Board of Directors

Paul Kontonis is the VP, Group Director of Brand Content at The Third Act, Digitas’ brand content entity and an interactive media and brand content veteran that has executive produced over 25 web series including successful online branded entertainment for Warner Bros, Armor All, Experian, Holiday Inn Express, Phillips Van Heusen and IZOD IndyCar.Prior to the Third Act Paul was the Senior Vice President of Branded Entertainment of MATTER, an Edelman Entertainment and Sports Marketing Company. In early 2007, Paul co-founded For Your Imagination, a pioneering web video studio that developed, produced and promoted original web series. Through his strategic leadership, the studio was selected by TVWeek in 2008 as one of five web video studios most likely to succeed. While at For Your Imagination, Kontonis executive produced many web series and video networks.Starting in 1998 became the Chief Marketing Officer of btldesign, a 25-year-old marketing communications agency. Paul’s interactive experience began as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at SenseNet, a Web application development agency, and as the Director of Business Development for Silver Shock, a boutique interactive agency.Paul appears in a number of publications and digital media books including the Documentary Filmmakers Handbook, and is a speaker at several industry conferences and seminars annually. Paul is a founding member of The International Academy of Web Television.

Jenni has been deeply involved in innovative online communities for several years, dating back to the cult internet series Nobody’s Watching (over 40M views) and later becoming a central figure in the web video breakout lonelygirl15 fan community. This led to her creating the fan-favorite parody series LonelyJew15which landed her a job at lonelygirl15’s production company EQAL.  She has a strong background in production working for Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB), A&E’s Deadliest Catch, and Lifetime’s Lisa Williams Life Among The Dead.Online, Jenni has worked on many popular web series such as the smash Microsoft-sponsored hit The Guild, Streamy Award-nominated With the Angels, Poor Paul, The Crew and Comedy Central’s Atom.com standout The Legend of Neil. She freelance writes for popular web entertainment site Tubefilter Newsand consults on and produces various transmedia entertainment projects around Web, such as the ghost-hunting comedy Bumps in the Night, the No Mimes Media 10 minute transmedia experience Webishades, and the Atom.com series Video Game Reunion. She was the Staff Producer for DeFranco Inc., which included producing the sci-fi/horror anthology BlackBoxTV. She is currently the Digital Content Coordinator at Relativity Media / Rogue Pictures

Mark is a writer and director from Austin, Texas. He started his writing developing a one-hour TV drama for a local production company. After the show lost its funding, he realized it was time to take control of his own destiny. He founded Lovable Varmint Productions and began to write for the web. His first show, “CELL: The Web Series,” has been a big success with multiple festival selections, 32 award nominations and 7 awards since it launched in 2010. Aside from working to promote “CELL,” Mark also works with other Austin area web content creators to build the community of producers in Austin as well as around the world. He is currently developing a new series, “Weird Girls,” as well as multiple new projects that will expand his storytelling to include other media streams, give more depth to his web content, and take advantage of the unique nature of internet storytelling.

Rob is the Founder/CEO of My Damn Channel, a leading entertainment studio and distributor of premium, original content since 2007. Rob was a production and a programming executive at MTV and VH1 for over 11 years. He served tours of duty in rock radio in Boston, Dallas, and Los Angeles and was President of Programming for CBS Radio. Rob Barnett has produced radio, television, film, and new media with hundreds of diverse communicators including President Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Penn Jillette, Harry Shearer, Oprah Winfrey, and Johnny Rotten. My Damn Channel empowers comedians, actors, filmmakers, musicians, broadcasters and brands to co-produce, distribute and monetize original video. The company has launched some of the most successful, original comedy series including Wainy Days, Horrible People, Gigi: Almost American, the cult phenomenon You Suck at Photoshop, and videos by Harry Shearer. My Damn Channel creates premium, branded entertainment and guarantees audience delivery for partners including Subway, Comcast, HBO, Puma, Trident, Southern Comfort, IKEA, and Lincoln. The My Damn Channel Distribution Network reaches over 50 million uniques visitors monthly. The My Damn Channel Blog Network and The My Damn Channel Talent Network launched July, 2011. Are you STILL reading? Please watch 2 minutes here: www.MyDamnChannel.com/SizzleReel

Felicia is most widely known for her work in web video, and co-starred in Joss Whedon’s Internet musical “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog,” Voted the Best TV of 2008 by Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine just to name a few. She also can be seen in the web series “The Guild”, which she created, writes and stars in. “The Guild” was the winner of the YouTube, Yahoo and SXSW Best Web Series Awards for 2008 and for the first season alone collected over 80 million hits web-wide. “The Guild” partnered with Xbox and Sprint to produce and release Seasons 2, 3 and 4 on the Xbox Marketplace as well as other Microsoft distribution platforms and has, to date, garnered over 80 million views. Felicia retained complete creative rights and control of the show. She also stars in the “Dragon Age:Redemption” web series.As an actress, Felicia has appeared on TV shows such as “House”, “Lie to Me”, “Monk”, and in films such as “Bring it on Again” and the Emmy award-winning “Warm Springs”. She had a recurring role as “Vi” in the last season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and also recurred on the ABC Family sitcom “Roommates”, and on the Fox drama “Dollhouse.” Most recently she filmed the leading role in the SyFy movie “Red”, a modern adaptation of Red Riding Hood, and is recurring in the upcoming season 4 of the Syfy series Eureka.

