TONY VERNA

ÒThe Man Who Invented the Instant ReplayÓ

Television Producer/Director, Author, Inventor

Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

In his conversational autobiography, ÒInstant Replay the day that

changed sports foreverÓ you can see photographs of Tony Verna with

sports stars, movie stars, presidents, dictators, Pope John Paul II,

Mother Teresa. You can see these photographs and more also on his

website TonyVernatvtv.com. How did a young kid from South

Philadelphia get to make such a splash on the international scene?

Tony Verna is more than ÒThe Man Who Invented Instant Replay.Ó

Before he received the Directors Guild of AmericaÕs ÒLifetime

Achievement AwardÓ in 1995, heÕd directed five Super Bowls and

twelve Kentucky Derbies. He traveled to Mexico to direct their Soccer

Championship and to direct their national rodeo, The Charreada. Then

off to France, to direct the Grand Prix for Mexican Network.

He was in Russia to direct The Mike Douglas Show live from Moscow, in

London to direct the ÒWorld Circus,Ó in Las Vegas to become President

of CaesarÕs Palace Productions, in Ronald ReaganÕs home to direct an

interview with the President, in the White House to film President

George H.W. Bush.

In 1985 Verna filmed a ÒChristmas SpecialÓ with Mother Teresa. That

same year he co-produced and co-directed ÒLive Aid,Ó Bob GeldofÕs 16-

hour fund-raiser for Africa, seen by 1.5 billion people worldwide. He

then created an international program for Pope John Paul II entitled

ÒPrayer for World Peace.Ó Over a billion people, breaking the record

for the most viewers to witness a television program, saw the live

telecast, which he also produced and directed.

In 1987 Omni Magazine chose Verna as one of the Ò14 Great MindsÓ to

predict the future. In 1990 he was the executive producer/director for

Ted TurnerÕs Goodwill Games. Also in 2006 The Academy of Television

Arts and Sciences Foundation videotaped a five-hour interview with

Verna, recapping his career, an interview which can be accessed at their

website.

Verna began his career at age 19 at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, became

a sports director for CBS-TV, then an independent producer/director of

sports and entertainment TV.

He has three grown children. HeÕs written five books: Playback, Live

TV, Global Television Instant Replay the day that changed sports

forever and a whodunit title: Algebra I Murder II.

Verna has patented ÒInstantFootballerÓ a live tracking, football widget

for the Internet. Like the Instant Replay, it uses current technology to

do something that has never existed before. The InstantFootballer can

spot the football during a live game. The ball is placed on the exact

yardline, and the image is immediately rendered to your cell-phone

screen (or computer).

Verna has patented ÒTalkingReplaysÓ-- a new and novel methodology

pertaining to the Instant Replay wherein an athleteÕs prerecorded voice

can be featured on the Instant Replay during a live telecast. The system

is intended to combine and transmit a separate audio and video feed

during a live sporting event in a manner whereby the retrieved audio

can be precisely played back with a yet-to-be determined video of an

Instant Replay according to the live game action. An athleteÕs personal

comments are prerecorded, encoded and indexed into an Audio Bank

for retrieval whereby the selected audioÕs playback would eventually be

mixed with the internationally sound (sans announcers) being emitted

by the Instant Replay that was chosen to be played back due to its

relevance to the live game in progress.

For more information about Tony Verna, visitwww.TonyVerntvtv.com

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