Level up at our unique event featuring leaders in content creation, gaming, and digital platforms who are shaping storytelling for millions. Narrative virtual and augmented reality experiences are becoming the norm. Ways to monetize mobile user loyalty are on the rise. Entrepreneurs are setting their sights on emerging social media and app opportunities. Join us in LA for insightful conversations that explore this rapidly evolving landscape.
Eric Fitzgerald Reed, Vice President – Entertainment and Tech Policy for Verizon Communications in San Francisco, CA, is responsible for analyzing entertainment industry trends, managing telecommunications developments and emerging high-tech matters as they relate to public policy. Mr. Reed leads Verizon’s outreach to an array of Silicon Valley and Hollywood-based stakeholders in content and entertainment, digital media, information technology, and major sports leagues with vested interests in telecommunications policy, regulatory
and legislative matters. In this role, he advances the company’s positions and analyzes emerging technologies, consumer and industry trends and related telecommunications policy issues.
CO-FOUNDER OF LOOTSIE
Marc Mitchell is the co-founder and CEO of Lootsie, Inc., a loyalty and rewards platform for mobile games and applications. Prior to Lootsie, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of UrbanDaddy, a leading digital media lifestyle brand. Before operating UrbanDaddy, Mitchell was the COO of SRC Entertainment where he oversaw SRC Records/Universal—a joint venture with Universal Music Group, and SRC Marketing—a partnership with Mosaic Media Group. Mitchell started his career as a corporate attorney in the New York office of Chadbourne & Parke, an international law firm. He has advised Refinery29, ForYourArt, and Intermedia Vibe Holdings. He serves on the Board of Zoo Commissioners for the City of Los Angeles and the Board of Directors for Bright Star Schools, and the Harvard-Westlake African American Alumni Network. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mitchell earned a JD from NYU, and his AB in International Relations from Stanford.
SVP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, SGN
As Senior Vice President of Business Development at SGN, Michael Ritter oversees all distribution, partnerships, licensing, and monetization.
Prior to SGN, Ritter was Founder and Publisher of Saturday Night Magazine, which he built into the largest circulated monthly collegiate lifestyle and entertainment magazine in the country. Services included event marketing, promotions and consulting for clients such as Geico Insurance, US Army, Playboy, Chegg, Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Ritter serves on the Board of Advisors of Ritter Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq RTTR), which is in the process of FDA clinical trials to be the first approved drug to treat lactose intolerance. He graduated from the University of Southern California and also received his MBA from USC.
FOUNDER OF ZENKA.ORG
Jenny Carden (Zenka) is an independent artist who is known for her augmented reality sculptures and street art. Her AR creations take the form of large scale murals, ceramic installations, stencils and wheat pasting and can be found on the streets of Portland, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Panama and beyond. Her artwork explores the theme of how technological advances accelerate over time. Fortune 500 companies like Google and Delta Airlines collect her artwork.
CO-FOUNDER & SVP PUBLISHING AT SCOPELY
Eric is a startup veteran with in-depth knowledge of advertising and product management that he gleaned from roles at companies he founded, as well as working at companies including IBM and Trilogy Software. An expert at synthesizing several different disciplines to get a company off the ground, Eric has a proven track record of successfully scaling startups quickly.
Eric founded Scopely in 2011 along Walter Driver, AdSense co-creator Eytan Elbaz and ex-MySpace architect Ankur Bulsara. At Scopely, Eric manages revenue, finance and operations. Scopely is a next-generation mobile entertainment network that is redefining the way mobile apps are developed, distributed and monetized.
FOUNDER AND CEO FAIRCHILD CONSORTIUM
Charles is an entrepreneur that has an affinity for education and technology. He and some of his tech savvy collegues have banded together as Fairchild Consortium to create some of the best inventive and innovative interactive entertainment experiences including VR and AR. At Fairchild Consortium, Charles is the chief executive officer over the small telecommuting studio that has over 10 developers and outsource houses. He is an entertainment professional with experiences across many industries. He also has over eight video titles working as a producer and/or designer.
ART DIRECTOR AT MICROSOFT
I have been with Microsoft for over 8 years- the last almost 3 years with Microsoft Global Practice User Experience team as Art Director. I have been working for over 20 years for a variety of industries and companies but a majority of my background has been in the Entertainment and Game industries. I have worked for Electronic Arts, Sony PlayStation and Xbox to name a few. I started out my career as an freelance Illustrator and graphic artist in the sports and music industries. I have achieved some success and awards in the field including Best Visuals Award (God of War3) and a Most Innovative nomination (Tiger Woods PGA Golf) respectively. I also serve on the Board of Advisory for Santa Monica College.
ART DIRECTOR AT MICROSOFT
From Vice President of Production to Cheif Creative Officer, Bennie has decades of Technical and Production experience working in the entertainment industry. He has worked on projects for companies such as Rhythm and Hues, Disney, Marvel and Oddworld Inhabitants inc.
He has developed games and other related content across twelve unique platforms ranging from consoles to VR with millions of units sold to his credit. His seasoned and inspired proficiency with today's technologies; gives him an edge while leading both technical and creative teams.
SENIOR PRODUCER AT MAGIC LEAP
Travis Williams began his career in entertainment in 1990 as one of the co creators of the “World of Darkness” Roleplaying games from White Wolf. These World of Darkness properties (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage) went on to become comics, TV shows, video games and novels. As a game producer Travis has worked on popular fighting games (Street Fighter, X-Men Children of the Atom) to Adventure games (Hell, Sanitarium) to MMOs (Matrix Online, Vanguard) to Social gaming (PAIN) on the Playstation 3. He is currently a Producer at Magic Leap Inc. working on new forms of groundbreaking digital entertainment.
