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Kevin Wall

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Kevin Wall
Wall at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, South Africa in June 2010
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Producer, entrepreneur, activist, investor
Years active1984 - present
Organization(s)PTK Capital (CEO and founder)
Dreamscape Immersive (co-chairman and co-founder)
Control Room (CEO and founder)
Known forLive Earth, Live 8, Chime for Change
Board member ofCategory41
Dreamscape Immersive
Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace
PTK Capital
SpouseSusan Smalley
Children3
AwardsBillboard Humanitarian of the Year
EMA Outstanding Achievement Award
Emmy Award, Interactive Content
Ellis Island Medal of Honor
MIDEM Green Award
Websiteptkcapital.com

Kevin Wall is an American entrepreneur, investor, activist and Emmy Award-winning producer of international events such as the benefit concert series Live Earth and Live 8.

His first media company, Radio Vision International, produced international benefit concerts such as USA for Africa in 1985 as well as Human Rights Now! and the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988. Wall was also the executive producer of the FIFA World Cup Kick Off Celebration, Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate Crisis with former Vice President Al Gore and Live 8, which earned Wall the first Emmy Award for content delivered via the internet in 2006.[1]

Career

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Stage One, Inc.

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At 18, Wall moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and he started promoting concerts at the University of Michigan and other Midwest colleges. After he was asked to provide a portable stage for a George Harrison show, Wall founded Stage One, Inc., a portable staging company. Within a few years, Stage One was the provider of lighting, staging, and outdoor production for stadium and arena tours for The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and other artists.[citation needed]

Radio Vision International

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In 1984, Wall founded Radio Vision International, a company which "pioneered the business of international music video licensing."[2]

Not long after that Radio Vision was distributing 60 music television programs internationally and worked with nonprofit and philanthropic organizations including Live Aid, USA for Africa, the Human Rights Now! Tour, the 70th birthday tribute to South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela and the annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala, sponsored by Prince Charles.[3]

BoxTop, iXL

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In 1994 Wall established BoxTop, a web design company, which was merged with iXL,[4] an Atlanta-based media and internet consulting company, and became vice-chairman. Wall led the strategic acquisition and organization of 42 internet design and consulting companies, building a company with 3,000 employees, 38 offices and annual revenues of more than $400 million.[5] iXL went public in 1999 and reached a market capitalization of $2 billion within one year.[6]

Live 8

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Wall was the executive producer of Live 8, a series of concerts around the world on July 2, 2005, to raise money and awareness in the fight against poverty in Africa. The Live 8 lineup featured more than 250 musical acts, including Madonna, U2, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z, and Pink Floyd who performed within 24 hours of one another at concerts on seven continents.[7] Utilizing both legacy and new media, Live 8's live multi-feed webcast attracted an estimated audience of 2 billion people, a then-record for online viewership.[8] As the executive producer of Live 8, Wall won the first Emmy for content delivered via the internet.[1] It was later described as being a "tipping point" and the "defining moment" in online content distribution.[9]

Network LIVE, Control Room

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In 2005, Wall created Network LIVE, a joint venture with AEG, AOL, and XM Satellite Radio. In 2006, he acquired full control of Network LIVE and renamed it Control Room.[10] Inspired by former Vice President Al Gore and his Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, Wall co-created Live Earth, a global concert event designed to raise environmental awareness and combat climate change. On July 7, 2007, 150 musical acts, including The Police, Alicia Keys, Metallica, and Kanye West performed at 11 sites worldwide. The concerts were broadcast globally through television, satellite and terrestrial radio, handheld devices, and the internet.[11] The event set a live-streaming record as 237,000 people watched video coverage from MSN simultaneously.[12] Live Earth reached a total audience of nearly 1.5 billion people and set live streaming records, with 15 million streams initiated during the live event, and 100 million the following week.[13]

While initially conceived as a one-time event, Live Earth became an advocacy organization, working with corporate, non-governmental, entertainment and political influencers, and other organizations around the world.[14][15] [16] As of 2015, Control Room had created, developed, distributed and/or produced more than 150 events such as the Green Inaugural Ball,[17] the FIFA World Cup Kick off Celebration in 2010, and Gucci’s Chime for Change concert in 2013.[18] Control Room has won 11 Telly Awards Awards for excellence in a variety of categories including education, information, news, social issues, and videography.[19]

Dreamscape Immersive

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In 2016, Wall co-founded Dreamscape Immersive, an entertainment and technology company, with legendary producer Walter Parkes. Dreamscape Immersive creates story-based full-roam virtual reality experiences allowing as many as six people at once to explore a virtual 3D environment, seeing fully rendered avatars of one another. He serves as co-chairman of the company, which received nearly $40 million in investments from film studios, AMC, IMAX, Steven Spielberg, and others.[20][21]

Craton Equity Partners, Shelter Capital Partners

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Wall was a general partner of Craton Equity Partners, a $242 million green-tech private equity fund,[22] and was a founder of Sustainable Holdings, a company which weights its holdings based on a company's sustainability score.[23] He co-founded Shelter Capital Partners, a $175 million venture capital fund focused on companies in the semiconductor, software, and convergence sectors.[24]

PTK Capital

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In 2015, Wall founded PTK Capital,[25] which invests in transformative companies in the entertainment, food and wellness industries.

Personal life

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Wall is married to Susan Smalley, a scientist, author, activist, and professor emeritus at UCLA in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences.[26] Smalley is on the board of Equality Now, a human rights organization dedicated to women and girls.[27] They have three children, Patrick, Timmy, and Kelly.[28]

Recognition and awards (partial list)

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Selected credits

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Wall has an executive producer credit for all of the productions.

Year Title
2013 Chime for Change (concert)
24 Hours of Reality: The Cost of Carbon
The Sound of Change Live
2011 Decade of Difference: A Concert Celebrating 10 Years
of the William J. Clinton Foundation
2010 FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert
Live Earth Run for Water
2008 Madonna: Live from Roseland Ballroom
2007 Jay-Z: Live from Hammerstein Ballroom
Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate Crisis
Michael Bublé: Live from Webster Hall
2006 Nokia New Year's Eve
2005 Live 8
1994 Apollo Theater Hall of Fame
1993 Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame
Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
1992 Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour
Elton John: Live in Barcelona

References

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  1. ^ a b “Live 8 on AOL” wins first broadband Emmy honoring programs for internet, cellphones, PDAs |The Emmy Awards- The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences" Archived 2019-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, emmyonline.com
  2. ^ "Rights 'n' Roll: Two brothers pioneered the business of international music video licensing. Their latest coup: Amnesty International, the movie". Los Angeles Times. 1988-12-09. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  3. ^ Brooks, Nancy Rivera, “Rights 'n' Roll: Two brothers pioneered the business of international music video licensing", The Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "iXL (interactive agency)", Wikipedia, 2022-03-23, retrieved 2022-04-13
  5. ^ Snyder, Beth (March 9, 1998). "Interactive: West Coast Spotlight: Boxtop rides Interactive Waves in LA: New media shop eyes future in technology and acquisitions". AdAge. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  6. ^ Weiss, Michael (March 20, 2000). "Investments get bigger as valuations rise". Atlanta Business Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  7. ^ Kaufman, Gil (July 2, 2005). "Jay-Z, U2, Madonna, Pink Floyd Deliver Live 8 Highlights". mtv.com. MTV. Archived from the original on August 8, 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Millions gather for Live 8", cnn.com
  9. ^ Farzad, Roben, " “Concert Video Is a Hit, Validating a Bet by AOL".", The New York Times
  10. ^ News staff "Kevin Wall acquires company, renaming it Control Room", billboard.com. Billboard
  11. ^ Coyle, Jake (July 2, 2007). "Live Earth Aims to Cause Lasting Change". Washington Post. AP. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  12. ^ Klassenn, Abby (19 May 2008). "Entertainment Marketers 2008: Kevin Wall". adage.com. AdAge. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  13. ^ Smith, David (June 30, 2007). "Gore show is set to be biggest on earth". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Live Earth Concert Heads To India". CBS News. September 18, 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  15. ^ Bill Werde and Antony Bruno “Live 8 demonstrates power of digital media", “TODAY.com”
  16. ^ Shay Sayre, Cynthia King “Entertainment and Society: Influences, Impacts, and Innovations. Routledge. p. 398."
  17. ^ "City native is producer of Green Inaugural Ball"., News Sentinel
  18. ^ Alexander, Ella "Beyoncé And Gucci To Host Global Concert In London", billboard.com. Billboard
  19. ^ "35th Annual Telly Award Winners", tellyawards.com. Telly Awards
  20. ^ Barnes, Brooks, "Coming Soon to AMC Theaters: Virtual Reality Experiences", The New York Times
  21. ^ Leonard, Devin, "Here comes the sun" Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine, Fortune
  22. ^ Leondis, Alexis "TCW Buys Craton Equity to Expand Alternatives Unit". , bloomberg.com. Bloomberg
  23. ^ Kanani, Rahim "Tech exec takes Shelter", Variety.
  24. ^ Graser, Marc "Recyclebank: A Case Study in Motivating Positive Behavioral Change" , forbes.com. Forbes.
  25. ^ "Home". PTK Capital. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  26. ^ "Susan L. Smalley | Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior". www.semel.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  27. ^ "Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine: Susan Smalley". ucla.edu. UCLA. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  28. ^ "Susan Smalley, PhD". huffingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  29. ^ Klaassen, Abbey (19 May 2008). "Entertainment Marketers 2008: Kevin Wall". adage.com. Advertising Age. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  30. ^ "A TRIBUTE TO THE 2009 ELLIS ISLAND MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS". gpo.gov. Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 86. June 10, 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  31. ^ EMA AWARDS RECIPIENTS & HONOREES, "Environmental Media Association"
  32. ^ "GQ Magazine Hosts The Gentlemen's Ball - Inside". zimbio.com. Zimbio. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  33. ^ "Live Earth wins new award for 'green' music events". CBC News. January 3, 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
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