Before joining Microsoft, Broes was an entrepreneur of successful media and technology companies, including the post-production feature film industry’s first all-digital post-production sound design and editing facility, located in Burbank, Calif. 

He was appointed as executive vice president for the world’s largest streaming media aggregator and later as chairman and chief executive officer of a digital media security company. Broes also helped pioneer the development of key technologies used by copyright owners in preventing piracy of music and films over the Internet’s peer-to-peer community. 

Broes started his career in Los Angeles, where he spearheaded a production company called Goodbro Pictures with Hollywood star and partner Cuba Gooding Jr. Broes was Gooding’s personal manager and later executive producer through several critically acclaimed and successful films, including the popular “Jerry Maguire,” for which Gooding earned an Academy Award.  

In addition, in May 2002, Broes founded the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) www.dcia.info , a nonprofit organization working toward a viable framework for the Internet peer-to-peer community agreeable to copyright owners, consumers and consumer electronic industries.   

Broes spends his time speaking, consulting and writing. In addition, he lectures to law students at the University of Southern California on the wide diversity of issues surrounding copyright owners and the digital age. He also teaches at the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (LARTA) University and serves as a consultant and on the boards of emerging and fast-growth technology companies. Broes is also a contributing editor to LA VOX, Los Angeles’ leading voice in technology.

Steve has guided the marketplace strategy and solution offerings for IBM’s Global M&E Industry organization since 1995.  He directs the worldwide sales of  IBM’s broad portfolio of  hardware, software and services and is responsible for IBM’s marketing activities in the industry.  During that time frame, IBM’s overall business has grown dramatically and is now the largest technology and services organization serving the  global M&E industry.  

Steve has a deep understanding of the key business imperatives facing firms in the M&E industry and has consulted extensively with senior executives as they look to transform their organizations.  Steve represents IBM’s M&E efforts to the marketplace delivering many keynote addresses at Industry conferences: NAB, IBC, Broadcast Asia, Digital Hollywood, Imagina, Frames, etc, He has been recognized by Digital Media Magazine as one of the 20 most influential executives. 

Greg Clayman is Executive Vice President of Digital Distribution & Business Development for MTV Networks (MTVN).  In his role, Clayman manages digital business development across MTV Networks, working closely with its brands to develop new opportunities for distribution of digital content and to strike deals with online partners.  Based in the company’s New York City headquarters, Clayman reports to Mika Salmi, President, Global Digital Media, MTVN. 

Clayman also oversees the MTVN Mobile Media group, supporting the company’s brands in developing and distributing a wide portfolio of mobile content and applications. Additionally, Clayman partners with MTVN’s International division on global partnerships and distribution strategy. 

Previously, Clayman served as Senior Vice President, MTVN Mobile Media, managing mobile partnerships and content distribution for the company.  Prior to joining MTVN, Clayman co-founded Upoc Networks and served as its Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Business Development.  Previously, Clayman served as Vice President of Brand Strategy at the Sterling Group in New York City.  At Sterling, Clayman led brand strategy projects for a number of media, entertainment and retail companies including MTV Networks, Liberty Digital, and Levi's.    

Clayman graduated cum laude with a degree in English & American Literature from Harvard College. 

About MTV Networks

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 140 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

Andrew Cohen is responsible for overseeing Bravo's current production slate, including hit shows like "Top Chef," "Project Runway," "Queer Eye," "Shear Genius," "The Real Housewives of Orange County," "Work Out," "Tim Gunn's Guide To Style" and "Flipping Out."  He also oversees an aggressive slate of unscripted series and specials and was responsible for supervising production of "Blow Out," Being Bobby Brown," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," "Showdog Moms and Dads," and "Battle of the Network Reality Stars." 

In addition, Cohen writes "Andy's Blog," a daily blog at BravoTV.com about pop culture, television, media, and his daily life and hosts "Watch What Happens," BravoTV.com's first live-streaming online program. On the show, Cohen takes calls, emails and texts from viewers across the country with questions for live guests like Tim Gunn, Jonathan Adler, Padma Lakshmi, Bravo reality stars and tastemakers.   The show was spun off from Bravotv.com onto the Network itself when Cohen hosted "The Real Housewives Reunion: Watch What Happens," "Shear Genius Reunion: Watch What Happens" and "The Work Out Reunion: Watch What Happens."  Cohen frequently appears on CNN and various media outlets such as "The View" as a pop culture pundit for the Bravo network.  

