panels & speakers

richard plepler, Former chairman & CEO, HBO; CEO, Eden Productions

Richard Plepler is Founder & CEO of Eden Productions, a film and television production company. The company was announced in January 2020 with a multi-year exclusive deal with Apple TV+. 

Plepler was formerly Chairman and CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., a position he held from 2013 - 2019, culminating 28 years at the company. A brand known for excellence, HBO curates over 3,000 hours of content on its platforms, including original series, documentaries, HBO Films, and HBO Sports. Under Plepler’s leadership, HBO experienced its largest growth in company history while continuing to raise the bar with some of the most innovative, honored, and critically-acclaimed programming on television. Plepler led the creation of the company’s standalone streaming service, HBO NOW®, which launched with Apple in March 2015. Today, the service represents over 20% of HBO’s subscription revenue and is now a major source of revenue for the company. 

Under Plepler’s leadership, HBO greenlit some of their most successful series including Emmy® Award-winners Game of Thrones, Veep, Silicon Valley, Big Little Lies, Girls, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Newsroom, Barry, Succession, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Notably, Game of Thrones, HBO’s most viewed series ever, continues to hold the record for the most Emmy Awards® ever won by a scripted series with a lifetime total of 47 Emmys®. Overall, HBO was recognized with 165 Emmy Awards® with wins in all major categories and 9 Golden Globe Awards®. 

Plepler has received numerous accolades during his career, including being inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame by The Cable Center (2018) and Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s Hall of Fame (2013); named Media Person of the Year by The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (2014); earned the Directorate Emmy Award® for his impact on the industry from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2015); the prestigious Driver of Change Award at the FT ArcelorMittel Boldness in Business Awards (2015); and the Variety Vanguard Award for contribution to the TV business (2017). 

richard tofel, president, propublica

Richard Tofel was the founding general manager of ProPublica from 2007-2012, and became president on Jan. 1, 2013. During the period of Tofel’s business leadership, ProPublica has won six Pulitzer Prizes, five Peabody Awards, three Emmy Awards and nine George Polk Awards, among other honors. Also during this time, ProPublica has grown from an initial staff of just over 20 to more than 150, and raised more than $210 million from other than its founding funders.

Tofel was formerly the assistant publisher of The Wall Street Journal, with responsibility for its international editions and U.S. special editions, and, earlier, an assistant managing editor of the paper, vice president, corporate communications for Dow Jones & Company, and an assistant general counsel of Dow Jones. Just prior to ProPublica, he served as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Rockefeller Foundation, and earlier as president and chief operating officer of the International Freedom Center, a museum and cultural center that was planned for the World Trade Center site. He serves on the board/advisory board of CalMatters, The City, the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin, Retro Report, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Center for Media and Democracy in Israel.

He is the author of "Not Shutting Up: A Year of Reflections on Journalism" (2020); “‘A Federal Offense of the Highest Order’: The True Story of How the Joint Chiefs Spied on Nixon, And How He Covered It Up” (2019); “Speaking Truth in Power: Lessons for Our Sorry Politics from Our Inspiring History” (2018); “Home Run Revolution: Babe Ruth in His Time, 1919-1920” (2015); “Non-Profit Journalism: Issues Around Impact” (2013); “Why American Newspapers Gave Away the Future” (2012); “Eight Weeks in Washington, 1861: Abraham Lincoln and the Hazards of Transition” (2011); “Restless Genius: Barney Kilgore, The Wall Street Journal, and the Invention of Modern Journalism” (2009); “Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address” (2005); “Vanishing Point: The Disappearance of Judge Crater, and the New York He Left Behind” (2004); and “A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939” (2002).

Tofel is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School (masters in public policy).

Jonathan Knee

Jonathan Knee is a Michael T. Fries Professor of Professional Practice in Media and Technology and Co-Director of the Media and Technology Program at Columbia Business School where he has taught Media Mergers and Acquisitions and Strategic Management of Media. He also co-teaches Digital Investing with Jeremy Philips of Spark Capital, The Business of Sports with Sunil Gulati of the Columbia Economics Department, The Media Industries: Public Policy and Business Strategy with Professor Tim Wu of Columbia Law School and a Business Journalism seminar at the Columbia Journalism School with Professor James B. Stewart.  Professor Knee serves as a Senior Advisor at Evercore. Before joining Evercore as a Senior Managing Director in 2003, he was a Managing Director and Co-head of Morgan Stanley’s Media Group and was previously Publishing Sector Head in the Communications, Media and Entertainment Group at Goldman Sachs. 

