IC2012 NYC Participants
| PARTNERS | PARTICIPANTS [A - M] [M-Z] |
Edward H. Meyer
Chairman, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer
Ocean Road Advisors, Inc.
Edward H. Meyer is the chairman, chief executive officer, and chief investment officer of Ocean Road Advisors, Inc., an investment management company. From 1972 to 2006, Meyer served as chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Grey Global Group, Inc., building it into one of the world’s largest communications services groups. Meyer is currently on the board of directors of Harman International, National Cinemedia, Inc., and Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., and a director of The Jim Pattison Group. He is a trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the New York University Medical Center and also a member of the board of trustees of The Film Society of Lincoln Center. A Cornell graduate with honors in economics, Meyer and his wife, Sandy, live in Manhattan.
Jonathan F. Miller
Senior Advisor, Former Chief Digital Officer
News Corporation
Jon Miller is senior advisor for News Corporation and previously the chief digital officer, chairman, and CEO, Digital Media Group for News Corporation. In this role he drove the company’s overall digital strategy in conjunction with various operational heads, while also directly overseeing all of News Corp.’s standalone digital businesses. Prior to News Corporation, Miller was a founding partner of Velocity Interactive Group, an investment firm focusing on digital media and the consumer Internet space. Previously, Miller was chairman and CEO of AOL from 2002 to 2006. Earlier in his career, Miller was CEO and president of USA Information and Services (IAC) and also served as managing director of Nickelodeon International, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks. From 1987-1993, Miller was vice president, programming and cogeneral manager of NBA Entertainment, where he was responsible for league-wide brand management and programming. Miller is a member of the board of directors for Trip Advisor, OpenX Technologies, and Shutterstock. He is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and also serves on the board of directors of the American Film Institute and The Paley Center for Media. Miller resides in New York and holds a BA from Harvard College.
Pat Mitchell
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Paley Center for Media
From network correspondent and producer to president and CEO of PBS to her current position, Pat Mitchell’s career is characterized by her focus on media as a powerful force for social change. Her work has been recognized with forty-four Emmy Awards, five Peabody’s, and two Academy Award nominations. Mitchell has received numerous honors including the Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Leadership, the Women in Cable and Telecommunications Woman of the Year Award, and was a 2008 Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Honoree. Mitchell serves on the boards of the Sundance Institute, the Mayo Clinic, VDAY (a movement to end violence against women), Human Rights Watch, and the Jordan River Foundation’s U.S. board. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Women’s Forum, Mitchell was named to Newsweek's 2011 list of "150 Women Who Shake the World."
Raita Nakashima
General Manager
WOWOW
Raita Nakashima is general manager for business and legal affairs for the corporate strategy division at WOWOW INC., the leading company in satellite broadcasting and the number one premium pay channel in Japan. Prior to this he was deputy general manager for WOWOW’s media strategy division and before that, deputy general manager of the programming division. He received his MA in journalism from Doshisha University.
Steve Newhouse
Executive
Advance Publications
Steve Newhouse, is a member of the publishing family that controls Advance Publications, a diversified media company. Born in New York, he was educated at Yale University. After his graduation in 1979, he began working in news departments, starting with the Portland Oregonian, where he wrote obituaries and covered the police beat. In 1982, he became associate editor of The Jersey Journal, a 50,000 circulation daily in Hudson County, New Jersey. A year later, he was named editor, and served for 10 years. Since 1993, Newhouse has worked in a variety of corporate jobs, with an emphasis on publishing on the Internet. He was involved in the launch of New Jersey Online one of the first newspaper-related web sites to appear on the Web. He also helped start Epicurious, a food and recipe site featuring content from Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines, and Style.com the leading fashion and beauty site on the Web. Currently, he holds the title of chairman of Advance.net, the holding company for Advance Publications’ national and local Internet efforts. Advance Publications is made up of a newspaper group with 26 daily newspapers and numerous weekly newspapers, American City Business Journals, Conde Nast Publications, Parade Publications, Fairchild Publications, and a cable television company. Newhouse is married to Gina Sanders, publisher of Lucky magazine. They live in New York City with their two children: Robert, 15 and Kate, 12.
Rob Norman
Global Chief Digital Officer
GroupM
Rob Norman is the global chief digital officer of GroupM, the largest buyer of advertising media in the world and a subsidiary of WPP. GroupM invests in excess of $80 billion on behalf of its clients annually. Norman has worked in digital media since 1994. He moved to the US in 2004 and has spent the last two decades observing and interpreting for advertisers the growth of broadband, e-commerce, the digital delivery of all media, and more recently the phenomena of social media and the growing penetration of smart phones and tablets. Today GroupM invests over $2 billion in search and a further $8 billion in online display, mobile, and video advertising and is at the forefront of programmatic media trading which is creating efficiencies in targeting and challenging the relationship between advertising and the context in which it appears. Norman is a member of the Facebook Client Council, a director of the 4A’s and the Mobile Marketing Association, and is a member of the advisory boards of a number of digital media companies and venture capital funds. Norman is a fan of the Mets, Tottenham Hotspur, and a proud grower of vegetables in West Cornwall Connecticut.