Previous to his current position, Cohen was Vice President of Original Programming for TRIO (pop, culture, tv), beginning in July 2000. He was responsible for developing and supervising all of TRIO's original productions including the critically acclaimed original documentaries "Gay Republicans," "Easy Riders/Raging Bulls," "Brilliant, But Cancelled," and the critically-lauded original series "Pilot Season, "24w/" and "Parking Lot."

In 2005, Cohen won a Peabody Award for his role as Executive Producer of the TRIO documentary "The N Word" and was nominated for three Emmy Awards as Executive Producer of "Project Greenlight," "Project Runway," and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."  OUT Magazine named Cohen "hottest blogger of 2006" in their annual "hot" issue and in '07, Cohen was named one of MULTICHANNEL NEWS' "40 Under 40" innovative and formative executives at work today.

Prior to working for NBC Universal, Cohen was Senior Producer for CBS News' "The Early Show" where he oversaw the production of entertainment segments. Previously, Cohen was a producer for CBS News' "48 Hours" and for "CBS This Morning" where he covered breaking news (Oklahoma City bombing, Hurricane Andrew, California Wildfires, Crash of TWA Flight 800) and produced live segments and celebrity profiles.  

Born in St. Louis, Mr. Cohen is a graduate of Boston University where he received his BA degree in broadcast journalism. 

As senior vice president of digital media operations, Douglas Craig is responsible for the content on Discovery Mobile and Discovery On Demand (Discovery’s VOD offering).  He develops programming products and packages consisting of both originally produced content and content from Discovery’s portfolio of networks for the digital media landscape.  In addition, Craig works across the company’s business units to develop multi-dimensional partnerships within the two platforms’ industries. 

In his role for Discovery Mobile, Craig has successfully populated Discovery’s offering with streaming video content using three strategic production models: original, pre-purposed and re-repurposed.  As a result of his pioneering efforts, Discovery’s digital media products have achieved universal carriage among both cable affiliates and mobile carriers.   

On the VOD front, Craig oversees programming strategy and the use of the more than 100,000 hours of Discovery Networks content.  Craig also supervises the creation of added-value VOD programming elements, develops Discovery On Demand packages for advertisers and affiliates, and coordinates with Discovery Networks’ on-air marketing department to use VOD to promote Discovery’s linear networks.   

Craig was promoted from his role as vice president in August 2007.  Having joined Discovery in 1997, shortly after the launch of Animal Planet, he began as manager of programming research for the fledging network.  Shortly thereafter, he transitioned into the Animal Planet programming department, reaching the level of vice president of programming and scheduling. 

Prior to joining Animal Planet, Craig served as manager of research at MTV Networks in Los Angeles and as a client service executive at Nielsen Media Research in New York. 

Craig holds a bachelor’s degree from Bryant College and a master’s degree from the City University of New York.  He is based at Discovery Communications’ global headquarters in Silver Spring, Md.

Mr. Edwards has more than 25 years of experience in the technology industry, including 12 years in key executive positions for high-growth companies. This experience includes serving as Chairman and CEO of I-Link Corporation (enhanced VoIP services), President of Coresoft (object-oriented business systems for telephony and data), President of Digital Research (owners of DR-DOS), and Executive Vice President of Novell (enterprise networking). Career accomplishments include leading the first delivery of Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) technology to the market and implementing the first file and print server and operating system (NetWare). Edwards received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Arizona State University.

Having helped launch the Digital Media group in 2004 and now in his ninth year with Fox, Matt Glotzer is charged with developing strategies for the exploitation of the Company’s film and television assets over new and emerging technologies.  In his current role, he partners with Fox’s film and television studios, broadcast and cable networks, and other specialized distribution units in product/service development, content protection, and in maintaining close relationships with key players in the consumer electronics, information technology and network service sectors.  In this capacity, he has served on Boards of various cross-industry ventures including Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) and the Coral Consortium. 
 

