Advisory board

Naomi Climer, CBE

Naomi is an engineer and leader; her career has been spent in the Broadcast and Communications technology industry including technology leadership roles at the BBC, ITV and Sony both in Europe and the US.

Now Naomi focuses on the role that technology will play in the future and advocates for technology as a force for positive change, highlighting the changes we need to make as a society to better equip us for this future.

Naomi is Co-Chair of the Institute for the Future of Work, Non Executive Director at Focusrite Plc and Sony UK Technology Centre, Past President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Trustee at the Royal Academy of Engineering, Governor of the National Film and Television School, and Chair of Council at the International Broadcasting Convention.

Naomi was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2018 for services to the engineering profession.

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WENDY AYLSWORTH

Wendy Aylsworth is CEO of Walden Pond, providing entertainment technology consulting and strategic board guidance for entities focused on emerging ecosystems and nascent technologies. Her entertainment career has spanned more than 35 years with significant positions at Warner Bros. and Disney transitioning older technologies to more efficient digital processes.

A sampling of Wendy’s significant accomplishments includes the establishment and operations of the digital production pipeline at Warner Bros. Feature Animation division, the conversion of analog to digital workflows throughout the Warner Bros. organization, the standardization of digital cinema both domestically and internationally, and the first world exhibition of high-frame-rate content on Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

A long-time volunteer in the industry’s non-profit sector, Wendy currently sits on several non-profit boards, including being a Governor at the Television Academy for the newly created Science & Technology Peer Group.

In recognition of her accomplishments, Wendy has been honored with many awards, including the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award from the USC ETC, the Ken Mason InterSociety Award for lifetime achievement, the Progress Medal from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and is a Lifetime SMPTE Fellow.

Wendy holds a BSCE from the University of Michigan and an MS/MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) from USC.

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JEFF CUBAN

Jeff Cuban is the COO of Mark Cuban Companies Entertainment Properties.

BILL ADMANS

Chairman of the Advisory Board

As Advisory Board Chairman, Bill Admans coordinates the input from our extensive network of industry advisors, while working closely with the CEO to continue developing and executing the growth and innovation strategy that makes Ateliere the premier cloud platform for creative and supply chain workflows.

With an extensive career covering the Americas, Europe, and Asia/Pacific, Bill has led ground-breaking strategies for launching innovative technologies and headed up world-class post-production business operations with prominent global companies including Netflix, Dolby, Avid, and Technicolor.

Bill’s career highlights include the strategic development and launch of the Netflix Post Technology Alliance (PTA); the market launch of the professional high dynamic range (HDR) imaging tools used to create Dolby Vision, including being honored by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for contributions to the Emmy award-winning Dolby Professional Reference Monitor; and the genesis of the strategy that helped Avid transition to a subscription-based licensing model. As Vice President, Post-Production at Technicolor, he drove the development and implementation of Technicolor’s innovative UHD/4K post-production workflows for Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. Before moving to technology, he had an extensive career on the creative side of the business as a producer and editor, including leading the TV post teams at Matchframe and Fotokem in Burbank.

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CHRIS COOKSON

Mr. Cookson has served as a President for both Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. and is known for his masterful leadership of innovation-directed, high performance teams in developing breakthrough technologies. He is a leading expert on technological innovation.

As a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award winner for engineering, Mr. Cookson has developed a unique innovation process for creating game-changing, culture-shifting advances such as DVD technology, which led to over 30 patents. His leadership also significantly impacted work on HDTV, SMPTE’s standards, UltraViolet distribution system, film restoration technologies, as well as 3D and 4K camera technologies.

If you are watching entertainment, shooting it, digitally distributing it or broadcasting it, Mr. Cookson has had a leadership and/or an engineering-hand in developing or perfecting the technology behind it. As President, Mr. Cookson’s string of developing industry-impacting technologies is unprecedented.

A visionary business leader, Mr. Cookson’s career highlights include:

• Over 60 patents in broadcast, media, and distribution technologies
• Managed $200+ Million Technology Division for Sony
• Pioneering leadership in Digital Cinema development and deployment
• Pioneering work also in Blu-ray, and HDTV, UHDTV digital broadcast technologies

Mr. Cookson is one of the leading experts on technology innovation.

JON BOND

Jon Bond is one of the advertising and marketing industry’s most recognized thought leaders and entrepreneurs. He has developed several significant companies and marketing concepts over his 30-year career.

Jon was Co-Founder and CEO of Kirshenbaum Bond and Partners (KBP). KBP was arguably the original “word of mouth” agency, well before social media appeared on the scene. KBP was the first to develop the modern multi-disciplinary, integrated agency. KBP created the first pop-up store, and built one in only 18 hours for television show The Apprentice. KBP launched one of the industry’s first trading desks, Varick Media Management, and was voted agency of the year (under $1BB range) in 2008. KBP was featured in an episode of the “The Simple Life” and in the 2007 film “A Perfect Stranger.” In 2010, KBP sold to MDC. Billings were approximately $1 billion at the time and clients included BMW, Citi, Victoria’s Secret, Target, Wendy’s, and the Coca Cola Company.

LEON SILVERMAN

As head of Strategic Perspective Consulting, Leon Silverman advises major studios and technology organizations, helping drive industry strategy at the intersection of creativity and technology.

