Michael Tannen is highly regarded for the broad range of his experience in all areas of the media and communications industries, especially for his ability to advise and work with individuals and major international media concerns. Recently, he has been instrumental in the start up of many successful media ventures.
Working
closely with the late Jan Stenbeck, the principal shareholder of Industriforvaltnings
AB Kinnevik (one
of Scandinavia's leading industrial groups), Mr. Tannen helped Kinnevik
start up its media business, which today is one of the dominant media group in
Scandinavia. As an individual investor, he was instrumental in putting
together the financing for Home Shopping Service (one of Europe's most
successful television home shopping companies), and prior to the sale
of his interest in the company, he successfully managed the investment
for the majority shareholders. He is one of the founders of Screen
Media Ventures, a successful United States based movie and home video marketing and distribution company, and was also
one of the original investors and a partner in PrimeTime 24, a United States satellite television service. Mr. Tannen was also one of the founders of Zombie, a video games design and development company, and was for many years a director of Acclaim Entertainment. Additionally, he owns two music publishing companies,
Tannen Music Group.
Prior to
making his media investments, Mr. Tannen was a practicing attorney, then a business advisor, consultant
and producer with over thirty-five years experience in the entertainment
and communications industries. He has acted as an advisor
to many domestic and international companies in the entertainment and
telecommunications industries, including Paramount
Pictures, Columbia Pictures Industries, Bertelsmann
A.G., Tri-Star Pictures, CBS,
MGM/United
Artists, Time,
Inc., ATC, McCann-Erickson, Millicom Incorporated and Industriforvaltnings
AB Kinnevik. Currently, he is acting as a senior advisor to the owners of
Ihlas Holdings, one of the largest industrial and media groups in Turkey,
and to the Axa Technologies group of companies in Bulgaria. Entertainers
he has represented and dealt with extensively include John Lennon, Billy Joel,
Bruce Springsteen, Bob James, Loudon Wainwright, Grace Jones, Stephen Stills, The
Roches, Merle Haggard, Juliet Prowse, Lily Tomlin, The Rolling Stones,
Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon. He has also represented the producers Phil Ramone and Paul Samwell Smith. As a producer,
Mr. Tannen has produced feature films for Warner Bros. and Tri-Star Pictures;
television specials for HBO,
PBS and the BBC;
co-produced a three-record inaugural album for President Carter and the
National Endowment for the Arts, and acted as executive producer of Lily
Tomlin's Broadway show, "Appearing Nitely."
· Expo TV - is a branded destination for video marketing and advertising programming. Expo is building a multi-platform offering with a dedicated cable network, a cable video-on-demand (VOD) offering and an internet offering. It seeks out the best long form advertising and direct response programming available and creates consumer destination by adding its own proprietary programming, "wrapper" content, navigation, and marketing support.
· DigitalMC - develops proprietary software products employing a unique mixture of mathematical algorithms designed to objectively identify, classify and match digital signals. It is currently working on an application using this technology as the backbone of a music recommendation and playlist management service.
· Nuevo Mundo Entertainment - a small startup Latino record label and music publishing company founded by Herman Rodriguez-Bajandas. Artists signed to date include the legendry Johnny Pacheco, the Dominican Republic's number one group, Al Jadacqui, and the Boston-based Presidiarios.
· Screen Media Ventures - founded by Joe Kovacs, an experienced television executive, Screen Media Ventures acquires television and feature motion pictures for distribution to television, cable, satellite and home video markets in the United States and throughout the world. The Company has in excess of 500 feature film titles in active distribution throughout the world. The Company has concluded licenses with virtually every pay and basic cable television broadcaster in the United States, including Showtime Networks, HBO, Turner Networks, USA Networks, and Lifetime Television. In the international markets, the Company has closed television and video licenses in virtually every territory of the world.
· Tannen Music Group - a group of BMI and ASCAP music publishing companies owned or controlled by Michael and Paul Tannen. Paul, who is a well known and established music publisher, administers the libraries.
· Haemimont Games - is Bulgaria's leading computer video games designer, developer, and publisher having launched a number of successful titles such as Tzar: Burden of the Crown, Celtic Kings: The Rage of War, Nemesis of the Roman Empire, and, most recently, Great Battles of Rome. It is dedicated to bringing game-play and content-rich RTS (real time strategy) and RPG (role playing games) to the PC and console markets on a worldwide basis. Haemimont Games' products have consistently gained high accolades from the industry's premiere associations and publications for excellent design, playability and quality.
· AXA Solutions - provides a full spectrum of software development services - including custom software development, third party testing, graphic design, marketing services, technical documentation, and complete turnkey systems - primarily in the area of Internet-based Enterprise Business Applications. Its clients may use any or all of these services at a cost savings of more than 50% of United States and Western European prices. Contracting on a project basis, Axa is generally more reliable and less expensive than other developers, including those in India. Among its clients are Holtzbrinck, Intel, Pfizer, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Scholastic, and Time Warner.
· New Economy Ventures - is an international investment, consultancy and creative marketing firm focusing on media, telecommunications and Internet projects developed or deployed in Turkey and other countries in the Middle East. Its primary office is located in New York City. NEV's mission is to be a catalyst in enabling organizations to discover and seize opportunities for competitive advantage in media, telecommunications and e-business in these territories.
Mr. Tannen is a past board member of the Rails To Trails Conservancy, and is currently on the Board of the Mohonk Preserve and Parks and Trails New York. Mr. Tannen is 64 years old and is a graduate of New York University Law School. His wife, Mary, is a novelist and regular contributor to the New York Times and other publications.
All content © 2005 Tannen Media Ventures, Inc.