In the past, Glotzer has held positions in Fox’s pay television distribution, corporate business development and home video divisions.  His prior experience includes positions in strategic planning with EMI Music and investment banking with Lehman Brothers.
 

Glotzer earned a B.A. in Economics with honors from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and holds a M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.

Eric Hadley is CMO of Heavy Corporation, the leading Original Video Entertainment destination on the Web.  Mr. Hadley manages all sales, marketing and ad operations for the company.  Prior to Heavy, Mr. Hadley was general manager of Global Marketing for the Microsoft Digital Advertising Solution Team including MSN, Live.com, Xbox Live and all other Microsoft advertising-funded properties.  Mr. Hadley produced and programmed Microsoft’s industry leading Media and Marketing Conference, Strategic Account Summit (SAS) for the past five years.  He also managed the global rollout of Microsoft adCenter, the company’s next-generation advertising platform. 

Mr. Hadley joined Microsoft in March 1998, from Ogilvy & Mather.  He played a key role in launching the award-winning worldwide e-business campaign that successfully revitalized the IBM brand.  Prior to his tenure at Ogilvy & Mather, Mr. Hadley worked on the Burger King Corp. account at Ammirati & Puris and regional McDonald’s business at DDB. 

Eric Hadley lives in New York City most of the time..

Herskovitz has enjoyed a distinguished career in the worlds of both film and television.

A native of Philadelphia, he attended Brandeis University and then the American Film Institute (AFI), where he and “quarterlife” co-creator Edward Zwick met in 1975 and formed a long and successful creative partnership.  

Herskovitz started his career as a writer and director for several television series, until he teamed up with Zwick to create the breakthrough television movie “Special Bulletin” in 1983, for which Herskovitz won two Emmys, a Writers Guild Award, and the Humanitas Award.  

In 1985, Herskovitz and Zwick created The Bedford Falls Company, named for the town in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The company’s first project was the acclaimed television series “thirtysomething,” for which Herskovitz received two more Emmy Awards, two Directors Guild Awards, a Writers Guild Award, a Humanitas award, the Golden Globe Award, the People’s Choice Award, the Peabody Award, and several others. 

In 1991, Herskovitz directed his first feature film, “Jack the Bear,” starring Danny DeVito, then two years later produced “Legends of the Fall,” starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. The following year Herskovitz and Zwick teamed up to produce the groundbreaking series “My So-Called Life,” starring a then-unknown Claire Danes, followed by “relativity” in 1995. The next year Herskovitz spent six months in Rome, producing and directing the historical epic “Dangerous Beauty.” 

In 1999, Herskovitz and Zwick created and executive produced the award-winning series “Once and Again” for ABC.  During the show’s three year run, he and Zwick produced “Traffic,” winner of two Golden Globe Awards and four Academy Awards, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Benicio Del Toro; and “I Am Sam,” starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. 

Joel Hyatt, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Current, has twice before turned ideas into successful ventures, both times against significant odds. He took on the legal establishment with Hyatt Legal Services, which provided low-cost services to middle and lower-income families and grew to serve over three million clients. His Hyatt Legal Plans became America's largest provider of employer-sponsored group legal plans. Hyatt Legal Plans was acquired by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1997.

Hyatt also served on the faculty at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, where his courses on entrepreneurship were among the most popular at the school.

American Lawyer magazine identified Hyatt as one of the nation's ten most influential attorneys in the 80s for his efforts in making the legal system more accessible, and Business Week recognized him as one of the top 50 business leaders in the country. Hyatt also served as National Finance Chair for the Democratic Party in 2000.

David Lyle joined Fox to head up the launch of the Fox Reality Channel in 2005, and was named President, in early 2007. Lyle is a seasoned entertainment veteran with experience running top production companies such as FremantleMedia (“American Idol”) and Pearson Television.  Prior to production, he served as a senior executive at Australia’s Nine Network.  With more than 25 years’ experience as a creative producer specializing in the development and adaptation of successful unscripted formats, Lyle has spent a significant portion of his career acquiring, developing and producing unscripted programming across the United States, Europe and Australia. 

