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  The American Film Institute will hold its annual Digital Content Festival from 9:00AM to 6:00PM on Wednesday, July 26th at its campus in the Hollywood Hills (2021 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles, Calif.). The event, which is organized by the AFI’s Digital Content Lab (note: the latter, which for many years has been a key player in the US interactive TV scene, was formerly known as the Enhanced TV Workshop, but was renamed last year to reflect the fact that the interactive media projects it fosters are being designed for an ever-broader range of digital platforms), showcases new digital and interactive content created for television, mobile devices, gaming platforms and broadband. [itvt] is proud to be a media sponsor of the event this year.

The keynote address this year will be delivered by Todd Wagner. Wagner, who co-founded Broadcast.com, and then sold it to Yahoo! in 1999 for $5.7 billion, is CEO of 2929 Entertainment, which owns Rysher Entertainment, Landmark Theaters, and Magnolia Pictures Distribution, and which also holds an interest in Lions Gate Entertainment. He has been a driving force behind several high-profile, issue-oriented films, including "Good Night and Good Luck" and "Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room" (which between them received seven Oscar nominations last year), and is notable for championing a day-and-date film distribution strategy. He has also established the Todd Wagner Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of inner-city residents by increasing access to technology, education and capital.

Other speakers include:

• Bruce Gersh, SVP of business development at ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television, who will discuss lessons learned from, as well as the future outlook of, ABC’s broadband video portal.
• Joanna Earl, president of online studio and strategic partnerships at Current Media, who will discuss that company’s broadband strategy.
• Karen Conroe, director of marketing at Ubisoft Games, who will present a video game that that company has based on the latest "King Kong" movie, and who will discuss crossover between games and movies.
• Scott Levine, director of product marketing for AOL Video, who will discuss this summer’s launch of AOL’s broadband video service, In2TV, on the Windows Media Center platform.
• Kevin Cohen, SVP of strategic planning and corporate and technology strategy at Turner Broadcasting System, who will demonstrate and discuss the "CNN Enhanced" interactive TV application that that company developed for EchoStar’s DISH Network platform (note: for an in-depth interview in which Cohen discusses the application, see [itvt] Issue 6.74).
• John P. Roberts, SVP of interactive and online entertainment at GSN, a broadcaster that has pioneered interactive TV in the US.
• Craig J. Shapiro, senior director of business development at multimedia wireless mobile service provider, Helio, who will discuss the future of social networking and his company’s relationship with MySpace.
• Marion Rice, executive producer for national interactive content and education at Oregon Public Broadcasting, who will demo the recently launched "History Detectives HD Roadtrips" mobile video offering.
• Rebecca Lim, senior director of advanced services at Starz Entertainment Group, who will demo and discuss the company’s broadband video service, Vongo.

Exhibitors include:

• [itvt] (Stop by and say "Hello"; Tracy and Richard will be taking turns manning our booth.)
• Brightcove
• Maven Networks
• Missing Pixel
• Pod Design
• Tandberg Television

Tickets to the AFI Digital Content Festival cost $149, which includes entrance to a reception immediately after the event that will be co-hosted with NATPE’s NextGen TV Festival. To order tickets or to find out more about the event, visit

http://www.afi.com/education/dcl/events.aspx or call 323.856.7816.

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