Tom Shepard, Chief Executive Officer
Tom Shepard is chief executive officer of Festival Network, having joined in late 2007. Under his leadership, Festival Network has refined its positioning including rebranding, hired key talent, revamped and strengthened its partnership and revenue models, programming and digital initiatives, broadened the scope of its festivals and increased the number of festivals in the network.
Formerly executive vice president of International Marketing, Partnerships and Sponsorship for Visa International, Shepard pioneered the business of partnership marketing across all industries, leveraging Visa's network of members to secure long-term brand and financial success for Visa and its stakeholders. He also developed strategic merchant partnerships that included Marriott, Accor, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, Le Meridian, Design Hotels, Star Alliance, British Airways, Lufthansa, American and Delta Airlines, Disney, SONY/BMG and MGM. In addition, he developed and led numerous destination marketing programs in key markets such as Sydney, Salt Lake City, Whistler/,Vancouver, Torino and the Caribbean. Shepard developed global sponsorship strategies for both sport and special event sponsorships, such as the Olympic and Paralympics Games, FIFA and Rugby's World Cup, Disney and numerous film properties.
Previously, he served as executive vice president of Millsport, a sports marketing agency, where he was involved in the development and leveraging of major event properties.
In January 2007, Around the Rings online magazine listed him as the "Dean of Olympic marketing" and one of the 25 most influential Olympic Games executives. Shepard was also named fifth most influential in the Olympic movement by Sports Business Journal in 2004, and received the prestigious "Partnership Marketing of the Year" award in 1998 from Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI). He is a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Shepard holds a B.S. in biological science from the University of Connecticut.
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Christopher Shields, Founder & Executive Chairman
Chris Shields is the founder and co-chairman of The Festival Network, where his focus is on industry strategy and mergers & acquisitions.
He was formerly president of Paradise Music and Entertainment's (PDSE) Festival Division. Prior to that, he was director of the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, the second largest festival event in North America at that time, spanning four states, five weeks and 250 headline performances. He has also produced destination festivals such as the Nectarfest Festival, a music fest held simultaneously on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Shields cut his production teeth at Festival Productions and as a sound engineer at the House of Blues in Cambridge, MA. He began his music industry career scoring film and advertising at Tomandandy in New York and Los Angeles.
Shields is a returning panelist at the U.S. Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, at the United Nations and at the Mahabba Festival in Abu Dhabi, a gathering that looked at cultural bridge-building initiatives in popular entertainment. He received his B.A. from Columbia University and studied jazz theory at the Berklee College of Music.
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Joseph Stanislaw, Chairman of the Board
Dr. Stanislaw is the Non-Executive Chairman of Festival
Network and an internationally recognized authority on economics,
corporate strategy, energy markets, and geopolitics. He is the Co-Founder,
former President and CEO of Cambridge Energy Research Associates
(CERA) where he oversaw global operations and management in 11 offices
worldwide for this leading international energy research and advisory
firm. In 2004, the owners sold CERA. Dr. Stanislaw is the author
of several highly acclaimed books. He is an independent senior advisor
to Deloitte & Touche and was a professor and lecturer in economics
at Cambridge University, a member of the Energy Research Group in
the University's Cavendish Laboratory, and a Senior Oil Economist
at the International Energy Agency. Dr. Stanislaw holds a PhD in
Economics from Edinburgh University and a BA from Harvard University.
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George Wein
George Wein, founder of Festival Productions, was a pioneer
in securing corporate sponsorship for musical events, a marketing
innovation that has helped to sustain the art form and its creators
through the years. Mr. Wein originated outdoor music festivals in
1954 with the Newport Jazz Festival, which continues today as JVC
Jazz Festival-Newport, R.I. Since then, Wein and company have produced
festivals all over the world, including the New Orleans Jazz &
Heritage Festival; the JVC Jazz Festivals in New York, Los Angeles
plus several other cities worldwide; the Playboy Jazz Festival at
the Hollywood Bowl; the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans; The
Dunkin Donuts Newport Folk Festival; numerous Verizon concerts;
and many others.
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John Phillips, President - Live Events Division
John Phillips is the President of Live Events Division,
based in New York City, and has been with the company for 28 years.
He started as a stage and production manager for various festivals
in the US and Europe and managed tours for notable bands including
Muddy Waters, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Stanley Clark and Dave Brubeck.
Mr. Phillips is the producer/executive producer of the Newport Jazz
Festival documentary television series which has appeared on America's
Public Broadcasting Service annually from 1984-2002 and on Japan's
NHK as well. Recent television productions have been in the high-definition
format. Mr. Phillips has worked with many sponsors over the years,
most notably as the executive in charge of the JVC Jazz Festivals
worldwide and the Verizon Music Festivals in the United States.
Mr. Phillips is at home with all aspects of concert presentation
and music festival production, including sponsorship, contractual
work, production, booking of artists, venues, advertising, publicity,
finance and administration.
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Ian Zaider, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Artist Management
Mr. Zaider is the Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Artist Management,
a division of Festival Network. He oversees the management of an
international roster of musical artists and producers who are developed
in conjunction with the Company’s festival properties, direct
sponsorship relationships, and after-market media platform. His
clients include Grammy Award-nominated vocalist Zap Mama, Junior
Senior, Private, and producers Thomas Troelsen and Blow-Up. Previously,
Mr. Zaider was President of IZ Management, a New York-based artist
management firm and prior to that, Mr. Zaider served as Director
of Finance and Operations at Paradise Music and Entertainment. Mr.
Zaider is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and
Sciences and holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University.
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