Captains of Industry Define Viral Videos Today & Initiative CEO Reveals Media Buying Tool

Co-host Brad Forsythe interviews Fred Surr, co-founder and Executive Producer of Captains of Industry® Advertising and Marketing Communications. As Vice President and Co-founder of Video Research, Inc. from 1983-90, Fred co-created, developed and produced the children’s series Spinnaker Videos, which sold over 250,000 units in the home video market; and The Adventures of Commander Crumbcake, a thirteen-episode series which aired on Showtime, Canada’s Global Network, and in 22 overseas markets. Surr’s directing credits also include: There Once Was a Man from Pawtucket (a short comedy film selected to open the Providence Film Festival), Reading Rainbow starring Levar Burton (PBS), the First, Do No Harm interactive video series (considered must-see viewing in healthcare), and The Institute for Back-up Trauma, starring John Cleese. Co-host Brad Forsythe also interviews Alec Gerster who joined Initiative as chief executive officer in April 2002. Alec is responsible for overseeing the Initiative’s worldwide operations and the global management team to set the direction for corporate strategy and development. In addition to his responsibilities at Initiative, Alec offers his media services expertise to key clients of sister agencies represented by parent company, The Interpublic Group of Companies, including Unilever and Bank of America. Prior to joining Initiative, Alec served as CEO of MediaCom Worldwide which under his leadership became a top global media network. Alec was also director of media ventures for MediaCom’s corporate parent, Grey Global Group where he lead MediaCom to become a major power in the digital Internet world while at the same time playing a key role in founding Grey Technologies Group, which included such companies as Grey Interactive, KPE and media.com. In addition to his media management responsibilities, Alec has a decade of experience with entertainment accounts. He ran the multinational Warner Bros. account and developed the positioning and marketing strategies for several other entertainment accounts.