Program

As of May 15, 2018 (subject to change)

EVENT SCHEDULE:

8 a.m.: Registration Opens
9 a.m.: General Sessions
11 a.m.: Morning Breakout Sessions
12:15 p.m.: General Sessions Resume
1:15 p.m.: Networking Lunch
2:15 p.m.: Special WiTH Program Section including WiTH Leadership Awards
4 p.m.: Afternoon Breakout Sessions
5 p.m.: Networking Reception

 

CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

9 – 9:10 a.m.
Opening Remarks
 

Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA
Devendra Mishra, Executive Director, HITS
 

9:10 – 9:15 a.m.
Conference Welcome Remarks
Davida Lara, Executive Vice President, Payroll, Entertainment Partners
 
9:15 – 9:45 a.m.
Advanced Technology in Production: Work in Progress
The successful century-old art of making movies is being upgraded and enhanced by the deployment of digital technologies of production, distribution and marketing where an unprecedented direct relationship exists between the creator and the consumer world-wide. Technology enables audiences to feel an empathy that simply was not possible before. From computer-aided script writing to higher-resolution production/editing/storage in the cloud and digital marketing to consumers, the creator is able to maximize the value of collaboration and deliver content with lower risk and higher reward.
Moderator: Bob Gold, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bob Gold & Associates
Panelists:
Patrick Baca, Chief Technology Officer, Entertainment Partners
Yves Bergquist, Director of the Project on AI and Neuroscience in Media, Entertainment Technology Center at USC (ETC)
Melissa Lintinger, Senior Vice President, TV Production Finance, NBCUniversal
James Toney, Senior Vice President, Technology and Innovation, 20th Century Fox
 

9:45 – 10 a.m.
It’s About Time: A Case Study on Production Going Digital
It’s a recent phenomenon that studios and productions have been steered toward digitizing back office processes. Consequently, the paper-heavy production office is becoming a thing of the past. Learn from a studio executive how digital product adoption is leading to increased productivity and efficiency.
Dave Abbitt, Vice President, Production Accounting, Fox21 Television Studios
Introduced by: Dan Satterthwaite, Chief Human Resources Officer, Entertainment Partners
 

10 – 10:30 a.m.
MORNING KEYNOTE: The Power of Inclusion
Our opening Keynote session invites us to explore the competitive advantage of a work environment that embraces differences and how that increases creativity, invention, problem solving and productivity. Additionally, it includes an examination of ideas for how we might move our ambition for inclusion into action.
Jill Hopper, Head of Global Feature Production, DreamWorks Animation
 

10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Turning a Billion Articles into Actionable Insights using AI, Part I
Beyond all the chatter about artificial intelligence, some concrete applications show how an emerging technology may hold keys to the entertainment industry’s future. This session will explore how using AI-based software has saved over a decade in research around discovery on companies for Risk & Compliance and GDPR, specifically matching acquittal events to Special Interest People (SIP). All within a supervised, feedback driven model.
David Arnold, Director of Product Strategy, DOW JONES
Introduction by: Ian Cameron, Vice President, Digital Media, Expert System
 

10:45 – 11 a.m.
NETWORKING BREAK
 

11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

MORNING INNOVATION and TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASES:

(Multi-Track, Breakout Sessions)
Industry experts share innovative ideas, processes, or perspectives in an interactive and intimate way with the audience who are free to choose which topic/area they find most interesting. Sessions will address key areas on four separate tracks:
TRACK 1: CLOUD, COMPLIANCE & SECURITY
TRACK 2: METADATA, PERSONALIZATION & ASSETS
TRACK 3: AI, DATA AND PERFORMANCE
TRACK 4: SOLUTIONS, SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOW

 