Katherine Oliver
Commissioner
New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment
Katherine Oliver is the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which consists of the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, NYC Media, and NYC Digital. The agency’s mission is to streamline government communications by making information accessible, leveraging technology to aid in the transparency of government, and by supporting relevant media and entertainment industries in New York City. NYC Media is the official TV, radio, and online network of the City of New York, informing, educating, and entertaining New Yorkers about the City. NYC Digital's mission is to realize New York City's potential as the world's leading digital city and is guided by the Road Map for the Digital City, a comprehensive plan focusing on access, open government, engagement, and industry. The Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting provides premiere customer service to production companies and facilitates production throughout the five boroughs. Oliver was appointed commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting on August 1, 2002, and has overseen NYC Media since April 2009. She has also worked to diversify the City’s entertainment industry through career panels, educational initiatives, and community outreach, including the “Made in NY” production assistant training program. Developed in partnership with the non-profit organization Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, this program trains diverse New Yorkers in entry-level production jobs. Prior to her appointment, Oliver served as general manager of Bloomberg Radio and Television. She has also worked as a radio and television reporter for Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial News Network, WABC Radio, 1010 WINS, and WBGO; and taught a journalism course at New York University.
Ahmet M. Oren
Chief Executive Officer
Ihlas Holding
Ahmet M. Oren established TGRT-TV in 1993 as one of the first private channels in Turkey. As Ihlas focused its television operations on its 24-hour news channel, Oren sold TGRT to News Corporation in 2006 - the first major foreign acquisition in the Turkish TV industry. IHA, an indispensable news and service provider for the international media out of the world’s hotspots, is another example of Oren’s achievements. He also oversees Ihlas operations in construction and energy. He serves on the board of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is also a board member of the Atlantic Council. He is a member of the World Economic Forum and the American-Turkish Council. Oren was appointed as the Honorary Consul of Republic of Latvia in New York State. Born in 1972 in Istanbul, Oren is a citizen of the United States and Turkey.
Bruce L. Paisner
President and Chief Executive Officer
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Bruce L. Paisner is a television executive and producer who, over the course of his career, has become a leading spokesperson and advocate for television industry issues around the world. He is currently employed as advisor to the chief executive officer of Hearst Corporation and serves on the boards of Hearst’s Cosmopolitan TV Channels in Spain, Latin America, and Canada. He is also president and chief executive officer of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which recognizes excellence in international television programming with The International Emmy® Award.
Reed Phillips
Managing Partner
DeSilva + Phillips
Reed Phillips cofounded DeSilva + Phillips, a leading boutique M&A firm focused on media, marketing, advertising, and information, in 1996. In the 22 years he has worked as a media investment banker, he has completed more than 185 transactions with companies such as ABRY Partners, Bonnier Corporation, Condé Nast, Dow Jones, News Corporation, The New York Times, Rodale, Shamrock Holdings, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), Time Inc., WPP, and Ziff Davis. He is often called upon to comment on the media industry by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, Financial Times, NPR, Bloomberg TV, and Vanity Fair and has published articles in Harvard Business Review online, TheDeal.com, AdvertisingAge.com, The Washington Post, and The Washington Monthly. Phillips is on the business advisory council of ProPublica, the independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Foreign Policy Association. He is a graduate of Duke University.
Marty Pompadur
Global Vice Chairman, Media and Entertainment
Macquarie Capital
Marty Pompadur graduated from Williams College and the University of Michigan Law School. In 1960 he joined American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (ABC) and remained at ABC for 17 years. While at ABC, he was a member of the board of directors and held the positions of general manager of the television network; vice president of the broadcast division and president of the leisure activities group. Pompadur left ABC in 1977 and became president of Ziff Corporation. From 1982, until April 2007, he was chairman and chief executive officer of RP Companies' various private and public limited partnerships. In 1998, Pompadur became an executive vice president of News Corporation and president of News Corp Eastern and Central Europe. In 2000, he was appointed chairman of News Corp Europe. In November 2008, Pompadur stepped down as a full-time employee to pursue other business interests. He is a principal owner of Caribbean International News Corporation, which publishes El Vocero, a Spanish language daily newspaper in Puerto Rico; the principal owner of Montana Coffee, a company in the wholesale coffee business in Russia; an investor in Talent Partners, a U.S. payroll company; an investor in Seatwave, a London based ticket reseller; a board member of Nexstar Broadcasting, a publicly listed US television station company, and a board member of IMAX Corporation. Pompadur is now involved in several additional new projects, including global vice chairman, media and entertainment, Macquarie Capital; chairman of Metan Development Group, a company engaged in various media activities in China; and senior advisor to Oliver Wyman.
Sam Powers
Cohead Media, Communications, Internet - Americas
UBS
Sam Powers joined UBS Investment Bank in 1998 and is a managing director in the Media and Communications Group. His primary coverage sectors include cable television providers, cable networks, telecom services, large media conglomerates, and sports teams and leagues. Powers’ transaction experience includes M&A, financing and restructuring assignments for Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Adelphia, Virgin Media, Suddenlink, Viacom, CBS, Bresnan Communications, Susquehanna Media, Patriot Media, SureWest Communications, and Sirius Satellite Radio. Powers has a BA from Yale University. In March 2010, he was named to Multichannel News’ "40 Under 40" list of top individuals in the cable and telecommunications space.
