WBCitizenship: Warner Bros. Entertainment Corporate Responsibility

“MEDIA CAMP WB” ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL CLASS

kelly.wilson — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:48:59 +0000

WARNER BROS.’ “MEDIA CAMP WB” ACCELERATOR PROGRAM ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL CLASS

COMPANIES INCLUDE CINECORE, DEALFLICKS, KUMBUYA, REELHOUSE AND STORYTIME STUDIOS

PROGRAM PROVIDES SEED MONEY TO EARLY STAGE COMPANIES CREATING ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND
AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH STUDIO EXECUTIVES

BURBANK, Calif., May 20, 2013 – Warner Bros. today announced participants in its inaugural “Media Camp WB” class. The five companies – Cinecore, Dealflicks, Kumbuya, Reelhouse and Storytime Studios – were selected from hundreds of applicants competing for a spot in the coveted 12-week accelerator program. These early stage companies will work alongside Warner Bros. executives to gain valuable insight into the Studio’s business, and develop next-generation technologies and products for the entertainment industry.

“Media Camp WB gives us the opportunity to identify external innovators and expose them to the inner workings of the media industry,” said Debra Baker, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. “Our curriculum and the caliber of mentors will help these companies harness trends and focus on the emerging and ever-changing media tech landscape.”

Started in 2012 by Turner Broadcasting, Media Camp is a comprehensive program that educates entrepreneurs and enables them to build and expand-media related technology businesses. In Media Camp WB, selected companies and entrepreneurs will attend 12 weeks of presentations and workshops facilitated by Warner Bros. executives, as well as receive formal mentorship from media industry experts. Media Camp WB will be held at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, with a series of networking events planned across Los Angeles.

Members of the inaugural Media Camp WB class are:

Cinecore

Cinecore is a complete paperless project management solution for film and television productions. It keeps the entire cast and crew on schedule and organized with digital document distribution, digital file storage and location maps through an in-app Google maps interface. (www.cinecore.com)

Dealflicks

Dealflicks is yield management for movie tickets, which allows consumers to get the best value on movie tickets and concessions 24/7. (www.dealflicks.com)

Kumbuya

Kumbuya is social commerce in the context of curated, community generated content. (www.kumbuya.com)

Reelhouse

Reelhouse is an online video platform that provides filmmakers complete control to self-distribute content directly to their viewers. Filmmakers access the latest monetization, social and showcasing features which in turn engage viewers in what Reelhouse is setting as the new standard for online viewing experiences. (www.reelhouse.org)

Storytime Studios, Inc.

Storytime Studios, Inc.’s Skit! turns every iPad into a storytelling studio. It allows the user to bring anything to life, from pop culture icons to Facebook friends; creating stories is as simple as swiping a finger. Gestures give life to the creation, and the user’s voice provides the soundtrack. (www.skitapp.com)

Media Camp WB demo day is scheduled for early August where VCs and potential investors can meet executives from these five startup companies. For event updates, sign up for the Media Camp WB newsletter at www.mediacamp.com.

Startups can apply for future accelerator classes at http://www.mediacamp.com/apply

About Media Camp

Media Camp, a Turner/Warner Bros. initiative, is a comprehensive accelerator program that educates entrepreneurs and enables them to build innovative media businesses. Key features of Media Camp include presentations and workshops focused on media technology, formal mentorship from media industry experts, community events and knowledge sharing, as well as direct investments including partnerships and vendor relationships. For more information, visit www.mediacamp.com and follow us on Twitter @themediacamp.

About Warner Bros. Entertainment

Warner Bros. Entertainment is a global leader in all forms of entertainment and their related businesses across all current and emerging media and platforms. A Time Warner Company, the fully integrated, broad-based Studio is home to one of the most successful collections of brands in the world and stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, television and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to Blu-ray and DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books, video games, product and brand licensing and broadcasting.

Studios donating film set materials to Habitat for Humanity

kelly.wilson — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:25:51 +0000

Studios donating film set materials to Habitat for Humanity

The charity is selling the merchandise in its stores in Gardena and Norwalk. The proceeds support its mission of building and renovating homes for the needy.

May 08, 2013|By Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times

When the upcoming comedy “The Hangover Part III” wrapped production in January, Warner Bros. was left with tons of used plywood, joists, furniture, faux brick and other materials from the film set.

But instead of hauling the leftovers to the landfill, the studio donated the items — enough to fill 10 truckloads — to the charitable organization Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, to be sold in Habitat’s stores in Gardena and Norwalk. The proceeds supported the organization’s mission of building and renovating homes for the needy.

