John S. Couch is currently in stealth mode, working on a next-gen TV and transmedia entertainment startup. Prior to this he was an independent Entertainment and Technology Consultant specializing in 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. Most recently 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 ClarkandMichael.com (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.