About
Titanium Sky is my (note: me being JOHN S. COUCH, not to be confused with the guy who worked at Apple back in the day) personal website for professional and not so professional purposes (see global nav, “Miscellaneous“). The name “titanium sky” is an oblique homage to the opening line of William Gibson’s Neuromancer:
“ The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
Here’s a little bit about my professional life (if you would like to know more, please contact me (info@titaniumsky.com) and I’ll send you a résumé):
Biography:
John S. Couch is an Entertainment and Technology Specialist focusing on cross-platform content strategies and development for television, film, Internet, mobile, video games and emerging new media platforms. He has worked with multiple agencies, including Method.com for whom he consulted as Creative Director on a virtual worlds project. Currently he is Director of Programming at FLO TV, where he oversees original programming, content development and interactive strategy. Before that he was the Vice President of Entertainment & Creative Media Strategy for Digital Kitchen, where he drove strategy and pursued opportunities as the company further immersed itself into the world of interactive media.
Before striking out as a consultant, Couch was Vice President and Entertainment Creative Director for CBS Interactive, driving creative services and delivery primarily for CBS.com, as well as working with the extended interactive network consisting of CBSSportsline.com, CBSNews.com, ShowBuzz.com, Last.fm, Dotspotter.com (now TheInsider.com), Wallstrip.com and Clark and Michael (an original online series starring Michael Cera of Superbad and Juno fame.) Additionally, he worked extensively on The Courier, an original TV and transmedia project.
Couch held the responsibility for developing interactive products and digital strategy for the integration of CBS TV network content with Internet, mobile entertainment, game strategy and development of web 2.0/web 3.0 architectures. This included product development for the content programmers SURVIVOR, BIG BROTHER, THE AMAZING RACE, CSI:, CSI: MIAMI, CSI: NY, NUMB3RS, and MOONLIGHT. Couch conceived, managed and oversaw the CSI: NY Second Life “cross-over” project, wherein the virtual world platform was integrated into the show’s storyline. Additionally, he was involved with the NUMB3RS ARG (alternate reality game) project that blurred the lines between linear storytelling, digital delivery, fiction and fact.
Before moving to Los Angeles in 2000, he was Co-Founder and Creative Director of ONE Media, a startup for which he raised venture capital from Sierra Ventures and The Walden Group. Couch started his new media career at Wired Magazine and Internet-pioneer Hotwired.
Couch frequently speaks on the future of entertainment and “transmedia.” He has presented at numerous media and entertainment conferences, including NATPE’s LATV Fest and Promax BDA. He spoke at the HOW Design Conference in Austin in June 2009 about designing beyond three screens.
Couch was on the Blue Ribbon Panel judging for the 2007 Interactive Television Primetime Emmy Awards and is a standing member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is a former VP of the Los Angeles chapter of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and led the redesign of the website, aigalosangeles.org.
Couch is fluent in Japanese.
Other trivia:
I love all things Japanese. Here’s a picture of my mother’s family (she’s the little girl in the middle).
I love martial arts (my alma mater & more recent activities), contemporary art, New Wave era films and cutting edge design.
I have a beautiful, kind and talented wife and an extraordinary daughter (pictured above with me, thankfully she inherited her mother’s looks).
Personal heroes include: Richard Feynman, Francis Bacon (the artist), Richard Dawkins, Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, David Bowie, Sir Richard Burton, and Miyamoto Musashi
I conceived, pitched and managed CSI: NY’s Second Life cross-over project.
Favorite cities: Tokyo, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Venice, London and LA.
Favorite sites include: TED.com, Wired.com, Space Collective, HPlus Magazine, Humanityplus.org, Paidcontent.org, Boing Boing, Kevin Kelly’s site(s), i09.com, The Long Now, NYTimes.com, Huffington Post & Tech Crunch
I came up with TwitFlicks for Digital Kitchen’s Webby Awards involvement.
My stepson, Austin, is an accomplished jazz and classical pianist. He’s played at the Tokyo Jazz Fest among his many venues and locally he plays at The Jazz Bakery with some regularity. Recently he performed on KCRW, on Tom Schnabel’s show. His CDs Maiden Voyage and Mantra are available at Amazon.
CONTACT: info@titaniumsky.com
A window into a bit of my musical taste (by no means comprehensive), visually illustrated below. Also, a little radio player below the quilt plays music based on my iTunes library.
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