Fox Reality Channel - the only all reality, all the time network - launched in May 2005 and is one of only six new cable and satellite television networks to surpass more than 20 million subscribers in its first year. The service offers original series and specials, top US network favorites and exclusive international reality programs. Its programming is available on television, broadband, cellular phones and other leading mobile devices. Fox Reality Channel is dedicated to delivering its viewers MORE with RealityRevealed bonus footage within primetime shows.  RealityRevealed brings insight into what really happened with exclusive bonus outtakes, interviews, and other extras to make the Fox Reality Channel experience completely unique.   

The network’s roster includes original productions such as nightly strip series “Reality Remix,” “American Idol Extra,” “Solitary,” “Corkscrewed: The Wrath of Grapes” and “My Bare Lady;” “The Academy;” and upcoming series “Paradise Hotel 2”.  Fox Reality Channel is also home to top unscripted series from the US including “Last Comic Standing,” “Amazing Race” and “Joe Millionaire” and acquisitions from around the world including “The Villa,” “Treasure Island”, “The Block”, “World of Stupid” and other popular shows. 

While president of entertainment at FremantleMedia North America, Lyle led a team that launched and guided “American Idol” to three seasons of incredible growth.  That program and others helped to establish new ways of integrating top sponsors like AT&T, Coca-Cola, Ford, Sears and Proctor & Gamble into unscripted production.  Lyle’s three years at FremantleMedia resulted in a deep diversification of programming for the company, as he produced primetime network shows and key series for major outlets including MTV, Lifetime, TLC, GSN, Pax TV and Food Network. 

Lyle took over at FremantleMedia in 2001 after working in London for international unscripted programming powerhouse Pearson Television, where he was Worldwide Head of Acquisition and Development. While at Pearson, Lyle helped to coordinate productions across more than two dozen international territories, and acquired top U.S. and international unscripted programming formats resulting in more than 650 hours of original program production around the world.  

Lyle was one of the founding members of FRAPA (Format Recognition and Protection Association) and served as Chairman from 2001 to 2006.  FRAPA brings together format creators from around the world to protect their intellectual property rights.   

Before coming to Pearson, Lyle served as Head of Development and Acquisitions for the Nine Network, based out of Sydney.  Lyle was among the first international broadcasters to create local versions of top formats like “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Changing Rooms,” the basis for TLC’s popular “Trading Spaces” in the U.S.  During his time at the Nine Network Lyle executive produced the local “Today Show” before creating a number of top rated unscripted series during the early nineties.  Later as a network executive, he oversaw the launch of many more series and specials while working closely with Nine’s programming, promotion and sales departments. 

A native of Sydney, Lyle was first an exploration geologist before starting in the marginally more civilized world of local television as a researcher, writer and producer.

Marsha MacBride, EVP, Legal & Regulatory Affairs
Nat'l Association of Broadcasters (NAB)

Marsha MacBride joined the National Association of Broadcasters in 2003 as Executive Vice President for Legal & Regulatory Affairs. NAB is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks. Ms. MacBride leads the NAB team of attorneys representing local broadcasters before the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration and the Courts. Marsha spent 12 years at the FCC in several high level positions, including Chief of Staff to Chairman Michael Powell, legal advisor to Commissioner James Quello, and legal advisor to the Mass Media Bureau Chief, Roy Stewart. She also was a Vice President in the Walt Disney Company’s Washington Office from 2000 to 2001, and worked as a communications attorney in private practice for six years, from 1985 to 1991.

While at the FCC, Marsha worked for four years in the political programming branch, where she advised broadcasters and candidates on rule compliance. She also worked on the implementation of the 1996 Act, the regulations initiating the DTV service, closed captioning, the V-chip, the biennial review of 1998, SHVIA as well as an array of enforcement proceedings and application streamlining initiatives.

Marsha is a 1985 graduate of The National Law Center, George Washington University, and a 1981 graduate of Douglass College, Rutgers University.

