Ben Feder co-founded ZelnickMedia in 2001. He is Chief Executive Officer and Director of Take Two Interactive Software, Inc. and serves on the board of Columbia Music Entertainment (CME).
Prior to joining ZelnickMedia, Mr. Feder was Chief Executive Officer of MessageClick, Inc., a leading provider of voice messaging technology for next generation telephone networks. Prior to founding MessageClick, Mr. Feder served as a senior executive at News Corp., where his most recent position was Executive Vice President, News MCI Internet Ventures. Previously, Feder managed corporate development for Fox Inc, where he was responsible for structuring and negotiating film financings, acquiring media assets and negotiating distribution arrangements. Mr. Feder holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Columbia University.
Jim Friedlich joined ZelnickMedia in 2001. He specializes in investments in digital media, professional information and business services. Among his other ZelnickMedia activities, he is Chairman of the Board of Naylor LLC., the leading business-to-business media services provider for industry trade groups and membership associations throughout North America.
Prior to joining ZelnickMedia, Mr. Friedlich served as a General Partner of Allegis Capital/Media Technology Ventures, a bi-coastal venture capital firm focused on media and technology investment.
From 1990–1999, Mr. Friedlich managed the global advertising sales, marketing and business development for a large and diverse group of Dow Jones & Company newspapers, magazines, Web sites, TV channels and conferences. Among his responsibilities were The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Americas - the largest circulation Journal edition outside of the United States - and CNBC, as well as the local language editions of The
Wall Street Journal in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
Mr. Friedlich was integrally involved in the creation of a number of print, Internet, TV and conference properties while at Dow Jones. He served on the Boards of Directors for numerous international media companies and publications including CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, Nikkei International, Vedomosti, (The Record), a Russian language business newspaper joint venture with the Financial Times, America Economia, Latin America’s leading regional business publication, and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asia’s leading regional business magazine. He also served as Managing Director of Handelsblatt-Dow Jones, GmbH, a joint venture with Germany’s leading business publisher.
Mr. Friedlich attended Dartmouth College, is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a BA in English, and received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Billy Ingram joined ZelnickMedia in 2009. Previously, Mr. Ingram worked with Jefferies & Company, Inc. in the Leveraged Finance group. Mr. Ingram graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Science. He is Series 7 and Series 63 certified.
Justin Landau joined ZelnickMedia in 2008. Previously, Mr. Landau worked with the Jefferies & Co. Leveraged Finance group. Mr. Landau graduated from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with a BBA in finance and accounting. He is also Series 7 and Series 63 certified.
Brian Motechin is ZelnickMedia’s Director of Finance and Operations. Prior to joining ZelnickMedia in March 2008, Mr. Motechin worked for TowerBrook Capital Partners L.P., and Baker Capital Corp., global private equity firms that managed $2.0 billion and $1.5 billion respectively. Previously, Mr. Motechin was a member of Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Leverage Buyout Group focusing on the audit of private equity firms.
Mr. Motechin received his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Information Systems from Queens College and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of CPAs and the New York Chapter of the Private Equity CFO Association.
Seymour Sammell joined ZelnickMedia in 2004 and has been integrally involved in ZelnickMedia’s investment in Naylor, ITN Networks, Skymall, and Take-Two Interactive as well as M&A and financing activities. He has expertise in several areas of the media industry including marketing services, business services, business-to-business media, publishing, information services, television and radio.
Before joining ZelnickMedia, Mr. Sammell was an investment banker in the U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions Group of CIBC World Markets. At CIBC, Mr. Sammell worked on numerous public and private transactions in various industries.
Prior to joining CIBC World Markets, Mr. Sammell worked as an Analyst at Apax Partners, a global private equity firm.
At Apax, he worked closely with the Chairman, the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Finance in a variety of roles including investment analysis, due diligence, budget analysis, portfolio analysis and fund raising. Mr. Sammell graduated with honors from Brooklyn College in December 2001 and attended New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Benjamin Shriner joined ZelnickMedia in 2009. Mr. Shriner is responsible for Investor Relations. Prior to joining ZelnickMedia, he worked for Credit Suisse in the Global Market Solutions Group, where he worked closely with the Equity Capital Markets and Leveraged Finance Origination & Restructuring Groups. Prior to that he worked in the Derivative Support Group, where he focused on interest rate derivative products.
Mr. Shriner graduated from Skidmore College with double majors in Economics and Management & Business.