Marvin S. Putnam
Partner
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Marvin Putnam is a partner in O’Melveny’s Century City office, a member of the business trial and litigation practice, and the hiring partner for the Century City office. He has represented clients in numerous industries on a range of issues in trial and appellate courts, both federal and state, throughout the country. A principal focus of his work is the representation of the media in defense of their First Amendment rights. In this capacity, he has handled numerous defamation actions ranging from the answer to the appellate stages. Putnam provides prepublication review for national news, variety, and talk show programs as well as national publications and film and television studios. He has represented, at both the trial and appellate levels, the nation’s largest cable company in a series of federal actions relating to violations of the Federal Communications Act, international media entities in numerous federal and state defamation and invasion-of-privacy matters, film and television concerns requiring a First Amendment defense, journalists in numerous reporters’ privilege subpoena actions, and media entities seeking both court and legislative access. Putnam served as counsel in a highly publicized trial of an invasion-of-privacy claim brought against the distributor of a reality television series – the outcome of which the National Law Journal deemed one of the ten most significant defense verdicts of the year.
Marcus Vinicius Ribiero
Principal
Grupo PRISA
Based in New York, Marcus Vinicius Ribeiro joined PRISA’s executive team in January 2012. Previously, he was the chief operating officer and head of the corporate and legal affairs department of Violy & Co., an M&A investment banking boutique and strategic financial advisory firm with a unique expertise in Ibero-American markets. Ribeiro is a federal attorney (Procurador Federal) – associate attorney general for Brazil. He has a law degree from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He began his career as an investment banker working as a vice president for Santander Investment Securities in the equity capital markets – corporate finance group in New York. After, he joined the North State Group as a managing director. He also worked for the LMDC on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, coordinating government, international relations, and community affairs. In July 2005, Marcus Ribeiro received the Brazilian Federal Attorneys’ Association Medal of Honor for his continuous outstanding work representing the government in legal matters. He is a board member of the Brazil Foundation, a public nonprofit organization that provides financial and technical support to local Brazilian nonprofits in their pursuit of a more equitable society. He participated on the jury selection for the Rita Hauser award – Americans for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), where he still contributes with his work. Ribeiro is also a board member of the Lakay Pam Foundation and the Community-Word Project. He served as the director of international relations for the social project of Rock in Rio, the largest for profit music festival in the world, with an international social arm. Ribeiro is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association, of the Brazilian Federal Attorneys’ Association and the Brazil American Chamber of Commerce in New York. In September 2010 he was chosen one of the "100 most influential Brazilians in New York" by Vogue Brazil magazine.
J. Max Robins
Vice President and Executive Director, Media Council and International Council
The Paley Center for Media
J. Max Robins was appointed vice president and executive director of the Paley Center’s Media Council and International Council in 2008. He comes to the Media Council from Broadcasting & Cable where most recently he served as editor in chief, overseeing all editorial content for print, the Web, and conferences. During his tenure, Robins supervised a redesign of the magazine, as well as the successful launch of print, digital specials, and e-newsletters. He also wrote a popular weekly column covering all aspects of the media landscape, from the state of network news to the industry’s forays into mobile and broadband technologies. Under his leadership, Broadcasting & Cable received numerous accolades, including honors from The Trade Association of Business Publications and the Society of Publication Designers. Prior to Broadcasting & Cable, Robins was a senior editor at TV Guide for seven years where his weekly column “The Robins Report” became known for its keen analysis and breaking news stories. He also spent six years as a TV editor and columnist for Variety, writing extensively on the networks, the production community, advertising, cable, regulatory policy, and new media. Robins has written for numerous publications, and is a frequent guest on several TV and radio programs. He has appeared on CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Charlie Rose, and all the major cable news networks. In addition, he has provided commentary on public radio’s All Thing Considered, On the Media, and Morning Edition, among others. Robins is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Columbia University graduate school of journalism.
Avner Ronen
Founder and CEO
Boxee
Avner Ronen is the founder and CEO of Boxee, a freeware media player software platform. Prior to founding Boxee, Avner cofounded Odigo, an instant messaging service. Avner worked with the Odigo team from its founding in 1998 until its purchase by Comverse in 2002 for $20 million. Avner stayed on with Comverse as the vice president, corporate strategy and business development until early 2007.
Ricardo Salinas
Founder and Chairman
Grupo Salinas
Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego is a corporate leader focused on increasing the value of businesses and their dynamic and efficient execution. As chairman of the board of Grupo Salinas, he supports competitive market structures, free trade, and deregulation. Salinas became chief executive officer of Elektra in 1987, when the company had less than sixty stores and was facing bankruptcy following the devaluation of the peso. Salinas directed Elektra to its basic products: appliances, electronics, and furniture. He reinstated credit sales with careful risk management programs and began offering other financial products and services, including money transfers through an alliance with Western Union. Through organic expansion and purchases of other retail businesses, in just a few years, Salinas transformed Grupo Elektra into Mexico’s largest specialty retailer. He serves as chairman of Grupo Elektra, which currently has over 2,000 points of sale and operations in eight countries throughout the Americas. He also positioned Grupo Elektra as one of the largest financial services firms in the country, with the launch in 2002 of Banco Azteca and subsequent expansion in Mexico and Latin America. Financial services were expanded in 2003 with Afore Azteca pension fund management operations and later Seguros Azteca microinsurance. All of the financial services of Grupo Salinas are targeted toward bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers. Salinas is also chairman of TV Azteca, which was founded in 1993. Under his leadership, TV Azteca ended Mexico’s long-standing television monopoly through the successful nationwide positioning of Azteca 13 and Azteca 7 networks. In 2001, TV Azteca launched Azteca America, the fastest growing network in the United States. Salinas seeks value in high-growth industries, as well as highly recognized managers; and through Grupo Salinas, he generates synergies and shares strategies to achieve superior growth. Grupo Salinas companies generate wealth for employees and shareholders and value for consumers, while at the same time promoting cultural and community values.
