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WE WILL CONTINUE TO UPDATE OUR 2022 SPEAKER LIST - KEEPING CHECKING BACK!
Holly Liu founded the venture backed mobile gaming company, Kabam in 2006. Her work has contributed to record revenue growth for Kabam year over year from $0 to $400MM annually, which led Kabam into the unicorn club in 2014. She led the design for Kabam’s award-winning "Kingdoms of Camelot" franchise, grossing over $250 million in less than four years. She was also the founding mobile designer for Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, which was the top grossing app on iOS in 2012.
She was Chief Development Officer in charge of developing Kabam’s relationships internationally through key relationships - starting with China.
Prior to that she was Kabam's Chief of Staff and oversaw HR, leading the talent experience for over 1500 employees (including contractors) at Kabam globally. Holly oversaw the team responsible for recruiting and retaining top talent, and has grown the Kabam staff 500% in three years.
Kabam successfully sold in 2017 to Netmarble and FoxNext combined for a billion dollars.
Holly was previously a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator, an early stage accelerator that has birthed companies like Twitch, Airbnb, Dropbox and many others.
She now runs a collective - PKO - with Patrick Lee (founder and former CEO of Rotten Tomatoes , Kun Gao (founder and former CEO of Crunchyroll) and Kevin Lin (founder of Twitch). We get the most notable people (founders, execs, celebrities and investors) in entertainment and tech to support one another and the next generation. Together, since 2021, we have funded over 40 companies and raised over $33M for those companies. Give us a follow @pko_xyz and drop us a line!
She currently tweets @hollyhliu.
An co-directed/produced the feature-length documentary "Moving Pictures: Filmmaking and the Art of Cinematography," which premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2020. She also directed/produced over 50 episodes of the web series "The Filmmakers View."
Producing credits include "The Summer People" for director Todd Louiso, indie feature "Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf” written/directed by Susan Youssef and episodes of the PBS sci-fi anthology “Futurestates” for writer/director Trevin Matcek. She formerly helmed the ARRI Emerging Filmmaker Grant program, where she championed award-winning films like “Beasts of the Southern Wild” by director Behn Zeitlin, “Fruitvale Station” for writer/director Ryan Coogler, “Imperial Dreams” by Malik Vitthal, “Beach Rats” for Eliza Hittman and the documentaries “The Donut King” for director Alice Gu, Elizabeth Lo's "Stray" and “A Town Called Victoria” by Li Lu.
She is a Film Independent Producers Lab Fellow, an IFP Emerging Narrative alumni and Project: Involve Fellow for writing & directing. An is a member of the Producers Guild of America and has served as a Film Mentor for the SXSW Film Festival and Locarno Open Doors in addition to advising for Film Independent’s Fast Track and Industry Connect Programs.
The daughter of political refugees who fled Vietnam at the end of the war, An was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. Her family ran a Chinese restaurant (yes, Chinese) where customers witnessed her ringing up the cash register and waiting on tables. These experiences of her family growing up in the Midwest and then returning to Vietnam inspired the feature documentary "Tran 5" (now in post). She is a graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and School of English. In her spare time she can be found outdoors or volunteering at a pet rescue.
Joseph Anderson is a Manatt Entertainment partner in the Firm’s Los Angeles office. His practice focuses on corporate transactional matters affecting the entertainment industry—with broad experience across music, film, television, gaming, podcasting, XR/metaverse and other digital media—as well as potential issues arising from intellectual property, copyright and corporate law. He has deep experience drafting and negotiating a variety of leading-edge agreements, including those involving publishing, distribution, financing, licensing and development for all manner of entertainment and IP-based projects. Joe is putting this diverse skillset to use actively advising and representing clients leveraging opportunities in the metaverse and Web3 era.
Joe comes to Manatt from a boutique law firm in Los Angeles, where his practice focused on corporate and intellectual property transactional matters for its entertainment and media practice. His clients included several platinum-level recording artists, as well as a range of production, distribution and development fund companies of all sizes. Additionally, Joe worked as the business and legal affairs manager for a custom scoring company and a production music library owned by Sony Music, in partnership with Hans Zimmer.