FOUNDER/CEO OW! (ONLINE WORLDS) ENTERTAINMENT
Eric started his career as a 2D animator at MTV on Beavis & Butt Head and then moved to LA to work on King of the Hill & The Simpsons. When not working as a professional animator he spent 15 years working with the Art Institutes as an Instructor and then founded the most successful Game programs in the system. He founded OW! Entertainment in 1997 to create virtual worlds for movie & TV properties.
FOUNDER & CEO AT GAMEDOCS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT WOMEN IN GAMES INTERNATIONAL
Belinda Van Sickle is an entertainment technology industry influencer and thought leader with deep resources among clients and partners. She provides strategy, marketing and product management services for emerging and established companies with expertise negotiating among multi-national corporations. She has written and lectured using her experience-driven competitive analysis of product and company positioning and branding. Van Sickle is the Founder and CEO of GameDocs specializing in strategic and marketing consulting.
She started her video game career in 1997 at Activision and in 1999, was one of the founding members of Ignited Minds, an ad agency specializing in the game industry.
Wednesday October 28, 2015 | 6 – 8 pm
5:30 pm | Registration
6:00 pm | Opening Remarks
▪ Derek Smith, Founder, Plug In South LA and Talk NYC / LA
6:05 pm | Digital Content Creation Without the BS (A millennial perspective)
(Talk)
LA-based marketing and advertising executive Matthew Castellanos heads up content for Golf Media, an app created by rapper and music producer Tyler, The Creator. He also runs Bowerbird, a creative firm focused on changing the way brands will advertise for years to come. He talks about mastering the art of short form storytelling and how to connect with a young, mobile audience.
▪ Matthew Castellanos, Owner, Bowerbird and Head of Content, Golf Media
6:15 pm | This Game Is Unreal: Charting New VR and AR Territory
(Panel)
Narrative virtual reality and augmented reality experiences are becoming the norm in gaming. So what’s next? Microsoft art director Kevin Brown, executive producer Bennie Terry of the interactive entertainment gaming company Oddworld Inhabitants, and senior producer Travis Williams from the augmented reality startup Magic Leap all have front-row seats. Moderator Charles Babb talks with them about new capabilities, growth opportunities, and just how unreal gaming is going to get.
▪ Charles Babb, Chief Executive Officer, Fairchild Consortium (Moderator)
▪ Kevin Brown, Art Director, Microsoft
▪ Bennie Terry, Executive Producer, Oddworld Inhabitants
▪ Travis Williams, Senior Producer, Magic Leap
6:45 pm | Power Networking Break
6:50 pm | Digging Deeper: The Realities of Gaming and VR in LA
(Talk)
Belinda Van Sickle’s career began at the video game publisher Activision and in 1999 she helped found Ignited Minds, an ad agency specializing in the game industry. Today she heads GameDocs, her marketing consulting services company for developers, and serves as executive director for the organization Women in Games International. Van Sickle takes a closer look at the realities of the gaming and VR business landscape in Los Angeles, digging into existing challenges and opportunities.
▪ Belinda Van Sickle, CEO, GameDocs and Executive Director, Women in Games International
7:00 pm | How To Get Started Sharing and Making Augmented Reality Content
(Talk)
Los Angeles-based artist Jenny Carden goes by the name Zenka, working in raku sculpture and ceramic street art with augmented reality overlays. She brings artists together to create new forms of content. She will demystify the creation and publication of AR campaigns, and show how to create them. Gain key insights into choosing a platform, making content impactful, setting up an overlay as well as campaign testing and promotion.
▪ Jenny Carden, Founder, Zenka.org
7:10 pm | More Bang for the Buck: Building Loyalty and Profitability into Gameplay
(Panel)
The exploding mobile gaming market is expected to reach $45 billion in three years. Game publishers are in the middle of the action, creating enhanced and profitable user experiences. Plug In South LA founder Derek Smith finds out how by talking with executives from Social Gaming Network or SGN, one of the largest cross-platform gaming companies in the world, Scopely, which partners with game developers and global entertainment companies to help bring monetization tech to free-to-play games, and Lootsie, which has rewards-based advertising tech powering loyalty programs inside popular apps and games.
▪ Derek Smith, Founder, Plug In South LA and Talk NYC / LA (Moderator)
▪ Eric Futoran, Co-Founder and SVP Publishing, Scopely
▪ Marc Mitchell, Co-Founder and CEO, Lootsie
▪ Michael Ritter, SVP Business Development, Social Gaming Network
7:40 pm | Get There Faster: Navigating Tech and Entertainment Trends
(Talk)
As vice president of entertainment and tech policy for Verizon Communications, Eric Fitzgerald Reed analyzes entertainment industry trends and manages telecommunications developments as well as high-tech matters related to public policy. He talks with Derek Smith about how telecommunications policy impacts emerging business models, which new tech platforms are shaping digital content, and how Verizon’s Innovation Program is helping entrepreneurs take their products to market faster.
▪ Eric Fitzgerald Reed, Vice President, Entertainment and Tech Policy, Verizon Communications
Closing Remarks
▪ Derek Smith, Founder, Plug In South LA and Talk NYC / LA
8:00 pm | Cocktail Reception