STUDIO I – TRACK 1: CLOUD, COMPLIANCE & SECURITY

11 – 11:30 a.m.
Mission Critical: CISOs’ Endless Quest for Data Security
To protect sensitive data, companies should be taking a multi-pronged approach to data security. These approaches require leveraging a variety of methodologies and we will do a deep dive into encrypting data at rest, assessing the strategies and added value that also improve performance and scale as well as securing identities in your internal and cloud systems to ensure your IT administrators are governed and protected. This technical session is designed to be a primer on developing and executing an application testing strategy and integrating into the development lifecycle.
Martin Mazor, Chief Information Security Officer, Entertainment Partners
 

STUDIO II – TRACK 2: METADATA, PERSONALIZATION & ASSETS

11 – 11:30 a.m.
Turning a Billion Articles into Actionable Insights using AI, Part II
As a follow up to the main stage presentation by the same title, in this session, we examine more deeply – through case study analysis – questions and concerns about Risk & Compliance, GDPR Regulations and more.
David Arnold, Director of Product Stratgy, DOW JONES
Ian Cameron, Vice President, Digital Media, Expert System
 

STUDIO III – TRACK 3: AI, DATA AND PERFORMANCE

11 – 11:30 a.m.
Understanding AI & Why Should You Care
Artificial intelligence has gone from being a buzzword in the M&E sector to an everyday term. This year we have seen studios, broadcasters and OTT service providers take a closer look at their AI strategy and how it fits into their operations. In this session, we will go beyond the M&E AI use cases layer to enable you to: gain a deeper understanding of AI – learn differences between Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), and the importance of ensemble and conducted learning; understand the types of AI engines available in the marketplace; and discover the best way to implement AI technology in your business workflows. If your organization is using AI engines or is considering doing so, you won’t want to miss this!
Moderator: Daniel Wong, Director of Product Marketing, Veritone
Panelists:
Allen Kim, Head of Ecosystems, Veritone
Peter Nguyen, Vice President, Product and AI Development, Veritone
 

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Heaven & Hell – Two Paths and Two Tools for a Better Digital Workplace with LiveTiles
Is your Digital Workplace a paradise or a place of suffering? This talk will discuss how it can fall under both categories, depending on how well your internal platform empowers your employees. Erik Ralston, Chief Architect of LiveTiles, will discuss how you can offer a better self-service model for IT investment and evolve the digital workplace from something infernal to something angelic.
Erik Ralston, Chief Architect, LiveTiles
 

STUDIO IV – TRACK 4: SOLUTIONS, SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOW

11 – 11:30 a.m.
Survive and Thrive – The Value of the Connected Supply Chain
As the content arms race escalates, a variety of investment strategies around content and technology are emerging. Bel Lepe, Founder & CTO at Ooyala, will walk through the value of investments which create and connect horizontal platforms and how such an approach to managing the content supply chain positions competitors to survive and thrive – without monstrously large content production and licensing budgets.
Bel Lepe, Chief Technology Officer & Founder, Ooyala
 

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
All-in on Cloud Production
Have you been wondering how to get started with content workloads in the cloud? It’s not as hard (or scary) as you may think. We’ll give you a fast primer on secure storage, burst-rendering, asset management, and editorial workflows in Microsoft Azure, using the creative tools that you’re already familiar with. A few architectural points and deployment hints, and you’ll be ready for your first project!
Joel Sloss, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Azure
 

12 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.
NETWORKING BREAK
 

MAIN STAGE PROGRAM RESUMES

12:15 – 12:45 p.m.
Strategic Sourcing for Business Innovation in Hollywood
Strategic sourcing in Studios is contributing significantly to the ongoing transformation of the business by scouting, screening and vetting technology solutions of products and services. Disruptive technologies have been emerging disproportionately from small boutique companies rather than large legacy enterprises who have dominated in the past. The new role of sourcing to weed out the relevant solutions in the wake of numerous choices with inherent uncertainty and risks is unprecedented. Numerous smaller investments have replaced historical singular large ones in the marketplace. The executives will address how the challenges are being met successfully to bring on board technologies in the supply chain of production, post-production, marketing, distribution and consumer service.
Moderator: Devendra Mishra, Executive Director, HITS
Panelists:
Emma Chontos, Former Senior Vice President, Global Sourcing, Strategy and Vendor Partnerships, Paramount Pictures
Donna Osiri, Vice President, Strategic Sourcing in Entertainment and Media, CBS Corporation
Leon Pilosof, Senior Vice President, Head of Procurement, Lionsgate Entertainment
Sebastien Slek, Executive Director, Time Warner Global Sourcing Marketing, Time Warner
 