Dina Kaplan, a co-founder of blip.tv, oversees industry marketing, public relations, finance, key partnerships and human resources for blip.tv.Before blip.tv, Dina was a news reporter with WNBC in New York, Wave3 News (NBC) in Louisville Kentucky and News12 Long Island and New Jersey.Dina won an Emmy for Spot News last summer and in prior years has won Society of Professional Journalists Awards for Deadline Reporting, Service Reporting and Feature Reporting and Associated Press Awards for Best Feature and for Breaking Spot News.Before reporting, Dina produced stories for MTV News about politics, technology and a range of musical acts from Ozzy Osbourne to The Wu-Tang Clan to Jewel. She also helped coordinate MTV’s Choose or Lose coverage of the 1996 Presidential Election. After graduating from college, Dina worked at the White House as Director of Research for the White House Counsel’s Office and then as Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel. During college, Dina worked at Rock The Vote, setting up a volunteer network of representatives that registered college students to vote around the country. Dina graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Economics, Government, Philosophy and History. She sits on the National Board of Wesleyan University and is a Founding Board Member of the Women’s Media Center. She is a judge for the Interactive Media Awards and for the Webbies. She is also on the board of the Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Bears for Kids Annual Benefit.

Jeff Koenig is a Web Television Evangelist and the Founder/CEO of OMFGeek, a new media production company. Additionally, he serves as an Adviser on the Board of Directors for AgentC Media, a video content licensing and distribution company. As Chairman of the IAWTV Communications Committee, he manages internal and external messaging for the organization. As a producer, director, and writer, Jeff has been involved in the development and production of over two dozen web series since 2007. His past experience includes working as a Digital Media Producer at CJP Digital (Easy to Assemble, The Temp Life, Leap Year, Suite 7), Social Media Marketing Manager at VideoSurf, and founding the web series production resource Broadcast Assassin.

While building computer systems for Fortune 100 companies in the ’80s, Jim developed innovative client-server computing models, implementing some of the first successful LAN-based client-server systems. He also created a highly successful iterative development methodology uniquely suited to this new systems architecture. As Lab Director at PC Week, Jim developed and refined the product review as an essential news story. He expanded the lab to California, and created significant competitive advantage for the leading IT weekly.When he became editor-in-chief of Windows Sources in 1995, he turned the publication around, and refocused it entirely on the new Windows 95. Newsstand sales tripled, and his magazine won industry awards for excellence of design and content. In 1997, Jim launched TechTV’s content, creating and nurturing a highly successful mix of help, product information, news and entertainment. He appeared in numerous segments on the network, and hosted the enormously popular Fresh Gear show for three years.In 1999, he developed the “Best of CES” awards program in partnership with CEA, the parent company of the CES trade show. This innovative program, where new products were judged directly on the trade show floor, was a resounding success, and continues today. In 2000, Jim developed a daily, live, 8 hour TechTV news program called TechLive. Called “the CNBC of Technology,” TechLive delivered a daily day-long dose of market news, product information, technology reporting and CEO interviews. After its highly successful launch in April of 2001, Jim managed the entire organization, along with setting editorial direction for the balance of TechTV. In 2002 Jim became Editor-In-Chief for Ziff Davis Media’s internet properties, where he managed sites including  ExtremeTech  PCMag.com  eWeek and Microsoft Watch. After launching a wide range of sites, including podcasts and the innovative DL.TVinternet TV show, and more than doubling traffic and unique visitors, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and Editor in Chief of PC Magazine in the fall of 2005. He still manages Ziff Davis Media’s IPTV shows, including DL.TV, and Cranky Geeks, and the consumer and small business websites ExtremeTech, TechnoRide, GearLog and AppScout. Jim is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events. He’s particularly skilled at moderating panels of CEOs and other luminaries — and moderates a number of high-profile panels each year. Jim is regularly voted into the top 20 of Technology Marketing’s annual list of most influential technology journalists.

