USC Marshall School of Business

Program

It’s no secret that technology is transforming all areas of media and entertainment, from production and distribution, to marketing and consumption. To benefit from these new technologies, executives and producers must understand how they work, how to develop a successful digital strategy, and how to take advantage of the new business models and distribution platforms that will define future success throughout the industry.

This three-session program provided by the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Really Useful Information, Inc. (RUI) focuses on four major components of creating and implementing a successful digital strategy:

• Digital media & technology - the process of monetization
• Streaming media - how to use it effectively
• Distribution platforms - which work best and why
• Social media marketing campaigns

The program will provide applicable knowledge attendees can use immediately to gain competitive advantage.

The optional individualized coaching sessions provide participants assistance with implementing what has been learned into their work environment.

Objectives

• Understand how to expand an existing technology’s capabilities
• Understand successful business models that improve monetization
• Understand the various models for protecting content
• Develop a strategic plan that enables the best utilization of digital technology

Topics

Digital Media & Technology

• The Rights & Registration Process
• Monetization
• Aggregation
• Packaging
• Distribution

Streaming Media: how to use it effectively

• Infrastructure set up
• Content types
• Targeting demos
• Marketing benefits and uses
• Advertising revenue models
• Subscription revenue models

Distribution Platforms

• Different infrastructure requirements
• Negotiating rights
• Demographic Analysis
• Content requirements
• Revenue models per platform

Fee

$975 per person includes tuition and course materials.
There is a 10% discount for three or more registrants from the same company.
$400/hour for individual coaching session.

Schedule

The program sessions will take place over a three week period. Each session is approximately 6 hours online and does not have to be taken in one sitting.

Individual coaching sessions will be scheduled in the course of three weeks.

Who Should Attend

Entertainment professionals with strategic and functional responsibilities in production, delivery and business development looking to get a handle on the business fundamentals of the technologies that are changing the media landscape.

Online Teaching Method & Experience

Designed to fit your busy schedule, this approximately 12 to 18-hour “on demand” online course can be taken at your own pace over a three-week period. It includes online video sessions, reading and case studies, interactive exercises and discussions with faculty. For more detailed information click here.

Faculty

Steve Shepard is the Resident Director of the University of Southern California’s Executive Leadership and Advanced Management Programs in Telecommunications and adjunct at Thunderbird University, the University of Vermont, Champlain College and St. Michael’s College. He is also the founder of the Shepard Communications Group and the co-founder of the Executive Crash Course Company. A professional author and educator with more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, he has written books and magazine articles on a wide variety of topics. His books include:

• Telecommunications Convergence: How to Profit from the Convergence of Technologies, Services and Companies (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2000)
• An Optical Networking Crash Course (McGraw-Hill, New York, February 2001)
• SONET and SDH Demystified (McGraw-Hill, 2001), Telecom Crash Course (McGraw-Hill, New York, October 2001)
• Telecommunications Convergence, Second Edition (McGraw-Hill, New York, February 2002)
• The Telecom Economy: Charting a Path in Uncertain Times (McGraw-Hill, New York, May 2008)
• VoIP Crash Course (McGraw-Hill, New York, July 2005)
• IMS Crash Course (McGraw-Hill, New York, March 2006)
• WiMAX Crash Course (McGraw-Hill, New York, May 2006)
• How to do Everything with VoIP (McGraw-Hill, New York, December 2006)
• Managing Supply Chain Technology (Aspatore Publishing, November 2006)
• Using VoIP to Empower Your Business (Business Week, November 2007)

Mr. Shepard received his undergraduate degree in Spanish and Romance Philology from the University of California at Berkeley (1976), his Masters Degree in International Business from St. Mary's College (1985), and is a doctoral candidate at the Da Vinci Institute in Rivonia, South Africa. He spent eleven years with Pacific Bell in San Francisco in a variety of capacities including network analysis, computer operations, systems standards development, and advanced technical training, followed by ten years with Hill Associates in Colchester, Vermont before forming the Shepard Communications Group in early 2000. He is a senior fellow of the Da Vinci Institute of South Africa, a member of the Board of Directors of Champlain Community Television, a Founding Director of the African Telecoms Institute, and an Emeritus member of the Board of Trustees of Champlain College.

