Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood Tuesday, October 30th 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM Track III: Hollywood 2.0 - Content & Commerce: New Rules for the Film, TV, Broadband & Mobile Video Industry - Deals, Advertising and Commerce Dean Valentine, President, Symbolic Action, LLC, former President, UPN and former President, Walt Disney Television David B. Wertheimer, Executive Director, Entertainment Technology Center @ USC Stan Rogow, Executive Producer/Director, Afterworld Julia Pistor, Producer, "Nacho Libre" and "Charlotte’s Webb" Tom Sauer, RVP, Business Development, AT&T Debbie DeMontreux, SVP of Programming, IFC Arlene Zeichner, Principal, Selavy Associates, Moderator Dean Valentine runs Symbolic Action, LLC, a media investment fund, focused on the convergence of content and technology. Valentine is the former president and chief executive officer of the United Paramount Network, a position he held from 1997 to 2001. He was responsible for the overall administration of UPN and its programming, distribution, affiliate relations, marketing, advertising, and advertising sales and research activities. Under his tenure, Valentine transformed UPN into a true destination for young viewers seeking an alternative brand of programming. While overseeing the network’s expansion from three to five nights, Valentine radically improved it’s finances. In April 2001, Valentine orchestrated a network-television coup by acquiring the sensational hit series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” When the show debuted on UPN in October 2001, it delivered its best ratings ever. Valentine also developed the latest installment of the long-running Star Trek franchise, “Enterprise,” which premiered in the fall of 2001 to 12.5 million viewers, UPN’s largest primetime audience since the network’s launch on January 16, 1995. He also brought the smash hit “WWF Smackdown!” to UPN and strengthened the network’s distribution base. Before that, Valentine served as the President of Walt Disney Television and Walt Disney Television Animation. He was responsible for all creative and business areas, including the development and production of television series, specials and telefilms produced by Walt Disney Television, Walt Disney Television Animation and Touchstone Television for network, syndication, basic cable and pay-TV markets. During his tenure at the studio, Valentine oversaw the creation and production of such top-rated shows as “Home Improvement” and the history-making “Ellen”, as well as “Soul Man”, “Boy Meets World” and “Smart Guy.” He was also involved with long-running hits “The Golden Girls,” “Blossom” and “Empty Nest.” Additionally, he oversaw the development and production of an ambitious slate of original telefilms and event movies for the revived “The Wonderful World of Disney,” including “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” starring Whitney Houston and Brandy, “Oliver Twist,” starring Richard Dreyfuss, and “Toothless,” starring Kirstie Alley. In animation, Valentine expanded the scope of Walt Disney Television Animation and led the resurgence of Disney’s Saturday morning animation lineup on ABC. He is responsible for signing noted industry writers and producers such as Peter Hastings, creator of “Pinky and the Brain,” acquiring Jumbo Pictures, Inc. (producers of “Brand Spanking New Doug)”, and signing production deals with innovative animation houses such as Colossal Pictures. Valentine developed the “Disney’s One Saturday Morning” block for ABC which premiered as the #1 kid’s programming block in 1997. Shows he oversaw for ABC’s Saturday morning schedule included: “Brand Spanking New Doug,” “Mighty Ducks,” “Jungle Cubs” and animated series’, “Recess,” “Pepper Ann,” and “101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series.” Valentine was responsible for overseeing six series on the studio’s syndicated “The Disney Afternoon,” including “Mighty Ducks,” “Quack Pack,” “The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa,” “Gargoyles,” “Disney’s Aladdin” and “Darkwing Duck.” Fall 1997 Marked the syndication premiere of “101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series” via the Disney/Kellogg alliance with episodes exclusive to syndication airing five days a week. “Mighty Ducks,” “Quack Pack” and the classic children’s series “DuckTales” also aired in syndication during the 1997-98 season. Valentine’s responsibilities also included developing the immensely successful Disney Video Premiere line of sequels to Disney’s animated theatrical features which were produced as direct-to-video properties. These projects included the first full-length “Winnie the Pooh” feature, “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: the Search for Christopher Robin,” “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas,” “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride,” “Pocahontas: Journey to a New World,” “An Extremely Goofy Movie,” “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea,” “Lady & the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure,” and Hunchback of Notre Dame II.” Valentine also oversaw the production of the Emmy Award winning “Boo! To You Too Winnie the Pooh” and the Emmy nominated “A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving” and “Winnie the Pooh, a Valentine For You.” In addition, Valentine developed and greenlighted the theatrical animated movies “The Tigger Movie,” “Return to Neverland,” and “Doug’s First Movie.” Valentine began his career at Disney in 1988 as director of television development. In May 1989, he was promoted to vice president and then to senior vice president in April 1990. Before joining Disney, Valentine served as director of Current Comedy Programming at NBC Entertainment. Prior to that, he held a number of key positions at New York based magazines including Life and Saturday Review. In 1995, Valentine was instrumental in establishing the industry’s first Director’s Training Program in association with the Director’s Guild of America, which aims to improve the industry’s employment record of talented minority directors. He was nominated by the DGA for the first annual Diversity Award which honors an employer or producer who has demonstrated consistent commitment to, and leadership in, the hiring of women and ethnic Minorities in DGA categories. An honors graduate of the University of Chicago with a degree in English Language and Literature, Valentine is the founder of the Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Archive of American Television, a trustee of the Hammer museum, and a member of the KCRW Board, Los Angeles. Julia Pistor, Producer: During her 11-year tenure at MTVN, Julia Pistor successfully extended the Nickelodeon brand into a leading provider of kid and family movies, overseeing the development, production and release of an impressive slate of live-action and animation family features released through Paramount Pictures. Most recently, Pistor produced Nacho Libre, starring Jack Black and directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Charlotte’s Webb, starring Dakota Fanning, Julia Roberts and Steve Buchemi. Other live-action films include Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey, and Snowday, starring Chris Elliott and Chevy Chase. The Spiderwick Chronicles, starring Freddie Hymore and directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls) has recently wrapped for a 2008 release. Pistor’s creator-driven animation model resulted in a string of profitable movie franchises for Nickelodeon and Paramount: Rugrats was the first non-Disney movie to earn more than 100 million domestically while the Academy Award nominated Jimmy Neutron launched a thriving Nick TV franchise. Additionally, Pistor produced The Spongebob Squarepants Movie as well as Executive Produced the successful Barnyard, another feature-first property developed simultaneously for Nick TV; the TV show will air on Nick fall 2007. Under her leadership, Nickelodeon Movies devised and executed ground breaking cross-platform, cross-promotional initiatives around their movies using music, games, publishing, digital platforms, retail and original on-air content. Prior to Nickelodeon Movies, Pistor served as head of production for Viacom Syndication, where she developed and oversaw the Montel Williams Show and produced the first run show Superboy. Previous to Viacom, Pistor had the pleasure to produce for the award winning PBS series Reading Rainbow. Pistor recently left Nickelodeon to become an independent producer. She is presently developing a live action film starring Dora the Explorer. Pistor grew up around the world as the child of a Foreign Service officer. She received her B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. David B. Wertheimer, Executive Director, Entertainment Technology Center @ USC: The Entertainment Technology Center at USC has tapped entrepreneur, technologist and longtime administrator David Wertheimer to lead the organization. The center is a nonpartisan research organization in the USC School of Cinematic Arts which studies entertainment technology developments that are critical to the creative community, production companies, and content owners, distributors and exhibitors. "Since its founding in 1993, the center has been at the forefront of developing industry standards and best practices, such as digital projection, distribution and security," said Charles Dages, Warner Bros. senior vice president of emerging technology and chair of the center’s board of directors. "With David as the new executive director, the center’s impact on Hollywood will extend to cover some of the most pressing issues and opportunities we face as an industry." Wertheimer said, "One of the major questions for media companies today is how to produce and distribute the highest quality entertainment to users wherever they are, whenever they want it. "The center’s history as an enabler of the digital cinema revolution provides a strong foundation on which to answer these types of questions. As we move ahead, the Entertainment Technology Center will be the place where the industry comes together to explore new opportunities created by digital media," he added. For more than 15 years, Wertheimer has been involved in producing content, developing new technologies and managing organizations, ranging from start-ups to divisions within publicly traded companies. Prior to assuming his new post, he was the executive director of USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. Wertheimer’s experience