Eisner Tapped for MIPCOM Keynote

PARIS, April 14: Former
Disney chief Michael Eisner will deliver a keynote at MIPCOM 2008, which will
be held in Cannes from October 13 to 17.

Eisner, who has set up a
digital-content studio, Vuguru, and invested in the IPTV platform Veoh
Networks, will discuss his perspective on the new-media entertainment industry.

“We are delighted to host
a visionary leader like Michael Eisner at MIPCOM,” said Paul Johnson, the
director of television at Reed MIDEM. “His 40-year career and past experience
in entertainment content as the head of The Walt Disney Company, in addition to
his pioneering work in digital content production and distribution, will be one
of the highlights at MIPCOM this October.”

Eisner began his career at
ABC, where he helped take the network from number three to number one in prime
time, daytime and children’s television. In 1976, he became the president of
Paramount Pictures, and in 1984 assumed the position of chairman and CEO of The
Walt Disney Company. He spent 21 years at the helm of the company, engineering
a complete turnaround that upped Disney’s value from $1.8 billion to $80
billion. In 2005 he established The Tornante Company, an investment fund,
through which he created Vuguru, a venture that quickly landed on the content
map with the online hit Prom Queen.
The Tornante Company also holds an ownership stake in Veoh Networks and wholly
owns Team Baby Entertainment, a producer of an award-winning series of
sports-themed children’s DVDs. Last October, Tornante and Madison Dearborn
Partners acquired The Topps Company, a leading creator and marketer of sports
and related cards, entertainment products and confectionery items.

—By Mansha Daswani