Made in NY Media Center by IFP Announces “Demo Day” Linking Innovative Story and Tech Start Ups to Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs
by Erik Luers on October 30, 2014
Oct 29, 2014 (Brooklyn, NY)—The Made in NY Media Center by IFP today announced its second Demo Day, a flagship program for selected incubator members who will present their projects to a curated cadre of investors, brand agencies and foundations that are in a position to invest, mentor, or collaborate on incubator projects. The event will take place on October 29, 2014 from 4:00-6:00 PM at the Media Center, followed by a Media Center Marketplace, providing an opportunity to meet dozens of other incubator members featuring their work.
The five selected companies will present their projects to this curated audience following a three-month long training and preparation program with a team of advisors and mentors representing top VCs, brand agencies and entrepreneurs.
Erin Griffith, senior writer, at Fortune will be moderating the event with a panel consisting of Tom Constabile, Associate Director, Corporate Strategy and Development, Verizon Ventures, and Barin Nahvi Rovzar, Executive Director, R&D and Strategy, Hearst Corporation.
“Following our successful inaugural Demo Day in May, we are excited to showcase the next round of great projects at the epicenter of storytelling and technology incubating at the Media Center, and celebrate our first year of connecting our members to the resources they need to succeed.” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director, IFP and Made In NY Media Center.
The Demo Day training program begins with each team being assigned to a Mentor and Art of the Pitch expert. Mentors are entrepreneurs with demonstrated success raising capital and building businesses, and they will provide on-going support and advice on positioning business in the marketplace, business strategy and how best to present the company on Demo Day. Art of the Pitch experts are leading professionals with agency experience in creating engaging presentations that tell a brand story.
Mentors include: Anthony Onesto, Vice President, Human Resources, Razorfish & Advisor; Yvonne Sheehan, Associate Director, Verizon; Rob Dwek, Founder/CEO, The Social Channel; Andrew Gerber, Attorney, Kushnirsky Gerber PLLC; Jordan Fletcher, Attorney, Kushnirsky Gerber PLLC; and Adnaan Wasey, Executive Producer, POV Digital.
Pitch training is provided by Ryan McLaughlin, Chief Strategy Officer, Tribal Worldwide; Chris Johns, Managing Partner, Forever Beta; Brian Lemond, Partner, BK United; JB Osborne, Partner, Red Antler; and David Landa, Partner, Free Association.
The evening will culminate in a reception celebrating the Media Center’s first year. Since opening its doors the Media Center has held more than 100 classes and 300 events serving 25,000 people in its classrooms, media gallery, theater, café, incubator and community member spaces. City officials, Artists in Residence and several Advisory Board members will be in attendance.
The Made in NY Media Center by IFP is supported by Official Technology Partner – Verizon, providing the network and technology infrastructure that power the Media Center; Supporting Partner – Hearst Corporation; and Founding Partner – Illy. Supporters at the Corporate Community Builders include Astronauts Wanted, Indiegogo, Playmatics, Tribal Worldwide and Vector Form. The Center is a partnership between IFP and the NYCEDC and MOME.
The detailed program can be found here: http://nymediacenter.com/2014/09/demo-day-october-29th/
Made In NY Media Center by IFP Demo Day Incubator Projects
Hack it Back / Patricia Rodriguez Zablah
Hack It Back is an organization focusing on fostering gender equality in the media through education and collaboration. Women and girls are brought together through workshops, where they create their own new media that shows more accurate representations of women and girls. Hack It Back prepares participants to be great, confident leaders by empowering them to strengthen and spread their own voice, through whichever medium they choose. The participants work with the different tools they already know- whether analog and digital- and learn new ones through project- based learning. Skills used in the past have ranged from film shooting and editing, photography and coding to drawing and writing. Hack It Back is powerful because it changes what you see, offering a lot more possibilities for what you can be.
Snakt / Tristan Snell
Snakt is a mobile-first social video platform. Users can shoot or upload video clips of up to 7 seconds, which can then be stacked into longer clips others can grab, remix, and share, creating endless mash- ups and super- cuts, through a revolutionary media tool that’s powerful and easy to use.
Cannabis Wire / Nushin Rashidian & Alyson Martin
Cannabis Wire is a single-subject news site that aims to simplify the complexities of cannabis legalization through highly visual and interactive data driven projects and games. Using the reporting for their book A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition to launch Cannabis Wire, the site will mix engaging games and accessible visuals with data and analysis to engage the broader public on a policy issue that deserves critical attention.
Playmatics / Nick Fortugno
Playmatics are the creators of award-winning games, digital objects, and real-world experiences. Playmatics built PlayComix as an extension of the work they did on a number of titles for the AMC shows Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. It is a cross-platform storytelling engine designed to create cutting-edge interactive digital comics.
Glossy.io / David Carroll
Glossy.io lets you easily find the best premium digital content for free on any device, no logins required. The platform unbundles massive publisher archives for the Web by surfacing articles in a visual and relational discovery experience. Glossy.io launches a public beta on September 19 with digital content from Hearst and another major publisher to test market fit while addressing the immediate challenges of the publishing industry as it moves toward digital distribution. Glossy.io currently features content from Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s BAZAAR, and many others.
Press contact:
Jody Arlington / Director of Communications, IFP / [email protected] / 202.316.4316 mobile
Sparkpr / [email protected] / 646.291.6205
ABOUT THE MADE IN NY MEDIA CENTER BY IFP
The Made in NY Media Center by IFP is where storytellers from multiple disciplines, industries and platforms create, collaborate, connect and incubate across a spectrum of programs, events and experiences. The Center brings together innovators in film, video, gaming, technology, and more through education, mentorship, entrepreneurship, and content creation. The 20,000-square-foot facility is located on the ground floor of 30 John Street in DUMBO at the intersection of John and Jay Streets and features co-working spaces, talent incubator, 72-seat screening room, art gallery, and café, in addition to dedicated spaces for classes, conferences, meetings, and tenancy. Through a combination of membership-driven and public-access programming our Center champions the future of storytelling in the digital age through a unique focus on cross-platform and cross-discipline media innovation. www.nymediacenter.com