Wharton at Sundance: Panel to Discuss State of Financing Films

Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 18, 2006 – The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the Center for Applied Media in Park City, Utah, will hold an event on Jan. 22 at Sundance titled, “Wharton@Sundance: New Money and the State of Film Finance Today.” The event is an inaugural activity for the Wharton Media & Entertainment Initiative (WMEI), still in development.

Guest panelists will include (in alphabetical order):

• Clark N. Callander, Managing Director, Savvian, LLC
• Michael Mendelsohn, President and CEO, Patriot Pictures
• Robert Nathan, Cinetic Media
• Hal S. Sadoff, Head of International and Independent Film, International Creative Management (ICM)
• Diane Stidham, Managing Director, Newbridge Film Capital, LLC.

Moderating the panel will be Nelson Gayton, a Wharton School adjunct professor who teaches media and entertainment, and also serves as the managing director for the Initiative. The panel discussion will focus on the availability and sustainability of investment capital in the film sector, including new sources of capital from high profile, private equity funds, hedge funds, debt and super gap financiers. The panel will examine viability of film as an asset class for investment and discuss the performance of such investments… past, present and future.

“The Wharton M&E Initiative has been established as a global think tank out of the demand of our thousands of alumni around the world as well as faculty with expertise in the area,” said Gayton. “We are excited about this extraordinary venture and look forward to working within this industry to provide thought leadership, management training and knowledge dissemination to current and future leaders.”

WMEI was established to serve as the preeminent center for thought leadership and management education in the media and entertainment industry. Through ground-breaking research, strategic industry partnerships and innovative educational programming, WMEI is centered on one primary purpose –- to develop M&E leaders who inspire and implement leading -- edge business practices that enhance their organizations, their industry, their communities, and society at large.

In satisfying its mission, WMEI maintains the following five strategic priorities: (1) knowledge development; (2) knowledge dissemination; (3) collaboration with corporations, non-profit organizations, industry associations, and other research centers; (4) student activities; and (5) alumni networking.

Additional WMEI events will take place this year, including two panel discussions at the upcoming Wharton Economic Summit in Philadelphia on Apr. 12-13, 2007. The first panel, titled, “Wall Street Meets Hollywood: Investing in Media and Entertainment Ventures,” will be moderated by Wharton Professor Peter Fader, Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor; professor of Marketing. The second, titled, “Building Communities Around Content,” will be moderated by both Professor Fader and Professor Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at Wharton.

EDITORS NOTE: While the Sundance panel discussion is closed to the media, one-on-one interviews with Nelson Gayton and Peter Fader of the Wharton School are available before and after the event. Please contact Tracy Simon, to arrange times.

About the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania — founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 8,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 81,000 graduates.

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