Takahiro Sakai
Assistant Director, Media Strategy
WOWOW
Takahiro Sakai is assistant director of the media strategy department in the corporate strategy division of WOWOW, where his focus is new media business development. Sakai has been at WOWOW since 2010 where he started as a project manager in the engineering division. Previously, he worked as senior director of promotions at Japanet Takata, one of the largest teleshopping companies in Japan, and as a project manager and digital content producer for Nippon Television Network Corp. Sakai is a graduate of the Tsukuba University School of Information Science.
Geoffrey Sands
Director and Leader, North American Media and Entertainment
McKinsey & Company
A trustee of Paley since 2006, Geoffrey Sands is a director at McKinsey & Company and heads its global media, entertainment, and information practice in North America. For over 25 years, he has been working with major media, technology, and marketing companies to increase growth, profitability, and organization effectiveness. He is also a trustee of the Sundance Institute, Thirteen/WNET, and since 2009 has served as chairman of the board of PBS. He is also industry advisor to the World Economic Forum’s Media & Entertainment Governors’ Council. Sands received his BA and MBA degrees from Yale University.
Miral Sattar
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
BiblioCrunch
Miral Sattar is founder and CEO of BiblioCrunch, an award-winning services platform for bloggers, journalists, and authors who want to seamlessly publish their stories in eBook format. The platform brokers the interaction between a community of rated and reviewed publishers, authors, designers, editors, proofreaders, conversion specialists, marketers, and enhanced eBook experts to help create exceptional digital books. She is also the founder of Divanee, the leading South Asian news and entertainment site in the US. She has worked in the media industry for 11 years, most recently at TIME where she launched several digital initiatives including an iPad and mobile site, mobile apps, a video and podcast channel, blogs, and SEO. Her writing has been featured in TIME, CNN, NY Daily News, among other media publications. She has a MS in publishing (digital + print media) from NYU and a BS from Columbia University in electrical engineering and computer Science. You can follow her on Twitter @miralsattar.
Herb Scannell
President, BBC America
BBC Worldwide
As president, BBC Worldwide, America, Herb Scannell is responsible for growing the BBC brand and the business across all divisions in the US, the BBC’s largest market outside the UK. He also sits on BBC Worldwide’s executive board. His responsibilities in the US include flagship cable channel BBC AMERICA in over 77 million homes and BBC AMERICA HD, BBC Worldwide Productions (producers of the hugely successful series Dancing with the Stars), BBC.com, sales and distribution including digital syndication, and consumer products. He also oversees the exploitation of BBC Worldwide’s global brands in the US including Top Gear, Doctor Who, and the natural history brand BBC Earth. Prior to joining the BBC, Scannell spent much of his career at Viacom. As vice chairman of MTV Networks and president of Nickelodeon Networks, he oversaw all creative and business operations for a portfolio of brands including Nickelodeon, the number one rated network in cable TV for 10 years running, TV Land, the cable home of classic TV, and Spike TV, America’s first network for men. In addition he was responsible for a suite of digital networks including preschool channel Noggin, as well as online offerings, a successful feature film division and Viacom’s consumer products division, which grew into the third largest licensing business in the world under his watch. After becoming president of Nickelodeon in 1996, he successfully expanded Nickelodeon’s brand into feature films, consumer products, magazines, online, live theatrical shows, and built the first new animation studio in Los Angeles in 40 years, creating hits including Spongebob Squarepants, Hey Arnold, and Fairly Odd Parents. Prior to joining Nickelodeon and MTV Networks, he held various marketing and promotional positions in pay TV at The Movie Channel and Showtime. In 2006 he left Viacom to launch Next New Networks, a company set up to produce and distribute micro-television networks targeting niche communities on the Internet. Scannell was CEO through 2008 and became chairman of the board. The company was sold to Google/YouTube in 2011. He is also chairman of the board of WNYC, New York City’s public radio station and serves on the board of Ballet Hispanico, a leading Hispanic dance and cultural institution based in the city. He’s a graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts. Married to Sarah Reetz, they are parents to two young girls and reside in New York City.
Vivian Schiller
Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer
NBC News
As senior vice president and chief digital officer at NBC News, Vivian Schiller leads the digital strategy for both NBC News and MSNBC to ensure future growth and innovation. She joined NBC in July of 2011. Her responsibilities include strategic oversight of the network’s digital extensions on the web, in mobile and social media, the network’s new emerging properties such as NBCLatino.com and theGrio.com, and represents NBC News to the joint venture with Microsoft that oversees the Msnbc.com digital network. In addition to her role as chief digital officer, Schiller oversees NBC News’ education initiatives—NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, and Education Nation, NBC News’ initiative to engage the country in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in America. This includes oversight of partnerships, tour events, an annual national summit and EducationNation.com. She also represents NBC News on the board of Msnbc.com digital network and the board of The Weather Channel. Schiller was most recently president and CEO of NPR, leading all of NPR's worldwide media operations, including the organization's partnerships with a network of more than 900 public radio stations. During her tenure, NPR received the highest honors in excellence in journalism, grew its audience by double digits, and earned recognition in the mobile and digital space. Prior to joining NPR, Schiller served at The New York Times Company as senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. Schiller led the day-to-day operations of NYTimes.com, the largest newspaper website on the Internet, overseeing product, technology, marketing, classifieds, strategic planning, and business development. Previously, Schiller spent four years as senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications. Schiller launched the network, and under her leadership, Discovery Times channel tripled its distribution while achieving critical acclaim for its award winning journalistic programming. Schiller also served as the head of CNN Productions, where she led CNN's long-form programming efforts. Documentaries and series produced under her auspices earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys. Schiller resides in Bethesda, MD, with her husband and two children.
