Digital LA
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Hey, Digital LA peeps!

We're in the New York Times.
We're honored to be in the New York Times - Sunday Style article on Silicon Beach this past Sunday. The article describes the importance of networking at events in LA's growing Silicon Beach tech startup scene, with quotes by Tinder, Honest.com's Jessica Alba, and our Digital LA founder Kevin Winston.  The article also mentions our Silicon Beach Fest opening party at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica last summer. The party included Demand Media, Cornerstone OnDemand, KCRW DJ, and cabanas with more than 500 attendees networking by the pool.  Read the NY Times article.
 
SILICON BEACH FEST 2014: PANEL SUBMISSIONS.  Get ready for Silicon Beach Fest this June 18-21, 2014. We are accepting panel submissions for the fest. Please submit your panel idea with 4-5 confirmed speakers, moderator, and 1-2 sentences panel description with speakers/topic that people would want to hear to info@digitalla.net with PANEL as the subject by March 31, 2014.   We are not accepting individual person submissions; must be a complete panel. 
 
Digital LA - Fashion and Beauty Go Social. We talked fashion social media, how-to videos, and #shoesie Instagrams at our Digital LA - Fashion and Beauty Go Social panel at IgnitedSpaces in Hollywood during LA Fashion Week last week. Speakers included: ShoeDazzle, Stila Cosmetics, Tumbler and Tipsy designer; fashion and beauty YouTuber talent Teni Panosian (Maker Studios' The Platform) and Jill Cimorelli (Fullscreen), and model Evan Dollard.  Experts shared how to use social media to build brand, buzz, and customer and fan engagement, what content gets most engagement on which social platform, key indicators of success and how to measure sales ROI. Plus social media tweeting guests won free giveaways by Pursecase and iThigh, and L'oreal, with snacks provided  by Quest Nutrition and Krave Jerky. See highlights and PICS. 
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EVENTS THIS WEEK
- PaleyFest continues this week with the cast of top TV shows speaking on panels at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.  We attended last night's Parks and Recreation cast panel (photo right), with Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt (who is starring in the upcoming Marvel - Guardians of the Galaxy space comedy.) We attended last friday's panel featuring the cast of the popular Netflix-distributed original buzzed-about show, Orange is the New Black.  We are live tweeting backstage from the show green room with the talent. Follow #PaleyFest @PaleyFest @DigitalLA for behind-the-scenes pics.  
 
Get HALF OFF PaleyFest tix with code PF2014 a http://paleyfest.org. 
Schedule: Sleepy Hollow (Mar 19), Mad Men (Mar 21), Vampire Diaries and The Originals (Mar 22), Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Mar 23), Mindy Project (Mar 25), Community (Mar 26), and Veep (Mar 27). 
 
- 4As.  Nanxi Liu of Enplug won today's Startup Showdown pitch competition at the 4As advertising conference this week at the Beverly Hilton (photo right).  LA based companies Enplug, Brander and PaeDae each won the sub-rounds of the competition. Nanxi will also be speaking at our Digital LA - Small Business Goes Social panel next Thurs 3/27 at Beverly Hills Porsche.
 
- GDC - LA's game companies are representing on panels, workshops and parties at the Game Developers Convention in San Francisco this week.
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OUR EVENTS NEXT WEEK
 
Digital LA - 3D Printing Startup Showcase @ WeWork Hollywood, Mon Mar 24
 
3D printing objects from toys to medical devices to candy was huge at CES.  So we're rallying LA's leading 3D Printing companies for LA's first 3D printing pitch fest at WeWork Hollywood on Monday, presented by eLance. Plus we are inviting some out of town 3D printing friends! Register http://dla3d.eventbrite.com

- Hollywood 3D Printing, Philip Guidon, @Hollywood3D  

- CADsurf, Eric DiCorrado. CADsurf is 3D model marketplace where you can securely sell and print 3D objects at your home. @CADsurf 

- Les Karpas, Metamason. Metamasons a healthcare-focused 3D scanning and 3D printing laboratory. Its proprietary Scan�Fit�Print process uses 3D body scanning, patented algorithmic design, and on-demand 3D printing to create individually customized, ergonomic products. Its flagship product is a custom CPAP mask for sleep apnea patients. 

- Jens Windau, AIO Robotics, CEO.  AIO Robotics makes consumer friendly 3D printing machines at lower costs than competitors.  A USC Viterbi acclerator company. @aiorobotics

- Savannah Peterson, Shapeways, (joining via Skype) Global Community Manager. Savannah manages 3D printing communities, educating shapies, makers, designers, and newbies, coaching shop owners, activating niche markets, and implementing social strategy. @shapeways @savissavvy

- David Feeney, SD3D Printing, @SD3DPrinting. 

- Moderator: Kevin Winston, Digital LA @DigitalLA, CEO and Founder

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Digital LA - Small Business Goes Social @BevHillsPorsche, Thurs Mar 27

Join our panel where social media experts and small businesses will discuss how to use social media tools to promote your brand, build buzz, and engage customers.  Sponsored by Enplug, which installs in-store social media screens at small businesses to increase social engagement.

 
 
SPEAKERS
- Marsha Collier, bestselling author of many social media books. @marshacollier, 89K followers
 
- Nancy Liu, Enplug, CEO. Enplug installs social media screens in small businesses from restaurants to stores to increase social media engagement. @enplug


- Jason Okuma, JATI, Small Business Consultant, @jasonokuma


- Alice Shin, Kogi BBQ, Chief Branding Officer. Kogi BBQ is often referred to as LA first truck to embrace social media to tweet its location and special to hungry bbq fusion fans. @kogibbq


- Moderator: Kevin Winston, Digital LA @DigitalLA @kevinwinston
- Host: Jay Huffschmidt, Beverly Hills Porsche, @bevhillsporsche 

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OUR PAST EVENTS
 
Digital LA - Fashion and Beauty Go Social. 
Crisp photos, DIY how-to videos and fashion show backstage pics engage fans and get widely shared, said experts at our Digital LA - Fashion and Beauty Go Social panel during LA Fashion Week at IgnitedSpaces in Hollywood. Speakers included: ShoeDazzle, Stila Cosmetics, YouTubers from Maker Studios and Fullscreen, designer Tumbler and Tipsy and model Evan Dollard with Quest Nutrition.

