Michael Johnstone Email & Phone Number

Snohomish County, Washington, United States

Redmond, Wa

Feeling Enabled, Inspired and Empowered and hoping to return the favor to a team of the best minds on the planet.

Redmond, U.S.

Working alongside Program Managers in the Digital Win Room (DWR) to shepherd corporate cloud transformations (kind of like moving from cirrus to cumulonimbus).

Greater Seattle Area

Areas of Expertise:Operations Management & Execution | Strategic Planning | Business Strategy | Cross-Functional Team Leadership P&L, Budgeting & Financial Stewardship | Stakeholder Management & Communications | Relationship Management & Partnership Formation | Enterprise-Wide Project Management | Analytics, KPIs & Business Intelligence | Reporting & Forecasting | Resource Allocation & Prioritization | Risk Management | Employee Relations & Conflict Resolution

• Managed the operation and growth of DECE, LLC and UltraViolet (TM). UltraViolet (TM) is an open market for digital content distribution created and operated by DECE LLC, a cross-industry alliance made up of leaders in the content, software, hardware, retail, infrastructure, and delivery segments of the media value chain• History of progressive leadership roles, including P&L ownership, within this pioneering digital entertainment consortium and standards body (DECE)—as well as its related in-market product, UltraViolet. Initially recruited in a consulting capacity and rapidly converted to executive-level roles focused on building out the organization’s capacity, operations, and influence• Orchestrated the efforts of 250-500 staff members across multiple working groups and departments; guided teams in completing complex business, technology, legal, PR, and marketing initiatives, often in the face of intensive deadlines working tirelessly to align efforts and maximize team communication/collaboration• Held P&L ownership, reported to a 12-company Board of Directors, and managed teams of up to a dozen employees responsible for conducting all administration, operations, budgeting, and forecasting activities for the organization; provided “rhythm of the business” and weekly/monthly/quarterly reporting to Board, membership, and licensees and handled all recruiting, HR, benefits, and payroll for the growing organization• Served as a key strategist behind proposing/negotiating a merger with a competing ecosystem in 2016 aimed at supplying greater funding, reach, and credibility to the organizational mission; as that merger materialized, agreed to transition responsibilities to new leadership given plans to shift operations to the L.A. area

• Led the planning, marketing, and management of over 80 world-class global industry events attended by movie studio executives, tech company leaders, hardware manufacturers, online global retailers, and representatives of standards bodies such as APEX, SMPTE, and IEEE; assisted in event UX design and managed teams of staff and contingent personnel in the creation of all needed event collateral/messaging elements• Developed all event programming—setting multi-day agendas, recruiting speakers, leading working sessions, and receiving superior feedback from the vast majority of participants, many of whom claimed the events were consistently the best they’d ever attended• Facilitated comprehensive post-mortem reviews after each event to evaluate outcomes, capture key lessons learned, and identify takeaways to aid in developing future strategic roadmaps for the organization; these critical meetings typically involved half-to-full-day meetings of the entire Board and organizational team• Worked remotely throughout tenure, traveling extensively and demonstrating the self-motivation, organization, and communication skills needed to drive projects forward from afar and ensure the completion of multiple simultaneous time-sensitive deliverables; utilized web conferencing and collaboration technology heavily to guide stakeholder efforts, in addition to maintaining several online workspace environments

• Evangelized the new industry to various consumer and corporate audiences around the world, both via public speaking opportunities and the execution of marketing, public relations, e-mail, and social media campaigns

• Transitioned from initial board role into #2 executive position on staff, helping build the organization from the ground up into a worldwide coalition spanning 100+ member organizations and 70+ corporate technology licensees—including top firms such as Microsoft, Intel, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, Warner Bros., NBC Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Comcast, Netflix, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target• Co-defined a series of new, globally-adopted digital media standards resulting in the UltraViolet platform and a related series of technical mechanisms, policies, and legal frameworks—including a pivotal set of content and technology interop agreements aimed at adding value to content ownership and increasing media sales

• Recruited by Paramount to help launch and run the studio’s new Digital Entertainment division; tasked with finding innovative ways to further license/distribute/monetize the company’s immense catalog of television and cinematic content, reporting to Home Video VP and managing a team of 5 staff in handling all day-to-day operations activities• Led numerous business development initiatives on behalf of the studio, engaging with top leaders and influencers throughout the technology, entertainment, consumer products, and digital media industries to explore new joint product ideas and negotiate win/win content licensing agreements • Guided various software and application development efforts related to the Paramount content catalog, in addition to exploring new concepts with game companies and interactive entertainment providers• Managed relationships with an extensive network of top partner and vendor firms including Akamai, Deluxe, Microsoft, ScreenLife, and The Illusion Factory• Served as Paramount’s Board Member and Standards Body Representative to the DECE organization, helping establish sound new guidelines related to the burgeoning new digital media arena and lead new initiatives related to interoperability, content protection, digital rights management, anti-piracy, and similar issues• Provided regular reporting to the Paramount executive team regarding emerging opportunities, sales pipeline and deal-closing activities, and potential risks/threats arising within the digital space