Ted Malone, VP, Product Marketing
Sling Media

As VP of product marketing, Ted is responsible for the creation and execution of the overall product and service strategy for Sling Media, Inc. Prior to Sling Media, Ted served as VP of Corporate Strategy & Marketing for Digital Deck where he was responsible for the creation of the overall product and service strategy for the company as well as corporate marketing activities.  Prior to Digital Deck, Ted was the Senior Director of Product Marketing at TiVo.  During his 6-year tenure at TiVo, Ted was responsible for determining market requirements, product features, configuration, pricing and competitive analysis for a variety of standalone and integrated DVR products. Ted managed the user experience team, including user research and was responsible for development of the TiVo products and service that were released in the UK in late 2000. Prior to joining TiVo, Ted was a senior engineering manager at Alias/Wavefront, where he developed the product requirements, and managed the development team, for the creation of two versions of the Zap!iT digital video software line. Before that, he led the studio production group of Silicon Graphic’s Silicon Studio division, designing and building the Silicon Graphics Entertainment Technology Center and managing a team through the creation of animation, video and performance animation projects. Ted has also been an instructor at the Academy of Art College, teaching various courses on special effects for film and video. Ted holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University.

Rick Mandler, VP, Digital Media Advertising
Disney/ABC Media Networks

Rick Mandler, vice president, Disney/ABC Television, Digital Media Group, is responsible for the strategic development of digital media advertising for the division.  This includes such new advertising products as telescoping TV ads, dynamic/targeted TV ads, emerging VOD ad models, and adver-gaming, among others.  Overall, Mandler’s role is to help the television division navigate through the technological and business developments in this area.

Previously, Mandler was Vice President, General Manager, Enhanced TV for the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG), responsible for all business development, production, technical, and integrated sales for Enhanced TV fare produced for all Disney-owned broadcast and cable network programming.  Mandler assumed that position in March of 2001.

Prior to running Enhanced TV, Mandler had been vice president of WDIG Local and Broadcasting.  In that position, he was responsible for developing and managing the Internet efforts of the ABC Broadcasting properties, including ABC-owned television and radio stations across the country, ABC Radio Networks, and the localization of WDIG’s Internet businesses.  

Earlier, Mandler was vice president, new media for ABC Broadcasting after serving as general manager, new media for ABC Radio Networks, where he had operational and strategic responsibility for the ABC Radio division's Internet efforts.

Mandler joined Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. (now ABC, Inc.) in 1992 as a general attorney.  He was named director of business affairs for ABC News in 1994, where he was responsible for negotiating talent and business agreements.

Prior to coming to ABC, Mandler was an associate at the New York law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler from 1989 to 1992, and a law clerk for the Honorable Leonard I. Garth, United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, from 1987 to 1989.

Previously, O’Hara served as President of TVG, Gemstar-TV Guide’s horseracing television network and web business.  During his tenure, he was responsible for the overall business operations and the P & L.  During that time, revenues grew from $39 million to $52 million and distribution grew 26%.  He also managed TVG’s rights activities with track and on-line partners and coordinated with the company’s affiliate sales group to secure long-term carriage deals.  

O’Hara has also served as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Gemstar-TV Guide. In that role, he was responsible for corporate strategy and deal making across numerous media segments including publishing, cable and satellite, and consumer electronics.  

Prior to joining Gemstar-TV Guide, O’Hara was Director of Interactive TV Strategy for BSkyB, based in London. While at the Sky UK satellite platform, he focused on creating interactive content that differentiated the platform from cable and Internet competitors.  Before BSkyB, he worked for Fox Cable Networks and Fox/Liberty Networks. As Director of Business Development, he helped launch the Regional Sports Report on 17 Fox Sports Nets. He also worked on rights acquisitions with NASCAR, ACC Basketball, Major League Baseball and regional sports buys that aired on FSN, FX, Speedvision and Fox Sports. 

Prior to joining News Corp/Fox, O’Hara worked as an entertainment management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and in brand management at Nestle USA.  

Mr. O’Hara serves on the Board of Directors of the Hollywood & Radio Television Society and is a member of the Paley Center of Media.  He is also on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Young Presidents Organization. 