Karl Slatoff joined ZelnickMedia in 2001 and specializes in music, interactive entertainment, direct marketing, broadcast and digital media. Mr. Slatoff is Executive Vice President of Take-Two Interactive and serves on the Board of Directors of Cannella Response Television. He has also been integrally involved in ZelnickMedia’s investment in and management of Time Life, ITN Networks and Lillian Vernon.
Before joining ZelnickMedia, Mr. Slatoff served as Vice President, New Media for BMG Entertainment, one of the world’s largest music companies whose labels include Arista Records, RCA Records and J Records. In this position, he was responsible for guiding BMG’s online digital strategies, including the development of commercial digital distribution initiatives and new business models for the sale and syndication of online content. He was also responsible for maintaining relationships and leading negotiations with major software developers, consumer electronics manufactures and online retailers/portals, as well as representing BMG’s interests in various industry consortiums relating to the development of digital businesses.
Mr. Slatoff joined BMG in 1998 as Manager, Corporate Development. In this position he worked closely with the company’s then President and CEO Strauss Zelnick on a variety of corporate development initiatives.
Prior to BMG, Mr. Slatoff worked in strategic planning at the Walt Disney Company, where he focused on the consumer products, studio and broadcast divisions, as well as several initiatives in the educational, publishing and new media sectors. He was also an active member of the integration team for Disney’s 1996 acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. Prior to Disney, Mr. Slatoff worked in the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions units at Lehman Brothers where he focused on the consumer products and retail/merchandising industries.
Mr. Slatoff received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, and holds bachelor of arts degrees in English literature and economics from Kenyon College.
Jordan Turkewitz joined Zelnickmedia in 2002 and specializes in marketing services, market research and out-of-home networks. He has played a key role in ZelnickMedia’s involvement with OTX, the online market research company.
Prior to joining Zelnickmedia, Mr. Turkewitz served as Senior Director of Acquisitions and Investments at JupiterMedia Corporation. He was a senior member of the corporate development team and the investments group that managed three venture capital funds focused on investments in digital publishing, software and business services companies.
Before joining JupiterMedia, Mr.Turkewitz was an Associate with Merrill Lynch’s Media Investment Banking Group and Goldman Sachs’ Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Prior to his positions in investment banking, Mr. Turkewitz co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer of the Student Advantage Program, a leading integrated media and commerce company focused on the higher education market.
Mr. Turkewitz received his MBA from Columbia Business School and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Cornell University.
Andrew Vogel joined ZelnickMedia in 2004. Mr. Vogel has played a lead role in several of the firm’s investment activities including the acquisition of Airvana, Cannella Response Television and Time Life. He has expertise in several areas of the media industry including direct marketing, alternative advertising networks, broadcast media, publishing and marketing and business services.
Prior to joining ZelnickMedia, Mr. Vogel worked at Ripplewood Holdings, a private equity firm where he focused on investments in the media, consumer and industrial sectors. Mr. Vogel also worked at McCown De Leeuw & Co. a private equity firm where he was responsible for investments in the consumer, building materials and health and leisure industries, including the firm’s investment in 24 Hour Fitness. Previously, Mr. Vogel was an investment banker in Lehman Brothers’ Mergers and Acquisitions group and a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. Mr. Vogel is a Director of Airvana and Cannella Response Television, as well as MedQuist (NASDAQ: MEDQ).
Mr. Vogel holds a MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Wesleyan University.
Strauss Zelnick co-founded ZelnickMedia in 2001. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, ITN Networks and Columbia Music Entertainment (CME). He serves on the boards of Naylor Publications and Blockbuster, Inc.
Prior to forming ZelnickMedia, Mr. Zelnick was President and Chief Executive Officer of BMG Entertainment, a $4.7 billion music and entertainment company with more than 200 record labels and operations in 54 countries. Mr. Zelnick served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company’s North American business unit from 1994 through 1998.
Before joining BMG Entertainment, Mr. Zelnick was President and Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Dynamics, a producer and distributor of interactive entertainment software. Prior to that, he spent four years as President and Chief Operating Officer of
20th Century Fox, where he managed all aspects of Fox Inc.’s worldwide motion picture production and distribution business. Previously, he spent three years at Vestron Inc., two as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Zelnick also served as Vice President, International Television at Columbia Pictures.
Mr. Zelnick has also previously served on the boards of Reed Elsevier NV, Carver Bancorp, Inc., Insignia Financial Group, Inc. and Moviefone Inc., among other companies. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Wesleyan University and holds a BA from Wesleyan University, an MBA from The Harvard Business School and a JD from The Harvard Law School.