was director of corporate sales and partnerships at media broadcast company Urban One where he orchestrated national broadcast media campaigns with the company’s top partners. His previous experience includes sales management roles at Emmis Communications and iHeart Media where he built and managed successful sales and business development staffs. Borelli began his career in sales and partnerships at CBS Radio and also worked in promotions at Zenith Media.

JR Griffin, Vice President, Digital Marketing & Business Development, FremantleMedia North America (FMNA): JR Griffin is the Vice President of Digital Marketing & Business Development at FremantleMedia North America (FMNA).  In this role, he is responsible for digital integrations and extensions for hit FMNA shows such as America's Got Talent, American Idol, Family Feud, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, and American Gods. JR is a publishing and digital media executive with over a decade of new media and web content development, programming and management experience. Whether it be through stimulating viewer engagement, creating innovative digital content, or forming groundbreaking partnerships, JR has been a leader in amplifying FMNA’s social TV presence, and finding unique ways for the company’s formats to evolve and have a presence on multiple platforms. His work on American Idol and America's Got Talent has produced multiple worldwide firsts, including the debut of Google Search Voting, live coast-to-coast voting, and live-streamed audition partnerships on platforms such as YouNow and Live.ly. JR has also been instrumental in creating digital activations for numerous game show properties and other programs that engaged audiences online, and complemented the show's on-air broadcasts. Prior to joining FMNA, JR created and ran the New Media Programming division of NBCUniversal for their E!, Style and G4 networks.  In this role, he oversaw the creation of all video content for each of the networks’ sites and mobile applications, as well as their video syndication businesses, which included signature Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards coverage.

Marlina Fletcher, Managing Director, Stink Studios: Marlina Fletcher is a seasoned brand and marketing veteran who currently serves as the Managing Director at Stink Studios in Los Angeles, California, where she has made significant impact in building the company’s appeal to global brands, driving forward the Stink Studios culture of creativity and innovation, and attracting local talent to their offices. Prior to joining Stink in 2017, she worked in the Global Brand department at Beats and as a Global Digital Producer at Nike.

Mike Esola is the CEO and co-founder of FictionRiot. Previously a Hollywood motion picture literary agent, he developed and represented a network of high-profile filmmakers, directors and writers. In his position as a senior licenced broker at William Morris Endeavour, he contributed to the company’s success while it transitioned from a $500 million valuation to a $5 billion cap through mergers and acquisitions. He later joined United Talent Agency to lead a series of new digital content initiatives. Today Esola holds the agent record for selling the most movie packages in a single year while building careers for A-list creators in film and television. His recognition within Hollywood and his views on the future of the industry have led him to stand on judging panels at numerous international film festivals. In 2018 he co-founded FictionRiot to create new formats for upcoming creators. They are launching with Ficto, a subscription app that embraces technology to deliver immersive entertainment built around mobile.

Elsa Ramo, Managing Partner, Ramo Law PC: Named a game changer and one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders in Law and Finance” by Variety, Elsa Ramo has represented over 90 films and 15 television series in 2017 alone, including 14 that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. Elsa provides comprehensive legal services to producers, financiers, creators and owners of film, television and digital content and projects across a range of budgets and production levels. She established her own law firm to enable up-and- coming filmmakers and producers to bring their stories to life. Her credits include the four Oscar-nominated films, “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Disaster Artist,” “Loving Vincent,” and “Still Alice.” Elsa’s leadership within the legal and entertainment communities extends beyond her successful Beverly Hills firm. She dedicates substantial time to mentoring women though various organizations. Additionally, Elsa is a go-to commentator and instructor on legal issues related to film financing and the entertainment market. Elsa Ramo founded the firm in 2005 on the Universal Studios backlot after several clients approached her to handle their independent productions. Now as managing partner to the firm, she handles client matters as well as manages the firm’s attorneys and packaging and sales department.