Speaker Biographies

TALES FROM THE DIGITAL FRONTIER - 24 JUNE 2009

Lance Weiler, Award-winning Filmmaker and Digital Pioneer

Lance Weiler is a critically-acclaimed award-winning writer/director. Millimeter magazine called Lance a “tech iconoclast” and Wired magazine named him “one of 25 people helping to re-invent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood.” His work has been featured in Time and Forbes and on television programmes such as Entertainment Tonight and CNN.

His first feature, The Last Broadcast, a self-distributed effort, is currently distributed in over 20 countries and has grossed over $4 million worldwide. Lance’s newest feature, Head Trauma, had its world premiere at the LA Film Festival. Lance put together his own 17 city theatrical released which rolled into a national DVD release and VOD release by Warner Brothers. Lance then developed a cinema ARG (alternate reality game) around the film – a mashup of movies, music, theatrics and gaming. Over 2.5 million people experienced elements of the game across cinemas, mobile drive-ins, mobile phones and online.

Lance is a Partner in a social media company, Seize the Media, which was created to address the gap between burgeoning technologies and entertainment. STM’s clients include Microsoft, eBay, Creative Artists Agency amongst others. He sits on the board of the IFP and is Co-founder of From Here to Awesome, a discovery and distribution festival that puts filmmakers directly in touch with global audiences.

Lance’s latest project is HIM, a collision of film, gaming and interactive technology that was presented at Power to the Pixel’s Project launch 2008. It won the ARTE France Cinema Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival earlier this year.

Michael Gubbins, Journalist and Digital Media Consultant

Michael Gubbins is a journalist and consultant, specialising in digital change in film and the wider media. He was formerly Editor of Screen International and has written for newspapers and magazines, including The Times and Time Out. He has also made frequent appearances on television, including the BBC's flagship film programme, ABC News and Channel Four. Gubbins has chaired and spoken at more than 50 festivals and events in the last four years on the subject of digital change in film. He is on the advisory board of Power to the Pixel and BAFTA Learning and Events and is a Director of the Screenwriters Festival. He has acted as a consultant or written reports for bodies including the UK Film Council, BAFTA, Olsberg SPI, the Swedish Film Institute, CineRegio and Europa Cinemas.

Michel Peters, Co-founder & CEO, Content Republic

Michel Peters has over a decade of executive international experience in digital business and operations and an impressive track record of global successes. Prior to co-founding Content Republic Michel was Vice President, Digital Operations for Sony BMG’s Digital Business Group where he was responsible for the delivery of online and mobile audiovisual content to 185 partners globally (including Apple, Nokia, Vodafone, Microsoft). Prior to Sony BMG, Michel held various roles within the Sony organisation which included Vice President of European Digital Operations where he successfully set up the first digital operations division to implement a digital supply chain, and Head of eMedia for Sony Music Netherlands where he was responsible for digital business, digital music
licensing and online development and presence. Michel holds a Master of Science in Communication from the University of Amsterdam.

Helen Grace, Founder, Left Films

Helen Grace runs a digital sales and distribution company called Left Films which currently represents 12 independent feature films and more than 200 short films for video-on-demand distribution and other sales. Helen is also a film producer and occasional director, and her particular interest is in working with films that are not achieving conventional forms of distribution - finding new audiences online for new films. Left has more than 30 online distribution partners internationally, offering video-on-demand download and streaming of low-budget British films. Most recently, Helen has run the PR and sales campaign for Colin - the critically-acclaimed British zombie movie made for just £ 45 ($ 70).

Brian Newman, President & CEO, Tribeca Film Institute

Brian Newman was recently named the President & CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) as the result of a combination between Renew Media and TFI. As a combined organisation, the primary objective is to create one institution dedicated to innovation in film and media, the enrichment of audiences and the promotion of education, understanding and creativity through the media arts. TFI now gives approximately $1.25 million annually to filmmakers and media artists through grants and fellowships in the United States and Mexico, in addition to other programs for media artists, youth and the general public.

Newman was Executive Director of IMAGE Film & Video Center in Atlanta for five years, overseeing the Atlanta Film Festival amongst other programs. Previously he held positions at the IFP and the South Carolina Arts Commission. Brian also serves on the editorial advisory board for Art Papers magazine and the steering committee of Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media (GFEM). Newman has a MA in Film Studies from Emory University.

Scilla Andreen, Co-founder & CEO, IndieFlix

Founded in 2005 by award-winning filmmaker Scilla Andreen, IndieFlix is a Seattle-based multi-platform independent film distribution and discovery site founded on the principles of community, promotion, syndication and transparency. IndieFlix is dedicated to providing a forum for filmmakers and their audience to interact, and to building a community that translates artistic vision into commercial success. IndieFlix promises to maintain a fair and open market to empower filmmakers to be the engine of their achievement and audiences to be a vital part of a movie’s success. IndieFlix is committed to encourage public opinion and power of choice while reinvesting in the independence of film, the people that craft them, and the organisations that support them. We believe that every movie has an audience, every filmmaker has a story to tell and each story has the right to be shared. IndieFlix library stands at 1500 + film festival titles and growing.