Subject Matter Experts

Mary Coller Albert
Mary is a seasoned Internet marketing and media executive with over 15 years' experience in the entertainment industry, who currently consults with Sony Media Software Services to guide marketing and promotions for the PlayStation Network video download service. Previously, Mary was Chief Marketing Officer at Movielink, where she oversaw all of company positioning, communication, customer strategy, content acquisition and operations, production, and planning. She has also held engagements as Senior Vice President at Sony Pictures Digital; Senior Vice President and General Manager of SoapCity and SoapCity Download; and vice president and co-founder of Beatnik, an interactive audio software and music development company started with musician Thomas Dolby. Mary has also managed the careers of musicians, artists, and producers.

David Gale
As Executive Vice President of New Media for MTV Networks, David is responsible for incubating and creating original programming, websites, multi-platform new media experiences for MTV's coveted demographic audiences. He previously served as Executive Vice President of MTV Films, overseeing an expansion of the brand into a unique movie label with a slate of diverse and successful films that grossed more than a billion dollars in box office revenue and opened seven films to #1 in their opening weekends.

Tim Napoleon
Mr. Napoleon is a co-founder and President of AllDigital which offers services and technology that enable the secure transport and ongoing management of digital content to IP-enabled devices including mobile computing devices, the desktop computer, and digital televisions ("10-foot" devices). Most recently, Mr. Napoleon was the Chief Strategist, Media and Entertainment, for Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), working directly with enterprise and media companies such as Apple, MLB, XM Satellite, MTV, NBC, and News Corp. Prior to Akamai, Mr. Napoleon worked at VitalStream as VP of Business Development, and Mr. Napoleon was the director of online marketing at Pacific Life. He received his MBA degree from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business after earning his undergraduate degree in Communications from the California State University at Fullerton.

Kevin Yamano
Kevin is Director of Inventory Management and Delivery for Clearspring Technologies, focusing on developing new channels for ad distribution and audience retention, and increasing advertisers' reach and penetration in the social media space through innovative pricing models and distribution strategies. In his previous engagement at Dedicated Marketing Solutions, Kevin built and grew both a cost-per-lead network and a cost-per-acquisition network, in complement to an existing cost-per-impression solution. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Testimonials

The Digital Media and Technology Program Certification was an eye-opening course for a full-breadth understanding of the digital media landscape. From technological foundations to societal influences, the course provided a holistic viewpoint of what is driving change within traditional media and how businesses within the ecosystem can survive and thrive. The course leaders were deeply knowledgeable and inspirational, sharing their real-world experience of failures and successes within the space over the last decade and where they see the true opportunities. I really appreciated the course and it is already helping me in my current role.
- Jessica Hill, Sr. Mgr. Business Development & Strategy, Digital Media, Ascent Media

I found the recent Digital Media and Technology Management program insightful on a number of levels. As a producer navigating the evolving maze of New Media content, I appreciated the case studies of what’s working now and where the trends are headed. Of particular interest was info on online marketing tools (SNS, Twitter, widgets, etc.) to match our content with the right niche audiences, monetize them, and keep them coming back. From a study standpoint I found the combination of downloadable slides and on-demand video lectures to be very engaging, successfully providing a ‘human touch’ to the experience.
- Nicolas Paine, Executive Producer, Christopher R. Coppola Productions

The Digital Media and Technology Management Program helped me get better insight into where the whole entertainment industry is leading to and in what ways new media are going to be entertain people now and in the future. The technical aspect of the program helped me understand the cost factors involvedas well. The most helpful part of the program for mewas understanding the different business models. It has definitely given me a better direction and a clearer path to follow in building a plan for the films I want to produce.
- Zainab Burmawalla

The Digital Media Online Course offered by the USC Marshall School helped crystallize (as much as that is possible to do) the still evolving state of the entertainment industry as it attempts to transition from old school business models to the new school of multi-cast content deployment. Although I have worked in the On Demand segment of the entertainment business for the last 7 years, I still found the "Digital Media" course offered fresh insights and perspective of the nuts and bolts of why the business works the way it does. And where it is going. Thank you for offering this course.
- Chad Miller, VoD Executive for the past 7 years

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact our offices at 213.740.8990.