Team - SnagFilms

Team

Ted Leonsis is known as one of the country’s premier businessmen having held numerous leadership positions at AOL. He is also a professional sports team owner, a film producer, a private-angel investor, an active Board member and a committed philanthropist.

During his 14-year career with AOL, the company enjoyed its greatest periods of growth and financial success. Ted now serves as Vice Chairman Emeritus, having stepped down from day-to-day management at AOL on December 31, 2006. He has served as AOL Vice Chairman as well as President of several business units including the AOL Services Company; AOL Studios; AOL Web Services; AOL Core Service and the AOL Audience Business.

Ted’s creation of SnagFilms stems naturally from his entertainment, technology and philanthropic activities. He conceptualized and produced Nanking, a documentary film that made its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Documentary Editing Award. Since that time, the film has been screened at film festivals around the globe including the Hong Kong Film Festival, where it won the Humanitarian Award, and is already the best-selling documentary in China’s history. For his production debut with Nanking, Ted assembled a highly acclaimed filmmaking team including the Academy Award-winning writer/director team of Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, as well as a strong Hollywood cast including Woody Harrelson, Jurgen Prochnow, Mariel Hemingway and others to narrate the film. Nanking is a documentary film that serves as a powerful, emotional and relevant reminder of the heartbreaking toll war takes on the innocent as it tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in the early days of World War II. Theatrically released in late 2007, the film aired on HBO in April, 2008 and was short-listed for the Academy Award ©. While at the Sundance Film Festival, Ted coined the phrase “Filmanthropy” to describe a new category of filmmaking that activates discussion as well as new volunteers and new funds that benefit a social cause. His second production, Kicking It, is a feature documentary about the power of sports as an agent for change and personal redemption and is a natural extension of Filmanthropy.

Ted is now the Chairman of Revolution Money, an innovative new Web 2.0 payment platform and credit-card service created to transform the financial services industry by drastically altering the economics through Internet-based technology. This new payment platform also generates significant merchant and consumer benefits. Revolution Money, formerly GratisCard Inc., is a subsidiary of Revolution LLC, the investment company created by Steve Case. Ted is also Chairman of Clearspring Technologies, a fast-growing widget syndication and social media company based in Tysons Corner, VA.

Early in his career, Ted was the founder of several new media companies including Redgate Communications Corporation, a pioneering new media company which, in 1993, was the first company acquired by AOL. He was also the founder of six personal computer magazines, authored four books and worked on the introduction of the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. He co-invented a very successful board game called “Only in New York,” and served as a marketing executive with Harris Corp and Wang Laboratories. Ted is also the founder, chairman and majority owner of Lincoln Holdings LLC, a sports and entertainment company that holds ownership rights in several Washington, DC entities including 100% of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. Lincoln Holdings also owns approximately 44% of Washington Sports and Entertainment Limited Partnership (WSELP), which owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards, DC’s Verizon Center and the Baltimore-Washington Ticketmaster franchise.

During Ted’s tenure as majority owner of the Capitals, the team has won two division titles and recorded the second-most points in franchise history. Under his leadership, several Washington Capitals business units have been recognized nationally, including game presentation by IDEA, media relations by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and the website by Sports Business Journal and Forbes magazine.

In addition to Lincoln Holdings LLC, Ted also has investments in a large group of web-related companies including: Algentis LLC; Beacon Capital Strategies LLC; Clearspring Technologies; Geneva Acquisition Corp.; Mahalo; Mobile Posse; Object Video and Qloud. Ted serves on the board of several of these companies as well as PodShow. Ted is a major philanthropist and is very involved with numerous charities, including Best Buddies, Hoop Dreams, See Forever Foundation, Youth Aids and others through the work of the Leonsis Foundation.

He also once served as mayor of Orchid, FL. Among his many honors, Ted has been named Washington’s Businessman of the Year, a Washingtonian of the Year, one of the 20 most influential people in sports, one of America’s most creative executives and a top 10 entrepreneur of the year. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, and later, Lowell, MA, he now lives in McLean, VA, and Vero Beach, FL, with his wife and two children.

Steve Case currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Revolution, an investment company that was launched in April, 2005. Revolution’s mission is to partner with entrepreneurs in building businesses that give people more choice, control and convenience in important areas of their lives. Revolution’s current activities are focused on companies in the health, financial, resort, wellness and digital sectors.

Prior to starting Revolution, Steve was the Chair and CEO of America Online, Inc., and later, the Chairman of AOL Time Warner. As the co-Founder of AOL, Steve played an integral role in building the world's largest Internet company and helped transform how people communicate, learn and conduct business. AOL brought millions of Americans their first connection to the Internet and drove worldwide adoption of a medium that has become more valuable than the telephone or television. Steve also ensured that AOL led the industry on issues like making the Internet a safe place for children, bridging the "digital divide," and investing in online philanthropy.

Steve is currently Chairman of two non-profit organizations, the Case Foundation, a private family foundation he established in 1997 with his wife Jean and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), an entrepreneurial approach to funding brain cancer research that he founded in 2001 with his late brother Dan. In addition, Steve was a founding organizer of Business Strengthening America and has served as vice chair of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy. He was also honored with the National Mentoring Partnership Leadership Award.

Steve was born and raised in Hawaii, where he remains a leading advocate for combining respect for the islands’ native culture and environment with job creation and economic growth. He is a major investor in two Hawaii businesses -- Grove Farm of Kauai and Maui Land & Pineapple -- that are developing fresh operating models for the agriculture industry and sustainable communities for residents and visitors.

Steve has resided in the Washington, DC area for the past two decades. Revolution’s headquarters are in downtown Washington.