12:45 – 1:15 p.m.
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE: Disruptive by Design – Design Thinking’s Approach to Global Problem-Solving
Our Keynote presenter is at the forefront of the next generation of design thinking. Highly regarded in the film, game, advertising and design industries, with multiple awards and patents, he has worked worked with many of Hollywood’s ‘A-list’ directors (Spielberg, Fincher, Scott, etc.) as well as top-brands like Apple, RED, Samsung, BMW, and more. In this exclusive HITS KEYNOTE he will address how creative strategies can impact organizational breakdowns and provide insights to overcome communication barriers and cross-platform integration. You’ll learn the core strategic ideas used when working with global leaders, international researchers, innovators, and educational institutions on how to nurture creativity to effect change in a real way. He’ll look at the ever growing disconnect between creative lateral thinking and the deep dive of basic research by discussing future design thinking and how to best prepare for the exponential acceleration of a “t-shaped” world in a future dominated by Artificial Intelligence.
Jeff Julian, Founder and CEO, Lab5 Systems
 

1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
 

SPECIAL WiTH PROGRAM SECTION AT HITS:SPRING

Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH) present this special programming addition to the main-stage at HITS that features the 2018 WiTH Leadership Award presentation ceremony.

2:15 – 2:20 p.m.
OPENING REMARKS:
Nadya Ichinomiya and Rachel Souder-Arguedas, Co-Founders, Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH)
 

2:20 – 2:50 p.m.
WiTH KEYNOTE: Find Your Moonshot and Engineer Your Path to Joy
The former Chief Business Officer at Google X (an elite team of engineers that comprise Google’s futuristic “dream factory”), Mo Gawdat has applied his logic and problem-solving skills to possibly the biggest human issue of all – happiness. In 2001, he first attacked the problem as an engineer would: examining all the provable facts and scrupulously applying logic. After the death of his son several years ago, and after a 27-year career at IBM, NCR, BAT, Microsoft and Google, he put the algorithm to the ultimate test based on the Google X strategy of delivering a radical, ten-fold improvement. His WiTH Keynote at HITS will explore his latest Solve for Happy initiative that questions the fundamental aspects of our existence, shares the underlying reasons for suffering, and plots out a step-by-step process for achieving lifelong happiness and enduring contentment.
Mo Gawdat, Founder, One Billion Happy and former Chief Business Officer, Google X
2018 WiTH Leadership Awards Presentation
 

2:50 – 3 p.m.
DONATION INTRODUCTIONS:
Olivia Lam, Director of Development, The Coding Bootcamp at UCLA Extension
Lee Ann Kline, President & Founder, STEM Advantage
L. Charmayne Mills Ealy, Director of Operations, STEAMCODERS
Leticia Rodriguez, Executive Director, DIY Girls
Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, President and Chief Executive Officer, St. Joseph Center
 

3 – 3:15 p.m.
AWARD PRESENTATIONS:
Cybill Miklaszewski, Director, Information Technology and Co-Chair Women in Tech, 21st Century FOX
Presented by: Denise Evans, Chief Information Officer, Tang Media

Deborah Fiorella, Senior Vice President, Information Technology, Universal Studios Hollywood and Co-Founder, TechWomen Los Angeles
Presented by: Cindy McKenzie, Chief Information Officer, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group

