MUMBAI: Former Walt Disney CEO and founder of on-line content companies Vuguru and Veoh – Michael Eisner will deliver the keynote at the upcoming MIPCOM, which takes place in Cannes from 13 to 17 October 2008.

In his speech, Eisner will share his vision of a digital entertainment industry that brings the consumer, the producer and the distributor closer together. With his new ventures, Vuguru, a production and distribution company for videos on digital platforms, and Veoh, an Internet TV broadcasting system, Eisner is aiming to foster innovation, to launch new talents, to produce new quality scripted content, and to distribute short formats sold direct to the consumer.

"We are delighted to host a visionary leader like Michael Eisner at MIPCOM. His 40-year career and past experience in entertainment content at the head of the Walt Disney Company, in addition to his pioneering work in digital content production and distribution will be one of the highlights at MIPCOM this October," said Reed MIDEM director of television Paul Johnson.

Eisner began his career at ABC, where he helped take the network from number three to number one in primetime, daytime and children’s television with such landmark shows as Happy Days, Barney Miller, Rich Man Poor Man and Roots.

In 1976, he became president of Paramount Pictures, turning out such hit films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Terms of Endearment.

This string of critically acclaimed and blockbuster films led the studio to become number one in box office and profitability in both theatrical movies and network television production.

In 1984 he assumed the position of chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company and, in the ensuing 21 years, transformed it from a film and theme park company with $1.8 billion in enterprise value into a global media empire valued at $80 billion.