Robert J. Dowling - During his 15-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief
and Publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, the entertainment industry's
premier daily trade publication, Robert J. Dowling has emerged as one of the
leading authorities and spokesmen on entertainment issues and trends worldwide,
including the 2001 terrorist attacks and their effects on the industry.
Mr. Dowling has created and executed a successful business plan to position
The Hollywood Reporter as the definitive authority on the fast-changing
entertainment industry landscape of the 21st century. He has proven adept at
identifying emerging growth areas early, guiding the paper to unparalleled
coverage of labor, convergence, new media, international and Hollywood-Washington
political issues in addition to its core reporting on the movie, television,
cable and video businesses.
He launched The Hollywood Reporter's Web site in 1996, the industry's
first real-time, online delivery of entertainment news, pioneered the first
regular entertainment coverage devoted to the convergence of traditional
entertainment and new media, and started THR-East, an electronically
distributed daily edition designed to bring East Coast readers breaking news
stories hours before the competition.
Mr. Dowling is Chairman of the Digital Coast Roundtable and sits on the boards
of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) and Los Angeles Sports and
Entertainment Commission. He is a frequent guest speaker at universities on
the major trends in the markets he covers. In 2000 Mr. Dowling was invited
to Washington D.C. to brief members of the White House Cabinet on the
entertainment industry for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has
taught a course at UCLA and lectured at USC and Loyola Marymount.
Jane Kagon is the Director, Department of Entertainment Studies and
Performing Arts, UCLA Extension, the largest and most highly acclaimed
professional continuing education and training program for all sectors of
the entertainment industry. Considered to be the gold standard for the
certification of entertainment based training programs, The Department of
Entertainment Studies serves as a central hub in a synergistic world-wide
network of entertainment/education institutions.
In her capacity as Director
of the Department, Jane is responsible for coordinating B-to-B custom
programs on site and around the globe, as well as overseeing the
implementation of over 500 courses a year for approximately 10,000
enrollees.
Prior to coming to UCLA, Jane was a long term production and
development executive, working for four years as a Vice President of
Production for Michael Douglas at Fox Studios among other Hollywood Majors,
as well as being an independent producer and writer for interactive media,
game projects and television animation series. Jane began her career as an
entertainment attorney representing screenwriters, producers, film composers
and actors.
Cindy Lundin Mesaros is responsible for Faith West's marketing
strategy, planning and activities, including branding, product management,
content production, promotions and public relations. Cindy created the
identity for Faith West's Modtones ringtone products, launched in the summer
of 2002.
She previously directed branding, advertising, promotions and public relations
for online music provider Listen.com, solidifying awareness with their target
market of young music fans and striking partnerships with independent record
labels. As the first employee of Internet recruiting start-up Career Central,
Cindy created the company's identity, built promotional partnerships with 50
business schools and an enrolled base of 35,000 MBA job candidates. Her
background also includes stints in sports and non-profit marketing. Cindy
holds a B.S. in business administration from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from the
Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.
Curt Marvis joins CinemaNow after serving as President from 1998-1999
of 7th Level (now Learn2.com NASD:LTWO). In 1997 he served as their Senior Vice
President of Business Develop- ment.
Mr. Marvis helped lead the successful restructuring of 7th Level from CD ROM
development into its current status as a leader in enhanced learning and
communications services for the web. Mr. Marvis created and implemented business
partnerships with Real Networks, GeoCities, broadcast.com, IBM, MTV and WAVO. Mr.
Marvis was a founder of multimedia start-up Powerhouse Entertainment and served
one year as a consultant on the IBM Multimedia Task Force creating strategic
plans for IBM in their continued development of interactive software. From 1985
to 1994 Mr. Marvis served as CEO of The Company, an award winning and highly
successful privately held production company in Los Angeles. During this time,
he and his partner, Director Wayne Isham, produced many of the most popular and
critically acclaimed videos in the history of MTV. Curt was awarded in 1991 with
MTV's Video Vanguard Award honoring lifetime achievement in his work. Mr. Marvis
is a graduate with honors of UCLA with a BFA in Motion Picture and Television
Production.
Timo Soininen has been the CEO of Sulake since 2001. He was brought
in to the company to strengthen sales and marketing efforts, and to bring a
strategic perspective in creating an international consumer brand. Sulake is a
game development company specializing in massively multiplayer online games and
communities. The games, such as Habbo Hotel, are community-driven, readily
accessible and easy to play. Habbo Hotel is an online game environment targeted
at teenagers. Launched in 2000, this game environment already operates in 11
countries, with the number of unique monthly users exceeding 2.3 million. Prior
to joining Sulake, Mr. Soininen was the marketing director for Stepstone in both
Finland and Sweden.
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