Mark Scott
Managing Director
Austrailian Broadcasting Company
Mark Scott was appointed managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in July 2006, which was extended in July 2011 for another five years. Under his leadership, the ABC has dramatically expanded its services and its reach, with an annual budget of $1.1 billion. Operating on the principle that media organizations must adapt or die in an era of massive technological change, Scott has transformed the structure and operation of the ABC. It now has a well-deserved reputation as a multi-platform innovator, providing content to audiences on the devices they want and in a format and at a time they prefer. The ABC now provides Australia’s most comprehensive array of digital media services including four national radio networks and 60 local stations, four public television channels with on-demand service “iview,” expanding online operations including The Drum, and an extensive international broadcasting arm. Each week, about three quarters of Australians aged over 18 use these services. Scott has championed the shift inside the ABC from a process-based culture to one that emphasizes the values of respect, integrity, collegiality, and innovation. Before joining the ABC, Scott served 12 years in a variety of editorial and executive positions with Fairfax Media, editorial director of the Fairfax newspaper and magazine division, and editor in chief of metropolitan, regional, and community newspapers. Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts, diploma in education, and Master of Arts from the University of Sydney and a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University.
Neal Shenoy
Founding Partner, [212]MEDIA
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, Speakaboos
Neal Shenoy is a founding partner at [212]MEDIA which builds consumer media ventures in fragmented markets alongside major media companies. Shenoy cofounded each of the [212]MEDIA portfolio companies and currently serves as CEO and publisher of Speakaboos, a multi-platform subscription service for children’s interactive storybooks. [212]MEDIA and its ventures have been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, TIME, Variety, MSNBC, and CNN for their innovative approach to building industry-leading businesses. As CEO of Speakaboos, Shenoy manages the company’s purpose and vision, sets the strategy and execution plan, recruits talent to join the Speakaboos team, and manages strategic relationships with investors and partners. Shenoy is responsible for recruiting and managing a management team and advisors with deep industry expertise across organizations such as Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, PBS Kids, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Barnes & Noble, and Leapfrog. He has helped guide Speakaboos to be one of the largest, fastest growing, and most promising platforms for interactive children’s books, earning recognition from the Aspen Institute, American Library Association, Education World, and National Education Association. Shenoy is also cofounder of Saavn, the largest digital service for South Asian music in the world. Saavn serves several million consumers on the award-winning Saavn.com Website as well as its Android, iOS, Chrome, and Java mobile applications. Prior to [212]MEDIA, Shenoy was cofounder and president of Simile, a contextual advertising platform that served customers in media and publishing such as Time Inc., Cox, and McClatchy. Shenoy began his career as an investment banker at an upstart unit of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette that advised media and telecom companies. Shenoy earned a BS/FS in international relations at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he served as the president of the School of Foreign Service Academic Council and received the prestigious Dean’s Citation for excellence in academics and leadership.
Stanley S. Shuman
Managing Director
Allen & Company LLC
Stanley Shuman is a managing director of Allen & Company LLC, investment bankers, where he has been associated since 1961. He serves or has served as a director of numerous private and public companies, currently including, News America, The News Corporation Limited (Emeritus), and SESAC, Inc. Shuman is also the chairman of the advisory board and a member of the board of advisors of Palamon Capital Partners, a London-based pan-European private equity fund; and is a founding board member of Ripplewood Holdings LLC. Shuman is a trustee of Carnegie Hall, The Markle Foundation, a life trustee of Thirteen/WNET, chairman of The Marc Haas Foundation, trustee emeritus of The National Public Radio Foundation, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and The Economic Club of New York. Appointed by President Clinton in 1995, Shuman served on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) until 2001. From 1977 to 1997 he was a member of the (Emergency) Financial Control Board for New York City, and was a member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Among other interests, he was president of The Wiltwyck School, an honorary trustee of The Dalton School, a trustee emeritus of Phillips Academy, Andover; chairman of the board of visitors of the Terry Sanford Institute of Policy Sciences & Public Affairs at Duke University; served as chairman of the National Economic Development and Law Center; trustee of New York Law School, and is on the executive committee of the Harvard board of overseers’ committee on university resources. Shuman is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School.
Paramdeep Singh
Cofounder and Executive Chairman
Saavn
Paramdeep Singh is the cofounder and executive chairman of Saavn, the leading global South Asian music streaming service. Singh helps keep the company's overall vision and strategy and spends most of his time overseeing all content acquisition, business development, and financial matters of the company. He has been instrumental in sourcing and developing key strategic partnerships with major media, telecom, and technology companies, including T-Series, Saregama, Google, Facebook, HTC, Airtel, Vodaphone, and many more. Singh is a serial entrepreneur with experience in ventures across numerous verticals beyond media and technology, including real estate, retail, and hospitality. He graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University with degrees in international relations, economics, entrepreneurship.
