Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Not too surprising. The higher ups at GE couldn't have been happy that they lost out at getting a foothold on the BD market earlier.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

I don't know about that. The market is still so small afterall. But GE might be more peeved that Universal didn't end up getting even a fraction of the kind of lucrative deal that Warner got out of all this though.

_Man_

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

This really doesn't make much sense in that U hasn't really lost any "foothold" since there is no foothold since each studio brings to market unique content.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Despite being famous for shouting "BS" at Ken (heh!) I have a lot of respect for him and Uni. Hopefully now that Uni is BD targetted they can find someone as passionate about the format as Ken was about HD DVD. I think Ken was a bigger cheerleader for the format than the other studios combined and I can't even put a name/face to anyone at Toshiba who was as public about it as he was. Good luck to him!

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Interesting that the two biggest HD-DVD cheerleaders at major studios (Steve Nickerson at Warner, Ken Graffeo at Universal) are both gone. I wouldn't think that one's support of a format would be enough reason to either get the axe or leave the company, whichever one was the case here. Certainly these guys didn't stake their whole career on the success of HD-DVD.

Edit: I almost forgot about Amir from Microsoft. That makes three.

I still say this stuff would make for a great book someday.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

I'm very sorry to have learned about Ken's departure.

That man went through a lot of unnecessary BS during his
leadership at Universal Home Entertainment. I'll never forget
the way he received such unfair press at last year's EMA event --
especially when he was so willing to come out and talk with us
knowing the increasing demands for his studio to go "Blu."

Sam Posten is right on the money about the kind of person Ken
Graffeo was. He was very passionate about the things he spoke
of. He wasn't afraid to come out and speak in public amidst
controversy. He was always sincere and polite. He never deserved
to be treated as disrespectfully as he was by certain individuals.

Sam, the fact you offered an apology following that incident and
the fact that Ken shook your hand as a result goes to show how
much class the both of you had. Wish others had followed in your
footsteps.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

You can bet there will someday be a Frontline-style documentary about all of this. It may come sooner than later now that many of the people involved are already switching companies and careers. I can't wait to see it myself. I would imagine there is a lot that we still don't know.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Most of the inside stuff that went on has been discussed on
this forum already. You can research most of it in the Hi-Def
areas.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

I doubt that mr. Graffeo can really talk about the issues why he left, even if he wanted to. These things happen all the time, "executive vice presidents" etc come and go. I´m sure that Graffeo is doing just fine.

So who is the new guy? Let´s hope that he has a fresh, "blue" face.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

As I posted elsewhere, it's crappy news to hear. The one thing that always stood out to me was how even Blu-Ray insiders like Penton and Max always went out of their way to compliment him and defend him, even in the thick of the format war. That says a lot about the man, I think.

So how was the power structure at Universal? I never was for sure if Ken was on top or if Kornblau was.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Nice of you to say Ron, I was ashamed of the way I acted and still am! I'm not a fanboy of any HT brand or technology but some of the things said at that panel just made me mad and ring even more untrue to me today, but I still shouldnt have acted like a jerk no matter how bothered I was by them. Especially since it was evident that the people who said them really believed what they were saying. I truly appreciated Ken (and Robert's!) candor and acceptance of my apology.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

First of all I want to confirm that it is true, but won't take place for a few months.

I agree that this says a lot about him, especially in light of the fact that Penton doesn't pull any punches and isn't afraid to tell it like he sees it.

Kornblau was/is on top

I think this actually goes back to a Universal reorg a few years ago at the very beginning of the format war. I don't remember his job before the reorg, but after he was in charge of HD initiative for Universal. While I don't believe he would have had a problem running BD for Universal, it could have caused some perception issues with some people outside the studio based on the position he held in the HD DVD PRG. (Universal isn't releasing that title right now because Ken doesn't want BD to overtake DVD, etc).

Like everyone else here who has said so, I was grateful that he came out to EMA to meet with us. Not many executives would have put themselves on the hotseat in front of a crowd on enthusiasts (trust me we asked a lot of people to participate). Keep in mind at the time Universal was the ONLY exclusive studio (Paramount hadn't switched yet back to HD DVD only yet), so if they went neutral or switched the war was over. They were taking a lot of heat from the online community because of that at the time. Others have mentioned it already, but while he and Bill Hunt (and Sam ) disagreed on a lot of things that day, he made a point of shanking hands even though he was rushing to catch a flight.

In addition to talking to us at EMA, Universal and Toshiba promised the HTF/Bits/TVonDVD attendees free players and software. Ask anyone who was there and that turned into a bit of a cluster. There were some communications issues with the fulfilment house. When Ken found out he personally called to apologize and said that the buck stops with him and he would personally take care of it. The next day I got a list of tracking numbers and players were shipped priority overnight to each attendee (average extra cost was $100/player). The fact that he apologized and took responsibility for mishaps that were multiple levels below him as opposed to not saying anything and just taking care of it, or having a admin or PR person do it says a lot about the type of person he is. I have a lot of respect for him from that interaction. I wish him the best and am sure he will land at another studio in the next year.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

I don't think Amir is gone, he just moved onto another project. I don't know if it was a lateral move or if it was a promotion.

Doug

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

amir retired in the FALL

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Really? I had heard that he had been put in charge of another project.

Doug

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

I think he might have been initially, but he had a post not that long ago where he said he was no longer working for Microsoft.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

He got moved from head of HD-DVD to another post, and then after that was "retired" by Microsoft, at their behest according to some in the biz. I think he spends most of his time now on AVS, a wandering ronin.

Re: Ken Graffeo of Universal no more?

Here is the thread where he announced he was leaving Microsoft's HD DVD team:

Can you have too much ice cream? - AVS Forum

I don't know if it is later on in that thread or in another where he said he was leaving to pursue other interests, like personal business ventures or something along those lines. No time to search for that.