Attendees who tweeted and Instagramed via#DigitalLAFW won prizes including iThigh, a cell-phone holding garter belt, the PurseCase iPhone holder, and other cosmetics from L'oreal.  See PICS. 

HIGHLIGHTS:
Socially shared and engaging fashion and beauty content includes: 

- Photos: Crisp, clear, high contrast clothing, shoes, models do well on Instagram and Facebook.

- Videos: ShoeDazzle's YouTube channel includes shoe style and fashion tips and videos. YouTubers Teni Panosian and Jill Cimorelli create how-to and DIY fashion and beauty tips videos that are shared widely. Teni said that sometimes she creates Instagram up to 15-second video teasers for a video, that remind fans to see the full video on her YouTube channel which is monteizable.

- Inspirational quote images, digital coupons, and celebrity related content are also widely shared. Also, backstage pics or Vine / Instagram videos from fashion shows backstage showing fashions that are about to step on to the stage, or models getting ready, said Scotty Rill of Stila Cosmetics.

- Model Evan Dollard (photo right), who is the torso for men's shirts on the Quest Apparel site, posts exercise-inspirational pics. He gets a lot of likes from shirtless pics of him working out, and videos of his Ninja Warrior rings and monkey bars workouts. 

PARTNERS
- YouTubers that are part of multichannel networks rely on the MCN business development and advertising sales departments to bring them potential sponsor and advertising deals. Teni Panosian is part of Maker Studios multichannel network, and Jill Cimorelli is part of Fullscreen. 

- Bloggers and brands should only work together when it's authentic, with brand alignment, or it will turn their fans off. Teni said that she has turned down potential sponsorship deals when the brand was not a good fit with her brand. 

MEASURING SUCCESS
- Social media measurement stats include likes, shares, RTs. 
- Video stats include minutes watched per video, subscribers, and comments/views. 
- ShoeDazzle and Stila Cosmetics are able to track sales and revenue due to social media via URLs with embedded tracking codes. When users click on a Facebook or Twitter link to the site and buy something, that is trackable. 

Thanks to our speakers, and iThigh, Pursecase, Quest Nutrition, Krave Jerky for goodies. Thanks IgnitedSpaces for hosting. And thanks PulsoViral for managing the social media wall with pics and video. 

Thanks to and follow our speakers:
- Kristi Marquez, ShoeDazzle, Social Media Director. Kristi oversees social media platforms - including ShoeDazzle's more than 2.2M Facebook fans, 84,000 Twitter followers and 84,000 Instagram followers. She also supervises the Stiletto Society, ShoeDazzle's brand ambassador program. @shoedazzle.

- Jane Park, ShoeDazzle, Social Media Specialist.ShoeDazzle

- Scotty Rill, Stila Cosmetics, Director of Online Marketing and E-Commerce. Scotty manages social media to increase brand awareness, engage audiences, drive traffic and sales/revenue. Stila was recently named one of the 50 best beauty brands to follow in social:http://beautyhigh.com/beauty-social-media. @stilacosmetics.

- Teni Panosian, Miss Maven (Maker Studios - The Platfrom). Miss Maven reaches 1.2M monthly views and >280K subscribers. She's has worked with top brands such as L'Oreal Paris, Luvocracy, NuMe/Belletto Bobbi Brown, and Motives to create custom palettes. @tenipanosian

- Michael Kuluva, Tumbler and Tipsy, Creative Director. @TumblerAndTipsy @MichaelKuluva.

- Evan Dollard, Model. American Gladiator , Ninja Warrior, host of Well Trained Warrior. Shit model for Quest Apparel. Evan Dollard

- Jill Cimorelli, YouTuber (Fullscreen). DIY fashion YouTube channel perpetualxbeauty. Instagram @perpetualxbeauty. Twitter @jcimorelli.

Thanks to our audience for great tweet notes:

- RT @shopwestsidepav Our mind is blown! Lots of great information from panelists at Fashion & Beauty Go Social! #DigitalLAFW

- RT @Theithigh @Instagram is where it's at for fashion and beauty. #digitallafw

- RT @theIthigh Note to brands. Don't force influencers to blog, tweet, Instagram your product. A natural approach is better. #digitallafw

- RT @catmangan @theiThigh #troof we'll do it anyways when you have an amazing product it's easy and organic for us to engage Digital LA

- RT @theithigh After each #fashion show we have a#twitter party to share backstage exclusivity. @stilacosmetics #digitallafw

- RT @sea_losangeles @DigitalLA #digitalLAfw got so many great tips on how to improve as a fashion blogger.

- RT @Thecassimink The male model on the Quest apparel website is on this panel! #DigitalLAFW
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LA @ SXSW 
LA represented in full force at SXSW 2014 with panels, show floor, lounges, premieres and parties, at the annual interactive, film and music convention that attracts attendees worldwide to Austin.  More than 85 LA bands performed at SXSW music this week. We want to do a social media panel with the most social bands in LA over the next few weeks. Email info@digitalla.net with BAND as subject in an email intro to the bands, if you know 'em.

LA represented well on the last day of Interactive, Tuesday night:
- deviantArt (based in Hollywood) won TWO awards at the SXSW Interactive Awards 2014 in Austin: Classic for service created before last year, and the coveted People's Choice Award. We stopped by the deviantArt offices yesterday for a photo shoot with the entire office, and the awards. deviantArt is an online artists community showcasing user-made artwork, co-founded by Angelo Sotira (photo). deviantArt speakers have been featured at previous Digital LA events and Silicon Beach Fest panels.

Congrats to other LA-based nominees at the SXSW Interactive Awards including:

- Art: Disney Animated app: animated film encyclopedia, by Disney Games in Glendale
- Business: Tillamook cheese site, by Hello Design in Culver City

- Classic: ParkMe: find parking app, reserve parking spots spots and pre-pay
- Motion Graphics: Walking Dead Chop Shop by Hyundai

- Student: Geotunes: discover songs about locations geotagged to landmarks, venues, etc.

- Media Temple Interactive Closing Party. After the Interactive Awards, SXSWi attendees headed to Stubbs BBQ for open bar at the official Interactive Closing Party by Media Temple (based in Culver City).  Performances by 2Chainz, Pusha T, Method Man & Redman, Aloe Blacc.  Plus Kanye West made a surprise appearance. Media Temple also sponsored the Silicon Beach Fest closing party last summer. (Photo right by @chrisisk)


- LA Tech Connect: Digital LA co-hosted the LA Tech Connect day party with Radix Collective, bringing 20 LA companies to represent Silicon Beach and LA Tech, taking over two restaurants in downtown Austin, attracting 2,000 attendees with free massages, cupcakes, beer and BBQ.  Tag your friends in our two albums: LA Tech Connect, and overall SXSW panels, premieres, lounges and parties, including many LA peeps and companies spottings. 

PANELS
Our founder Kevin Winston moderated the 5 Lessons of Movie Marketing with top digital studio execs Bettina Sherick of Fox, JP Richards of Universal Pictures, Maria Pacheco of DreamWorks Animation and Ethan Applen of Warner Bros. Media Camp. The engaged audience asked and tweeted great questions the panelists handily answered with examples from their studio movies, and examples for indie filmmakers. Follow #5lessons for audience and panel tweetnotes and pics. 

LA also represented on other panels, including Sophia Amorosa of NastyGal, Maker Studios, Bryce of TaskUs on the Work panel, Bernie Su and Jay Bushman on the Lizzie Bennet / Emma Approved panel, Tim Street on the web panel, Sam Friedman of ParkMe on a panel, and many more. 

Celebs on panels included:
- Jason Bateman promoted his new movie Bad Words, where he plays a cranky spelling bee contestant
- Nicholas Cage promoting his movie Joe.  He also gave inspiring words, saying that when you make a mistake in life, learn from it to educate others about it, make a film or song, etc. to help others.
- Marc Webb, director of Amazing Spider-Man 2, described how he created music for the film, including "repression about to explode" musical themes with a 130-person chrous and rave music. 
- Tilda Swinton said she never expected to become an actress, saying in her family, "Art was something you bought, not something you did."  She loved her first role and then got addicted to acting. 
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden Skyped in from remote locations, livestreamed into huge screens in ballrooms in the Austin Convention Center. 

SHOW FLOOR: 
LA-area companies on the show floor included TaskUs, SAG New Media, AroundWire, and OC companies Mophie and Olloclip. Our friends at Eventbase also had a booth. Eventbase which created the official SXSW app, and also have created the official Silicon Beach Fest apps. Great for tracking multiple events happening at once like at a conference or the Olympics. 

LOUNGES: 
- What's Trending livestreamed interviews with from the Samsung lounge.

- DirecTV hosted a house lounge on Rainey with bands and parties at night

- Media Temple hosted a lounge on Monday at Pelon's, the same venue where we hosted our LA Tech Connect the day before.

PREMIERES: We attended:
- Neighbors Premiere at the Paramount, with Zac Efron, David Franco, Seth Rogen, cast and writers.  Our founder Kevin Winston happened to sit in front of Zac Efron, so took a selfie of course (phtoo right).  After the screening, we attended the after-party with Fandango at the Funny or Die house on Rainey Street, with DJ, photobooth, open bar, and tacos. 

- Veronica Mars premiere, with director Rob Thomas and cast Kristen Bell and a dozen others. "We thank the fans, more so than any other movie," said Director Rob Thomas, who created the Kickstarter campaign that raised the $5.7M to make the movie via 91,000 backers, with social media help from lead Kristen Bell. 

PARTIES: 
LA Tech Connect: More than 20 LA companies brought LA Silicon Beach to Austin during SXSW at the third annual LA Tech Connect, co-hosted by Radix Collective and Digital LA. This third annual event grows continues to grow attracting more than 2000 attendees, and taking over two restaurants on Red River, just across from Stubb's and a few minutes walk from the Austin Convention Center which hosts main SXSW activities. See our PICs. 

Several attendees from San Francisco to New York and London said they had heard about the growing Silicon Beach scene, and enjoyed the chance to meet LA companies. 

More than a dozen companies had demo tables to show their service, meet attendees, and give out free stuff from Cornerstone OnDemand's 10-minute massage stations and hangover recovery kits, to Demand Media's chocolate cupcakes. ZEFR video content and services company gave out free ZEFR T-shirts, Outspoken had a photobooth, and MomentFeed served up Stubb's BBQ sausage. Additional companies with demo tables include: Cooley, MediaHound, Favado, PriceGrabber, Invoca, Creative District, Grail and more. 

Thanks also to community supporters Amplify, ideaLab, Karlin Ventures, Siemer & Associates, UTA, Knoll, and more. Thanks to Kluge Interactive for designing the banners and branding.  
    