His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic. He writes the Book Entry column for the New York Times DealBook. Professor Knee is the author of Class Clowns: How the Smartest Investors Lost Billions in Education (Columbia: 2016) and The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street (Oxford: 2006) and co-author of The Curse of The Mogul: What’s Wrong With the World’s Leading Media Companies? (Portfolio: 2009). His next book, The Platform Delusion: Who Wins and Who Loses In the Age of Tech Titans will be released in September. Professor Knee serves on the boards of New Alternatives for Children, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York and is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

paul hardart

Paul Hardart joined New York University Stern School of Business as a Clinical Professor of Marketing in July 2017.

Professor Hardart is a partner in the online storytelling platform Witnify, which captures and curates first-person accounts of important world events. He has produced a number of critically acclaimed feature films and documentaries, including Mary and Max, Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens and Before the Rains. He is an active speaker at conferences and panels related to media and technology.

Before joining NYU Stern, Professor Hardart was the founding director of the Graduate Program in Media Management at The New School. He has guest lectured at the University of California Los Angeles, The American Film Institute, Columbia University, Temple University and the University of California at San Diego. He founded and ran Universal Focus, the independent film label of Universal Pictures. During his tenure there, he oversaw the release of such films as Being John Malkovich, Pitch Black, Nurse Betty and Billy Elliot. He also created Universal Pictures’ library management program, overseeing the restoration and re-issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and the re-edit of Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil. Prior to Universal Focus, he oversaw strategic planning for Universal Pictures, which included launching new businesses and helping shape the Studio’s long-term strategy. He has also held senior positions at Warner Brothers and Turner Broadcasting and began his career at ABC Sports, CNBC and The Newark Star-Ledger.

Professor Hardart received his B.A. in English from the College of the Holy Cross and his M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg School of Graduate Management at Northwestern University.

casey brett, vp, gaming and new business ventures, mlb

Casey currently serves as Vice President of Gaming and New Business Ventures at MLB, where he helps to manage business development opportunities and partnerships in the fantasy, sports betting, predictive gaming, and other “growth” areas within the industry. Now in his sixth year at MLB, Casey has held various roles within the organization, including time at the MLB Advanced Media group prior to its Disney acquisition, as well as in the MLB's Strategy, Technology, and Innovation group. Casey is a Cornell ’09 graduate for undergrad, and a ’15 MBA graduate at Wharton, and now lives in NYC with his wife and one-year-old son.

steven flisler, head of esports & content production, twitch

Currently the head of esports and content production for Twitch, Steven Flisler’s expertise sits at the intersection of storytelling, technology and competition-fueled entertainment. During his nearly three year tenure at the fast paced live streaming service, Steve has been responsible for launching both Twitch Rivals and Twitch Gaming and executive producing live events including StreamAid and GlitchCon.

Prior to joining Amazon owned Twitch, Steve spent 12+ years at NBC, learning the ropes of live production from his time overseeing the National Crew Desk for NBC News, driving operations and strategy for live election coverage, the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and multiple Olympics on NBC. He also helped to produce such live events as Phelps vs. Shark for Shark Week and Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon both on Discovery Channel. Throughout his tenure at NBC he earned incredible experience and two Emmys. In his transition from NBC to Twitch, he went from navigating live news and live production to the epically entertaining world of live streaming. Currently at Twitch, Steve is dedicated to creating original content experiences that transform the way streamers interact with their fans and build communities.

Steve earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering in Digital Media Design. While working full time at NBC, he pursued his MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

heather nanberg, director of event strategy and fan engagement, nfl

Heather Nanberg is the Director of Event Strategy and Fan Engagement at the National Football League.  With over nineteen years of Event design, development and production experience in both the sports and entertainment industries, Heather brings a strong creative vision and strategic perspective to the NFL team.  Heather began her career at the National Football League as a Coordinator in the Strategic Planning and Business Development department before joining the Events department as Senior Manager, responsible for the successful launch and growth of the NFL’s event experience and hospitality program, NFL On Location.  Heather was part of the team to more than double the net worth of the business over 10 seasons.  Heather is the event lead for Pro Bowl strategy and operations, oversees the NFL Draft main stage operation and is the lead for Event Marketing and Fan Communications for all League tent pole events.  As the producer for the League’s Guest Services program, FANS FIRST!, Heather has worked with the Disney Institute over the past 8 years to develop the NFL’s own tools and training materials for all volunteer and staff working at NFL Events throughout the season.