also includes posts as the president of the digital entertainment division of Paramount Pictures; founder and CEO of WireBreak Entertainment, a digital content distribution and television production company; and technology and business management positions at Oracle and NeXT. Wertheimer succeeds Charles Swartz, who led the center from 2002 until his retirement last fall. "With his unique blend of technology and industry knowledge, David will use the center’s solid foundation to enhance its activities as a primary resource for the entertainment arts," said Bob Lambert, senior vice president of worldwide technology strategy for The Walt Disney Co. and board member of the center. David Wertheimer has been involved in producing content, developing new technologies and managing organizations. Stan Rogow, Executive Producer/Director, Afterworld: The highly-accomplished AFTERWORLD team includes award-winning and three time Emmy-nominated producer Stan Rogow and his eponymous production company. Stan leads the charge as executive producer and director of Afterworld. Stan Rogow, known as the “king of tweens,” is one of the most innovative and dynamic producers in television today. Rogow is currently the executive producer of the Discovery/Kids on NBC series “Darcy’s Wild Life” and “Flight 29 Down,” following his huge success as executive producer of the popular Disney Channel series “Lizzie McGuire” and the ABC Family Channel’s “State of Grace.” With multiple successes in television series and feature films, Rogow continues to dazzle audiences of all ages with his creative vision and award winning product. Rogow is also a master at branding, as witnessed but the incredible growth of the “Lizzie McGuire” brand and star Hilary Duff. Recently described by the New York Times as “the force behind those fresh faces,” Rogow is spearheading another multi-faceted marketing and licensing campaign for “Darcy” and star Sara Paxton that encompasses books, movies, soundtracks and merchandise. “I’d like to think the television shows and movies I produce have a positive effect and make a difference in people’s lives,” Rogow said. Rogow’s experience has helped him gain respect in the industry as an expert in reaching the lucrative, and all important young audience. His long list of credits also include the NBC’s “Shannon’s Deal”, the critically acclaimed show that was nominated by the Television Critics Association for the "best show of the year!" and Tom Shales from the Washington Post called it "an extraordinarily good series." The series for CBS "Middle Ages," was given four stars by USA Today and Entertainment Weekly called it "easily one of the most thoughtful, well-written and beautiful acted series of the year." Rogow executive produced and co-created both series. Other Rogow credits include the Disney Channel series “Just Like Family” and the UPN series “Nowhere Man" as well as “South of Sunset” on CBS. Rogow’s success in the feature film arena includes “The Clan of the Cave Bear” (Warner Bros.), “Men of War” (Dimension Films), “All I Want for Christmas” (Paramount) and “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” (Walt Disney Pictures). Also on the film side, Rogow has been prolific in the area of made for TV movies, including “Nowhere to Hide” (ABC), “Murder in High Places” (NBC), “Help Wanted: Kids” (premiere of ABC’s Disney Sunday Movie), “Rock ‘N Roll Mom” (ABC), the multiple Emmy Award-winning “Playing for Time” (CBS) and “Hard Hat & Legs” (CBS). Rogow has J.D. from Boston University School of Law and an A.B. degree from Boston University. He is also a guest lecturer at American Film Institute, USC Film School and UCLA Film School. He resides in West Los Angeles. Tom Sauer, Executive Director, Business Development, AT&T Operations, Inc.: Tom Sauer leads business development activities for AT&T U-verse. Mr. Sauer has more than 14 years of experience in strategic market and business development, including market positioning, product positioning, acquisitions, and partner programs for the broadband, video-over-IP (IPTV), and broadband content delivery markets. Prior to joining AT&T, Mr. Sauer headed business development for Thomson –Techincolor, where he developed an electronic content distribution strategy for the company’s newly-formed electronic content distribution group, which was focused on building a managed IP-based service offering. Before his position at Technicolor, Mr. Sauer oversaw business development at SkyStream Networks. During his four-year tenure at SkyStream, he drove efforts in the area of strategic partnerships and new market segment development for IPTV video headend systems and for a push-based movies-on-demand content delivery platform. Mr. Sauer also spent two years at RealNetworks as a key participant in the transformation of the company’s narrowband audio business into a leading broadband streaming media delivery company. He gained his business and operational expertise by co-founding and running a scientific software company, Khoral Research Inc., that provided image and signal processing software and consulting services to government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Sauer has a masters degree in electrical engineering, with an emphasis on image and video processing, from The University of New Mexico.