Management
Reno R. Rollé, Director and CEO
Rolle previously held the position of CEO for Shop America USA. Based in Bradford England and operating in U.S., Shop America specialized in long- and short-form direct response television (infomercial) marketing. During this time Mr. Rollé co-created the hit book and marketing campaign for “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” This book held the #1 spot on the NY Times Best Sellers List for 18 weeks in 2005 and 2006, has sold in excess of 9 million copies and is widely considered the best-selling self-published book of all time.
Prior to his experience at Shop America, Mr. Rollé was a founding principle of the National Lampoon Acquisition Group, LLC an investment group that orchestrated the recent acquisition of J2 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:JTWO) a small cap public company that owned the most recognized brand in comedic entertainment, National Lampoon. Mr. Rollé founded National Lampoon Home Entertainment in 2002 to produce and distribute National Lampoon branded DVDs.
Between 1997 and 2001 Rollé was the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Synergy Worldwide, Inc., a product engineering, design and marketing company. In 1999 Synergy produced “Mastering The Flow,” a blackjack card counting program that became the longest running, most successful gaming infomercial ever. In September 2000, Synergy was honored with the distinguished “R&D 100 Award” for Mr. Rollé’s invention, The “Spin Fryer”. This award, referred to as the “Oscars of Inventions,” recognizes the most technologically significant inventions in history. Past winners include: anti-lock brakes, the fax machine, the ATM, and polarized film. The Spin Fryer was subsequently licensed to Salton, Inc. (NYSE:SFP) for marketing and distribution under the George Forman line of kitchen products.
From 1994 to 1997 Mr. Rollé was a co-founder of HSN Direct, a direct response television joint venture with Home Shopping Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: IACI) Mr. Rollé’s primary responsibility was to negotiate and manage the majority of HSND’s contracts, including marketing and distribution, production, talent and joint venture agreements. In addition, Rollé oversaw all aspects of new business development including: media, production, regulatory compliance and operations.
Highlighting Mr. Rollé’s tenure with HSND was his role in the development and launch of the Ab Isolator and EZ Crunch abdominal exercise products. These infomercials both generated in excess of $150 million dollars in worldwide sales and spawned an entire consumer product segment targeting abdominal exercise. Estimated sales of this category easily exceed $1 billion dollars worldwide.
Robert J. Rosenblatt, Director
Mr. Rosenblatt recently joined Tommy Hilfiger Inc. as COO. Prior to joining Hilfiger, Mr. Rosenblatt was President of the Home Shopping Network United States (HSN). While at HSN, Mr. Rosenblatt helped drive impressive sales and profit increases at the world’s 16th most widely distributed shopping network. He was responsible for all aspects of HSN’s domestic business including Broadcasting, Finance, Fulfillment, Information Technology, Marketing, Merchandising, Sales and Service and hsn.com.
Mr. Rosenblatt is credited with creating an entrepreneurial culture at HSN that has led to the tremendous growth of hsn.com and new business opportunities such as the acquisition of the Improvements catalog.
During his tenure, HSN has advanced to become the 4th largest cable television network and he has helped HSN grow its revenue to $2 billion in worldwide sales. Previous to HSN, Mr. Rosenblatt was senior vice president and chief financial officer of Bloomingdale’s, a division of Federated Department Stores. Mr. Rosenblatt is also board member of the Electronic Retail Association (ERA), the Florida Council on Economic Education, the Pinellas Education Foundation and the Junior League of Tampa.
John Whitesell, Director
Director/Producer John Whitesell is currently in post-production on his fifth feature film, Deck the Halls, starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. The film—a family comedy about clashing neighbors, home decoration, and the true spirit of the holidays—releases nationwide on November 22.
Last year, Whitesell directed the feature film Big Momma’s House 2. In this sequel to the hit comedy Big Momma’s House, martin Lawrence reprises his role as FBI agent Malcolm Turner, who once again goes undercover as Big Momma. Released in the theaters in January 2006, the film brought in a hefty $27.7 million in its first weekend at the box office, exceeding distributor 20th Century Fox’s expectations by a wide margin. Other Whitesall projects include See Spot Run and Calendar Girl.
Whitesell has also been active in television directing and producing. He directed and produced over 200 episodes of primetime television, including Roseanne, Action, and Jack and Jill—along with many TV pilots, including Grounded for Life, The John Larroquette Show, Damon, Cosby, and Law and Order.