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The Entertainment Merchant Association |
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EMA's Press Gallery |
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Logos Bios and Head Shots Carrie Dieterich Bio Head Shot Miscellaneous The Ad That Started It All - George Atkinson's First LA Times Ad for Video Rentals Video Club of America Ad - The First Fifty Movies Available Bo Andersen has served as president and chief officer of the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) since April 1999. During his tenure, Andersen has overseen EMA initiatives to support independent video stores, market the value of home video to the public, expand the Association's member benefits, and maintain its leadership in legislative and legal affairs. Andersen joined EMA as vice president and general counsel in 1995, and became the senior vice president and general counsel of the Association in August 1997. As the Association's general counsel, Andersen directed EMA's joint activities with other entertainment industry trade associations to successfully thwart a wide variety of legislation proposed in numerous states and in Congress that would have unfairly taxed video retailers, restricted the content of motion pictures and video games available in video stores, and otherwise directly burdened video retailers. The Association responds to more than 200 such bills annually, and did not lose a single legislative battle while Andersen served as its general counsel. From 1996 to 1999, Andersen managed and won a major lawsuit filed by (then) VSDA to defend the First Amendment rights of video retailers and their customers following the seizure of copies of the Academy Award-winning film "The Tin Drum" by police authorities in Oklahoma City, OK. Before joining EMA in 1995, Andersen served as the anti-piracy legal director for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and, in that role, built much of MPAA's criminal enforcement program, as well as its program of federal prosecution of cable and satellite "black box" manufacturers. Mr. Andersen also co-managed MPAA's government relations in the areas of anti-piracy and copyright legislation. Sean Bersell has 20 years of government affairs experience at the federal, state, and local levels. Since 1999, he has directed the government affairs programs of the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), the trade association for the home video industry. Bersell started his career in 1985 as Legislative Counsel for U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenici, for whom he managed judiciary, energy, natural resource, telecommunications, and broadcasting issues. From 1991 to 1993, Bersell served as the Assistant Director of the National Park Service in charge of the Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs. In 1993, Bersell joined the government relations staff of the 58,000-member American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and eventually worked his way up to Senior Director, Public Affairs for the professional society. Currently, Bersell is Vice President, Public Affairs for EMA, and is responsible for the association's government affairs and public relations programs. Bersell is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of New Mexico School of Law. Carrie Dieterich has over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She joined the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) in 1994, shortly after the association relocated from New Jersey to California. Since 1999 she has held the position of Vice President of Marketing & Industry Relations. Carrie began her entertainment industry career in television and feature film production, working as a production coordinator on several theatrical and made-for-television movies. She also served as a production executive for film director Blake Edwards. Prior to joining EMA, Carrie worked in the theatrical marketing department of Columbia Pictures. Dieterich's current responsibilities including overseeing the association's research efforts and marketing initiatives. She also is responsible for developing the programming content for EMA's trade events including EMA's Home Media Expo and the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. Dieterich is a graduate of San Francisco State University and holds a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts. Mark Fisher has over 30 years of retailing experience at store-level, field-level, and corporate-level. Since 1999, he has overseen the membership department of the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), the trade association for video retailers and the home video industry. Fisher started his career in 1975 as a store manager for a large supermarket chain. In 1982, he held responsibility for the field operations of all general merchandise and health and beauty care departments in Stop & Shop Supermarket Company's Connecticut Division In 1985, Fisher developed the video rental division of Stop & Shop, which, under his direction, grew to 60 stores at its peak. Fisher held responsibility for store operations, purchasing, marketing, and profitability for over ten years. In 1997, Fisher joined West Coast Entertainment, a public chain of over 240 rental stores around the United States, as Senior Vice-President, Retail Operations, where he was responsible for in-store and field management as well as warehousing and distribution. During his tenure as a retailer, Fisher served more than five years on the New England VSDA Chapter Board of Directors, holding offices of Treasurer and Vice-President. Fisher also served three years on the VSDA national Board of Directors, two of which as Treasurer. Fisher served eight years as Vice President, Membership & Strategic Initiatives for EMA with responsibility for the association's membership retention and growth, member communication, strategic planning, and strategic opportunities. Fisher was promoted to Executive Vice-President in 2009. Frank Lucca has been an active member of the industry since late 1978 when he opened his first video store location. From 1978 to 1992 he built a three store chain in Southern Massachusetts. Since 2000 he has held various positions within the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) the trade association for video retailing and the home entertainment industry. From 1981 to 1986 Lucca was the vice president of operations and training for one of the first national video franchise companies - Video Connection. From 1986-1996, he founded and ran Flagship Entertainment Centers, a marketing/buying group that was comprised of 1200 independent retailers. In 1989, Lucca co-founded Compass Entertainment, which was a distributor of children's video, audio, book and toy products. Compass Entertainment was the original distributor for Barney the Dinosaur product and held the concert license for Barney stage shows. In 1995 he co-founded American Entertainment CyberSuperStores, one of the first video retail sites on the World Wide Web. During his tenure as a retailer/distributor/buying group operator he served as a founding member of the New England Chapter of VSDA. He served as president of the chapter for more than 7 years. He also served on numerous VSDA committees. Currently, Lucca is a Vice President of EMA and the Executive Director of the Independent Dealers of Entertainment Association (iDEA) the independent retailer arm of EMA. Working with the iDEA Board of Trustees, Lucca is responsible for carrying out all aspects of the iDEA's daily operation, growth and strategic planning. Lucca also serves as the VSDA's Scholarship Foundation's Educational consultant. Lucca is a graduate of Assumption College and holds a Master's Degree in Education from Providence College.
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