Other parties:
- SXSW Opening Party by A&E Networks with different areas of Buffalo Billiards themed to different shows from Lifetime, History Channel, etc including Devious Maids dancers (photo right), 
- Pandora party with yum Stubbs BBQ,
- Neighbors - Funny or Die premiere party which turns over the Funny or Die pop up house on Rainey St into the Delta Psi Beta frat house from the movie, 
- Xbox One Titanfall video game release party at the Microsoft Studio with Childish Gambino concert, 
- NBC Comedy Opening Night by Late Night with Seth Meyers,
- Siemer & Associates party with top LA startup CEOs and VCs, 
- Cronut midnight release party and chocolate chip cookie milk shots with chef Dominique Ansel organized by Allison PR with offices in LA that help LA tech startups,
- Viacom party at Mass Relevance, SAG New Media cocktails, 
Hackney House, etc.

GETTING THERE:
Our founder Kevin Winston arrived via Amtrak's social media influencer train with influencers in a sleeper car from LA's Union Station to Austin. Thirty social media influencers from LA, NY, and SF attended including representative from LA's Maker Studios' The Platform, TechZulu, Thrillist LA, and Lootsie, as well as other attendees from About.com, GE, writer/entrepreneurs, social media consultants, Instagram rockstars, and more. Follow their adventures via #AmtrakLive on Twitter and Instagram. 
 
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Congrats Digital at the Oscars! 
We applaud digital winners at the Oscars, and other digital highlights including Ellen's fun celeb selfie w 3M RTs, what the Oscars can teach entrepreneurs, and Slate's viral Travoltify Your Name, all below: 

  

 Digital Oscar Winners
- Gravity won 7 awards including Alfonso Cuaron Best Director, Visual Effects, Editing, Cinematography, Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing. Alfonso defied naysayers to make Gravity, bringing cinematography and visual effects directors together to collaborate with digital tools to make the in-space shots.

- Her Spike Jonze won Best Original Screenplay. In Her, Joaquim Phoenix' character fall in love with his phone OS Samantha, a very digital love story (which makes everyone with an iPhone wonder why Siri is so relatively unfriendly.)   Her is based in a future LA where you can take the rail from downtown to the beach. Check the LA Times interactive map of other Her locations filmed in LA, from downtown to the PDC.

- Frozen won Best Animated Feature and Best Song for Let It Go, winning both categories for which it was nominated. Our Digital LA influencer crew attended the Frozen: Music Behind the Scenes panel moderated by Digital LA founder Kevin Winston, on the Disney Animation Studios lot in Burbank, where we met Oscar-winner songwriter Bobby Lopez (see photo right).  Bobby and discussed how he and his wife collaborated with film development on Let It Go, with daily Skype calls from New York to the Burbank lot.  

Bobby and his wife wrote Let It go, telling the story of Elsa's redemption so well that writer/director Jennifer Lee rewrote the story. Check our PICS on the Disney lot, which also include a pic of a digital poster in the Disney Animation lobby of Frozen's VFX supervisor Steve Goldberg receiving a Digital LA - Digerati Award at our Awards Dinner the previous Sunday at the Beverly Hilton (photo right).

What can the Oscars teach entrepreneurs?  Jerry Jao, CEO/Founder of Silicon Beach startup Retention Science, listed some things startup founders can learn from the Oscars: poise, grace, and dress right, plus more in his Forbes article.

  

Digital at the Oscars Show.
- Elle's super selfie is up to 3.2M, breaking @barakobama's previous record as the most retweeted tweet ever. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angeline Jolie, Kevin Spacey, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong'o and her brother was retweeted 1M times in the first hour, causing Twitter to hiccup for a bit (if you remember a slight delay in your tweets going thru during the show, that was it).

- Ellen's Pizza Delivery. Ellen called an unsuspecting Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria to get those pizzas delivered during the show.  Owner Edgar happened to take the delivery run, met Ellen backstage, and she said "Follow me" and led him on stage.  After the pizza delivery, #OscarPizza popped up on Instagram and Vine.  We stopped by the Mama's and Papa's on Sunset yesterday, and happened to get a Vine video of the staff watching Edgar appear live on the Ellen Show, where she gave him the $1,000 tip that she had collected.  The pizzeria is also digital, with its own restaurant app! p.s. Coke is lucky that the Coca-Cola logo is on the pizza boxes (free placement!), most likely to the chagrin of Pepsi, which did a big ad buy. 

- Travoltify Your Name. John Travolta introducing Idina Menzel as Adela Dazeem resulted in the @adeladazeem Twitter account popping up, and immediately accumulating 12,000 followers in the first day and is now at 29,000.  Slate immediately released the gone-viral Travoltify your name widget, where you can enter your name to see how John Travolta would say your name. For example, Digital LA becomes Danielle Loing. Try it!
  
- Fandango hired Vine stars Jerome Jarre (34.7M followers) and 20-yr old Marcus Johns (4.1M followers) as their red carpet social media correspondents.  Jerome and Jarre did photos, tweets, Instagrams and Vines from the official Fandango account and their own accounts. They covered the action live from the red carpet at the Dolby theater as celebs arrived, like the one at right of Marcus with Best Supporting Actress winner Lupita Nyong'o.

- Ratings were up for the Oscars broadcast on ABC with 43.7M viewers, up 8% over last year.  This is the highest rating since 10 years ago when Billy Crystal hosted.  The ratings increase has been attributed to social media, nominees' multi-quadrant diversity (age, gender, ethnicity), and nominee mainstream box office success.  Several best pictures nominees were in the Top 20 Box Offices movies, including Frozen #3, Despicable Me #2, Gravity #6, American Hustle #17, and Great Gatsby #18.  Last year, only a few of the Oscar nominees were in the Top 20.
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Our Digital LA - Oscars Viewing Party and Film Startup Pitch. We watched the Oscars in Silicon Beach style: with pre-pitches by film startups MediaHound, Filmzu, FilmBreak, Laudville, Dealflicks, and Snoovies at Cross Campus in Santa Monica. Then we ordered three pizzas (just like Ellen did!) to watch the Oscars on the 18' Cross Campus big screen. Check PICS. The CEOs and founders pitched their startups, which ranged from helping filmmakers crew-up to produce their films to discovering where your favorite movie is digitally, to digitally distributing films to mobile audiences.
 