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

In his position at Anheuser-Busch, Mr. Ponturo's responsibilities range from directing the media planning and buying functions for the company's beer brands and Busch Entertainment, including Busch Gardens and Sea World, to overseeing the sports/entertainment and digital marketing and sports production operations within the company.

A member of the Anheuser-Busch Strategy Committee, the Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Board of Directors and the Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. Board of Directors, Mr. Ponturo joined the company in 1982 and has played a key role in developing the corporate media structure.  In December 2007,  Mr. Ponturo was named the 12^th most influential person in sports business by the Sports Business Journal, and was ranked No. 13 in The Sporting News ranking of the top 100 most powerful people in sports.  In October 2007, Mr. Ponturo was ranked 20^th in Business Week’s top 100 most powerful in sports.

Since launching Break, Keith has grown the site to one of the world’s most trafficked online entertainment destinations with more than 18 million unique visitors and 600 million page impressions each month. He was a pioneer in enabling the use of video content on user-generated sites and was also the first to develop the paid content model for user-generated market.

Prior to co-founding Break.com, Keith was the Director of Business Development for Billpoint Inc.  Keith was integral in developing the business plan and raising venture funding, which ultimately led to the company’s successful acquisition by eBay in 1999.  

Previous posts also include Business Development Manager at Excite and Classifieds2000, as well as director of Corporate Planning at the Walt Disney Company, where he focused on consumer products, cable and emerging media.   

A sought-after panelist at top industry conferences, Keith is considered an leading expert in marketing to the coveted young male demographic; he was recently included in TV Week’s 2006 Hot List and recognized in the prestigious annual “40 Under 40” by Multichannel News. 

Keith holds an MA and a BA from Stanford in International Policy Studies and resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

As digital media community-builder, Ned has established partnerships with the leading B-to-B media companies and educational institutions, including VNU Business Media, Billboard Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Reed Business Information, Multichannel News, Business 2.0, Business Week, CableFax/CableWorld, VIBE/SPIN, MidemNet, NYU’s Stern School of Business, USC’s Center for Telecom Management and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, and hundreds of the leading digital media companies, including Microsoft, Real Networks, Sony Corporation of America, AOL Time Warner, Napster, Yahoo! and many more.

An expert on legal issues and business methods, Ned provides value to his clients and partners by offering timely news and research, producing executive forum on cutting-edge topics, and leveraging his extensive network of media assets and strategic relationships across games, music, film, television and mobile industries.

Ned’s background is in law. Before joining Digital Media Wire, Ned spent 7+ years as a corporate and entertainment attorney practicing at several of the leading law firms in the world with an international client base across industries including technology, Internet, media and entertainment.

As a founding member of the iLaw Group in the Entertainment Department at Loeb & Loeb LLP in Century City, he handled complex licensing transactions and financings for media and entertainment clients including Universal Studios and MGM and launched dozens of Internet and new media start-ups. He has counseled company founders from initiation of a business plan to seed, angel, venture capital and later-stage private financings and managed all legal aspects of Internet clients from corporate organization, stockholder relationships, board compositions and dynamics, stock option plans, capital raising and security regulatory matters, Internet law issues, trademark, copyright, content and technology licensing, advertising and privacy issues.

From 1997 to 1999, he practiced in the Los Angeles office of Mayer, Brown & Platt where his practice centered on representation of U.S. and foreign banks in complex lending transactions.

From 1995 to 1997, he was a foreign lawyer at Nishimura & Partners in Tokyo, Japan, where his practice involved international mergers and acquisitions and the formation of technology and entertainment joint venture companies. He also served as President of the Roppongi Bar Association in Tokyo.

In 2000, he was an Adjunct Lecturer of Law at Tulane University Law School where he taught an entertainment law seminar. Ned is a graduate of Brown University (AB, with honors, 1990) and the University of Texas School of Law (JD, 1994) where he was Chief Articles & Notes Editor of the Texas International Law Journal.