Eric Sorensen
Chief Operating Officer
Sucherman Consulting Group
Erik Sorenson is an equity partner and chief operating officer of Sucherman Consulting Group. Sorenson has been involved in every aspect of the media business, from development to production to management, making him a valuable partner both for the firm’s clients and for the management of the company’s day-to-day operations. His experience spans radio, local and broadcast television, cable and syndicated television, and digital media. He is widely regarded as an expert on media strategy, industry trends, and management best practices. As a writer, producer, and television executive, Sorenson has won more than 20 Emmy awards and a Peabody, among many others. After starting out in radio, Sorenson began his local television career in 1977, becoming the youngest major market news director (at age 28), and later rising to the level of station manager at KCBS-TV in 1987. Two years later, CBS moved Sorenson to New York as executive producer of CBS This Morning and by 1991 he was named executive producer of The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Sorenson went on to create and produce a syndicated program for Group W and CBS (Day & Date), and served as EVP, programming for Court TV. In 1998, Sorenson was named president and GM of MSNBC. For six years, Sorenson managed a staff of more than 500 and led the channel during the Kosovo War, the Bush-Gore 2000 Election, the 9/11 attacks, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sorenson also served on the joint venture board of msnbc.com, then the leading general news site in the United States. After leaving NBC in 2004, Sorenson formed a production company and for three years was CEO of Triple Threat Television which produced programs for ESPN, TLC, MTV, and CNBC. In October 2007, Sorenson was named CEO of Vault.com and charged with growing the website and online business into a global, cross-platform leader within the highly competitive career space. In January 2010, Sorenson became non-executive chairman of Vault.com’s board of directors. Sorenson earned his BA from the University of Wisconsin and also attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Sorenson attended one year of law school before devoting himself full-time to his television career and he was awarded an executive black belt in Six Sigma business management strategy from GE in 2003. He is the chairman of the board of trustees of Children’s Aid and Family Services of New Jersey and serves on the president’s council of the Valley Hospital Healthcare System.
Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr.
Chairman, The New York Times Company
Publisher, The New York Times
Arthur Sulzberger was named chairman of The New York Times Company in 1997. He became publisher of The New York Times in 1992 and continues to run the company’s flagship enterprise on a day-to-day basis. Over the past decade, he has shaped and implemented innovative print and online initiatives that are enabling the company to compete successfully in the 21st century global media marketplace. These include transforming The Times into a national newspaper, leading the digital transformation of the Times Company (which includes NYTimes.com, a top-five global news and information site, BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com, About.com and IHT.com), and acquiring the International Herald Tribune. During Sulzberger’s tenure as publisher, The Times has earned 46 Pulitzer Prizes and provided its readers with innumerable examples of momentous journalism. Before coming to The Times, Sulzberger was a reporter with The Raleigh (N.C.) Times from 1974 to 1976, and a London correspondent for The Associated Press from 1976 to 1978. He joined The Times in 1978 as a correspondent in its Washington bureau. He moved to New York as a metro reporter in 1981 and was appointed assistant metro editor later that year. From 1983 to 1987, he worked in a variety of business departments, including production and corporate planning. In January 1987, he was named assistant publisher and, a year later, deputy publisher, overseeing the news and business departments. In both capacities, he was involved in planning The Times' automated color printing and distribution facilities in Edison, N.J., and at College Point in Queens, N.Y., as well as the creation of the six-section color newspaper. Sulzberger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Tufts University in 1974. He is also a 1985 graduate of the Harvard Business School's program for management development.
Mark Suster
Partner
GRP Partners
Mark Suster is a partner at GRP Partners. He joined the firm in 2007 after having previously worked with GRP for nearly eight years as a two-time entrepreneur. Previously, Suster was vice president, product management at Salesforce.com following its acquisition of Koral, where he was founder and CEO. Prior to Koral, Suster was founder and CEO of BuildOnline, the largest independent global content collaboration company focused on the engineering and construction sectors, which was acquired by SWORD Group. Earlier in his career, Suster spent nearly ten years working for Accenture in Europe, Japan, and the US. He received a BA in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He grew up in the US and is also a citizen of the UK. Suster led the investment in Factual and currently sits on the boards of the following companies in GRP's portfolio: Ad.ly, Awe.sm, Burstly, Factual, GumGum, Pose, and Ring Revenue. You can follow him on Twitter @msuster and read his blog at bothsidesofthetable.com.
Steven R. Swartz
Chief Operating Officer
Hearst Corporation
Steven R. Swartz is chief operating officer of Hearst Corporation. Swartz, a member of the board of directors of Hearst Corporation and a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust, was before his promotion a senior vice president of the Corporation and president of Hearst Newspapers, the operating group responsible for Hearst’s newspapers, local digital marketing services, businesses, and directories. He was executive vice president of the group from 2001 to 2008. Hearst Newspapers employs more than 4,700 people across the nation, and publishes 15 dailies and 36 weeklies in cities including Houston, San Francisco, San Antonio, and Albany. It also operates digital marketing services and directories businesses under the LocalEdge brand. Under Swartz’s leadership, Hearst played a key role in founding the newspaper industry's consortium with Yahoo!, launching the industry's partnership with the online real estate company Zillow, and forming quadrantONE, a national online sales network co-owned by Hearst, The New York Times Company, Gannett, and Tribune. Swartz also led Hearst's acquisition of Metrix4Media, a Texas-based search engine marketing company. Before joining Hearst in 2001, Swartz was president and chief executive of SmartMoney, the magazine, website, and custom publishing business launched by Hearst and News Corp.'s Dow Jones unit. Prior to becoming CEO in 1995, Swartz had been the magazine's founding editor since 1991. Under his leadership, SmartMoney magazine won two National Magazine Awards and was Advertising Age’s "Magazine of the Year." Swartz began his journalism career as a reporter with The Wall Street Journal in 1984 after graduating from Harvard. He served as an editor on the Journal's Page One staff from 1989 to 1991. Swartz is a director of the Associated Press. He is also a member of the board of visitors of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a member of the board of directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and chairman of the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund.
