BLU-RAY: MORE THAN A SHINY NEW DISC
How to Leverage the Latest High-Definition Video Platform

The Blu-ray Disc (BD) format achieved the status of next-generation DVD platform in early 2008, besting the Toshiba-led HD-DVD format.  In addition to offering a high-definition video experience, the BD format includes online extensions, through its BD Live, that create a new interactive environment for producers and consumers alike.  The benefits of Blu-ray, which is resident in the Sony PlayStation 3 game system, are inherently multi-platform: this is more than another optical disc format, it is an experience that brings us closer to truly immersive home entertainment.

This panel will demonstrate the unique features of the format, and detailing the techniques that producers need to know in working with this emerging format.

Panelists:
Brian Mackewich, VP/Audio & Video Post Supervisor, Gizmo Enterprises
Brian has been involved in the television, film and professional audio industries for more than twenty years as post-production mixer, film sound designer and post-supervisor. TNT, Miramax, Panasonic, U2 (complete Super Bowl package), IFC, New Wave Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, The Sigma Group, Food Network, Comedy Central, BBC, and Loki Films are all recent clients of Gizmo.

Christopher Ticknor, Manager, Business Development, Sony DADC
Christopher works with a wide variety of clients on behalf of Sony DADC, including Criterion Collection, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony, MGM, HBO, CBS, MTV, A&E, PBS, and Universal Studios.  He was a producer at Giant Interactive, and a freelance digital media producer after having served as production manager at Zoetrope Aubry Productions.

Brian V. Murphy, Regional Manager North America, Professional Products Group, Sonic Solutions
Sonic’s products range from the advanced authoring systems used to produce Hollywood DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles to the award-winning Roxio-branded photo, video, music, and digital-media management applications. Sonic’s patented technologies and AuthorScript® media engine are relied upon by leading technology firms to define rich media experiences on a wide array of consumer electronics, mobile devices, set-top players, retail kiosks, and PCs.

Moderator: Brian Brodeur, PGA NMC Board of Delegates; Founder of NewYorkDVD
Brian has been working in the DVD authoring industry since the format’s inception in 1997.  While at DigiRom, he worked with early DVD technology and established one of New York City’s first DVD authoring suites, working closely with major record labels.  In 2001, Brodeur established NewYorkDVD, focusing on music DVD productions, including titles with leading music educational publishers. In 2006, NewYorkDVD was awarded the DVD Association’s Excellence Award for Music DVD development of Neil Peart’s “Anatomy of a Drum Solo” educational title. The double-disc set featured over 6 hours of widescreen footage, animated menus, and multi-angle video.

Thursday, January 29 at 7pm
Media Distributors
645 West 27th Street
www.mediadistributors.com
Wine networking mixer prior to panel

‘2006 Salon Series’ Disc Present Leading New York New Media Monthly Event Series Featuring Execs from MySpace; Brightcove; AOL; ESPN; Activision, and FremantleMedia

NEW YORK — NewYorkDVD, a leading DVD development, design and authoring firm, today announced that it has provided the authoring and menu design services for a premium DVD for the Producers Guild of America (PGA) New Media Council (NMC) East. The ‘2006 Salon Series: From Podcasting to User-Generated Content’ disc is a compilation of the first season of the acclaimed monthly event series held in New York by the PGA NMC East. The event series presents panel events and one-one-one conversations that touch on a variety of relevant new media topics – from podcasting to mobile video to gaming and broadband production – for producers, and featuring luminaries from a broad spectrum of the new media industry.

Produced by Chris Pfaff, the co-chairman of the PGA NMC East, the ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD is a compilation of webcasts produced by Scribe Media’s Mike Faulhaber and Peter Cervieri. Pfaff and Brian Brodeur, principal of NewYorkDVD, created the disc as a promotional tool for the PGA NMC East, and as an industry recruitment tool for PGA NMC members. Work on the disc was conducted in the winter of 2007, and was unveiled at a PGA East event at TriBeCa Studios in May, 2007, with David Picker, vice chairman of the PGA East, and Vance van Petten, executive director of the PGA.

Each of the 2006 season’s eight events is featured on the disc, in capsule form, and panelist information and PGA NMC information is included in the overall menu. Events were held at such New York venues as The New School for Social Research, The Core Club, and SoHo Cantina East and were produced by the PGA NMC East executive committee.