Over his decades long career he has held senior executive roles at Netflix, The Walt Disney Studios, The Eastman Kodak Company, and LaserPacific where he has dedicated his career to the development and introduction of new technology tools and workflows.

Silverman was one of the founders and long standing president of the HPA – the Hollywood Professional Association, where he still sits on the Board. He serves on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – Science and Technology Council, where he also sits on its Executive Committee as well as on the Executive Committee of the Academy’s Members-at-Large. He is a sponsor of and helped to design and launch the Academy’s talent development and inclusion initiative, the Gold Rising program.

In addition, he serves the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on the Executive Committee of the Science and Technology Peer Group and also on the Emmy Engineering Award Committee.

Silverman has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the HPA, the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award from the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, has 2 Emmy Awards for his contributions to technology innovation, holds 10 issued patents and numerous Disney Inventor awards for his contributions to patent applications. He has served multiple terms as Governor and is a Life Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and was awarded SMPTE’s Presidential Proclamation honoring his “contributions to the Society and the media entertainment industry as a visionary, innovator, and mentor.”

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BARRY ZEGEL

Barry Zegel’s career with CBS has spanned 45 years, most recently serving as SVP & GM of Television City. Developing TV production technologies to help the story telling process has been his passion throughout his career. He began his career as an engineer at CBS and held several positions within CBS Engineering including heading technology development.

Barry moved to the operations side working on network operations, with CBS News, and CBS Sports. He worked on three Winter Olympic Games and served as Director of Olympic Operations for CBS’ coverage of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. He then transferred to CBS Television City as Director of Operations and Engineering and ultimately SVP & General Manager for 13 years.

Barry’s involvement with technology has included 25 trips to Japan to help develop new productions tools and has served as a rapporteur for the United Nations International Telecommunications Union in Geneva for the development of International Production Standards. As an advocate for new technologies Barry has given speeches throughout the world including: Tokyo, Glasgow, Berlin, Toronto, and Oslo.

Barry has received two Emmy awards, is a Fellow in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and was awarded a Doctorate Degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina. He has served on the Academy’s Engineering Emmy Awards committee for over 20 years and was Chair of the Committee for 4 years. He is the founder of the Academy’s newly formed Science and Technology peer group.

Barry currently is consulting and teaching about TV production and systems design.

JON CHRISTIAN

Jon has over 18 years of consulting experience and leads OnPrem’s Digital Supply Chain Practice. Jon has deep experience with strategy, assessment, evaluation and implementation projects across many industries with a focus on Media & Entertainment and Consumer Products.

He successfully built and led an industry leading Digital Asset Management practice at his former company and was the visionary behind the release of an enterprise Business Process as a Service DAM platform focused on marketing content.

Jon joined the OnPrem partnership with the intent of providing the highest degree of talent, quality, and service for the most innovating challenges and opportunities.

Jon graduated with a BS in Engineering from The University of Southern California.

MITCHELL BERMAN

Mr. Mitchell Berman is a 35-year entertainment and technology media veteran, who has participated in the launch of 6 start-ups and a successful IPO. These initiatives span social enterprise, mobile/PC games, streaming OTT video, e-commerce, education technology, eSports, video-on-demand, interactive television, cable and satellite entertainment television channels, digital music, YouTube influencer channels, augmented & virtual reality, and subscription- based entertainment products and services.

Currently, Mitch is the Managing Partner of Berman Strategic Advisors (BSA)… a Los Angeles-based advisory firm focused on mentoring global entrepreneurs and managing investments in early to mid-stage companies that are intent on making a cultural impact in the digital world.

Mitch has previously served in various senior management capacities with Home Box Office (HBO/Cinemax), E! Entertainment Television, Sky Network Television New Zealand, Galaxy Media/East Coast Pay TV (FOXTEL Australia), OpenTV, C-COR, and ZillionTV Corporation. Mitch is a frequent speaker at domestic and international industry conferences, serves as a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, an advisory board member and judge for the UCLA Social Enterprise Academy, a board member of the Silicon Beach Young Professionals, a strategic advisor to the Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development/Auckland Mayor’s Office and New Zealand Consul General in Los Angeles.

Mitch earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

VINCE PIZZICA

Forward thinking. Growth driven. Status quo challenging. Those are the qualities that best describe Vince as an ICT and media executive. With 30 years of versatile senior leadership experience spanning corporate development, operations and technology, Vince is always looking for ways to optimize processes, services and products.

His background includes recent success in strategy consulting as well as C-suite roles at multibillion-euro global corporation, Technicolor SA (formerly Thomson SA).

As part of a core executive team, Vince spent a decade executing tactical restructuring, partnership building and rebranding, enabling Technicolor to emerge as a ground-breaker in the media and entertainment industry. Following high-stakes change and cultural transformation, the company achieved cash-flow positive status, consistent top rankings in markets served and high growth. Recently Vince founded a strategy consultancy and continue to advise Technicolor’s CEO and Chairman.

Collaborative and transparent leadership allows Vince to bring out the best in those around him. By remaining consistent in his management style and clearly communicating expectations and goals to teams, Vince take companies to the next level while challenging the status quo and championing innovation.

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