Now in its fourth edition, Hollywood Meets Silicon Valley will bring together the brightest minds in entertainment and technology for a one day event in the heart of the Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, starting today, Friday January 17, 2014.
Hermione Way started Hollywood Meets Silicon Valley Conference in 2011 and it is produced by Marcus Lovingood who is the founder and CEO of Futureleap Media. The conference aims to foster connections between leaders of the digital revolution and those driving innovation and change in Hollywood.
Lovingood is renowned for activating, cultivating and converting large online audiences into buying fans using social media and digital distribution.
Seasoned digital media executive Louise Hart, Founder and CEO of STEADY ON, (Sony Pictures, BBC) is co-producing the event and moderating the “Audience Building” panel, highlighting ways independent filmmakers are using technology to identify and distribute directly to their audience. One of Variety’s Top 10 Directors to watch, Justin Simien will be on the panel, talking about how he used NationBuilder to grow a community around his film DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, tipped by Entertainment Weekly to be one of the top films to see at this year’s festival.
Sponsored by Technicolor and their new filmmaker network Creative District, Big Air Studios, STEADY ON, Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard and SavvyCity. Confirmed speakers include: Chris Kelly Founder of Fandor, Justin Simien Director of DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and the film’s producer Ann Le, Michael Arrieta, CEO Big Air Studios, Micki Krimmel from Creative District, Jason Taylor, President of Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry Productions, Steve Masur, Partner CDAS, Jeremy Boxer, Creative Director at Vimeo, Josh Gray-Emmer from NationBuilder, Emily Best Founder Seed&Spark, Marc Hoffstatter of Indiegogo Film, Ann Greenberg Co-Founder of Gracenote, Hooman Khalili, Director OLIVE, Ben Nemtin for MTV’s The Buried Life (who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show).
The event will take place at the Music Lodge, a prime Sundance hot-spot on Park City’s Main Street and will be live-streamed via Ustream on HWMSV.com to over 100,000 film and technology industry professionals with an estimated reach of 2.5MM impressions across the globe.
The conference schedule is as follows:
KEYNOTES AND INTRODUCTIONS – 10:00AM – 10:55AM
PANEL 1 – DEAL-MAKING IN THE NEW DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM – 11:00AM Moderator – Steven Masur, Partner, CDAS
Marc Simon, Entertainment Attorney, The Kids Are All Right, Winter’s Bone
More speakers to be announced
PANEL 2 – CONTENT IS KING – 1:00PM
Moderator – Hermione Way – Founder Hollywood Meets Silicon Valley
Michael Arrieta, CEO, Big Air Studios (Former EVP Sony Pictures Digital)
Elsie Choi, Founder Busby (Former development exec for Bruce Willis)
Chris Kelly, Founder Fandor/ Investor (Former Chief Privacy Officer Facebook)
Ann Le – Producer DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, COO The Hub LA
PANEL 3 – DISTRIBUTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE – 2:00PM
Moderator – Marcus Lovingood (CEO, Futureleap Media)
Jason Taylor, President, Bad Hat Harry Productions (Bryan Singer, X-Men, H+)
Jacob Medjuck, President, Filmraiser (Former. Dreamworks Animation)
Adam Scourgie, Director/Producer – The Culture High
Ben Nemtin, MTV’S Buried Life
Carla Hendra, Global Chairman, OgilvyRED
PANEL 4 – INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR THE INDIE FILMMAKER – 3:00PM Moderator – Ann Greenberg, Co-Founder Gracenote/ Founder and CEO Sceneplay
Jeremy Boxer, Creative Director Film+Video, Vimeo
James Franklin, Founder Assemble, Creative Director BRITDOC
Hooman Khalili Director OLIVE (first full length feature shot 100% on a mobile)
Micki Krimmel, General Manager, Creative District, a Technicolor Venture
PANEL 5 – AUDIENCE BUILDING – 4:00pm
Moderator – Louise Hart (Founder STEADY ON)
Emily Best, Founder Seed&Spark
Peter Gerard, Co-Founder Distrify
Josh Gray-Emmer, Organizer at NationBuilder
Marcus Lovingood, CEO Futureleap Media
Justin Simien, Director DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