Jean Case is an actively engaged philanthropist and a pioneer in the world of interactive technologies. Her career as a technology executive in the private sector spanned nearly two decades before she and her husband, Steve Case, created the Case Foundation in 1997. Its mission focuses on investing in individuals and organizations that aim to connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action.

An activist and champion for deepening civic engagement and increasing giving and giving opportunities everywhere, Jean uses her leadership of the Case Foundation to promote innovation, collaboration, and leadership in the nonprofit sector. She is also committed to widening the distribution of empowering technologies that can be used by anyone in transforming their communities.

The innovations Jean has brought to the work of the Case Foundation have been profiled in TIME Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and other leading news outlets, as well as in blogging and social networking communities online.

In 2006, Jean was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Chair of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. A key priority for the Council is leveraging the professional skills of individuals and companies through pro bono service programs to help the nonprofit sector achieve more meaningful outcomes for communities.

In 2007, Jean was appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to serve as a co-chair of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership to promote economic opportunity for the Palestinian people, prepare Palestinian youth for the responsibilities of citizenship and good governance, as well as marshal new private investment in the West Bank.

Jean has been honored for her philanthropic work by, among others, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, which recognizes leaders who use their assets and resources to improve American lives and institutions; and Voices for National Service, which awarded Jean its Citizen Service Award for investing in the civic health of the nation through support of national service. In addition, King Abdullah II of Jordan personally recognized Jean for her efforts to bridge the global digital divide.

Today, in addition to her work at the Case Foundation, on the President’s Council and at the US-Palestinian Partnership, Jean serves on the boards of PlayPumps International, Points of Light Institute, Malaria No More, Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), ePals, SnagFilms, America’s Promise, and the Potomac School. She also serves on the advisory council of the National Geographic Society and the advisory board to the National Conference on Citizenship.

Miles Gilburne is currently a managing member of ZG Ventures, LLC. He has been active for more than 25 years as a venture capitalist, corporate strategist and technology lawyer in the media, communications and technology industries. In addition to his activities in media and information technology, Mr. Gilburne actively pursues venture capital activities in the life sciences and bioinformatics.

Mr. Gilburne served for five years as senior vice president of Corporate Development for America Online, stepping down from those duties in December 1999. At AOL, Mr. Gilburne was responsible for strategic planning and for major corporate acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances. He was elected to the Board of Directors of AOL in 1999 and continued to serve on the Board of Directors of Time Warner until stepping down in May 2006. Prior to joining AOL, Mr. Gilburne was a founding partner of The Cole Gilburne Fund, an early stage venture capital fund focused on information and communications technology and a founding partner of technology and media law firms in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Mr. Gilburne is currently a member of the Board of Directors of SRA International, Inc., a publicly traded government services company, Pharmacyclics, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company focused on new treatments for cancer and inflammatory disease, and Maui Land & Pineapple, a publicly traded real estate and agriculture company. Mr. Gilburne is also a founding investor and member of the board of several privately held venture capital backed companies, including Revolution Health Group, a privately held company focused on various aspects of consumer driven health care, and ePals, a global community of online learners.

Mr. Gilburne is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Washington Shakespeare Theatre, the ePals Foundation and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

He received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Rick Allen has run successful companies in nearly every form of media, and helped to develop or extend some of the country’s most prestigious brands. Rick is the CEO of SnagFilms which he helped to found with Ted Leonsis, and previously was President and CEO of Sporting News, the country’s oldest sports media company, leading a revitalization that saw it named twice to Adweek’s annual “Hot List” as a top-10 media property.

Earlier, he served as President and CEO of the for-profit arm of the National Geographic Society, responsible for television and film; interactive products, websites and e-commerce; maps; travel; retail; catalog; and consumer products. Under his leadership, the National Geographic Channel was launched and became one of the fastest growing cable channels in recent history. Before coming to National Geographic, Rick was a senior executive at Discovery Communications, parent of the Discovery Channel, where he extended the company’s brand into filmed entertainment, education, technology and retail.

He also served in the White House as a Deputy Assistant to President Clinton, helping to establish AmeriCorps (the domestic Peace Corps). Before his White House service, Allen was CEO of a privately-held group of 35 companies based in Los Angeles. He has written and lectured widely, and been active in civic affairs particularly dealing with education, including service with the advisory boards to the California State Board of Education and the Southern California Association of Governments, and as Vice Chairman of Project Exploration, a nonprofit science organization that makes science accessible to the public – especially minority youth and girls – through personalized experiences with scientists and science. He is a member of the Dartmouth Alumni Council, serving on its Enrollment and Admissions Committee, and as an elected member of the Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee. Rick lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife and three sons.

Stephanie Sharis has over ten years experience in New Media and Entertainment. From 2004 through 2007, she worked at AOL in Premium Services and then Original Programming. Her last role was as Director of Creative Development where she developed episodic web-based series sponsored by major clients like GM and P&G. She also built and managed AOL True Stories, a broadband channel for documentaries, which was the precursor for SnagFilms.

Before joining AOL, Stephanie co-founded and served as Co-President of Transmission Films, an online distributor of independent and foreign films. She has also worked as a project consultant for New York Office, Walden Media, Content Film, Urbanworld Films, JP Morgan and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In addition to working as a business executive in the industry, Stephanie has also been involved in the creative side: she co-produced THE PROMISE, a short film starring Saundra Santiago and Kevin Conway, MUSIC INN, a documentary which premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, and THE PARTY’S OVER, a feature documentary starring Philip Seymour Hoffman that was released in theaters internationally and aired on the BBC.

Stephanie graduated summa cum laude from Wesleyan University in 1994 and received her graduate degree in public policy from Harvard University in 1999.