IndieFlix, connecting people through movies.

Liz Rosenthal, Director, Power to the Pixel

An early advocate and pioneer of digital distribution and filmmaking, Liz is a digital film and media expert.

She is the Founder and Director of Power the Pixel an organisation that provides the film and media community with the latest knowledge about the digital changes that are transforming the independent film business. PTTP organises The Cross-Media Film Forum during the London Film Festival. This event connects the film industry with key innovators of the digital revolution, pioneering new distribution and finance models, in a conference, a think tank and a cross-media project forum. Power to the Pixel Consulting advises international media companies, film financing organisations, filmmakers and film festivals about using cutting-edge distribution and production strategies and new film business models. Liz has recently been appointed as the Digital Distribution Strategy Advisor to the UK Film Council

She is invited regularly to speak at international conferences, film festivals and leading film schools including Berlin, Cannes, Rotterdam, London and Edinburgh Film Festivals, Screen International Conferences and lectured at EAVE, The Media Business School in Ronda, BAFTA, The National Film and Television School, for Skillset, The ICA and The National Film Theatre in London.

She is also the founder of Earthly Delights Films, a production company that develops independent media projects. She is one of the producers of feature film The Trouble With Men and Women which was released in the US through The Independent Film Channel and has just launched online animation project and series, Marsipan.

Liz set up and ran the UK office for Next Wave Films (a Santa Monica based company of the Independent Film Channel US) from 1998 to 2002. Next Wave Films was a pioneer in the production, finance and sales of ultra low budget features and digital filmmaking. The company helped exceptionally talented filmmakers, from the US and abroad, launch their careers.

Nicole Yershon, Director, Innovative Solutions Ogilvy Group UK

Nicole started her career in advertising twenty-three years ago at two of London's most traditional and creative agencies.

In 2000, Nicole was given the brief by Ogilvy London's Chairman to “bring Ogilvy into the 21st century”, taking them from analogue to digital by working with programmers and implementing Finance, Workflow and Digital Asset Management systems.

Over the last four years, Nicole has built up RedWorks Broadcast (previously Domain), Ogilvy London's digital hub. RedWorks Broadcast covers all broadcast and video editing (on and off line) and includes digital broadcast global delivery.

2005 saw her focus shift to new media, exploring and exploiting 360 marketing elements on all evolving media platforms. Ogilvy now regularly produces non-traditional advertising: from long form content, flooding Second Life, live webcasting with Girls Aloud, streaming, podcasting and digital escalator panels to name but a few.

Nicole and her team have recently launched OgilvyOne’s Digital Innovations Lab to spot talent and bring innovative ideas to market for their Brands and also launched Unilever's Innovation Lab at their Headquarters in London in March of this year.

David Bausola, Co-Founder Ag8 and Creator of Where Are The Joneses?

With over 10 years of experience in managing complex software projects for brands such as PlayStation through to Channel 4 Television, David's interest is in how entertainment and communication utilities work together to enable audiences to co-produce bespoke experiences. As such, the combination of technology, media law and art to produce invention which is commercial and socially beneficial, remains at the core of David's service design work.

In 2007 David created an unique entertainment format for Ford Motor Company, titled Where are the Joneses? - a social media sitcom where the audience influenced the daily production of a road trip to seek out 27 sperm donor siblings. Produced with the UK’s leading comedy production company, Baby Cow, Where are the Joneses? enabled a world leading brand to engage audiences with authenticity and generosity. It was the first and largest branded media production to be licensed under the Creative Commons commercial licence.

Kelly Sweeney, Head of Original Productions, Bebo

Kelly Sweeney, as Head of Original Productions, works to identify and commission new shows for the world’s leading social media network, Bebo, and develop this emergent medium with shows such as KateModern, Sofia’s Diary, The Gap Year & b-box.

Kelly ensures that Bebo’s original productions continue to be engaging and enticing through building and maintaining a collaborative relationship with Bebo’s production partners and advertisers and ensuring a great experience for its users.

Kelly Sweeney joined Bebo after a year working on KateModern – a show that achieved more than 67 million views within 12 months and garnered industry acclaim, securing two BAFTA nominations and a British Press Guild Award for innovation.

Before joining KateModern, Kelly worked on over 20 TV productions for the BBC, Sky and ITV amongst others on projects ranging from daily live reality to documentaries, comedy, entertainment and chat shows.

Ben Grass, MD Pure Grass Films

Ben Grass is Managing Director of Pure Grass Films. He produced Beyond the Rave (MySpace’s first series outside the US) and Exec Produced Kirill (MSN’s first online series outside the US, which won a Webby for Best Drama Episode, 2009). He was formerly responsible for Sony Pictures Digital in Europe and prior to that was Senior Advisor, Corporate Strategy at the BBC. He holds a degree in Modern History from Oxford and a MBA from INSEAD.