Ned is a frequent speaker at media and entertainment industry events, including MidemNet (moderator at 2004 and 2005 conferences), Digital Music Forum (host and moderator, 2001-2005), Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards (co-chair and host, 2004) and the O2 Digital Media Awards (judge 2004), and has been quoted in publications including American Lawyer, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Crain’s Mermigas on Media, and interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR), NY1 Evening News and nationally syndicated radio shows, Inside Digital Media, WebTalk and Online Tonight with David Lawrence.

He sits on the Board of Directors of Wild Way, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating environmental awareness and developing educational programs for inner-city and “at risk” kids and has traveled extensively from Europe to Asia to South America to Northern Africa. Ned is married and lives with his wife and son in Hollywood Hills, California.

Howard Shimmel is SVP, Client Insights at The Nielsen Company.  In that capacity, Howard is involved in many of Nielsen’s new initiatives, including Nielsen’s work on Engagement, Internet/TV Integrated Measurement and NielsenConnections.                                                                                                

Howard has nearly 30 years of market and audience research experience within the media information industry.  He rejoined Nielsen Media Research in 2005 from America Online, where he served as Vice President, Market Research.  In that capacity, he was responsible for research across all of AOL’s business units, providing research support for AOL’s brand positioning and advertising, product and premium service development, programming strategy and strategic initiatives. 

Before AOL, Howard was President of Symmetrical Resources, Inc., from 1997-2001.  Before that, he served as Vice President of Audience Research, MTV Networks, providing audience research support for MTV Networks’ cable networks and syndication division. 

Howard began his research career with Nielsen Media Research in 1979 as Research Manager.   

Howard is a frequent speaker at media and industry events.  He is a former chairman of the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau’s national research committee, and was a recipient of CAB’s Jack Hill Award for excellence and integrity in media research in 1993, and its President’s Award in 1990.

Siegel joined ESPN as manager of affiliate advertising sales and new business in December 1996.  In June 1998, he was promoted to director of affiliate advertising sales and new business, and was named vice president of affiliate advertising sales and new business in October 1999. Siegel was promoted to svp, affiliate ad sales, marketing and new business in September, 2005.  He was promoted to his current role in January, 2005.   

Prior to joining ESPN, Siegel was director of marketing at WCPX-TV in Orlando, Florida from November 1994 to November 1996. 

Siegel earned a bachelor’s of science degree in business administration, marketing from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

CHICAGO, April 3 -- Playboy Enterprises, Inc. announced the appointment today of Steve Smith as Managing Director, Playboy Television International, in its Entertainment Group. He will be responsible for the leadership, management and growth of Playboy TV International and report to Jim Griffiths, Senior Executive Vice President and President, Entertainment Group. He will be based in Playboy's Los Angeles office.  

"Steve brings a wealth of business and international experience to Playboy, which will benefit the company greatly as we continue our global expansion," said Griffiths. 

Smith is a 25-year veteran of the cable and satellite industry with experience in U.S., Asian and European markets. He was most recently the Managing Director of International Networks/AZN, responsible for the overall operations of the company under its ownership by Comcast Corporation. Prior to joining International Networks, Steve served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Encore International ("EI") where he was responsible for managing Encore's Mainland China operation out of Beijing. Before joining EI, Smith served as Chief Operating Officer of Intertainer Asia, a broadband content aggregator based in Singapore. He also served as Managing Director of Channel [V] Music Network, a youth-oriented bouquet of localized music channels owned by News Corp's STAR TV venture in Hong Kong. Steve's Asian experience began as President and General Manager of MGM Gold Networks (Asia), a premium movie channel distributed across Asia. Before moving to Asia, he spent 17 years with HBO, the last six as Managing Director for HBO Central Europe. In this role he was responsible for launching and managing three cable channels in Hungary. In addition, Steve led the construction and operation of Central European Uplink, HBO's transmission facility serving all its Central European markets. 

Smith has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Colgate University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Richard is a frequent public speaker and futurist speaking on the impact of technology on media & entertainment. In collaboration with his filmmaker wife, he has executive produced a variety of feature film and television projects including two Sundance selections; the seminal On_line, in 2002 and 2006’s hit eco-documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? – (one of the top 40 grossing theatrical documentary films of all time). They live in London with their two children.