GRAMMY(R) Veteran Joins The Festival Network

GRAMMY(R) Veteran Joins The Festival Network

Paul Tsuchiya Named Sr. VP, Sales & Strategic Partnerships

NEW YORK, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Tsuchiya has joined The Festival Network, LLC as senior vice president, sales and strategic partnerships.

Thomas B. Shepard, The Festival Network's CEO, said that Tsuchiya will be responsible for all areas of sales, including partnerships, consulting, client services, content, merchandise and hospitality.

As chief operating officer of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Tsuchiya was instrumental in bringing the 44th Annual GRAMMY(R) Awards back to New York City in 2003, after a five-year run in Los Angeles.

As executive vice president, content, for the Wasserman Media Group (WMG) in Los Angeles, Tsuchiya led its strategic planning and supported new business development efforts for Sportnet.com, WMG's digital media start-up company.

Tsuchiya, formerly vice president of event and sponsorship marketing for Visa USA, was the primary architect of "Visa Signature Access," an experiential event marketing platform providing affluent Signature cardholders with exclusive ticket pre-sales and VIP access to such major events as the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, Tony Awards and the Daytona 500. Tsuchiya also led Visa USA's activation of the Torino Winter Olympics sponsorship, including advertising, national promotions and public relations.

"Paul brings to The Festival Network a strategic understanding of the worlds of entertainment and sports marketing, licensing, partnerships and sales, all areas of great importance to us," Shepard said.

Tsuchiya, a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, started his career in sports marketing as an executive with World Cup USA 1994, Inc., the organizing committee for the FIFA World Cup in the United States in 1994.

Marrying legendary impresario George Wein's legacy of branded music festivals with new corporate and marketing leadership, The Festival Network, LLC (FN) develops, acquires and produces music festivals and live entertainment properties in unique destinations around the globe - offering a matchless portfolio of marketing and economic development platforms to a wide range of business partners. FN's roster of festivals, coupled with its historic media archives dating back over a half century, also serves to generate content tailor-made for premium broadcast distribution, after-market media and a variety of business partnerships. FN's 2008 schedule includes eight JVC Jazz Festivals in the United States and abroad, plus major festivals in such locales as Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Bermuda and Whistler.

Source: The Festival Network, LLC

CONTACT: Karen Horton, +1-973-378-8327, C: +1-201-306-4946,
khorton@festivalnetwork.com, or Andrea Axelrod, +1-212-865-3492,
C: +1-917-554-7800, aaxelrod@festivalnetwork.com, both of The Festival
Network, LLC

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