Multilingual and a born optimist, Garcí leads with boundless humanity and connects easily with others. His wide range of experiences and international background have made him an essential business ally for clients of all kinds, including Rolex, Ferrero Rocher, Unilever, Hyundai Motor Company, Videotron, SAQ, L’Oréal, and many others. Garcí is a campaign and product expert who previously served as artistic director, group director of operations, and group director of account services. Paired with his wealth of professional and personal experiences, that multidisciplinary role forged his understanding of the complex needs of today’s consumers.
Now Vice-President of Account Services at Sid Lee, Garcí is both an open book and a fascinating enigma, with countless anecdotes and atypical experiences around the globe.
Outside of work, Garcí is a well-known Star Wars fan and collector. (He once delivered a Star Wars–themed talk on leadership to a crowd of over 500 people.) He’s also an avid rugby player who coaches the Saint Lambert Locks here in Montreal.
A 4x recipient of SxSW Interactive's Innovation Awards and SxSW featured keynote speaker on "Technology for the Sake of Humanity," Elliot is the producer of the feature documentaries "for Tomorrow," "Queen Mimi," "Unzipped" and other award-winning favorites such as the Netflix Original "Little Miss Sumo" (Tribeca, BFI London) and the NBC Peacock Original "Black Boys" (Bentonville, American Black Film Festival). Originally from Australia, Elliot Kotek is a recognized leader in the power of purposeful content, and his innovative impact-driven documentaries have delivered social robot ducks to kids going through chemotherapy and have led to the world's first 3D-printed prosthetic limbs lab. A member of the Television Academy and the Producers Guild of America, his projects have racked up several billion media impressions and earned 5 Cannes Lions (including the Titanium Lion), 2 Clios, 2 Anthem Awards, Emmys, Webbys, archiving at MoMA as well as recognition from the U.S. Congress and House of Representatives.
Lisha Li is the founder and CEO of Rosebud. Rosebud is building PixelVibe, an AI generated stock photo and video platform. We're the team that built Tokkingheads that allows any portrait/photo/face to be animated in seconds with no skill. And Synth (https://www.synth.run), a simple mobile app that allows users to create images based on generative models.
Jay Rosenkrantz is the co-founder and CEO of Heroic Story. Heroic Story is building a massively multiplayer, tabletop RPG platform for web3, hosted by the world's greatest game masters. Our Fortunata World Pass collection was #1 on OpenSea in late September.
James Zhang is the CEO of Concept Art House. Concept Art House is the premiere web3 creative agency in art and entertainment. CAH strategize, design, create and engage for the largest brands, IP, and original projects in the space. With 15 years of production experience and 2 years as a dedicated web3 agency, we have the scale and knowledge to build the web3 infrastructure for creators, projects, and brands in the open metaverse.
Daniel Lisi is a publisher, producer, and writer. He is co-founder of the award-winning independent publisher Not a Cult, and in 2020 co-founded Chapter House, a publishing group Forbes called a "new path for competitive small-press publishing in the digital era."
Carlos Cruz is a Director at Fifth Third Bank and has been financing middle market companies across a variety of sectors including: Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), Restaurant & Retail, Energy, and Commercial & Industrial. For the last 9 years, Carlos has focused solely on the TMT sectors, including: film and television production and distribution, broadcast and cable television, music and new media (Ad-tech, Martech, and Ed-tech). Carlos began his career in the Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch before moving to Jefferies’ Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to Fifth Third Bank, Carlos spent 6 years at the CIT Group where he focused on media, entertainment and gaming transactions. Carlos holds a BA from Rutgers University and a MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
THOUGHT LEADERS.
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Our 2021 Speaker List
Peter founded Immortal Studios to advance his lifelong passion for the martial arts fantasy genre, known as Wuxia, to help awaken the latent heroes in everyone through Immortal's interconnected storyverse.
He has been at the forefront of the convergence of content and technology, Hollywood and the East, and empowering underrepresented communities.
He produced the first ever US-China film co-production, launched the first ever Hollywood-Asia content fund, and led the implementation of the California-China strategic initiative with then Governor Jerry Brown.
