Filmmakers Lunch Session.
Digital Hollywood Presents: Savage County - A head on transmedia case study from MTV.
Moderator: David Gale, EVP, New Media, MTV Networks
Panelists: David Harris: multi-hyphenate director/co-writer/comic book author/digital producer/application designer/geek
Nina Bargiel, transmedia producer
Jordan Glazier, CEO of Eventful
Bekah Graf, actor, Savage County
Presented by MTV Networks
Click here for photos from this panel at the fall summit.
In October, just in time for Halloween, MTV New Media launched “Savage County” - their latest original project. The multiplatform feature tells the story of a group of Texas high school friends who stumble into mayhem when they play a prank on the wrong family. Shot for $250,000 to be viewed as either an 8-chapter web series or continuously as a feature, Savage County was taken to the airwaves by over 100,000 fans who demanded MTV2 air it as part of an innovative campaign from Eventful. Before and after the airing, Savage County has been designed to give fans access to and ownership of the story, incorporating two digital comics, a viral poster drawn in actual human blood, and an immersive transmedia experience by Nina Bargiel. After its October 7th MTV2 premiere, MTV has partnered with indie distributor Cinetic to bring the niche title to transactional platforms and physical DVD. Members of the creative team, cast, transmedia experience, marketing and distribution teams will be on hand to discuss the Savage County case study and its implications for future indie titles.
Moderator: David Gale, EVP, New Media Networks
David Gale is Executive Vice President of New Media at MTV. In this position Gale oversees the development and production of original content for new media platforms. The division is responsible for creating innovative ways to meld new technologies and platforms, storytelling, social networking and traditional media and to incubate talent and ideas for the “next generation” audience.
Prior to starting MTV New Media, Gale launched and was Executive Vice President of MTV Films. For over a decade, Gale oversaw the activities of this movie label, with a slate of films that grossed more than a billion dollars in box office, opened 7 movies to #1 in their opening weekends and had numerous awards (including 5 Academy Award nominations). Films released under the MTV banner (many of which Gale personally produced or executive produced) included Election, Save The Last Dance, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Varsity Blues, Blades of Glory, jackass the movie and jackass number 2, The Longest Yard, Coach Carter, Hustle and Flow, Murderball, Tupac: Resurrection and Napoleon Dynamite.
Gale’s also served as President of the production company for Gale Anne Hurd (producer of the Terminator movies, Aliens, The Hulk, and Armageddon), Senior Vice President of Ridley Scott’s feature film company, and as Vice President of Business Affairs at International Creative Management. He started his career as an attorney in New York, first at Shearman and Sterling and then as an entertainment attorney at the boutique entertainment firm of Beldock, Levine and Hoffman. He graduated from Stanford University and received a law degree from NYU.
Panelist: David Harris, multi-hyphenate director/co-writer/comic book author/digital producer/application designer/geek
David Harris is a producer at MTV New Media and the co-writer and director of Savage County, a multiplatform horror movie, slated for release on all of MTV’s platforms in October of 2010. At MTV, David has worked on the creation and launch of jackassworld.com, the release of the digital movie jackass 2.5, and produced $5 Cover Memphis - a web series created and directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan). David has been a panelist at the Sundance Film Festival, and lectured at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He has been a member of think tanks for Nokia and Fox Television studios. His UCLA MFA Thesis “HowDoISayThis?” was funded by mtvU and Cisco and won the 2007 SXSW Interactive award for Best Student Site. Prior to earning his MFA he was a Creative Director and Animé producer in Houston, TX.
Panelist: Nina Bargiel, transmedia producer 
Nina Bargiel is a television writer turned transmedia producer. Her professional writing career began back in 2000, writing 17 episodes of the Emmy-nominated Disney Channel series "Lizzie McGuire." She then moved to the animation universe, writing for Cartoon Network’s “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,” including the DVD feature “Billy & Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure.”
In 2009, she created the Streamy-Award-winning interactive experience for MTV/EFE’s Valemont, a transmedia experience that spanned a fake college website, nine character Twitter accounts, three blogs, Facebook and SMS messaging.
Recently, she created and ran the transmedia experience on MTV's Savage County, creating the Savage County Gazette, the Where's Dorothy Kramer blog, multiple character Twitter and Facebook accounts, and the ARG HelpUsEscape.com, which picks up just as the Savage County movie screening ends.
Nina can be found at NinaBargiel.com and lives in Los Angeles with her husband Will and her pit bull Daisy J. Dog.
Panelist: Jordan Glazier, CEO of Eventful
Jordan is CEO of Eventful, the leading digital service connecting consumers with entertainment and local events.
Over 15 million entertainment consumers use Eventful every week to find out what’s happening and decide what to do; from movies and concerts to sports and kids events. Eventful provides the world’s most comprehensive selection of local event content. Eventful’s unique “Demand it!” service is a social media platform which empowers fans to influence the content and location of entertainment and live events. Over 100,000 performers and entertainment properties use Demand it! to engage fans, measure demand for future local events and make practical decisions regarding where to route concerts, distribute motion pictures and present all other forms of events and entertainment.
Hundreds of entertainment properties and media partners, from movie studios and concert promoters to hospitality and CPG marketers, tap Eventful to reach young, active consumers who are in the midst of deciding how to spend their entertainment time and budget.
Before joining Eventful as CEO, Jordan served as the COO of Client Shop, Inc., which was ranked as the fastest growing privately-held company in San Diego by San Diego Business Journal.
Previously, Jordan was the General Manager of eBay’s consumer electronics, computers and business-to-business units, successfully building and growing these businesses to over $5 billion in annual gross merchandise volume. Jordan was also a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago and ran international business development for GATX Corporation.
Jordan graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan where he received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. He earned his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. In addition, Jordan attended the London School of Economics with a concentration in International Studies.
Panelist: Bekah Graf, actor, Savage County 
Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Bekah Graf began acting in children's theatre at 8 years old. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Theatre and Dance, she moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and has been acting in film and television, and recently new media.
Photos from the fall panel.
