Michael Pilla

Current

VP, Distribution & Business Development at IndieFlix

Past

Director, Advertiser Experience at Yahoo!
Director, Business Affairs at Yahoo! (formerly Overture)
In-House Counsel at Wal-Mart.com, Inc.

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Education

Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
Quinnipiac University School of Law

Recommended

10 people have recommended Michael

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

My Company

Michael Pilla’s Summary

Experienced new media & Internet executive with excellent track record of management achievements, including structuring, negotiating and closing complex content licensing & distribution deals and advertising agreements in fast-paced environments, providing strategic business advice and legal counsel to senior executives, and developing and managing operational processes.

Michael Pilla’s Experience

VP, Distribution & Business Development

IndieFlix

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Internet industry)

July 2007 — Present (1 year 3 months)

Develop & negotiate global content distribution relationships with third party distribution & marketing partners, including YouTube, Hulu, Joost, and Babelgum to create incremental revenue streams and build brand awareness among independent film audiences in the U.S. and international markets.

Prospect, acquire and manage relationships with brand advertisers, advertising agencies, and ad networks to maximize advertising & sponsor revenue opportunities for both display and video ad inventory. Represent & evangelize on behalf of IndieFlix at conferences, trade shows, film festivals and panel appearances.

Advise CEO on web site design, community & Web 2.0 features and applications, and user interface to enhance web site performance and optimize user experience.

Develop and implement consumer marketing & film acquisition strategies, including film festival sponsorships, search marketing and SEO, media & film critic outreach, optimization of product mix, and others.
Director, Advertiser Experience

Yahoo!

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; yhoo; Marketing and Advertising industry)

July 2004 — June 2007 (3 years)

Lead negotiation of advertiser acquisition deals with branded advertisers, agencies and resellers for ad placements on Yahoo! properties and Yahoo’s third party distribution network in U.S. and global markets.

Manage escalation processes to address and resolve concerns of high value advertisers, including traffic quality, click fraud and IP issues and drive product and process improvements beneficial to advertisers. Advise and counsel various Yahoo! business units on business and legal issues and risks, deal structures, negotiation strategies, approval processes, and Yahoo! policies and procedures.
Director, Business Affairs

Yahoo! (formerly Overture)

(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; YHOO; Internet industry)

February 2003 — July 2004 (1 year 6 months)

Structured, negotiated and closed complex content licensing agreements, including payment structures, revenue shares, payment guarantees and contract terms for the syndication of Yahoo! and advertiser content to third party distribution partners. Agreements included pioneering deals to create email and client software application channels for distribution of text-based search advertising.
In-House Counsel

Wal-Mart.com, Inc.

(Internet industry)

May 2000 — February 2003 (2 years 10 months)

As founding in-house counsel, was responsible for all Wal-Mart.com legal matters, including structure and negotiation of all contracts, partnership agreements, technology licenses and NDAs, as well as intellectual property, employment, litigation, real estate and regulatory compliance matters.

Managed and allocated workflow among other in-house and outside counsel. Developed internal policies, processes, document retention systems and various legal forms, including terms of service.

Michael Pilla’s Education

Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business

MBA, 1998 — 2000

Fuqua Scholar
Quinnipiac University School of Law

JD, 1986 — 1989

American Jurisprudence Award In Contract Law