Innovators Today and the Future of Play

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      "company": "Crunchyroll",
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      "name": "Mitchel Berger",
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      "details": "Mitchel Berger oversees all consumer products, merchandise, content sales, and \rtheatrical businesses for Crunchyroll. \r\rBerger is credited for managing the distribution of 10 of the top 20 highest-grossing \ranime releases of all time in North America, including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No \rYaiba Infinity Castle in 2025, which has become the highest-grossing international \rfilm ever released in North America and the highest grossing anime film of all time in \r56 territories including North America. Other hit films include Demon Slayer - \rKimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train in 2021, Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO \rin 2022, and JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 in 2022. Berger also managed the global distribution \rof the award-winning director Makoto Shinkai’s film Suzume, which garnered a \rGolden Globe nomination. \r\rWhile at Funimation, Berger was responsible for instituting the “next-day” Electronic \rSell-Through (EST) strategy, bringing both subtitled and dubbed episodes of new \ranime shows to major EST platforms within 48 hours of their premiere. Berger has \ralso helped establish the e-commerce storefront Funimation Shop as the premier \rhub for Funimation merchandise, home entertainment, and collectibles. \r\rPrior to joining Funimation and, post-merger, Crunchyroll, Berger spent 21 years with \rUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment. During his time at Universal, he handled a \rwide range of retail, rental, and distribution accounts, including spending three years \ras the Vice President of Sales and Walmart team lead. For the last two years at \rUniversal, he served as the Sr. Vice President of Sales, Category Management, and \rCustomer Marketing for North America. \r\rBerger holds a degree from the University of Miami. He is based in Dallas. ",
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      "details": "Val Vacante is an award‐winning global innovator and product leader shaping next‐generation experiences across AI, gaming, retail, entertainment, and emerging technology. She transforms cultural signals, fandom, and innovation into market‐first products and platforms that deliver measurable growth, engagement, and impact.\n\nVal has led breakthrough products and experiences for more than 50 global brands, including Meta, Microsoft, Roblox, IKEA, Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, Bandai Namco, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Galderma, Sleep Number, Mercedes‐Benz, MINI, and AT&T. Organizations partner with her to uncover whitespace, accelerate innovation, and turn bold ideas into scalable solutions.\n\nShe created Intelligent Messaging, an award‐winning AI‐powered multimodal platform, and co‐founded the Global Meta Messaging Alliance with Meta, giving brands early access to emerging messaging capabilities. Val co‐created Dentsu NXT Space with Microsoft, LinkedIn, and HeadOffice.AI, led the development of ShopNXT patented retail technologies and designed NXT Intelligence, a modular innovation platform unlocking opportunities for Fortune 500 brands across gaming, anime, entertainment, and retail.\n\nHer work also includes first‐of‐its‐kind Roblox activations and market‐first shoppable Twitch experiences with Fortnite Icons. With Dentsu Japan, she led the Dentsu Innovation Initiative in the United States, driving record‐breaking results.\n\nAs Founder of Collabsco, Val builds award‐winning products across AI, IoT, AR, VR, voice, robotics, and connected‐play ecosystems. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, VentureBeat, Adweek, and Digiday, and showcased at CES, SXSW, Cannes Lions, Comic‐Con, AWE, and Games for Change. Named a Top 25 Woman in Tech, VentureBeat Woman in AI, Product Management Leader of the Year, and one of the Most Powerful Women in Technology, she serves on the SXSW Advisory Board and Fast Company Executive Board while mentoring future innovators at SCAD.",
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      "details": "Nic Hill is the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at creative agency Sawhorse, where he leads award-winning branded content, gaming, and immersive marketing work for some of the world’s biggest brands. He’s also the co-host of Brands In Play, an immersive marketing podcast exploring how culture, technology, and play are reshaping the future of advertising. On the show, Nic interviews leaders from brands, platforms, and agencies about what’s next for consumer engagement. He’s passionate about the evolving marketing landscape and the role emerging technologies play in how audiences connect with brands.",
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      "details": "A design and innovation leader with more than three decades of experience, Chris Down is EVP, Chief Design and Innovation Officer at Mattel. He leads the company’s global design and innovation ecosystem, shaping how play experiences are imagined, created, and scaled across brands, products, and consumer touchpoints. His work has helped evolve iconic franchises including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, and UNO through consumer-led creativity and disciplined design leadership.\nPrior to Mattel, Chris produced award-winning video games as an Executive Producer at Hasbro Interactive, co-founded Atari Labs to explore emerging forms of play, and founded a California-based game development studio later acquired by DWANGO Wireless, building deep experience across analog and digital platforms in service of play-oriented innovation.\nAlongside his work at Mattel, Chris serves as an iF Design Juror and a member of the Board of Governors at Otis College of Art and Design, contributing to the development of emerging creative talent and the broader design community.\n",
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  "description": "For generations, play has shaped how we imagine, connect, and create. Today it spans toys, gaming, anime, sports, and emerging tech, blending physical and digital worlds into shared experiences. As new technologies, platforms, and global fandoms accelerate, play is being redefined in real time. \n\nPlay is no longer confined to a toy aisle, a console, or a screen; it now unfolds across worlds, driven by creativity, community, and connection. \n\nJoin industry innovators exploring how breakthrough technologies, powerhouse partnerships, and mixed-world experiences are shapin g the future of play, creativity, and culture.",
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