President | Vuguru | Los Angeles, CA
Experience Highlights
A digital entertainment veteran, Tanz brings more than 15 years of strategy and operating experience in media, entertainment and technology. Tanz has tremendous expertise in producing and developing successful film, television, and new media projects including documentary film features Running the Sahara (in release) and First Descent for Universal Pictures and the Emmy-nominated TV series Project Greenlight for HBO and Bravo. In December 2009, Tanz was appointed President of Vuguru, the leading independent studio developing and financing world class content for digital and international platforms. Under Tanz’s direction, Vuguru, which was founded by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company in 2006 and backed by Canada’s Rogers Media in October 2009, structured a strategic international sales and distribution agreement for 10 projects with UK-based ContentFilm in September 2010 as well as a sales and distribution deal for six projects in the U.S. with Aol in November 2010.
Before joining Vuguru, Tanz served as President and Co-Founder of Agility Studios LLC, a boutique multiplatform studio that develops and finances intellectual property based businesses. While at Agility, Tanz helped develop and launch the multiplatform franchise The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, which is currently being distributed around the world by Paramount Digital Entertainment.
Prior to Agility, Tanz served as CEO and president of LivePlanet, a multiplatform production company whose founders included Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. At LivePlanet Tanz was instrumental in creating profitability for the company while also negotiating high-profile deals with top studios including Universal, Miramax, ABC, NBC, MTV, E! and Spike TV. He negotiated and implemented millions of dollars worth of brand integration partnerships with major brands such as Pepsi, HP and Toyota. He also has a number of “firsts”: he led the development and design of Sprint’s first 3G mobile game, Push, Nevada, as well as Sprint’s first multiplayer location-based game, PhoneTag, he also Executive Produced the first original HD content for Xbox360, Race to E3.
Prior to his tenure at LivePlanet, Tanz served as Director of Strategy and Operations at AOL Time Warner, where he managed acquisitions and strategy around subsidiary brands (including Moviefone, ICQ, Spinner/WinAmp, MapQuest, DigitalCities and AIM). Before AOL Time Warner, Tanz was a Senior Associate at Mercer Management Consulting, where he helped Fortune 100 clients develop and implement new products and strategies.
Tanz became involved with the water crisis after producing Running the Sahara, a film shot across six countries across the Sahara Desert. He joined the board of Water.org when the organization eventually merged with H20Africa, which he co-founded.
Commitment to Water.org
"Water.org has extensive on-the-ground experience implementing successful, sustainable water projects. The combination between WaterPartners and H2O Africa will leverage our shared resources to reach even more people with clean water. I admire Water.org’s smart approach to philanthropy and am glad to be part of an organization that is creating large-scale, system change in the water and sanitation sector."
Education and Accreditation
BA, Psychology, Magna cum Laude honors, Harvard
MS, Behavioral Psychology, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
MBA, Entrepreneurial Management, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