George is Head of New Media and Senior Vice-President of Business Affairs for International Creative Management. He represents traditional and new media talent and negotiates acting, directing, producing and literary agreements with major studios, distributors and independent production companies as well as making new media content deals with some of the top technology companies and organizations in the world including Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, Hulu, AOL, Electronic Arts and Sony.His clients include Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Dragon Age: Redemption), Kevin Tancharoen (Mortal Kombat: Legacy), Alex Albrecht (Diggnation, The Totally Rad Show), Xeni Jardin (BoingBoing), Veronica Belmont (Tekzilla, Qore), Dane Boedigheimer (The Annoying Orange) and has consulted on several new media projects for NASA. George was formerly a Senior Attorney for Paramount Pictures where he served as production counsel on over a dozen motion pictures, including Face/Off, Clueless, and several movies in the Star Trek franchise. While at Paramount, he also negotiated significant commercial tie-in agreements for various movies including Mission Impossible and Forrest Gump. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Southwestern Law School teaching a course in Motion Picture Production Law that garnered a 2009 nomination for Excellence in Teaching. George currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the UCLA School of Law Alumni Association.

Tim is Director of Channels and Programming at the YouTube Next Lab, a group focused on supercharging creator and channel development on YouTube, and innovating new ideas that can be shared with the creator community. As Next New Networks’ president and co-founder, Tim led the company’s creative and platform strategy from its beginnings in 2006 until its acquisition by Google in March 2011. As Next New Networks’ first head of programming and creative development, he assembled the most diverse and successful portfolio of original video entertainment programming on the Internet, including hit networks ThreadBanger, Indy Mogul, Fast Lane Daily, Barely Political, $99 Music Videos, and Ultra Kawaii. By the time of its acquisition, Next New Networks programming had racked up over 2 billion video views and thirteen Webby Awards, more than any other independent media company. Tim’s fifteen years as a designer and producer include projects in television, mobile, and the web. In 1996, Tim co-founded Proteus, a pioneering interactive agency, which was responsible for the first-ever nationwide interactive TV broadcast using mobile phones during FOX’s Super Bowl XXXVI, and produced mobile phone-based interactive TV experiences for NBC’s 2004 Olympics and four seasons of NFL, NASCAR, and MLB on FOX Sports. His work as Proteus’ creative director also included major interactive campaigns for AT&T, Sony, Sprint, Newsweek, ExxonMobil, The Washington Post, Gibson, and Motorola, and network-wide mobile content offerings for HBO, ABC, Discovery, and FOX. After selling Proteus in 2004, Tim consulted for organizations such as Brookings and People for the American Way and worked as a producer on landmark early web series such as Rocketboom, Amanda Across America, and Afterworld. Tim’s personal blog is at http://shey.net. You can also follow Tim at http://twitter.com/moth.

Tim Street is a Writer, Producer, Director, Editor, New Media Consultant and Web Video Branded Entertainment Pioneer. He is also the Creator/Executive Producer of the popular Branded Entertainment Viral Video series French Maid TV. Tim is one of the few individuals who have been successful in getting views both in new media/podcasting and traditional television.As one of the industry’s most successful viral video producers, his online videos total over 50 million downloads and his productions constantly skyrocket to the top of the charts. In addition to creating online viral videos, Tim is a sought after speaker and award-winning short form director. Tim’s speaking credits include Blog World, ComicCon, Digital Hollywood, Inbound Marketing Summit, LATV Fest, NATPE, NAB, New Media Expo, Mac World, Podcast Academy, SXSW, UCLA, USC, Vloggercon and other local and national events. Tim has produced short and long form TV for Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The WB, UPN, Fine Living, Food Network, Game Show Network, Nickelodeon, Spike TV and many others. He be heard weekly as the co-host of the This Week in Media podcast. He blogs about Web and Mobile Video at 1TimStreet.com and consults with studios, networks, agencies, brands, marketers, media buyers, companies, producers and individuals who wish to reach an audience on the Internet and in Mobile Video.

Before joining Tubefilter, Drew was an award-winning creative director at Studio 8 Entertainment, which produced original series and new media campaigns for major brands, such as Nike, AT&T, and Intel. He has served as an advisor on the American Film Institute Digital Content Lab’s design roundtable for ABC-Disney, was a former editor of The Daily Reel, and coordinated commercial and new media projects at the Los Angeles office of Paradigm Talent Agency. Drew currently serves as the Chair of the New Media Council of the Caucus for Directors, Writers, and Producers, and on the Interactive Media Peer Group for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for which he served as a Blue Ribbon Judge for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. A passionate and outspoken advocate of original video programing online, Drew has presented at several conferences and events, including the AFI Fest, South by Southwest, OMMA Global Hollywood Conference, Digital Hollywood, the iHollywood Forum Digital Media Summit, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Independent Television Festival. He is a co-founder and executive producer of the Streamy Awards, the first awards show celebrating excellence in Web television, and the International Academy of Web Television, a professional organization of online entertainment content creators, producers and talent dedicated to the growth of the online entertainment industry. He is also a co-founder of the Open Entertainment Alliance, a public policy advocacy group for the online entertainment industry. He graduated from Yale University with a BA in Humanities.