Prior to her career at the National Football League, Heather worked on corporate and entertainment-based events, movie premieres and music industry hospitality functions while pursuing a professional acting career.  Heather grew up in New York City, attended University of Maryland and currently lives in Brooklyn New York with her husband and daughter.

scott sonnenberg, chief global partnerships officer, la clippers

Scott Sonnenberg joined the L.A. Clippers as the team’s Chief Global Partnerships Officer in May of 2018. He oversees in and out of arena advertising sales, digital and social media sales, radio sales and partnership marketing as well as the day-to-day sales efforts of the corporate partnerships department.  Notable relationships developed under Sonnenberg’s leadership include tech company Honey becoming the Clippers’ jersey patch partner and lending its name to the Honey Training Center,  Vivid Seats becoming an official ticket marketplace of the team and Amazon Web Services being named the primary cloud computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence provider of the live, augmented Clippers CourtVision digital viewing experience.

Prior to joining the Clippers, Sonnenberg spent 14 seasons as the Vice President of Corporate Sales with the Chicago Bulls.  During his time with the Bulls, the team consistently ranked among the top sponsorship revenue teams in the NBA and received multiple awards for account growth, retention, activation and new business. He was responsible for negotiating naming rights partnerships for the United Center, the Bulls’ home arena, and the Advocate Center, the Bulls practice facility. 

Sonnenberg is a 2003 graduate of San Jose State University, where he majored in Business-Marketing.  He was a member and two-time captain of the San Jose State basketball team (2000-03) and a member of the Brigham Young University basketball team (1996-97) prior to serving a two-year mission in Las Vegas for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to joining the Bulls, Scott spent two years working for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. 

stephen master

Stephen is a Co-Founder of Amaze Media Labs, which creates branded podcasts and immersive experiences to tell stories that resonate and build community around topics fans are passionate about. As the head of Master Media Advisors, he works closely with start-ups across sports, entertainment and gaming on business plans & fundraising and advises financial and VC firms on evaluating media and sports betting investments.

Stephen spent ten years as the Global Head of the Sports Group at the Nielsen Company and was the co-founder of the Nielsen eSports practice. At Nielsen, Stephen developed the "FANALYTICS" platform, providing major sports properties and brands intelligence into how fans are consuming and engaging with sports content. His insights & analysis from the "FANANLYTICS" platform were regularly quoted and featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, ESPN, Bloomberg and the SBJ. Prior to joining Nielsen, Stephen was the VP of Business Development at the National Football League. Before the NFL, Stephen spent 8 years in the agency space working at Octagon Worldwide as the VP of Business Development and at TSE Sports & Entertainment where he worked with leading brands to incorporate sports, music & entertainment into their marketing portfolios. Mr. Master also previously worked at the National Basketball Association, where he served as the Director of Business Development in the International Group.

Stephen graduated from the University of Michigan, received an MBA from Northwestern and currently is an adjunct Professor at NYU Stern School of Business.

vicki dobbs beck, executive in charge, ilmxlab

Vicki Dobbs Beck has more than 30 years of broad-based management experience in the entertainment industry. Variety named her a “Digital Innovator to Watch in 2020”, and in 2019, the Advanced Imaging Society recognized Vicki with a Distinguished Leadership Award for being a significant “entertainment industry growth catalyst.” Currently, Vicki is the Executive in Charge of ILMxLAB, the award-winning division launched by Lucasfilm in 2015 to pioneer in the field of immersive storytelling. ILMxLAB wants to make it possible for people to ‘Step Inside Our Stories’ in ways never before possible. Using technologies like virtual and augmented reality, ILMxLAB aspires to create connected experiences that transform places, spaces and our daily lives as we transition from story-telling to story-living.

Vicki is a member of the Television Academy; the Producers Guild of America; and a BAFTA Associate Member. She is also Chairman of AIXR’s Advisory Group and an Advisory Board member for the Los Angeles-based Infinity Festival.

Vicki received her MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business where she also completed her undergraduate studies, earning a BA with distinction in International Relations

jacob navok, ceo, genvid technologies

Jacob Navok is co-founder and CEO of Genvid Technologies, the leader in interactive streaming technology. Prior to founding Genvid, Jacob led worldwide business development and strategy at Square Enix Holdings, reporting to the CEO. He also built their cloud gaming division, Shinra Technologies, where he met many of his colleagues at Genvid.

sharad devarajan

Sharad Devarajan is a creator, producer and media entrepreneur. His latest company, Graphic India, is the culmination of his lifelong dream to launch superheroes and stories that tap into the unique creativity and culture of India but appeal to audiences worldwide. In the same way the West has created superheroes or Japan launched anime, Graphic India is transforming the perception of India in character entertainment from being an ‘outsourcer” to being ‘the source.’ Devarajan co-founded Graphic India with leading media investors, The Chernin Group.