 Thanks to our film pitches:
- MediaHound, Addison McCaleb, CEO Founder. MediaHound is an entertainment platform that simplifies the discovery and sharing of all your favorite movies, TV, music, books and games. A USC Viterbi accelerator alum. MediaHound will also be at our SXSW LA Tech Connect on Sun Mar 9 in Austin. @MediaHound

- FilmBreak, Darren Marble, Co-Founder. FilmBreak is a marketing platform that helps filmmakers build, engage and identify the taste profiles of their online audience while simultaneously giving fans access to exclusive film content. FilmBreak also organizers LA-based entertainment mixers to promote its platform's film releases, and has started to run crowdfunding consulting services for clients including actor Sean Astin. @FilmBreak_

- Laudville, Phoebe B. Scott, CEO Founder. Laudville connects users to entertainment they will love. Laudville connects a user's activity on other social and entertainment sites. @laudville

- Filmzu, Nick Ghirardelli, CEO/Founder. Filmzu is a marketplace that lets aspring or professional filmmakers source, shop and securely pay for video production services. Filmzu

  - DealFlicks, Sean Wyclife. Dealflicks is Priceline for movie tickets. $40 billion dollars are spent every year on movie tickets, popcorn, and soda, but 88% of movie theater seats are empty. Dealflicks partners with theaters to fill these empty seats. Dealflicks graduated Warner Bros Media Camp accelerator and 500 Startups accelerator. @dealflicks
 
- Snoovie, Roger Carvalho, CEO/Founder. Snoovie is an iPhone iPad magazine app curates short 5-15 minutes films. @snoovieapp


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Digital LA - The Digerati List of 2014 


Awardees included individuals from movie studios Warner Bros, Disney Animation (Steve Goldberg photo right) and DreamWorks, digital content creators including Fullscreen, as well as Silicon Beach companies including SHIFT, Snapchat, and Docstoc, which had a $50M exit last year. Check the Digerati List of 2014.

"This is LA's first awards show recognizing digital leaders across industry, who both exemplified excellence in digital over the past year, and support LA's tech community," said Digital LA founder Kevin Winston. 

Check out our awards dinner PICS.

The Digearti Awards dinner recognized several leaders on the Digital LA - Digerati List of 2014, recognizing 30 outstanding companies and individuals in digital over the past year.

 

Digerati LA - Digerati List of 2014  

Awards Dinner Attendees
- Clark Landry, SHIFT, CEO
- Drew Baldwin, Tubefilter, Co-Founder
- Ethan Applen, Warner Bros. Media Camp
- Ezra Cooperstein, Fullscreen, COO
- Jason Nazar, Docstoc, CEO
- Jenni Powell and Bernie Su, Lizzie Bennet Diaries
- Juan David Barrero accepting on behalf of Snapchat
- Lissy L'Amoreaux, Ignition
- Maria Pacheco, DreamWorks Animation
- Patrick O'neill, olloclip, CEO Founder
- Steve Goldberg, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Frozen VFX Supervisor 

Additional Digerati List
- Adam Miller, Cornerstone OnDemand, CEO
- Alex Kazerani, Edgecast, CEO and Chairman
- Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity, Producer / Director / Writer
- Beyonce, Artist, digitally distributed album
- Brandon Beck, Riot Games, CEO
- Brian Robbins, Awesomeness TV, CEO Founder
- Jessica Alba, Honest Company, Founder
- Julie Uhrman, Ouya, CEO Founder
- Mahbod Moghadam, Rap Genius, Co-Founder
- Mike Hopkins, Hulu, CEO
- Reed Hastings, Netflix, CEO
- Sam Friedman, ParkMe, CEO, Founder
- Sarah Penna, Big Frame, Co-Founder
- Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, Tinder, Co-Founders
- Sophia Amoruso, Nasty Gal, CEO Founder
- Walter Driver, Scopely, CEO Co-Founder
- Demand Media
- Naughty Dog, creator of Last of Us game
- Minions, Despicable Me 2 (digital character)

 Startups to Watch category includes:
- Allison Beal, Style Saint, CEO Founder
- Brandon Werber, Lootsie, President, Co-Founder
- Jason Crilly and Holden Steinberg, Nearwoo, Co-Founders
- Jilliene Helman, Realty Mogul, CEO 
- Nick Smoot, Here On Biz, CEo

Winston hosted the awards shows, with presenters including award-winning Shira Lazar of What's Trending, and David Carter, co-founder of Amplify LA accelerator and investor in several Silicon Beach startups.   
Several attendees said they were honored to be recognized and be part of the first Digerati Awards.

"You used to always have to go to San Francisco for tech events, now we have them here," said Digerati Award winner Maria Pacheco of DreamWorks Animation, mobile games.

"I didn't know I was an 'entrepreneur.' I was just someone who gets things done," said Digerati Award winner Patrick O'Neill, CEO of olloclip.
 
Jenni Powell of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries prepared a nice speech thanking everyone for helping support digital content.  Bernie Su and Jay Bushman also helped create the award winning show. 
 
  
  
At SXSW, our founder Kevin Winston is moderating an official SXSW panel '5 Lessons on Marketing Movies' on March 9 with heads of digital from Universal Pictures, Fox International, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks.

   

     

  

Thanks to our attendees, volunteers, the Beverly Hilton for hosting us, and partners PulsoViral social media wall, and photographer Fabio Tovar.  

