Stephan Fitch is the president and founder of Thinking Pictures. He has established himself as a pioneer in the fields of software, entertainment, and Internet technology. Fitch was born on December 19, 1959. Fitch’s father was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force; therefore, Fitch spent his childhood attending schools across the world. Fitch graduated from high school in 1977, in Lowell, Massachusetts. After working in broadcast journalism in Los Angeles and Lowell, Fitch went to college, obtaining a BFA with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He then went on to MIT, where he graduated with a master’s degree from the prestigious MIT Media Lab in 1992. While at MIT, Fitch developed the Cinema Server interface, allowing participants to access and alter movies; this interface gave audiences the ability to customize movies and interact with them through conscious and subconscious feedback. He also created the Compositing Directors Eyeglass, a tool allowing directors to view virtual data and live data at the same time using network-connected eyeglasses.

In 1990, Fitch founded HardWear, a company based around his patents on clothing which integrated LCD video screens. He partnered with Microsoft to showcase this technology in San Francisco in 2000. At the birth of the modern Internet, he established himself as a top consultant. Fitch worked with clients such as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Capital Cities/ABC to help them position themselves as the Web emerged as a new medium.

In 1993, Fitch founded Thinking Pictures. The firm quickly gained a reputation for its vision as well as its achievements. An early project was the creation of one of the first multiplatform CD-ROMs in cooperation with Saturday Night Live. In 1994, Thinking Pictures previewed the future of streaming video by webcasting a Rolling Stones concert. In 1995, Thinking Pictures launched Rock.com, a music-based social networking site; one of the first attempts to build a Web-based online community. In 1996, Thinking Pictures partnered with Time, Inc. to develop and host the first online presidential debate, between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton.

These early ventures firmly established Thinking Pictures at the forefront of the Web revolution. Fitch’s vision of an online world where the Web could augment and replace traditional media while building virtual communities has come to fruition. Thinking Pictures helped to revolutionize the Web and the world through its pioneering efforts.

In 1998, Thinking Pictures developed the Digital Content Description Language which made DRM widely accessible to recording artists. A year before Napster gained notoriety, Fitch was pioneering technologies which would allow recording labels and artists to maintain control of their intellectual property.

Thinking Pictures has continued to lead, by incorporating Web-based technology into new aspects of everyday life. In 2000, Thinking Pictures partnered with national movie theater chains to deploy a network of electronic movie posters. In 2004, Fitch consulted with Herman Miller to create interactive scenarios using new infrared technology in order to revolutionize retail environments through controlled lighting and video displays.

Thinking Pictures is also developing technology to create truly interactive movies, which can incorporate feedback from audiences to tailor movies in real time. This revolutionary technology will make every showing a unique experience and redefine our relationship to mass media.

Fitch has consistently proven himself as a visionary and as an executive, having led Thinking Pictures successfully for 16 years and built it into a global company with over $10 million in annual revenues. He speaks regularly at MIT and other academic venues. He lives in California, where Thinking Pictures is headquartered.

Mr. Pfeiffer is currently responsible for establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships with content producers mainly in Europe. Mr. Pfeiffer is currently based in Switzerland to facilitate that task. Over the last 12 months he consulted with major European companies to help define their internet strategy. Prior to founding Thinking Pictures™, he produced interactive exhibits and content for major Swiss museums and institutions as a Senior Producer. Mr. Pfeiffer also has extensive experience as a filmmaker especially in the documentary, sports and advertising sectors. In 1989, he received his B.F.A., with Honors, in Film and Television Production from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Pfeiffer also holds a Swiss Science Baccalaureate and a degree in photography.