Helmut Thoma
Chairman
Freenet/Debitel AG
Helmut Thoma has more than forty years of media experience. He founded RTL Television in Germany and was chairman until 1999. During his tenure RTL Television became the leading TV station in Germany and the most successful in Europe. For this he was awarded in 1994 with the Directorate Emmy Award. Today he sits on various boards of international cable, television, Internet, and telecommunication companies, and he is the chairman of the supervisory board of Freenet/Debitel AG and a media advisor for Springer AG.
Yossi Vardi
Chairman
International Technologies
Yossi Vardi is an Israeli investor most famous for being the original investor in ICQ, the first Internet-wide instant messaging system. Vardi has invested in over 50 tech companies in diverse areas of software, energy, Internet, mobile, cleantech, and others. Vardi has been an active civil servant in Israel through projects involving energy and infrastructure. He also cofounded Alon, an Israeli oil company. Vardi acted as an advisor to the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program on issues of energy in the developing world. Vardi has received many awards including The Prime Minister Award, The Industry Award, Entrepreneur of the Year (Tel Aviv University), and the CEO’s Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame from the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
Robert Waggoner
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Burrelles Luce
Robert Waggoner is chairman and CEO of Burrelles Luce, LLC. He attended Harvard on a full scholarship, and following Harvard Business School he worked in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and New York in the oil business. After a stint as an oil industry analyst on Wall Street, he was portfolio manager for a leading mutual fund company, and then managed a hedge fund until he bought an interest in Burrelles, a media monitoring firm. For the past 28 years, he has served as CEO and chairman. At Harvard, he is a past chairman of the Harvard College Visiting Committee, past director of both the Harvard Alumni Association and the Harvard Business School Alumni Association, and served as a member of the Harvard Business School Visiting Committee and the School of Public Health’s Dean’s Council. He has endowed a professorship of Economics at Harvard, and a library in his Iowa hometown. He is a founding director of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where he has served on the board for 20 years, and has been a director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for 32 years, four years as president. He is a director of E3, a New Jersey school choice alliance, and an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Kayo Washio
Head of LA Office
WOWOW
Kayo Washio has 17 years of experience working in Japan’s broadcast television business with WOWOW Inc., the leading premium pay channel and the first subscription-based television broadcaster in Japan. In 2011, she opened and now heads the Los Angeles office for the company to maintain contacts with studios and launch coproduction projects with US partners. Washio has worked at WOWOW since 1995. She got her start producing original programs and Japanese-dubbed versions of foreign animations and TV dramas including South Park, The Simpsons, and Sex and the City and created new program categories to broadcast Rex The Runt, a clay-animation by Aardman Animations and other short films. From 2001 to 2008, Washio produced a weekly program covering cinema for which she also interviewed over 400 people such as actors, directors, and producers. She also produced Hollywood Express, a weekly entertainment news program in cooperation with CNN. Washio also coordinated a live broadcast of the Academy Awards for eight years and was the first to shoot red-carpet interviews for the company in cooperation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2008, Washio was transffered to the marketing department and managed the planning and marketing a project for the first WOWOW festival.
Annie Wegelius
Director of Programs
Sveriges Television (SVT)
Before joining SVT in May 2007, Annie Wegelius has been an entrepreneurial part of the TV and media industry for the past 25 years. She was one of the founding team of the first Scandinavian commercial broadcaster TV3, acting as the channel’s first programming director. She then founded and headed her own production company, Wegelius TV, which grew to become one of the leading independent production companies in the Nordic region in the nineties. After selling the company to Svensk Filmindustri (SF), Wegelius went on to create one of Europe’s first e-learning companies: Kworld, which operated the first privately owned digital terrestrial broadcast channel in Sweden. Wegelius also founded the Swedish Television Academy Awards and the annual Swedish TV Industry conference, Kristallen, and acted as its chairperson until her appointment at SVT. At SVT Wegelius, together with the director of news, sports, and current affairs, and the director of online, heads the commissioning board, which decides on matters of programming, scheduling, and content for five broadcast channels and Sweden’s leading online video site. Wegelius plays an integral part in the modernization of Swedish public service television and has an important role in areas of creative development strategies and collaboration with the independent production industry. Wegelius is also a long time board member at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and sits on the boards of several incubators focused on new media. Wegelius loves spending her time in Morocco, Vietnam, New York City, and Los Angeles, where the creative climate is stimulating and inspiring.