  

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OUR RECENT EVENTS 
 
Digital LA - African American Digital Leaders. Keep up to date and proficient with new digital tools, and follow your passion, said speakers at our Digital LA - African-American Digital Leaders Summit at WeWork in Hollywood. This is LA's first panel highlighting successful African-American digital leaders, during Black History Month. 

Speakers Bettina Sherick of Fox VP Digital Marketing International, Beverly Jackson of Yahoo! Social Media Director, and Sheila Marmon, CEO founder of Mirror Digital, shared their career stories, advice and tips to succeed in digital.  
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Digital LA - Vine Stars panel.  Five top Viners reaching a combined 10M followers shared their experiences and insights on developing their brand and careers in 6-second videos at our Digital LA - Vine Stars panel at WeWork Hollywood.

The Viner influencers discussed how they got started on Vine, get ideas for content, and collab with other Viners. Most of the panelists found out about Vine from a friend, and started to post funny comedy videos. The short 6-second format is perfect for a situational humor joke, comment on daily life, or physical humor. Pranks used to be popular but are declining. Stop-motion animation is used, but comedy Vines build bigger audiences, and are more shared. 

Viners said that once they hit 500,000 to 1M followers, they started to get calls from brands. Viners on our panel have worked big brands including Pepsi, Wendy's and the NFL, startups like apps Hot or Not or the Hunt, and movie studios who invite Viners to movie premieres and other events to reach a broader audience.

"We are our own TV networks,' said Brittany Furlan, the #3 most-followed on Vine with 5M followers. 
 
See our PICS and more summary highlights.

Thanks to WeWork for hosting, and thanks to our panelists! Follow them!

- Brittany Furlan is the top female Viner and #3 overall. With her comedic Vines, she has developed a loyal following, and worked with Wendy's, Trident, and other brands. @BrittanyFurlan. 5M followers

- Ry Doon. Ry is a Boston based comedian known for his outrageous Vine videos featuring segments like "unnecessary swearing." @RyDoon. 1.9M followers

- Klarity. With his unique sense of humor, Klarity collabs with other Viners on a regular basis and has worked with brands such as Snippit, Oral B and the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer. @Klarity_ 1M followers

- Manon Mathews started on Vine with her impression of Kristen Stewart. Her Vines have led to work with brands such as The Hunt app and will star in feature film, Holiday Breakup. @ManonMathews. 1M followers.

- Ramona Michelle. Beauty YouTuber Ramona started doing Vines to express her fun side, and has worked with Guthy-Renker, Guess and The Hunt. @RamonaMichelle.

Thanks to our Audience for great tweets via #VineStars
- RT @Nicktweetedthis Awesome @DigitalLA event with top #vinestars.

- RT @jasonokuma "To be popular on #Vine you MUST be funny!" @BrittanyFurlan #VineStars pic.twitter.com/9Ah0ARjhHm

- RT @JATIbuzz: Trends change every week. But when there's a trend, everyone really partakes. @DigitalLA @WeWork #vinestars @vineapp


- Harvard Hollywood Panel.  Harvard alum speakers from both big studios Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount and Fox, and Silicon Beach startups with experience at Hulu, and  Maker Studios, BeachMint, Mirror Digital discussed how they do digital at our panel team-up with Harvardwood and the Harvard Business School Association of Southern California.  Studio panelists discussed how they use digital tools for content distribution, marketing and social media, and shrinking windows. Startups discussed how they create new companies via digital, approach traditional companies for partnerships, and contact celebs to gain market share.  Panelists also gave advice to those considering getting into digital entertainment and startups.  See PICS.  
 
On the question of whether HBS students should work for a big studio or startup after graduating, panelist Diego Beradkin, founder of BeachMint, said "The question should be, should you drop out to start your startup."  Good point: dropping out of Harvard to do a startup has worked out pretty well for Bill Gates and Marc Zuckerberg.  (Photo right crowdsourced by attendee @BradTurner.)
 
- San Francisco Brunch. We rallied a Digital LA brunch in San Francisco at the Grove in SoMa (photo right) on Sunday to discuss more Digital LA events in LA, and more.  Attendees from: design agencies, digital agencies, and local city tech.  Our next Digital LA event in San Francisco will be next month during GDC. 
 
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SILICON BEACH NEWS
 
- Disney launches Disney Accelerator.  Add investing in startups to Mickey's kingdom.  The Disney Accelerator will partner with TechStars accelerator to invest $120,000 in startups that improve the consumer experience, with access to mentors across Disney, Marvel, etc.  Applications opened today.  Apply: http://disneyaccelerator.com. The Warner Bros Media Camp accelerator graduated its first class of five startups last year with a Demo Day on the lot, and applications are open for its second class.

- LA wins at Crunchies: Silicon Beach startups won big at the TechCrunch Crunchies awards in San Francisco on Monday. Snapchat won Best Mobile App, Oculus won Best Hardware, Tinder won Best New Startup. Also nominated: Whisper, TaskUs, DogVacay  
 
- Tapiture gets $2.25M funding. The Tapiture social discovery site just announced a $2.25M round of funding, with investors including JUMP Investors, Lightbank, and Hilary Swank.  Marketwatch article. Tapiture hosted our Digital LA - Summer BBQ right at its offices on the Venice strand (photos right, see PICS). 
 
 - Snapchat is hiring, releasing a YouTube video co-starring Venice Beach surf, sand, and life.  Snapchat  is hiring engineers and more. Snapchat recently closed $50M funding. 
 
- Peter Marx is LA's new CITO. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti's office named its first Chief Innovation Technology Officer, Peter Marx this week. Peter is currently VP at Qualcomm, and formerly worked in LA at EA and Mattel. Check out his LinkedIn. Peter will spearhead open data initiatives.  We attended Mayor Garcetti's conference call announcing the news to digital leaders, and contacted Peter to speak at some of our upcoming events. 
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CONFERENCES

  

NAB Show, April 5-10 in Vegas. NAB Show is in Vegas Apr 5-10. We're pleased to extend to our members a Free Exhibits-only registration to NAB Show. Use code PR09. Or, use code PR39 to receive $100 off the Conference Flex or SMART Pass. Register atwww.nabshow.com. Hurry - offers expire March 21, 2014.

