London, 1 February 2008: Screen Digest is delighted to announce that Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video, will give the Opening Keynote address at PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008. The company has also released the preliminary programme for the much-anticipated event, which takes place on 17-18 April in Paris.

Since October 2005, Ron Sanders has been responsible for the overall worldwide operation of Warner Home Video. This followed stints overseeing the studio's domestic home video operations and as SVP & Co-Managing Direct for Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in the UK. During this period he was a regular speaker at PEVE. Sanders' extensive experience of the day-to-day issues facing the home entertainment industry on both sides of the Atlantic, and his role at the heart of the first Hollywood studio to combine its entire home video, digital delivery, games, anti-piracy and emerging technologies divisions into a single unit, mean he is ideally placed to open this year's PEVE Digital Entertainment with a wide-ranging speech that will assess the prospects for home entertainment – both in its packaged and digitally-delivered forms – over the next few years.

PEVE programme unveiled
In a departure from previous years, the programme for PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008 will feature several keynote speeches, which will help focus the two-day conference on a number of key areas. In addition to Ron Sanders' Opening Keynote, Matt Brown, Exec VP, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Eddie Cunningham, President, Universal Pictures International Entertainment have also been confirmed as keynote speakers.

Throughout the conference, a series of high profile industry speakers and interactive panel sessions will address a topics crucial to the future of the entertainment business. Among the highlights of the programme are an in-depth analysis of how the leading platform providers are proposing to make the digital delivery of content direct to consumers commercially viable and how the exciting new developments in 3D are revitalising the movie business. The packaged media business certainly won't be neglected, and this year's event will focus particularly on the role of retailers, asking how specialists and mass merchants can best exploit the evolving home entertainment market and examining the potential of manufacturing-on-demand (MOD) to increase the range of titles available. Other topics will include an assessment of the increasingly strong links between movies and video games and, of course, a hard look at what the latest twists and turns in the ongoing high definition format war really mean for the industry.

Further speakers and panelists will be announced over the next few weeks on www.peve.screendigest.com.


PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008: Provisional programme

Wednesday 16 April

Opening buffet reception
Venue: Salon Honnorat, Maison Internationale, Cité Universitaire Internationale de Paris

Thursday 17 April

Venue: Espace Adenauer, Maison Internationale, Cité Universitaire Internationale de Paris

Opening Keynote: Ron Sanders, President, Warner Home Video

Digital delivery platforms: who's doing what?
Key players in the sector outline their strategies

Coffee

Building a successful digital delivery model: what works, what doesn't – and why.
The number of ways consumers can access movie and TV content online is expanding almost daily, but none has yet managed to capture the imagination of the mass market. A panel of service providers and content owners ask what is required to make a really compelling offer – and is anyone close to achieving this?

Lunch

Afternoon keynote: Matt Brown, Executive VP International, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

How can retailers best exploit the evolving home entertainment sector?
Is there still room for specialist entertainment retailers or does the future of packaged media retailing lie with mass merchants and e-tailers? Can DVDs still drive revenues for non-specialists or only footfall? What are the advantages of an international approach to entertainment retailing?

Coffee

The role of manufacturing-on-demand (MOD) in extending the Long Tail.
Amazon is already exploring MOD in the online environment, but does the technology also offer a way to reach niche audiences in the face of increasing pressure on retail shelf space? And what are the implications for more mainstream content? Is DVD burning in-store a viable business proposition or could MOD become be a first step towards accustoming mainstream consumers to buying movies and TV programming digitally?


PEVE Gala Dinner sponsored by Cinram International
Venue: Pavillon Dauphine, Bois de Boulogne, Paris



Friday 18 April 2008

Venue: Espace Adenauer, Maison Internationale, Cité Universitaire Internationale de Paris

Morning Keynote: tba

The game of the movie; the movie of the game.
Movies and video games are becoming increasingly interlinked. As Hollywood ramps up its activity in the game sector, how can the industry ensure it is making the most of the cross-over potential between the two?

Coffee

A new dimension: Why 3D is good news for the entertainment business.
3D is back – and this time it's not a gimmick. How are theatrical audiences reacting to the new wave of 3D titles - and what is the home entertainment industry doing to allow them to replicate the experience at home?

Lunch

Afternoon keynote: Eddie Cunningham, President, Universal Pictures International Entertainment

Defining the future of packaged media
Has the format war caused any long-term damage to the prospects for hi-def video? What can manufacturers, content owners and retailers do to persuade consumers to upgrade to hi-def? And are authoring houses and replicators in a position to meet increased levels of demand? We take a hard look at the realities of the world of hi-def packaged media in 2008.

NB: The conference will close no later than 4.30pm on Friday to allow delegates who are leaving Paris to negotiate the heavy weekend traffic.


For more information:
www.peve.screendigest.com

PEVE hotline: 020 7424 2888

Programme enquiries:
Helen Davis Jayalath, Senior Analyst & PEVE Programme Director, Screen Digest
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7424 2820 helen.davis@screendigest.com

Other enquiries:
Fay Hamilton, PR and Promotions Manager, Screen Digest
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7424 2847 fay.hamilton@screendigest.com


About PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008
Since 1992, the PEVE conference has been the leading event in the European video industry's calendar. This unique gathering has provided an independent forum at which video industry executives can mingle with their counterparts from other countries and discuss the key issues facing their business in a relaxed and constructive manner. In 2007 Screen Digest, which has compiled the PEVE programme for many years, acquired the rights to the conference, with the intention of expanding it into a truly international event.

About Screen Digest – Global Media Intelligence
Screen Digest is the pre-eminent firm of industry analysts covering global media markets. Headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Carmel, California, we employ a team of 40 specialist analysts covering film, television, broadband, mobile, cinema, home entertainment and gaming. Our online services and reports provide the information and analysis that hundreds of media companies worldwide base their decisions on. Most recently we have launched Global Media Intelligence (GMI), a new service which provides research and analysis specifically for media-focused institutional investors.
To find out more, please contact Screen Digest sales
sales@screendigest.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 7424 2820 www.screendigest.com

About Ron Sanders
Ronald J. Sanders is President of Warner Home Video Inc., (WHV) a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

As President, Mr. Sanders is responsible for all Warner Home Video's global business and its future development, including worldwide sales, marketing, finance, general operations, administration and supply chain management.

Warner Home Video is responsible for releasing the studio's many feature films and television shows on home video. WHV has maintained leading market share in the U.S. and most international territories for the past six years. This was due in large part to WHV's pioneering role in the immense success of the DVD format, which in five years became the fastest growing consumer electronics product ever launched. Operating in 90 territories, WHV also has a film library that is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., Turner Entertainment Company, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Video. The company has numerous distribution arrangements in the US as well and represents such diverse fare as BBC Video, National Geographic, Mattel, and sports leagues including NFL, NBA and NHL.

Mr. Sanders joined WHV in 1991 and has held various managerial positions including Vice-President, Rental Sales and Vice-President, Sell Through Sales before being promoted in 1999 to Managing Director, United Kingdom & Ireland, based in London. In 2000, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe Middle East and Africa where he oversaw the company's efforts in 28 territories. Returning to the US in 2003 he was appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager, North America before being named worldwide President in 2005. He previously held positions with Procter & Gamble and holds a BS in Business Administration from Auburn University in Alabama. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program and now resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.