Clifford Werber
Chief Executive Officer
Fluent Media
Clifford Werber has over 30 years of entertainment experience as an entertainment attorney, studio executive, and producer. As the former head of worldwide film acquisitions and coproductions at Warner Bros. and Fox, Werber aggregated over $600M in gross revenues including the acquisition of Mel Gibson’s Academy Award winning film, Braveheart. He also oversaw the studios’ cofinancing deals including New Regency, Village Roadshow, Morgan Creek, and Alcon. Werber was an architect of the studios’ local-language film strategies throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia and oversaw the acquisition of remake rights to films adapted as major studio films including France’s La Totale, remade into True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by James Cameron, and Neuf Mois, remade into Nine Months, starring Hugh Grant and directed by Chris Columbus. In 2004, Werber packaged and produced the hit Warner Bros. film, A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff, grossing over $130,000,000 in worldwide receipts. Fluent Entertainment, Werber’s recent groundbreaking film financing and production venture aligned with Sony Pictures, is focused on international, local-language films. Werber recently produced the successful German language film Fuenf Freunde, released this year and its sequel slated for release in 2013. Fluent is working with Brazil's Total Entertainment packaging and adapting its blockbuster Brazilian film Se Eu Fosse Voce in several international territories, including Germany and India. Werber is a recognized speaker and moderator at worldwide film industry forums focused on the independent and international film industry, having participated in conferences in the US, China, Germany, Australia, and throughout Latin America.
Blair Westlake
Corporate Vice President, Media and Entertainment Group
Microsoft
As corporate vice president of Microsoft’s media and entertainment group, Blair Westlake manages Microsoft’s relations with the media and entertainment industries, including Hollywood studios, global broadcasters, cable/satellite programmers, and the music industry. He directs a group responsible for business development, policies, and all content licensing for various services and products including Xbox, Zune, Windows PC, and Windows Phones. Before joining Microsoft, Westlake consulted for various media companies including Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal, and was corporate executive vice president of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. Westlake was an executive of Universal Studios, Inc. from 1982-2000, where he was chairman of Universal Television & Networks Group. Westlake is a member of the board of trustees of The Paley Center for Media, the executive branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the executive committee of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and is a member of the board of directors of Swank Motion Pictures, Inc., Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle, WA., the Digital Entertainment Group, and ContentGuard, Inc. Westlake is admitted to the California State Bar.
Ed Williams
Chief Executive Officer
Edelman
Ed Williams joined Edelman, the world's largest independent PR agency, in October 2011. He joined the firm from the BBC where he had been director of communications since the beginning of 2008 and a member of the BBC’s management board. At the BBC he led the group communications division and acted as a senior adviser to the director-general, Mark Thompson. Prior to the BBC, Williams was group director of communications at Reuters, reporting to the CEO, Tom Glocer. He was an adviser to Glocer during the Thomson-Reuters transaction. He spent five years at financial public relations firm, Brunswick, specializing in corporate advisory work and campaigns. He has also worked as a political speechwriter and acted as a pro bono adviser to the International Crisis Group and other NGOs. Williams started his career in journalism, including five years in network television, at GMTV where he was news editor. He has also worked as a national newspaper reporter. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.
Strauss Zelnick
Cofounder
ZelnickMedia
Strauss Zelnick cofounded ZelnickMedia in 2001. He currently represents ZelnickMedia on the boards of Alloy, Inc. and Naylor Inc., and serves as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Prior to forming ZelnickMedia, Zelnick was president and chief executive officer of BMG Entertainment, a $4.7 billion music and entertainment company with more than 200 record labels and operations in 54 countries. Before joining BMG Entertainment, he was president and chief executive officer of Crystal Dynamics, a producer and distributor of interactive entertainment software. Prior to that, he spent four years as president and chief operating officer of 20th Century Fox, where he managed all aspects of Fox Inc.’s worldwide motion picture production and distribution business. Previously, he spent three years at Vestron Inc., two as the company’s president and chief operating officer. Zelnick also served as vice president, international television at Columbia Pictures. Zelnick is a director of Starwood Property Group, Inc. and served previously on the boards of Reed Elsevier NV, Carver Bancorp, Inc., Insignia Financial Group, Inc. and Moviefone Inc., among other companies. He is a trustee emeritus of Wesleyan University and holds a BA from Wesleyan University, an MBA from The Harvard Business School, and a JD from The Harvard Law School.
Michael Zimbalist
Vice President, R&D Operations
The New York Times Company
Michael Zimbalist founded The New York Times Company’s R&D group upon joining the company in 2006, and in 2012 established its New Ventures group to commercialize inventions from R&D. Zimbalist has also held several operational roles within the Times Company: From 2006 through 2008 he led Boston.com, a regional portal with more than five million monthly users; and from 2009 to 2011 he led UCompareHealthCare, a subsidiary of the About Group and one of the most visited health sites on the Web (UCHC was sold to MDx Medical in 2011). Zimbalist is also involved in the company’s investment activities. He currently serves on the board of directors of quadrantOne, an online sales organization that is a joint venture of the Times Company, Gannett, Hearst, and Tribune. He occupies the Times Company’s observer seat on the board of Betaworks and served in a similar capacity on the board of Brightcove, Inc. He was named a "Media Maven" by Advertising Age in 2012. Before joining The New York Times Company, Zimbalist cofounded the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and served as its president from 2001 to 2006. Previously, he held a variety of senior management positions in digital media including executive vice president of marketing and business development for ePod Corporation (1999 to 2001), general manager of online services for United Media (1997 to 1999), and director of development and production, Multimedia Group, at ABC Television (1994 to 1997). From 1990 to 1993 he was a writer and producer at Walt Disney Imagineering. Zimbalist received a BA degree in chemistry and philosophy from Brown University. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife and three children. You can follow him at http://twitter.com/zimbalist.