Special Advisors
We also have several advisors that will assist us in identifying, seeking and consummating a business combination.
These are as follows:
Thomas H. Baer.
Mr. Baer has served as a director of Medici Arts, B.V., or Medici, a Netherlands holding company, since its creation in September 2004, and as the Vice Chairman of Medici Arts, LLC since January 2007. Medici and its subsidiaries own EuroArts Music International and Idéale Audience, companies that produce and acquire audiovisual content in the classical and popular music fields and distribute libraries of audiovisual content that it owns or licenses, and Elektrofilm, a media services company engaged by content owners and producers to perform post production, distribution, digital media and library services. Before joining Medici, Mr. Baer served as a consultant to the chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Livewire, predecessor to Ascent Media, a media services company, from 2000 until 2001, and as a director of Four Media Company, prior to its acquisition by Liberty Livewire in 2000. After serving as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1961 until 1966, Mr. Baer founded Baer & McGoldrick, now Schulte, Roth and Zabel, a law firm with offices in New York and London, where he practiced in the litigation, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and entertainment fields from 1969 until 1980, first as a member of the firm and then as counsel to the firm. Since 1983, Mr. Baer has been active as a motion picture producer and as an executive in the entertainment and media space in partnership with Michael H. Steinhardt. In 1994, Steinhardt Baer Pictures Company, of which Mr. Baer is a General Partner, acquired a minority interest in October Films, which has since been acquired by Universal Pictures. Since 1983, Mr. Baer has served variously as president of Kings Road Productions and as a contract producer at Orion Pictures Corporation and Universal Pictures. Mr. Baer is a graduate of Tufts University and Yale Law School.
Jarl Mohn.
Mr. Mohn, also known as Lee Masters, currently serves as Chairman of the Board of CNET, a on-line publisher of special interest content. Mr. Mohn also currently serves on the board of several media companies, including The E.W. Scripps Company, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and MobiTV, a television programming provider for mobile telephone companies. Mr. Mohn founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Digital, Inc., a publicly-traded company that invested in mid-stage interactive television, cable networks and internet enterprises, from June 1999 until March 2002. Before joining Liberty Digital, from January 1990 until December 1998, Mr. Mohn founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of E! Entertainment Television. From 1986 until 1990, Mr. Mohn served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of MTV and VH1. Prior to his career in television, Mohn enjoyed a successful 19-year career in radio, where he was a disc jockey, programmer, general manager and owner of a group of radio stations.
Barry A. Porter.
Mr. Porter is a co-founder and a Managing General Partner of Clarity Partners L.P., a private equity firm focused on investments in media, communications and business services. Clarity’s transactions have included growth investments, leveraged acquisitions and build-ups, joint ventures, and recapitalizations. Mr. Porter also serves on the investment committee of Clarity China, an affiliated private equity firm focusing on investments in the greater China region. Before the formation of Clarity, Mr. Porter was a Managing Director of Pacific Capital Group from 1993 until 1997. While at Pacific Capital Group, Mr. Porter was a co-founder of Global Crossing, a telecommunications company, and he served in a variety of senior executive positions at Global Crossing from 1997 to 2000 and on that company’s Board of Directors. Before joining Pacific Capital Group, Mr. Porter was an investment banker at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. from 1986 until 1993, where he became a Senior Managing Director and was a co-head of the media and communications practice, head of the gaming industries group and an active participant in the firm’s high-yield activities. Before joining Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Mr. Porter was an attorney at Wyman, Bautzer, Rothman, Kuchel and Silbert in Los Angeles from 1983 until 1986, where he focused on media and entertainment matters. Mr. Porter currently serves as a director on the board of directors of BASE Entertainment, Liberation Entertainment and Westec InterActive. He is also involved in a variety of community organizations and is on the Board of the Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs and on the Board of Public Counsel. Mr. Porter holds a J.D. and M.B.A from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Finance and Political Science from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