  

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DIGITAL AT AWARDS SEASON 2014
We are tracking digital at all the awards shows this year:
 
SciTech Awards Oscars.  Flying cameras, lighting and explosion software, and a car flipping machine won awards at the annual SciTech Awards Oscars by the Academy at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Scientific and Technology Awards awarded technical achievements in filmmaking that have been used in films including Gravity, Avatar, The Hobbit, Pacific Rim, Matrix, Armageddon, and dozens more movies.  Hosts Kristen Bell and Michael B Jordan (Fruitvale Station) hosted the show.  Kristen said she liked technology, alluding to the Veronica Mars movie which raised $5.7M on Kickstarter.  See our pics and summary here.
 
MPSE Awards. George  Lucas said "sound is half the movie," presenting at the 61st annual Golden Reel Awards awarding sound editing, foley, and FX in film, TV, and games at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA.  Feature Film winners include: Gravity (FX/Foley), Captain Phillips (Dialogue/ADR), Frozen (Musical) and The Great Gatsby (music). Digital content winners include: Epic (Animated Film), Mortal Kombat Legacy Season 2 (Computer Episodic), and Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm cinematic sequences (Computer Interactive) by Irvine-based Blizzard games. See our awards show PICS. 

  

VES Awards. Gravity won 5 of 6 nominated categories, including the top film award, at the VES Awards by the Visual Effects Society, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron won Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature, Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature, Models in a Feature, FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature, Compositing in a Feature. 
Other winners include:
- Frozen swept all four of the categories it was nominated for, winning Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature, Animated Character in Animated Feature (Elsa), Created Environment in an Animated Feature (Elsa's Ice Palace), and FX Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature (Elsa's Blizzard finale). Go Frozen fractals!
- Game of Thrones won two awards: VFX in a Broadcast Program and Created Environment in a Broadcast Program. 
- Activision's Call of Duty Ghosts and ad won three awards: The game won Real Time Visuals in a Video Game. Its trailer Epic Night Out, starring four buddies and Megan Fox in Vegas, won VFX in a Commercial and Compositing.
 

  

 
PGA Awards.
Congrats digital winners and noms at the 25th anniversary Producers Guild Awards, held, at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday with dozens of celebs including Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Robert Downey Jr, and more. See our PICS. 

- Film: Gravity tied with 12 Years A Slave in the first tie ever for top prize. Gravity is VFX Driven; Alfonso Cuaron accepted the award, presented by Ben Affleck. Brad Pitt (photo) and Steve McQueen accepted for 12 Years A Slave.

- Animation: Disney Frozen won; Nominated: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Epic, Monsters University

- WETA Digital won the Vanguard Award, for creating special effects in The Hobbit, Iron Man 3, The Wolverine, etc.     
 
  - Digital Series: Wired: What's Inside won; Nominated: Lizzie Bennett Diaries (photo: Bernie Su, Jenni Powell and Jay Bushman of LBD), Epic Rap Battles of History, Burning Love, Video Game High School 
 
Oscars. Congrats digital at #OscarNoms announced including:

- Animation: Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Croods
- Best Pic: Gravity is VFX Driver, Her is techie
- VFX: Iron Man 3, Gravity, Star Trek, Hobbit, Lone Ranger
- Documentary: Netflix's The Square

Follow @TheAcademy, which tweeted out these nice square pics (Photo: Her) of all the #BestPic noms on Thursday morning   
 
 
Golden Globes.  12 Years A Slave won Drama and American Hustle won Comedy at the Golden Globes awards at the Beverly Hilton.  Congrats digital at the Golden Globes:
- Disney Frozen won Best Animated Film, beating Despicable Me 2 and The Croods.
- Netflix House of Cards had several nominations
 - Her by Spike Jonze won Best Screenplay. In Her, Joaquim Phoenix character develops a romantic relationship with Samantha, his OS system.
Check our Globes party PICS.  including celeb spottings: Idris Elba, Kerry Washington, Kelsey Grammer, Rob Lowe, and more. 
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Digital LA - Year in Review 2013
   Thank you for being a part of our 87 events in 2013! That's a Digital LA event every 4-5 days! Here's a summary of our past action-packed year of events. We look forward to seeing you at our events in 2014!"
- Kevin Winston Digital LA founder, Silicon Beach Fest founder.
 
EVENTS (for pics of all events, visit our Facebook albums)
 
Silicon Beach Fest
Our Silicon Beach Fest this past June attracted thousands of attendees, more than 250 speakers, 60 panels in 17 tracks, and four days of panels, parties, hackathon and Startup Showcase at Cross Campus, ROC Santa Monica, and Santa Monica Place.  Thanks to major sponsors Cornerstone OnDemand, Demand Media, Media Temple, MyLife, and community organizers including Kluge Interactive, TechZulu, Radix Collective, PromoJam, and Dynamic Synergy Corporation. Days 1-2, 3-4.  Video by 4WT Media.
 
