AOL Chairman and CEO Jonathan Miller

Los Angeles, CA – Jonathan Miller, Chairman and CEO of America Online, delivered the keynote address at this year's AFI Digital Content Festival, held at the American Film Institute. Touted as an unparalled showcase of the year's best in digital entertainment, the Intel-sponsored, day-long fete featured presentations by MTV, Echostar, BBC and more.

Leaders from the criss-crossing worlds of television, film, games, mobile and broadband content development gathered in AFI's Mark Goodson screening room to assess the state and direction of all forms of digital programming.

Attendees heard from such executives as Fox Mobile Entertainment president Lucy Hood; Jason Hirschhorn, senior vice president of MTV Networks Digital Music and Media; Paul Marcum, vice president of Sesame Street Workshop's Interactive Media Group; Robert Chua of Hong Kong's Interactive Channel; and others.

Brian Seth Hurst, Co-Governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Interactive Media Peer Group

Among festival highlights, Brian Seth Hurst of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences congratulated finalists for the 2004-2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Interactive Television (click here for detailed list). Content creators unveiled live demos of forthcoming projects. Plus, the festival served as orientation for new AFI Digital Content Lab (AFI DCL) teams beginning their fall quarters at the institute.

Originally launched in 1998 as the AFI Enhanced TV Lab, AFI DCL is a highly-regarded entertainment industry incubater for new and emerging forms of programming and distribution. The Lab's name change reflects the increasing demand for "TV" properties on broadband, cellular phones, game consoles and who knows where else in the not-so-distant future. Stay tuned. - J. Bolden

Sprint TV's Phillip Alveda addresses leading content creators, entertainment executives and more at this year's AFI Digital Content Festival.

Photos courtesy of AFI