Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, October 27-30, 2008 Tuesday, October 28th 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Track II: Game Power: Entertainment and Branding as Franchise - As Games Integrate into the Movie, Music, TV, Mobile, Advertainment & Custom Branded Experience In today’s global entertainment environment, the successful extension of a franchise is not only part and parcel of the business plan, it is also welcomed and embraced by the consumer. The power, quality and popularity of the various entertainment mediums, make it possible for a game to enable a successful movie franchise, just as a successful ‘70s TV show can be recast as a worldwide movie blockbuster. This of course can start the cycle all over again, generating the next generation of game, DVD, toys, CD, t-shirts, live events and so on. Unique to this phenomenon today however, is the need to protect the brand as it is extended into each category. Competition and consumer sophistication today demand a level of creativity in the games, movies and TV shows produced, something that brand extension itself cannot overcome. Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Inc. Brett Close, President & CEO, 38 Studios Gordon Paddison, Executive Vice President, New Media Marketing, New Line Cinema Randy Shaffer, Business Development Manager, Microsoft Scot Rubin, Vice President of Marketing, Championship Gaming Series (CGS) Russell G. Weiss, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Moderator Additional speakers to be announced Randy Shaffer, Business Development Manager, Advertising Business Group, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corp: Randy Shaffer is a business development manager focusing on video game advertising solutions for the Advertising Business Group within Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division. Shaffer works closely with marketers and advertisers to provide compelling and strategic programs that connects brands with highly-engaged gaming audiences across Microsoft’s gaming properties, including Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Xbox.com, MSN Games, Microsoft Game Studios, Games for Windows and more As a game enthusiast in his own right, Shaffer boasts deep relationships with some of the industry’s top game publishers including Electronic Arts (EA), 2K Sports, Microsoft Games Studios and Ubisoft. Furthermore, he has partnered with some of the most world’s well-known brands on successful programs using video games for marketing, including GM, Honda, Miller Brewing Company, Procter & Gamble, Allstate, Acura and Taco Bell. Prior to Microsoft, Shaffer worked at Foote Cone Belding, RPA, Starcom Media Vest Group (SMG) Play a Denuo Company. Shaffer holds a BA from Chapman University in Orange County, California. Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Inc.: Don has served as president and CEO of Stormfront Studios since founding the company in 1988. In 2003 he received the CGE Award for “groundbreaking achievements that shaped the Video Game Industry,” and Electronic Games has called him “one of the best-known and respected producers in the history of the field.” Stormfront's major titles include the action-adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (based on the film by Peter Jackson), EA Sports’ NASCAR Racing and Madden NFL Football, and the original Neverwinter Nights on AOL. Prior to founding Stormfront, Don served as director of Intellivision game development for Mattel, as a producer at Electronic Arts, and as head of the Entertainment and Education division at Broderbund. He designed and programmed the first-ever computer baseball game in 1971 (now recorded in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown), the first mainframe computer role-playing game ("Dungeon" for PDP-10 mainframes, 1975), the first sim game (Intellivision Utopia, 1981) and the first game to use multiple camera angles (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, 1983). Don co-designed Computer Game Hall of Fame title Earl Weaver Baseball (1987) and the first massively multiplayer online graphic adventure, the original Neverwinter Nights for AOL (1991-97). He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences in 2003 and again in 2007. He also is a past winner of the National Endowment for the Humanities New Voices playwriting competition. Don holds a BA in Writing from Pomona College and an Ed.M. from Claremont Graduate University. Brett Close, President & CEO, 38 Studios: Brett Close is a video game industry veteran with more than a decade of experience delivering highly successful entertainment products and leading multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, artists, game designers, and audio experts. Brett most recently served as the general manager and production director of Midway Games’ Austin, TX game development studio where he oversaw global production as well as managed the studio’s game teams on the BlackSite: Area51 and NightCaster product lines. Brett is an expert in the intersection of technology, game design, and software development after having held a number of technical and managerial roles in the software industry. Earlier in his career as a development director at Electronic Arts, Brett was responsible for all technical aspects of development and production for the award winning Medal of Honor game franchise, based out of EA’s Los Angeles studio. He honed his skills at Devil’s Thumb / VR-1 / Jaleco Entertainment in Boulder, Colorado, where he began his game career as a software engineer and technical director, and quickly worked his way up to senior producer for the NightCaster Xbox launch, and eventually became general manager of the Boulder studio. Brett holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science as well as a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Kansas. He also studied philosophy and chemistry at Universität Dortmund in Germany. An avid athlete, musician, and environmentalist, Brett is a respected industry leader known for both encouraging and establishing a true work-life balance in the game development environment. Scot Rubin, Vice President of Marketing, CHAMPIONSHIP GAMING SERIES: As vice president of marketing, Rubin manages global strategy, development, execution and ongoing oversight of league marketing. Rubin helps design and execute integrated marketing programs that include advertising, promotions, public relations, event marketing, online initiatives and sponsorship support at a worldwide level. Rubin joined CGS from All Games Productions, where as founder, he provided consulting and production services to a variety of companies including CNET's GameSpot, MTV's GameTrailers, XFX, David Perry, Pop Cap Games, Wilshire Conferences, E for All Expo, and Hewlett Packard. Previously, Rubin served as a consultant for Comcast to develop the video game TV channel G4. Rubin's production team was instrumental in building the network's prototype that was ultimately leveraged to secure $150 million in startup funding. Once the channel launched, Rubin served as VP of Program Development, Internet, and IT before settling in as the VP of Editorial. Rubin also created and hosted a weekly interactive talk show and various specials while at G4. Early in his career, Rubin launched All Games Network, the world's first interactive network for gamers, which was later acquired by Pseudo Programming in NYC, where he served as VP of games and sports programming and oversaw development for dozens of hours of live and on-demand programming each week. Rubin also served as executive producer of the NFL Quarterback Club Channel, a joint venture with the NFL QB CLUB to create lifestyle programming around the NFL's biggest stars. Russell Weiss, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP: He is also a Co-Head of its Technology and Entertainment practice and Head of the firmwide Video Game practice. Mr. Weiss specializes in transactional matters and counseling in the fields of entertainment, technology, media and intellectual property with a particular focus on the convergence of entertainment and technology. Mr. Weiss has represented video game, motion picture, television, cable, music, video game and multimedia companies in structuring, negotiating and drafting a broad range of agreements involving the financing, acquisition, development, production, marketing, promotion, distribution, publishing, sale and other exploitation of video games, motion pictures, television and Internet programming, and music. Mr. Weiss also has represented a wide array of technology companies in structuring, negotiating and drafting agreements involving the research, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, sale and other exploitation of technology. He regularly counsels clients on intellectual property and commercial law matters, including, without limitation: piracy; privacy; fair use; the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; digital rights management; advertising; contests, sweepstakes and gaming; right of publicity; and unfair competition. In addition, Mr. Weiss has experience litigating cases involving intellectual property and commercial law issues in federal and state courts. Mr. Weiss has spoken on many panels concerning issues faced by the entertainment, music, video game and technology industries and has been widely quoted in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, CNET News and other publications. Prior to his joining Morrison & Foerster in 1999, Mr. Weiss served as Counsel both in the Motion Picture Division of Columbia Pictures as well as in the Business and Legal Affairs Department of Disney Interactive, Inc. Mr. Weiss received his J.D. in 1994 from Loyola Law School where he was a Staff Writer for the Loyola Law Review. He received his B.A. in 1990 from the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Weiss is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association where he serves on the Board of Governors and on the Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property, Internet and New Technologies Section. Mr. Weiss is a member of the California bar.