CV

I specialise in advising on issues and opportunities relating to the knowledge industries and international production, distribution and marketing of digital content and courseware, both linear and interactive.

Having started my career in international banking with Barclays Bank in the City of London I then joined Cinema International Corporation N.V. (CIC) at its international HQ in Amsterdam at the time it was established by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures. As Associate General Counsel of CIC he was part of a small executive team that created what is today, now renamed United International Pictures (UIP), the world’s largest international film and TV distribution company. In that capacity I established and administered a tax efficient international licensing structure with subsidiaries and associated entities in 45 countries.

Upon resigning from CIC I was appointed as Counsel, European Legal and Business Affairs of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) the trade association representing the international interests of the major American film and television studios. In this position, he had responsibility on behalf of the MPEAA members, for handling legal, marketing and other commercial matters relating to video, broadcast television, cable television and satellite communications throughout Europe. I was also involved, inter alia, in the establishment of AGICOA international collection society, video trade associations and anti-piracy organisations throughout Europe and for lobbying governments for legislative reform. I frequently attended and spoke at meetings of the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organisation as a delegate of the International Federation of Film Producers.

After resigning from the MPEAA I established Norris & Associates as a boutique advisory service, which offers a coordinated range of expertise to governments and companies around the world. These services include:

o Research, development and implementation of international niche marketing, distribution and branding strategies for digital content products and services.
o Advising governments in developing countries on issues and opportunities relating to the national development of the knowledge based industries and the digital economy, including structuring of training programmes.
o Advising on the effective use of digital media technologies to promote cultural tourism and educational courseware.
o Assisting governments and companies with the creation of (national) sound and image archives.
o Handling legal and business affairs for projects relating to digital content and the Internet.
o Mentoring management on the development of new digital media business ventures.
o Advising on the protection of intellectual assets.

I write and lecture on issues and opportunities relating to the knowledge industries and the international digital economy. I have extensive “hands on” experience of international film, TV, video and digital content production and distribution as well as the operation of film archives, digital archiving and the publication and international sales and distribution of special interest digital content.

I am a founder member of the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management Ltd, a Freeman of the City of London, a member of the UK Society of Authors and the UK Register of Expert Witnesses, the Caribbean British Business Council, the Schumacher Society and of the Cornwall Media Task Force. I am President of the Nature Island Foundation, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies.