Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, has secured Neerav D. Shah to serve as the company’s new sr. VP, strategic marketing. Shah has more than 25 years of experience in product development, marketing, operations and business development. A creative strategist, Shah most recently held executive and senior leadership positions at ARRIS and Verimatrix, two companies with expertise in developing solutions to deliver and monetize multiplatform content–a growing priority for Grass Valley customers.
Shah and his team will be responsible for refining Grass Valley’s product strategy and market positioning to ensure alignment with the rapidly changing needs of the global broadcast community.
“The broadcast community is undergoing a substantial shift—both in the migration to IP infrastructures and in the need for content to be delivered to multiple platforms simultaneously,” said Marco Lopez, Grass Valley’s president. “Neerav’s expertise in these areas and his ability to navigate complex technology transitions will pay real, immediate dividends for our customers and enable us to meet the changing needs of our core market.”
Shah earned an MBA from Yale, where he specialized in strategy and product development. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor of Science in computer science at Northwestern University in Illinois as well as the Executive Management Program in Leadership, Innovation and Strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
Shah’s appointment coincides with the creation of a key new function within Grass Valley’s executive ranks. Michael Cronk will be leading an important product development initiative called Core Technology, which will ensure Grass Valley product interoperability and consistency across the portfolio. As VP of core technology, Cronk will continue in his role as chairman of the board for the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), helping promote and advocate for widely supported, open standards for IP in broadcast.
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More