The Variety Venture Capital & New Media Summit

The Variety Venture Capital & New Media Summit, will explore how the investment community is driving technology innovation - so critical for the growth of the evolving entertainment industry. Start-up companies with strong ideas can thrive, thanks to the post-recession financial support and Hollywood's fight to attract today's digital consumers. Take advantage of early bird pricing and register before May 11th! AGENDA June 27, 2012 – 8:30am - 6:00pm 8:30 – 9:30am Registration 9:30 – 10:15am Research/Case Studies 10:15 – 10:45am Keynote Conversation 10:45 – 11:00am Networking Break 11:00 – 11:45am State of Venture Capital and Global Media Business As traditional and digital media companies strive to build out a worldwide marketplace for their products, how does fund-raising, investment and new technologies impact their strategies? Can Silicon Valley’s often ‘disruptive’ innovations advance rather than confound the traditional media business? Top investors at VCs and major media companies; plus leading entrepreneurs will explore what new products and services are grabbing their attention for sustained global growth. *With the bounty of hot trends to consider – spanning subscription e-commerce, social gaming, hyper localization, curation and more – which media products and services will actually stick and become true profit generators? *What is to be learned from the past year’s recent high-profile IPO filings – i.e. LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga? Should fears that we may be entering a ‘social media’ bubble be taken seriously? *What are investment opportunities and challenges outside of the U.S. – given this is where so many media companies are focusing their attention to expand their content distribution business? Confirmed Speakers: Michael Yang, Managing Director, Comcast Ventures Diego Berdakin, Co-Founder and President, BeachMint 11:45 – 12:30pm The Future of Social Media: Gaming, E-Commerce, Life-sharing - What Are Ways Still to Innovate? Social media networks have given rise to a dizzying array of new services – whether this is crowd-sourcing for financing/marketing; daily deals/subscription commerce; photo/experience sharing; niche social networks; and more. And within each sub-category there are many competitors. Given the intense competition, how will social media continue to advance and evolve? *What new products and services are actually problem-solving for consumers, media companies, brands – or give them something they’ve never experienced before? *What areas of social media are in danger of being saturated? *What is important for social media companies to grow and continue to hold onto current users and attract new consumers? Confirmed Speakers: Liz Jones, SVP of Digital Marketing, Relativity Media Michael Downing, CEO, Tout Jason Alex, Head of Digital Marketing, DreamWorks Animation Jack Krawczyk, Head of Product Marketing, StumbleUpon Jason Knapp, EVP, Product, Specific Media & MySpace 12:30 – 1:45pm Lunch 1:45 – 2:30pm Build it and They Will Come: How to Create the Next Great Product Facebook and Twitter among companies that first focused on design and strong user experiences before concentrating on perfecting business models. This is opposite to Hollywood’s way of making sure revenues can be had before greenlighting a pilot or film. But as the start-up community is more crowded than ever – what is necessary to launch a hot product that is successful? Should Hollywood learn to sometimes put business models on the back seat in favor of innovation first? Top entrepreneurs and financiers will debate. *What is the meaning of success for new products and services? How are they measured? *Does creativity suffer, if business model is too much of a focus? *What are strategies to building followers and audiences for products in nascent stages? *What are the great new product success stories this year- and what parts were they standouts in design versus a compelling business model? Confirmed Speakers: Avichal Garg, CEO and Co-Founder, Spool Ryan Spoon, Principal, Polaris Ventures & Lead, Dogpatch Labs Sara Bordo, Co-Founder & CEO, NowLive Marni Wieshofer, Managing Director, MESA 2:30 – 3:15pm Entertainment Game-changers: Who is Transforming Content and Consumer Experience for the Better? The entertainment business, spanning TV, film, video games and more, is racing to stay on top of how consumers want to consume content. Who is driving the push to create, deliver, promote entertainment in new ways? How is this sea change impacting the traditional media business – are they succeeding in growing their business? *How has the rise of the tablet and smartphone been a factor in game-changing entertainment? *How have burgeoning Web-delivered channels opened the door for new storytelling and creative opportunities? *How are advertisers benefitting from game-changing ways to deliver entertainment – how are they aligning with content in more powerful ways? Confirmed Speakers: Allen DeBevoise, Chairman, CEO & Founder, Machinima Sam Chang, GM, Innovation & Smart TV, LG Electronics Malik Ducard, Director, Content Partnerships, YouTube Film & TV Erik Flannigan, EVP, Digital, Viacom Networks 3:15 – 3:30pm Networking Break 3:30 – 4:15pm The Burgeoning L.A. Venture Capital and Start-Up Landscape As technology plays a major role in how the media industry evolves, Hollywood-tied Los Angeles has become a hub for venture capital firm and start-ups to develop their products. What makes the L.A. VC scene different from better known hubs in Silicon Valley and New York? *Who are the major players in L.A. and who is having success at creating new businesses? *Are there benefits an L.A.-based VC firm can offer versus more established firms in Silicon Valley? *What sorts of innovative digital media products are coming out of L.A.? Confirmed Speakers: Mike Jones, Founder, Science & Former CEO, Myspace Taylor McPartland, Co-Founder and President, FilmBreak Aber Whitcomb, CTO, MindJolt & Co-Founder, i/o Ventures Erik Rannala, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Muckerlab 4:15 – 5:00pm Cult of Celebrity – When Stars Align with Technology Companies What do Ashton Kutcher, Selena Gomez, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and MC Hammer have in common? All have invested in start-up technology companies. What value do celebrities bring to the long-term value of new services and products? *Are they making material investments? Is it more about gaining profile and marketing upside among the public for the start-up? *What are strategies in engaging celebrities with new products – what are ways to reach out to Hollywood for their support? Confirmed Speakers: Evan Lowenstein, Founder & CEO, StageIt.com Greg Grunberg, Film/TV Actor & Co-Founder, Yowza David Teichner, CEO, Yowza Ara Katz, VP of Creative and Celebrity Partnerships, Beachmint Chris Ovitz, SVP, Viddy 5:00 – 5:45pm The View From the Top: What is Next from the Major Digital Media Brands? It’s not just traditional media that is rapidly changing – today’s major digital media companies are also evolving to best suit changing consumer preferences. A number of firms, such as Groupon, Zynga, LinkedIn and Pandora, have gone public to grow their business. Google keeps diversifying – launching deal-based commerce, a new social networking service and more. Demand Media is pivoting to feature more premium content. How will the major brands continue to refine and expand their businesses? http://www.variety.com/events/2012/venture-capital-new-media-summit/

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