Chris Poirier Martin, Sator Co-Founder & President, has over 20 years of experience investing in liquid markets and alternative assets. Martin has advised fintech companies, music festivals, hedge funds and entertainment companies. She has served for 3 years as Trustee of the $1 billion Foundation and Endowment of the University of Colorado, her undergrad alma matter. Martin is a published writer and earned her MBA from UCLA Anderson, Series 7 & 63 and VFR private pilot license.
Martin is currently the Senior Writer and Executive Producer of the “Hold On For Dear Life” series and she has been recognized for her TV writing by Nashville Film Festival.
Martin served 3 years on the Board of Geena Davis’s Institute on Gender in Media and is currently on the Board of Community Leaders Vital Voices. She established a scholarship fund in the name of her late Grandfather and served for six years as Mentor within the “I Have a Dream Foundation.” Ms. Martin has been an invited guest of Forbes Women of Power dinner and has received official recognition from many government officials for her leadership and philanthropy.
Rob Weiss is an American television and film director, producer and screenwriter. A native New Yorker Weiss studied film and fashion in New York City at Parsons School of Design – The New School. Weiss wrote and directed the 1993 cult classic Amongst Friends which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. The independent feature, shot for $900,000 in 24 days, garnered both strong industry buzz and acclaim receiving a nomination for the festivals top Grand Jury Prize. A true visionary in the television landscape Weiss has had the distinct honor of serving as Executive Producer, director, and writer of three critically acclaimed HBO television shows including Entourage (2004-2011), How to Make It in America (2010 – 2011), and Ballers (2015-2019) starring Dwayne Johnson. The massive pop culture success of Entourage earned Weiss six Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Comedy Series, and three Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Weiss executive produced and originated the story for the film adaptation of Entourage (2015). In his spare time, Weiss can be found pursuing his passion for martial arts and his love of writing.
Over the past year, Jason has served as Producer on BRON Digital’s upcoming Fables and Heiress. He previously worked across a variety of titles including Star Trek: Into Darkness, Ant-Man, Thor Ragnarok, and Jojo Rabbit. Chen's next objective is to make visual effects a more approachable medium by supervising a new generation of creatives in "Invisible FX" by seamlessly integrating Computer Generated materials into real locations around the world.
BRON Digital is a state-of-the-art virtual production and service company that utilizes Epic Games' Unreal Engine to develop and produce premium animation, original content, interactive games, motion pictures and other forms of innovative programing.
Chen's experience began working under Academy Award-winning director James Cameron on one of the biggest films in history, Avatar. Having honed his craft at Peter Jackson's premier visual effects company, Weta Digital, and George Lucas' Industrial, Light, and Magic, Jason has been instrumental in pioneering BRON’s international remote virtual production workflow with teams across the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and throughout Europe. Ever the innovator, he oversaw the studio’s partnership with EPIC Games, creating brand new virtual production and animation workflows using inspiration from live action filmmaking techniques. Currently, Jason is working to reshape the digital landscape, taking a non-linear approach to producing linear content for the future. He oversees properties as part of interactive environments, giving audiences the opportunity to engage in in-depth worldbuilding and delve into the stories they fall in love with on screen.
Jason’s responsibilities at BRON are a perfect amalgam of his enthusiasm for virtual production, technology, and film. Working with teammates from all corners of the world, he continues to inspire those around him to constantly go beyond the limits of what’s possible. He exemplified this over the past year by spearheading remote solutions to keep BRON Digital’s projects moving forward throughout the pandemic. During this time, he led his team in safely producing and remotely shooting not one, but two virtual production-based shows, with another in the pipeline for later this year.