Susan Cheng, Executive Vice President, Content Technology & Operations and Founder/Leader Internal Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, Warner Bros. Technology
Presented by: Vicky Colf, Chief Technology Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment
 

3:15 – 3:45 p.m.
WiTH D&I PANEL: Building High Performing Teams – It’s About More Than Just the Talent
It’s obvious that even with the greatest technology and the most brilliant strategic vision, dazzling results only come from the right actions taken by stellar teams. “Diversity and Inclusion” is now acknowledged to be a strategic imperative that drives better products and higher revenues. How can Hollywood’s technology groups develop engaged, resilient teams with more well-rounded points of view? What are some short-term actionable steps that a studio and hiring managers can take to shore up the skills, attributes, experience and perspectives of their teams to drive a higher level of performance?
Moderator: Tracy Wright, Director, Talent, HR Business Partner, Netflix
Panelists:
Christi Karandikar, Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition, Engagement & Development, Warner Bros.
Paul Martin, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Sony Pictures
Anita Noe, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Diversity & Inclusion, Lionsgate
MyKhanh Shelton, Senior Vice President, Global Inclusion, Engagement & Diversity, 21st Century Fox
 

3:45 – 4 p.m.
Breakout Sessions Instructions (and Walking Time)
Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA
 

4 – 5 p.m.

AFTERNOON INNOVATION and TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASES:

(Multi-Track, Breakout Sessions)
Industry experts share innovative ideas, processes, or perspectives in an interactive and intimate way with the audience who are free to choose which topic/area they find most interesting. Sessions will address key areas on four separate tracks:
TRACK 1: CLOUD, COMPLIANCE & SECURITY
TRACK 2: METADATA, PERSONALIZATION & ASSETS
TRACK 3: AI, DATA AND PERFORMANCE
TRACK 4: SOLUTIONS, SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOW

 

STUDIO I – TRACK 1: CLOUD, COMPLIANCE & SECURITY

4 – 4:30 p.m.
Chicken Little has Left the Room – Moving Your CyberSecurity Program Beyond Fear and Compliance to Focus on Business Risk
We’ve been managing risk in our business for hundreds of years, yet we continue to treat cyber threats as a special case. While it’s true that we’re in a time of escalating, industrialized threats, organizations still react and lurch from one crisis to another, cobbling together a security program based on yesterdays crisis. It’s time we move from a reactive, fear and compliance based program, to a business focused, risk-based approach to cyber security. We’ll talk about how to protect your brand and build a sustainable program.
Doug Lhotka, CISSP-ISSAP, Executive Cybersecurity Architect, IBM Security
 

4:30 – 5 p.m.
A Recording Engineer, a Producer, and a Sound Designer walk into a bar…
Those involved in creating, editing and distributing digital content can have wildly disparate viewpoints and incentives. However, the one point we can all agree on is the damage caused by pre-release piracy. For this panel we are bringing together a multi-platinum songwriter / producer, an Emmy award-winning film sound designer, a Grammy award-winning sound engineer, and a digital innovator to compare notes on keeping creative content secure in the fast-paced and demanding production environment. This diverse group will dive into the challenges presented by post-production workflows and balancing productive collaboration with safety, in a controversial and energetic discussion between some of the best minds in the business.
Moderator: Steve Curd, President and Chief Executive Officer, Scaeva Technologies
Panelists:
Andrew Bojanic, Owner of Emerald City Studios (multi-platinum selling producer/songwriter)
Cameron Frankley, Chief Executive Officer, NumberNine Productions (multi Emmy-winning sound designer for Warner Bros.)
Krish Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, BYGMusic (Grammy-winning recording engineer for The Rolling Stones)
 