Our one-day Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood featured 20 entertainment startup pitches, the most at any LA event, with panels held at WeWork and just-launched IgnitedSpaces in Hollywood in November. Thanks to Delta Air Lines, Business Wire, Kluge, WeWork, IgnitedSpaces, Idea to Screen, JNB Events, 131 Consulting, Elance, and more. Thanks to iPrecinct which sponsored the closing reception. Silicon Beach Fest was covered in Forbes, LA Times, and dozens of other press. PICS, Startup Showcase Video
 
Panels:
We hosted panels and Startup Showcases featuring LA's top startups and experts on the following topics:
- Startups Pitch Hollywood @ ROC
- Digital Tools for Actors, YouTubers, Artists
- Meet the Streamys Awards Nominees @ ROC
- Digital Women: VCs and Angels
- Giving Tuesday @ Regus Santa Monica
- Connected Cars @BevHillsPorsche
- LGBT Marketing @ Drais W Hollywood
- Digital Comics @ WeWork Hollywood
- Digital Moms @ ROC Santa Monica
- Fitness Goes Digital @ SoulCycle SaMo
- Beauty Goes Social @ eSalon
- Green Gets Digital @ Santa Monica Place
- Phone Photography @ Wood and Vine
- Real Estate Goes Digital @ ROC SaMo
- EdTech Show-n-Tell @ NextSpace Culver
- Games Marketing Panel @ Orange SF
- Music for Games @ Microsoft Store
- Digitally Find a Job w EDGE @ UCLA
- Coder Cocktails w Yahoo! @ Zengo
- Dating and Social Networks @ ROC
- Apps and Apps @ Santa Monica Place
- Tweetbank for Eric Garcetti @ WeWork
- OC Digital Leaders @ ROC Newport
- Silicon Beach Best of 2013 @ ROC
- Harvard Hollywood Panel @ Busbys
- White House Women Girls App Challenge
 
Social Media Week LA panels
- Startups Go Social
- Movies and Music Go Social 
- Spas Go Social
 
 
Fashion Shows
We organized our spring and fall Startup Fashion Shows with Cross Campus and Santa Monica.  This is LA's only fashion show featuring exclusively the designs of Silicon Beach online and digital retailers.
- Spring Show video: Ellie, Carbon 38, Style Club, Tailored Republic, MeUndies, Magtag, Modern Nerd Apparel,  
- Fall Show pics: MeUndies, Quest Apparel, Shapeshifterz, Style Club, District2.Co, LK3 (which launched its Kickstarter campaign at the fashion show). 
 
PARTIES:
- BBQ @ Tapiture.  We enjoyed sunset views at the Tapiture Beach House on Venice, the after party for the Abbott Kinney Festival. PICS. 
- Digital LA - 5-Year Anniversary. We celebrated our 5-year Anniversary with our friends at TechZulu, also celebrating their five year, at ROC Santa Monica
- Oscars Viewing Party w IVY Entertainment
- VIP Cocktails @ 1801 Club
- Oktoberfest @ Alpine Village
- Anime Cocktails during the Anime Expo
 
- Holiday Party. More than 500 attended our annual Holiday Party at the Station at W Hollywood, with singing performances by Broadway and YouTuber talent. PICS.
- Red Party @ The Redbury 
- PromoJam 2.0 team-up with a bouncy castle!
- Digital Drinks @ Sayers Club
- Marina Del Rey Cocktails @ Glow
- Santa Monica Cocktails @ Wilshire
- Santa Monica Cocktails @ Del Friscos Grille
- Santa Monica Cocktails @ Redwood Grille
- Manhattan Beach Cocktails @ Strand House
 
Pool Parties:
We had a blast networking at two pool parties:
- Summer pool party with the Channel Factory at the Ritz Carlton residences private floor. We enjoyed great views from the Channel Factory cabana reserved for us, and chatted viral videos and digital content in the jacuzzi. PICS.
 
- Halloween Pool Party at a at a Studio City mansion.  When it's 80 during Halloween, that means costume pool party time, with lifeguards and mermaids talking digital in the pool with waterfall and hot tub. PICS.
 
BEYOND LA
National:
We hosted Digital LA events and parties at industry confernences from San Francisco to London including:
 
- Austin: Silicon Beach Sunday Funday in Austin during SXSW, featuring 20 hot LA startups at a packed fun event organized by the Radix Collective, which was covered by PandoDaily, LA Times, and more. Also, we hosted our annual Digital LA- SXSW Party with Planet LA bands on the rooftop of the Sixth Street bar and about 300 attendees.
 
- San Francisco: GDC Cocktails: cocktails and dancing at Vessel in Union Square.
 
- San Diego Comic-Con. Captain American and She-Ra the Princess of Power attended our rooftop cocktails during San Diego Comic-Con. Our founder Kevin Winston moderated an official Comic-Con panel with top digital content creators from LA. 
 
- Miami: Cocktails at Hyde Miami Beach, with digital entertainment attendees from NATPE, etc. 
 
International:
- France: Cannes Film Festival. We hosted our first Digital LA panel at Nikkis Beach at Cannes Beach during the Cannes Film Festival, featuring speakers from LA startup FilmBreak and a documentary about Enplug. 
 
- London: Our founder Kevin Winston presented a Silicon Beach 101 panel at London's Digital Shoreditch conference to a packed audience, followed by a panel featuring Vyclone and other LA startups with offices in London. 
 
Digital LA Influencer Crew
Our social media influencer crew was invited to many events, including Time Warner Cable advance screenings of The Hobbit, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 42, Fast and Furious 6, Lone Ranger, Game of Thrones Season 3 premiere, and Oz the Great and Powerful.  Thanks to @TWC_SoCal for the invites, and thanks to our social media tweeters including @mayehmstudios @valeriecwang @catmangan @summersmckkay @ryanturnerrt @toddzebert @jasonacharchan and more
 
Social Media:
- We passed 18,000 Twitter followers, and 13,000 LinkedIn members
 
We have more planned for 2014! See you soon!
Digital LA organizes events for professionals in online entertainment, marketing, and advertising. Stop on by for informal casual networking. Join the Digital LA group at http://www.digitalla.net   Attendees work at Sony Pictures, FOX Interactive, MySpace, Google, Yahoo!, Disney, WB, NBC, EA, Vivendi Games, Napster, and other entertainment, studios, ad agencies, and tech companies.