“The crews take pride in what they’ve built, so if we’re able to salvage the materials and give them another use, everyone feels good about that,” said Mike Slavich, director of sustainability for Warner Bros. Entertainment. The studio last month supplied Habitat’s stores with more than 30 rolls of carpet and linoleum flooring from the set of the CBS TV show “The Mentalist.”

Such donations from Warner and other studios have become a big source of revenue for Habitat’s ReStore outlets. The stores, open to the public, are a cross between Home Depot and Goodwill. They sell overstocked, used and discontinued building materials, appliances, furniture and other household items donated by local manufacturers, stores, contractors, film studios and TV producers of such shows as “The Big Bang Theory,” “2 Broke Girls” and “Mike & Molly.”

Habitat generated some $700,000 in revenue last year from merchandise donated by studios and film producers, making the entertainment industry one of the single largest sources of revenue for the Habitat stores. An additional $100,000 in donated materials was used by Habitat to build or renovate homes.

“The entertainment industry is one of our largest sources of donations and it continues to grow,” said Karen Moore, donations acquisitions manager for the organization. “We’re happy to create an outlet for these items to be used and recycled. It has become a key source of funding for us.”

It’s a mutually beneficial partnership.

While creating revenue for Habitat, studios also benefit by not having to pay fees to transport and dispose of the materials in landfills. Programs like Habitat’s also help studios improve their environmental image. Film sets traditionally have been notoriously wasteful, generating tons of set construction materials that ended up in landfills. But in the last decade studios have set up sustainability programs to reduce waste on productions, recycle more materials, and invest in low energy buildings and equipment.

“It’s very valuable to us,” said Frank Simpson, director of the property and wardrobe department at Sony Pictures Studios, the biggest donor to Habitat. “I might have three or four shows wrapping at the same time and I have a limited amount of space. We need to get things out as quickly as we can. They are very good about getting here when we need them. They are providing a great service.”

Habitat launched its program in 2004 after Dave McKechnie, who is now vice president of retail operations for the organization, stopped by the set of the remake “Fun With Dick and Jane” during filming in Rancho Palos Verdes.

“I talked to the security guard and I said, ‘What are you going to do with all that stuff once you leave?’” McKechnie said. “They had a bunch of double garage doors on these houses. We spent $500 on those types of doors. I was thinking we could put those in the next houses we build.”

Sony agreed to donate the doors, windows and other materials from the set, beginning a long-standing relationship with the charity.

Merchandise at the ReStore outlets is 30% to 40% below regular retail prices, and includes items such as television sets and couches as well as movie props like Roman columns and foam beams.

Some of the more unusual items have included 5,000 pieces of Japanese pottery from the Steven Spielberg movie “Memoirs of a Geisha,” orange-neon colored desks from “Men in Black 3,” 200 doors from the long-running ABC series “Desperate Housewives” and several 5,000-gallon cisterns used in “Spider-Man.” (Habitat sent them to a charity in Mexico for a water project.)

Habitat this year received about 60 sheets of faux-brick wall used for a wine cellar set in “The Hangover Part III.” One customer bought 40 sheets for $25 each to use in a custom-made spa.

“It’s like a treasure hunt here,” McKechnie said. “You never know what’s going to show up.”

To read this article on the LA Times website, please click here.

Warner Bros. Celebrates with Luther Students

kelly.wilson — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:06:40 +0000

Warner Bros. ‘Coaches’ Celebrate with Luther Middle School Students

By Craig Sherwood On May 8, 2013

Warner Bros. Studio Facilities (WBSF) concluded its school year-long volunteer coaching program Tuesday at Luther Burbank Middle School (LBMS) with a special treat for the participating students: a VIP studio tour followed by lunch on the lot with their Warner Bros. “coaches.”

Championed by WBSF’s President Jon Gilbert and Production Services Department’s head Norm Barnett, the program’s primary goal was to provide students individualized attention and guidance to help improve test scores, increase confidence in their abilities, and serve as a positive role model in their lives.

“To be a local business that can reach out and hopefully impact a young person’s life is truly significant,” said Barnett. “I think a lot of our employees got as much out of it as the students, if not more.”

The program, which began at the start of the school year in September 2012, was designed to focus on providing reading and math tutoring sessions to students in the TLC (Title 1 program) to address the school’s greatest community service need. The WBSF group had 76 employees volunteer for the program, and each of the 38 students worked with a team of two coaches who rotated sessions to ensure that the students met with one of them each week throughout both semesters.

While most benefits of the coaching program will manifest slowly over time, there were some notable broad improvements among the students in terms of attendance, test scores, and reading comprehension.

“We have some individual students who really jumped up three or four grade levels in reading during the year,” said Barnett. “We couldn’t be more proud of them.”

To read this article on My Burbank Online, please click here.