English Entertainment
MySpace appoints Hemanshu Nigam as chief security officer
MUMBAI: Fox Interactive Media (FIM), parent of MySpace.com, has appointed industry veteran Hemanshu Nigam to oversee safety, education and privacy programs and law enforcement affairs for MySpace, as well as the growing network of FIM properties.
Nigam, who currently serves as director of consumer security outreach and child safe computing at Microsoft Corporation, brings more than 15 years of experience in online safety for private industry and law enforcement, including serving as a Federal prosecutor against internet child exploitation for the US Department of Justice, an advisor to a Congressional commission on online child safety, and an advisor to the White House on cyberstalking. Nigam’s appointment is effective 1 May, 2006.
“Hemanshu is a proven leader in online safety and security. We are fortunate to have him join MySpace, help us educate the public and protect our members’ safety and privacy. MySpace has always been committed to an industry leading role in Internet safety and will continue to partner with all stakeholders including parents, educators, law enforcement and safety groups,” said MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe.
“Fox Interactive Media and its network of properties will greatly benefit from Hemu’s experience, stature among law enforcement and private industry leaders, and strategic vision. We look forward to working with Hemu as we continue in our commitment to provide a leadership role in developing industry standards that safeguard our growing community of members,” said Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Nigam served as vice president of Worldwide Internet Enforcement at the Motion Picture Association of America. There he built and oversaw the global strategy to combat online motion picture piracy for the seven major Hollywood studios.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
