Ben Lavender

Current

• Digital Product Director at LOVEFiLM International

Past

• Technical Executive, Future Media at BBC
• Technical Director at Mode
• Business Systems Manager at Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited

• Senior Business Analyst at MTV Europe
• Consultant at Callsoft
• Senior Analyst/Programmer at The Walt Disney Company, London
• Senior Analyst at DTZ

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Education

• Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education
• University of Brighton
• Philip Morant School, Colchester, Essex

• Gosfield School

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1 more...

Recommended

1 person has recommended Ben

Connections

267 connections

Industry

Broadcast Media

Websites

• My Company

Ben Lavender’s Summary

Visionary thinker. Inventor of BBC iPlayer. Great evangelist, motivator and presenter of new ideas. Industry recognised expert in pan-platform on-demand secure media distribution. Results driven product manager with proven track record, over 10 years, of leading complex technical projects over aggressive timescales, managing tight and £2M+ budgets for BBC, Five, MTV & Walt Disney.

Ben Lavender’s Specialties:

Product Development. Media distribution. DRM. Internet Geekness.

Ben Lavender’s Experience

• Digital Product Director

  LOVEFiLM International

  (Privately Held; Entertainment industry)

  July 2007 — Present (2 years 5 months)

• Technical Executive, Future Media

  BBC

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Broadcast Media industry)

  January 2002 — July 2006 (4 years 7 months)

  • Project director of the iMP technical (2004) and consumer trials (2005). These were highly successful, leading to support for a live service. Produced business case for release of multi-million budget for BBC iPlayer.
  • Leading the BBC’s 5 year on-demand strategy (including iPlayer) across public service and commercial.
  • Conducted numerous interviews with major newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programmes on iMP resulting in favourable coverage for the idea and the BBC as an innovator. Presented at numerous rights holder forums explaining the BBC’s ambitions for future on-demand services.
  • Producer of several videos, including ‘The BBC Vs The Future’, used for promoting BBC on-demand strategy.
  • Project manager of Celebdaq, the biggest, most successful online game, the BBC has ever attempted, winner of Bafta for best online entertainment site 2004.
  • Project manager for Children in Need 2002 & 2003 donation payment system over Internet and eTV.

• Technical Director

  Mode

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

  September 2000 — December 2001 (1 year 4 months)

  • Defined and led the development of a B2B system for the distribution of music, video and software over the Internet using DRM. Produced a promotional video explaining digital distribution in simple terms.
  • Recruited 20 staff. Ran ITT for selection of outside development partner based in India. Led successful product delivery over 12 months with 30 staff/contractor in based in UK, 80 contractors in India.
  • Established development methodologies and put in place ISO/9000 compliant policies and procedures.

• Business Systems Manager

  Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Broadcast Media industry)

  March 1999 — September 2000 (1 year 7 months)

  • Defined and implemented Channel 5’s strategy for Internet broadcasting.
  • Led development of Jailbreak website (reality TV ala Big Brother), with video for 32,000 concurrent users.
  • Led the migration to a new Internet advertising sales system.
  • Ran ITT for development of picture library system. Negotiated contract and managed development.

• Senior Business Analyst

  MTV Europe

  (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Broadcast Media industry)

  August 1997 — March 1999 (1 year 8 months)

  • Invented an eTV service for synchronising artist information and sales opportunities with the play list.
  • Designed an eTV service to provide ‘Now and Next’ information on music videos.
  • Led the redevelopment of MTV’s subscriber management and billing system.
  • Led development of music reporting system to satisfy legal requirements, avoiding damaging legal dispute.

• Consultant

  Callsoft

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)

  February 1997 — August 1997 (7 months)

  • Design and implementation of a multi-language telephone banking system for UBS bank.

• Senior Analyst/Programmer

  The Walt Disney Company, London

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Broadcast Media industry)

  February 1996 — February 1997 (1 year 1 month)

  • Invented a merchandising system, for the European sales force, with an interactive product catalogue.
  • Produced a tool for co-ordinating film and video releases across Europe and Asia.
  • Produced a tool to assist the rationalisation of European pricing structures to increase product margins.

• Senior Analyst

  DTZ

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Real Estate industry)

  July 1991 — January 1997 (5 years 7 months)

  • Invented a tool for geographically analysing the London property market.
  • Led development of commercial property database; matching client requirements with suitable properties.

Ben Lavender’s Education

• Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education

  Post Graduate Diploma , Counselling & Psychotherapy , January 2003 — December 2004

  Deferred continuation of course due to work commitments

• University of Brighton

  Computer Studies , September 1987 — June 1991

• Philip Morant School, Colchester, Essex

  A Levels , Maths, Computer Studies and Economics , September 1984 — June 1987

• Gosfield School

  O Levels , Maths, A/O Maths, Physics, History, English Lang, English Lit & Geography , 1979 — 1984

Additional Information

Ben Lavender’s Websites:

• My Company

Ben Lavender’s Interests:

• Married with first child due in February 2007. • Recent convert to surfing long boards – taken a bruising in Hawaii and Cornwall. • Certified PADI Rescue Scuba Diver with over 100 dives in Egypt, Thailand, Madives, Mexico & UK. • Completed the 2004 London Triathlon (Olympic distance)

Ben Lavender’s Honors:

• The Royal Television Society Technical Innovation Award 2004 for iMP (Inventor, Project Director)
• Interactive Bafta, Best Online Entertainment site, 2004 for Celebdaq (Project manager)

Ben Lavender’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch