The American Film Market (AFM®) has announced initial speakers confirmed for its expanded programming of Conferences, Roundtables, Workshops, and Spotlight Events which run alongside the AFM’s marketplace and industry screenings. This year’s market is taking place October 31–November 7 in Santa Monica.
More than 150 speakers will take the AFM stages to participate in 40+ sessions across three venues. An initial list of highlights includes:
- Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Cassian Elwes, Basil Iwanyk, Khaliah Neal, Ben Stillman, Gary Michael Walters, and Janet Yang.
- Industry Executives: Lisa Gutberlet, EVP, International Sales & Acquisitions, Blue Fox Entertainment; Alison Thompson, Co-President, Cornerstone Films; Janet Brown, EVP, Distribution, Gunpowder & Sky; Jeffrey Greenstein, Co-President, Millennium Media; Krista Wegener, SVP, Sales and Distribution, Participant Media; John Orlando, Head of Content, Sony Crackle; Ryan Suffern, Head of Documentary Division, The Kennedy/Marshall Company; Paul Broucek, President, Music, Warner Bros. Pictures; and Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director, Women In Film, Los Angeles.
As previously announced, Jean Prewitt, president/CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance®, and Charles Rivkin, chairman/CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America®, will kick off the Conference series with The Global Perspective, on Friday, November 2.
The 2018 speakers announced to date are:
- Alan R. Milligan, White Rabbit
- Marguerite Pigott, CMPA (Canadian Media Producers Association)
- Alison Thompson, Cornerstone Films
- Andrea Iervolino, AMBI Media Group and TaTaTu
- Anthony Beaudoin, Union Bank
- Barry Landis, Ribbow Media Group
- Basil Iwanyk, Thunder Road Pictures
- Ben Stillman, Black Bear Pictures
- Billy Mernit, UCLA and Universal Pictures
- Bradley M. Gallo, Amasia Entertainment
- Bruce Eisen, Digital Advisors
- Caryn Capotosto, Tremolo Productions
- Cassian Elwes, Producer (Mudbound)
- Chris Bueno, Ocean Avenue Entertainment
- Clay Epstein, Film Mode Entertainment
- Cody Zwieg, Gunpowder & Sky
- Cynthia Tollett, Directors Guild of America
- Dana Nachman, KTF Films
- Darrien Michele Gipson, SAGindie
- Dave McIntosh, Shout! Factory
- David Kennedy, Saboteur Media
- David Offenberg, Loyola Marymount
- David White, SHIFT72
- Dennis Dreith, Transparence Entertainment Group
- Derek Doneen, Filmmaker, Kailash
- Florian Glatz, Cinemarket
- Gary Michael Walters, Bold Films
- Germaine Franco, Composer and Music Producer
- Irina Albita, Big Couch UK and FilmChain
- Janet Brown, Gunpowder & Sky
- Janet Yang, Producer
- Jeffrey Greenstein, Millennium Media
- John Orlando, Sony Crackle
- John Sloss, Sloss Eckhouse LawCo and Cinetic Media
- Jonathan Barkan, DreadCentral.com
- JP Sarni, Stampede Ventures
- Juliana Da Cunha Jacobsen, BF Distribution
- Karl Hur, Mofac Creative Works
- Kay S. Wolf, Writers Guild of America West
- Khaliah Neal, Independent Producer, The Rachel Divide
- Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund
- Kirsten Schaffer, Women In Film, Los Angeles
- Ko Eun Jung, Digitalidea VFX
- Krista Wegener, Participant Media
- Lisa Gutberlet, Blue Fox Entertainment
- Lucy Mukerjee, Outfest & Newfest
- Mathew Joubert, SHIFT72
- Matt Holzman, KCRW’s “The Document”
- Michael Berman, iN Demand
- Min Sun Hye, WYSIWYG Studios
- Dr. Nelson Granados, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and Forbes Contributor
- Paul Bales, The Asylum
- Paul Broucek, Warner Bros. Pictures
- Paul Hertzberg, CineTel Films, Inc.
- Peter Baxter, Slamdance Film Festival and Producer
- Peter Broderick, Paradigm Consulting
- Pilar Alessandra, On the Page
- Raymond C. Nutt, Fathom Events
- Richard Botto, Stage 32
- Robert Binning, StreamSpace
- Robert Menzies, Zed Filmworks
- Ruzanna Kegeyan, Arclight Films
- Ryan Broussard, Media Services
- Ryan Suffern, The Kennedy/Marshall Company
- Ryan Turek, Blumhouse Productions
- Sam Klebanov, Cinezen Blockchained Entertainment AB
- Shaked Berenson, Producer
- Shawn Williamson, Brightlight Pictures
- Stephen Hwang, Studio Macrograph
- Steven Wolfson, UCLA
- Sunwoo Nam, W2 Studios
- Tamara Birkemoe, Foresight Unlimited
- Tobin Ambrust, Virgin Produced
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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