Caroline von Kuhn is the Director of Industry and Catalyst, the independent film financing program at Sundance Institute. Prior to this, Caroline was Director of Artist Development at the SFFILM (San Francisco Film Society) where she launched SFFILM Invest. She was a Co-Founder of the Points North Institute with Ben Fowlie and Sean Flynn—which produces the Camden International Film Festival (CIFF)—after coming from the Tribeca Film Festival, running the industry department after four years in publicity. She has worked extensively in film publicity in New York at Tribeca, Apparition (Bob Berney's distribution company), and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Caroline produced industry panels for Doha Tribeca Film Festival (Qatar) and programmed the launch of the crowd-sourced funding and distribution platform Seed&Spark with the team behind her first feature film, Like the Water. Caroline's producing work includes Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo's Slow Machine (2020 Rotterdam, New York Film Festival); Ian Olds' Burn Country (formerly titled The Fixer, 2016 Tribeca Film Festival winner); and her directorial debut Like the Water, for which she also served as executive producer and writer. In theatre, she most recently produced and co-directed a US/UK/Norwegian production of I ,Peer, a modern take on Ibsen's Peer Gynt and disability in the arts (Oslo Norway's National Theatre, London's Old Vic / New Voices, and New York's Private Theatre). Caroline was a 2016 IFP Cannes Producers Network Fellow and sits on the Board of Directors at Points North Institute and Catapult Film Fund. She received her BA in Financial Economics from University of Virginia and an MFA from University of Manchester (UK).
Carlos Cruz is an Executive Director at Fifth Third Bank and has been financing middle market companies across a variety of sectors including: Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), Restaurant & Retail, Energy, and Commercial & Industrial. For the last 9 years, Carlos has focused solely on the TMT sectors, including: film and television production and distribution, broadcast and cable television, music and new media (Ad-tech, Martech, and Ed-tech). Carlos began his career in the Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch before moving to Jefferies’ Leveraged Finance Group. Prior to Fifth Third Bank, Carlos spent 6 years at the CIT Group where he focused on media, entertainment and gaming transactions. Carlos holds a BA from Rutgers University and a MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Joe Plummer is an Emmy-winning producer who oversees all in-house production and investment as President and Executive Producer at Wavelength.
Joe produced the 2019 Sundance darling and Independent Spirit Award-winning Farewell Amor and executive produced the Emmy-winning documentaries Feels Good Man and Athlete A. Independent Spirit Award nominee Colewell, 2020 Tribeca “Best Documentary Feature” Socks on Fire. Sundance Special Jury Award winner Cusp and multiple award-nominated Where’s My Roy Cohn?.
Prior to joining Wavelength, Joe founded the digital ad agency and full-service production company, Gotta Kid To Feed Productions, where he made a splash with his Webby-nominated viral series Real Actors Read Yelp. He created, produced, and directed original content for ESPN, Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel, HGTV, TRUTV, Court TV, The Food Network and more.
Ned Sherman
Partner and Leader Digital & Technology Transactions Unit, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Ned Sherman is a partner at Manatt and leader of the firm’s digital and technology transactions practice. Ned’s practice focuses on the representation of individuals, corporations, venture capital and investment firms, and games, esports, entertainment, media and technology enterprises on matters such as investments, corporate and finance dealings, and licensing transactions (including technology licensing, TV and video output deals, and games development deals). He also has a vibrant talent practice in which he represents talent-centric enterprises as well as creators and influencers in brand and endorsement deals, podcasting and streaming deals, talent agreements with agencies and managers, and agreements for international touring and motion pictures. A hybrid attorney-consultant, Ned assists startups and emerging companies with their digital and growth strategies, advising on business plans, identifying strategic partnerships and funding sources, and often serving as outside general counsel. When working with more established companies, organizations and boards, he brings a fresh perspective and proven discipline that assists these clients in taking advantage of new opportunities and markets. Always at the forefront of market disruption, Ned was profiled by Variety as having “cemented himself as the top adviser operating in the flourishing esports industry.”
In the previous years, speakers have included:
- Steve Chen - Co-Founder of YouTube
- Sam Raimi - Director, "Spiderman" trilogy
- Adele Lim - Screenwriter, "Crazy Rich Asians"
- Stacey Sher - Producer, "Django Unchained", "Gattaca", & "Erin Brockovich"
- Don Hahn – Award-Winning Producer and Director, “Maleficent”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Lion King”
- Ted Schilowitz – Futurist at Paramount Pictures
- Baron Davis – Director, Former All-Star NBA Player, Investor
- David Rogier, CEO & Co-Founder, MasterClass
- John Knoll, Chief Creative Officer and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic
- Patrick Lee, Co-Founder, Rotten Tomatoes
- Tosca Musk, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Passionflix
Winston Baker produces conferences globally for the entertainment industry addressing strategies for finance, innovation and growth.
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