In addition to Graphic India, he is also the Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Liquid Comics, a digital entertainment company that uses the medium of graphic novel storytelling to develop original content for various digital platforms, publishing, theatrical live-action films, animation and games. He is a producer on a number of theatrical live-action film and television projects in development including the film adaptation of The Leaves with Summit Entertainment; Ramayan 3392AD with Mandalay Entertainment; and Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens, with filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld.

Devarajan was previously the Co-Founder, CEO & Publisher of Virgin Comics LLC and Virgin Animation Pvt. Ltd, a set of companies he co-founded, with Sir Richard Branson, authors Deepak Chopra, Gotham Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

Prior to Liquid, Mr. Devarajan was Co-Founder & CEO of Gotham Entertainment Group, which was a leading South Asian youth magazine publisher that launched the Indian publishing activities for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network. In 2004, Mr. Devarajan worked with Marvel as the creator of a new reinvention of Spider-Man as an Indian boy growing up in Mumbai, transforming “Peter Parker” into “Pavitr Prabhakar”. Unlike traditional translations of western characters into foreign markets, the new series, “Spider-Man: India” was heralded as one of the industry’s first “trans-creations.”

kerri hoffman, ceo, prx

PRX is a nonprofit media company, specializing in audio.  As the CEO, Kerri Hoffman has played a key role in the building and evolution of PRX, and led the launch of Radiotopia, The Moth Radio Hour, Reveal and recently managed all aspects of PRX’s merger with Public Radio International. She was recently named Podcast Executive of the Year by Adweek.  For 17 years, PRX has operated public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of shows including This American Life, Snap Judgment and other award-winning documentaries.

robert smith, host, planet money

Robert Smith is a host for NPR's Planet Money where he tells stories about how the global economy is affecting our lives.

If that sounds a little dry, then you've never heard Planet Money. The team specializes in making economic reporting funny, engaging and understandable. Planet Money has been known to set economic indicators to music, use superheroes to explain central banks, and even buy a toxic asset just to figure it out.

Before joining Planet Money, Smith was the New York correspondent for NPR. He was responsible for covering all the mayhem and beauty that makes it the greatest city on Earth. Smith reported on the rebuilding of Ground Zero, the stunning landing of US Air flight 1549 in the Hudson River and the dysfunctional world of New York politics. He specialized in features about the overlooked joys of urban living: puddles, billboards, ice cream trucks, street musicians, drunks and obsessives.

When New York was strangely quiet, Smith pitched in covering the big national stories. He traveled with presidential campaigns, tracked the recovery of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and reported from the BP oil spill.

Before his New York City gig, Smith worked for public radio stations in Seattle (KUOW), Salt Lake City (KUER) and Portland (KBOO). He's been an editor, a host, a news director and just about any other job you can think of in broadcasting. Smith also lectures on the dark arts of radio at universities and conferences. He trains fellow reporters how to sneak humor and action into even the dullest stories on tight deadlines.

jenna weiss-berman, co-founder, pineapple street studios

Jenna Weiss-Berman is the co-founder of Pineapple Street Studios. Before co-founding Pineapple, Jenna worked in public radio for a decade on shows such as The Moth and StoryCorps. She started the podcast department at BuzzFeed, where she created Another Round and Women of the Hour with Lena Dunham. Jenna currently sits on the advisory board of The Moth and co-chairs the Google Podcast Creator Program.

paul canetti

Paul Canetti is the CEO and founder of Bounce House, an e-commerce platform for small service businesses.

Canetti was named one of Inc.'s “30 Under 30 World’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs” and has founded multiple businesses including MAZ, a video distribution and monetization platform used by Forbes, Condé Nast, Bloomberg, and hundreds of other media brands. MAZ was listed as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” and ranked #3 on their “Top Company Culture List”.

Paul Canetti’s work focuses at the intersection of emerging technology, philosophy, and business, specializing in the transition from offline to online. He formerly worked as a Lead Creative at Apple and is the author of the book Augment Nation: Moving Humanity to the Software Layer about the business implications of augmented reality.

In addition, Canetti does private consulting and training for executives at Fortune 500 companies. His clients have included Walmart, L’Oréal, Disney, Verizon, GE, and American Express. He writes at his website Wizardest and is the host of the podcast Tech News for MBAs.

james farrell, VP, Local Original Film/TV at Amazon Studios

As Head of Local Originals, James Farrell oversees the development and production of all original series and features under the Amazon Studios banner outside the United States. 

