London, 27 February 2008. The programme for PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008 is taking shape with speakers from across the US and Europe confirming their participation in this must-attend event, which takes place on 17-18 April in Paris.

The timing of the conference, once the dust has settled following the unexpectedly rapid resolution of the hi-def 'format war' this month, makes it the ideal opportunity to raise what may be the biggest hi-def question of all: Now that all the US Majors and an increasing number of independents are backing Blu-ray, is there sufficient manufacturing capacity to meet demand, and if not, how quickly can it be ramped up? This and other questions crucial to the future of the hi-def packaged media market will be addressed in a major session entitled Defining the future of hi-def media.

Through a combination of thought-provoking keynote speeches, focussed presentations and informative, interactive panel sessions the two-day programme will also address topics that may have been overlooked during the recent months of hi-def confusion.

In the opening 'Digital Super Session', speakers from key device-driven digital delivery platforms, including SCEE (PS3), Microsoft (Xbox) and SanDisk (Sansa TakeTV media extender) will outline their proposals for delivering content direct to consumers before joining studio speakers and other key players for a lively Q&A session.

Meanwhile, the packaged media business certainly won't be neglected. A key focus of PEVE 2008 will be the retail sector. A panel drawn from some of the leading specialist retailers and mass merchants in Europe will discuss how to improve supply chain management in today's maturing market, whether there is still a future for dedicated entertainment stores and the impact of pricing strategies on disc sales. A separate session will assess the potential of on-demand-media (ODM) technology (also known as manufacturing-on-demand) to help retailers offer a greater range of titles from a small footprint.

Keynote speakers:

• Ron Sanders, President, Warner Home Video
• Matt Brown, Exec VP, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Eddie Cunningham, President, Universal Pictures Intl. Entertainment
A leading European retailer (to be announced)

New speakers are being confirmed every day, and the lineup already includes:

• Anthony Bay, Executive Chairman & Co-founder, MOD Systems
• Christophe Brossier, Co-founder & CEO, TrioViZ, France
• Julie Demarigny, Executive Director – France & Southern Europe, Warner
  Bros. Digital Distribution
• Kate Purmal, GM and SVP Digital Content Group, SanDisk
• Nainan Shah, VP New Platform Planning & Devt., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, UK
• Jim Taylor, Senior VP & GM Advanced Technology Group, Sonic Solutions
• Robin Truchy, Director Xbox Live Europe, Microsoft
• Marcus Stewart Vannini, EVP Corporate and Business Development, Head
  Eros New Media, Eros International, UK
• Lance Ware, CTO Electronic Distribution Services, Thomson Technicolor
• Ben Stassen, Founder & CEO, nWave
• Julie Demarigny, Executive Director, France & South Europe, Warner Bros Digital Distribution
with many more to come!

Further speaker and programme details can be found at www.peve.screendigest.com


For more information:
www.peve.screendigest.com
PEVE hotline: 020 7424 2888

Programme enquiries:
Helen Davis Jayalath, Senior Analyst & PEVE Programme Director, Screen Digest
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7424 2820 helen.davis@screendigest.com

Other enquiries:
Fay Hamilton, PR and Promotions Manager, Screen Digest
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7424 2847 fay.hamilton@screendigest.com

About PEVE Digital Entertainment 2008
Since 1992, the PEVE conference has been the leading event in the European video industry's calendar. This unique gathering has provided an independent forum at which video industry executives can mingle with their counterparts from other countries and discuss the key issues facing their business in a relaxed and constructive manner. In 2007 Screen Digest, which has compiled the PEVE programme for many years, acquired the rights to the conference, with the intention of expanding it into a truly international event.

About Screen Digest – Global Media Intelligence
Screen Digest is the pre-eminent firm of industry analysts covering global media markets. Headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Carmel, California, we employ a team of 40 specialist analysts covering film, television, broadband, mobile, cinema, home entertainment and gaming. Our online services and reports provide the information and analysis that hundreds of media companies worldwide base their decisions on. Most recently we have launched Global Media Intelligence (GMI), a new service which provides research and analysis specifically for media-focused institutional investors.

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