“The New York new media industry has enjoyed a tremendous resurgence in recent years, and the ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD is a way to promote, in an appropriate way, the thought leadership of the PGA NMC East in its work with some of the leading creative and technical figures in this market,” said Pfaff. “We are pleased that we could capture a jewel-box snapshot of a pivotal time in the new media industry, and deliver a quality calling card for professionals who wish to join the PGA NMC and become part of the ongoing dialogue around new media production.”

The ‘2006 Salon Series’ disc replication was provided by CDS Digital, and sleeve art was provided by Matthew C. Davis.

“The definition of ‘what is a new media producer’ is constantly changing, and linear producers need to see the full spectrum of new media production options to understand where our industry is heading,” said Brodeur. “This DVD is a first-hand look at the players and the technologies involved in making today’s new media industry, and we wanted to produce this as an inside look at the industry, particularly for those who aren’t as familiar with the topics and the individuals.”

The ‘2006 Salon Series’ disc includes such panel highlights as ‘Podcasting: The Next Big Broadcast Phenomenon?,’ with Weblogs, Inc. founder Jason McCabe Calacanis and ABC ‘Guiding Light’ executive producer Ellen Wheeler; ‘Mobile Video and Photography,’ with ESPN’s Vladimir Edelman and FremantleMedia’s Keith Hindle; ‘Science in Hollywood: Content and Communication,’ featuring Neil Gershenfeld, Director for MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms; ‘Console, Internet, and Handheld Gaming: Hollywood Killer or Savior?,’ featuring Bernie Yee, from Activision, Adeo Ressi, founder and CEO Gametrust, and Mike Sepso, CEO, Major League Gaming; ‘Death of the Producer? The Rise of User Generated Content & Community,’ with Brightcove’s Jeremy Allaire and MySpace’s Shawn Gold, and ‘Internet Advertising: How Can I Advertise My Work Online?,’ with Simon Assaad, CEO of Heavy.com and Mitch Davis, CEO of Massive Incorporated. In addition, one-one-one conversations are included with Alan Patricof, technology venture capital legend (‘The Art of the Start: Funding and Launching New Media’s Next Big Thing’), and with Herb Granath, chairman emeritus of ESPN (‘Broadband Media – From Network to Networked’).

NewYorkDVD operates a turnkey studio for expert-level DVD authoring, menu design, and replication. The company offers clients “a true creative partner in the conception, production, design, and authoring of high-quality DVD titles.” The company won the 2006 “Excellence in Music” Award from the DVD Association for its work on the Hudson Music title ‘Anatomy of a Drum Solo,’ featuring legendary drummer Neil Peart.

Under Brodeur’s leadership, NewYorkDVD has developed several innovative concepts for DVDs, including the first integration of ACID loops into an instructional music DVD, as well as early work with Web-connected DVD functionality.

NewYorkDVD maintains several complete authoring suites, including several Sonic Solutions workstations, Surround-sound Pro Tools mixing and 1:1 Final Cut Pro motion graphics/editing stations.

About NewYorkDVD
NewYorkDVD’s principal, Brian Brodeur, has been producing music and multimedia for more than 15 years. He has created award-winning DVDs for the corporate, entertainment and instructional markets, including discs for Pfizer, Columbia/Tristar, KINO International, and Fender Guitars. Mr. Brodeur is an expert in all stages of DVD production; from audio/video compression to creative interactive design and stable DVD functionality programming that enhances the user experience. He is a sought-after DVD consultant for leading vendors, including Video Technologies Group and Sonic Solutions. NewYorkDVD’s extensive capabilities include expert-level encoding and authoring with Sonic Solutions systems, Final Cut Pro, comprehensive graphic design and motion menu development, surround sound mixing, multi-language translation/subtitling, DVD packaging, Adobe Flash development, and full-scale production and post-production services. NewYorkDVD provides competitively priced disc replication services, in small or large quantities, and offers comprehensive warehousing/fulfillment and e-commerce distribution solutions. For more information, visit the Web site at www.NewYorkDVD.com.
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EDITOR’s NOTE: For a color photograph of screenshots on the PGA NMC East ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD; PGA NMC East co-chairman Chris Pfaff, or NewYorkDVD’s Brian Brodeur, please contact Chris Pfaff at 201-218-0262 or c.pfaff@att.net

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