STUDIO II – TRACK 2: METADATA, PERSONALIZATION & ASSETS

4 – 4:30 p.m.
Smart Content Connecting the Data Behind the Hits with Sony Pictures
A key concept of Smart Content is bringing together all the data around the content, including the operational and enterprise data. Rob Maxwell and his team at Sony Pictures have put this into action streamlining the distribution process with a new approach to managing the release packaging and billing data and tackling other key data projects at the studio. Using Enterprise NoSQL and the Operational Data Hub pattern, Sony’s projects show enterprise data projects can bring together data from mainframes and legacy systems and make good on the promise of Smart Content.
Robert Maxwell, Vice President, Information Technology Worldwide Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Niraj Motwani, Director, Solutions Architect, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Matt Turner, Chief Technology Officer, Media and Manufacturing, MarkLogic
 

4:30 – 5 p.m.
Embedding AI into Media & Entertainment Businesses
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is upon us. The hype is high and confusing. However, there are real world use cases that Studios, Broadcasters and OTT Providers are using to gain competitive value. SAS will present on how they see Media & Entertainment clients embed AI and Machine Learning into their business processes, from Marketing to Ad Sales and even Data Security. They will highlight use cases of the SAS Platform that are in production today at several well-known brands, such as: Automation of Streaming Data into Analytics, Natural Language & Image Processing, Content Recommender Systems, Real Time Customer Engagement, Leveraging your Unique Data – with security.
Anand Bisen, Principle Solutions Architect, Advanced Analytics, SAS
David Perona, Director of Customer Intelligence, SAS
 
STUDIO III – TRACK 3: AI, DATA AND PERFORMANCE

4- 4:30 p.m.
The Evolution of Content Production Aided by Machine Learning
This session looks at machine learning, deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies and at how studios, networks and creative service companies are using them to help produce content. We’ll hear how they can boost productivity, efficiencies and creativity in production planning, animation, visual effects, editorial, post and localization. We’ll see what AI and ML apps are capable of doing right now and glimpse their long-term potential to alter workflows.
Usman Shakeel, Worldwide Technical Leader, Media & Entertainment, Amazon Web Services
 

4:30 – 5 p.m.
Transform Your Organization Into An Intelligent Enterprise
Delivering Governed Analytics to your workplace on any device within any workflow. Learn how the Media and Entertainment Industry is leveraging data with AI and Mobility, and providing access to this data within existing business processes.
Jennifer Bittner, Senior Account Strategist, MicroStrategy
Richard Frausto, Analytics Engineer, MicroStrategy
 

STUDIO IV – TRACK 4: SOLUTIONS, SYSTEMS AND WORKFLOW

4 – 4:30 p.m.
Keep Your Organization’s Focus on Creativity by Using Artificial Intelligence
Your business is about creativity. So, Artificial Intelligence (AI) may seem a contradiction to the creative process. In this session we’ll discuss how, AI can manage mundane and repetitive tasks, so you can focus on the creative aspects of your business. Imagine attending a meeting on whether to greenlight a project. You don’t have the data at your fingertips to make a decision, so you tap the speaker in the room and say “Virtual Guru, what are the top grossing romantic comedies of the past 3 years sorted by studio and revenue?” And you get your answer. You can leave the meeting with a decision and focus on the project.
Jukka Paajanen, Regional Innovation Lead, Avanade
 

4:30 – 5 p.m.
Expanding Horizons in Editorial Collaborations
Whether for post or broadcast teams, collaborative editing using shared storage is an established pattern. In this session, we discuss how technologies from the web and cloud are now enabling greater enhancement to these collaborative capabilities. These technologies, implemented in the Avid MediaCentral | Editorial Management module, let teams stay in complete sync by exposing media management functions on shared projects, bins, and media to others—beyond Media Composer editors. These capabilities greatly accelerate ingest, search, logging and media additions to projects. Beyond these immediate benefits, we discuss the role of the MediaCentral framework to extend these workflows to cloud infrastructure and cloud services.
Shailendra Mathur, Vice President, Architecture, Avid
 

5 – 6 p.m.
NETWORKING RECEPTION
 

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