James joined Amazon in April 2015 as Head of Content, Asia Pacific. He was named Head of Content, International Expansion in May of 2018, overseeing content for Prime Video in all countries and territories outside of the EU and U.S., before being promoted to Head of Local Originals in October 2018. 

Local content has been a key driver for Prime Video’s success, and James works with content creators around the world to deliver a high-quality customer experience to Prime Video members everywhere. He manages teams in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Australia and India.

Prior to joining Amazon Prime Video, James spent 10 years at Sony Pictures Television with executive roles in Los Angeles, Toronto and Tokyo during that time. 

 James received his MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree in international economics and politics from Middlebury College.  He, his wife, and their two children live together in Los Angeles.

dave jesteadt, president, gkids

David Jesteadt is President at GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. GKIDS' releases have received twelve Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature, including The Secret of Kells, Ernest & Celestine, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, Mirai, and most recently Wolfwalkers. GKIDS also handles North American distribution for the acclaimed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections.

David is also an Executive Producer of the Academy Award-nominated films The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers, from the acclaimed Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, and has produced the English language dubbed versions of many GKIDS films.

eline reijns, VP, ADA International at Warner Music Group

Eline Reijns is VP International at ADA Worldwide, a part of Warner Music Group. She is the day-to-day lead of ADA’s international label management team, driving repertoire across cultures, borders and languages.

She spent her career working in various roles at Warner Music Group, where she started out straight out of college as a coordinator in the sales department at WMG’s BeNeLux office in Hilversum, The Netherlands. She held various Warner Music sales and product marketing roles in that office, working with both local and international artists, managers and media, before transferring to WMG’s London office to take on a role within ADA as part of their international label management team looking after their catalog repertoire exploitation globally. She took on her latest role of international label management lead in 2019 based out of WMG’s and ADA’s headquarters in New York City.

emily song, executive, asia business development, UTA

Emily Song bridges West and East, creating opportunities for clients as an Asia Business Development executive at UTA, one of the entertainment industry’s most diversified and innovative companies.

Emily leverages the global nature of the entertainment and brands, focusing on high-profile endorsement deals for actors, musicians, athletes, and influencers. Forbes named her to its “30 under 30” list, calling Emily the “entertainment industry’s best hope to connect the U.S. and Chinese markets.”

A native of Tianjin and former on-air host for China’s largest news channel, Emily brings datadriven analysis, cross-cultural expertise and deep experience in the entertainment industry to her role. She holds a BS in Product Design from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School

Nicole weis, vp, sales and distribution, a24

Nicole Weis is the VP of Sales and Distribution at A24 Films. Nicole is originally from Dallas, Texas, and has worked in the film industry for over 10 years. She received her BA in Marketing/International Business at Oral Roberts University Tulsa, OK. Prior to A24, Nicole worked for 8 years at Universal Pictures working in Theatrical Domestic Distribution. In 2019, she graduated Beta Gama Sigma with her MBA at Pepperdine School of Business and Management with a focus in Leadership.

peri shamsai

As a Managing Director at Accenture, Peri Shamsai focuses on Media and Entertainment clients, working on transformational initiatives in the TV, publishing, music and new media industries. She has spent 10 years working in the Music, Television and Publishing industries and 12+ years consulting with media companies. Her client work centers on migrating large media companies from traditional to robust digital businesses.

Prior to becoming a consultant, she held the position of vice president, International Strategic Planning at Discovery Communication global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. In this role, Peri worked with Discovery's senior management teams in Silver Spring and abroad to identify, recommend and create strategies for international and cross-regional business initiatives. She joined Discovery Networks from BearingPoint, where she served as senior manager and was responsible for business strategy and technology initiatives in media and entertainment. Prior to joining BearingPoint, she was head of licensing and content management at Reed Elsevier LexisNexis, where she led multiple large-scale corporate strategy, technology and operational initiatives. Peri also held several positions at BMG Entertainment, most notably senior director of worldwide business affairs and strategic development. In this role, she was responsible for leading several of the company's corporate strategy and online initiatives. She also held roles in marketing, business affairs and the office of the chairman.

Before entering the business world, Peri was a musician and academic, receiving a doctorate in historical musicology from Columbia University and having spent many years as a classical pianist. She has received numerous awards, including Fulbright, Mellon and Rotary scholarships and awards from the German, Austrian and Italian governments. She also holds a master's degree in business administration from Insead and a bachelor's degree in arts from Brown University.

In addition to her client work at Accenture, Peri is on the board of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and an Associate Adjunct Professor at New York University's Stern School of Business.