Dennis M. Lynch
Encyclopedia
Dennis Michael Lynch is an American entrepreneur and documentary film maker. Currently, he is the Founder and CEO of TV360Media.com, a digital media company claiming to operate one of the world's largest network of independent content creators.
where he struggled through middle school and graduated near the bottom of his class at Holy Trinity High School
. His efforts to obtain a college degree were no better; Lynch is a five-time college drop-out.
In 1990, Lynch attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice
in Manhattan so he could play on the school's baseball team. After seeing Lynch pitch just one inning in an exhibition game, a major league scout for the Montreal Expos
invited him to spring training try-outs in Lantana, Florida. Upon failing to earn a spot on the Expos' minor league team, Lynch gave up on baseball and returned to New York to marry his high school sweetheart.
His cousin, Elizabeth Hendrickson
, is an actress and cast member of daytime soap, Young and the Restless
requested an interview with Lynch after seeing him on the Long Island Expressway in a Mercedes 500SL bearing a personalized license plate reading, "NOCOLEGE". On the day the article ran, Lynch was contacted by numerous venture capitalists eager to invest in Lynx Technologies. In August 1999, Lynch secured $13 million from venture capitalists Rho Management, George Soros
, Boston Millennium Partners, and John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple and Pepsi.
In January 2000, the company was renamed to TechSmart.com From August 1999 to July 2000, Lynch grew the company from 35 to 217 employees, revenue increased by more than 800%, and the company's locations increased from one warehouse in New York, to five throughout the country. Lynch and his company quickly captured the attention of media outlets. He appeared on CNN's Business Unusual, CNBC's Business Center, ABC NEWS and News 12 Long Island. He was featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today and various business magazines.
In June 2000, Lynch won the prestigious Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Award in e-Business. A few weeks later, Lynch was hospitalized with a life-threatening case of double pneumonia. After six-days in ICU, Lynch resigned from TechSmart. Subsequently, John Sculley resigned from the company's board of directors. Three-years after Lynch resigned, the company was incapable of maintaining profitability and closed its doors.
In January 2001, Lynch and John Sculley
started a Manhattan-based consulting and investment firm called Signature21. Sculley and Lynch focused on small companies with unique products and services. Two of their clients were instant successes. The first was InPhonic
, a wireless services company which later conducted a successful IPO. The second was The Wine Clip, a wine accessory product sold worldwide on the Home Shopping Network
and Sharper Image.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lynch was in downtown Manhattan where he witnessed the terrorist attacks. Shortly thereafter, Lynch left Signature21 to pursue his dream of film making. Lynch enrolled in a 5-week digital film making class at the New York Film Academy
. He later launched TV360Media.com as an Internet-based video production company that hires freelance film makers from around the world to produce high-quality short videos for clients such as ABC NEWS
and UCLA Health Systems. With more than 12,000 freelancers, TV360Media.com claims to be one of the largest networks of its kind.
Lynch's debut film, King of the Hamptons, is a full-length documentary about his own mid-life crisis. In search for something better than his daily routine, he abruptly moves out to the Hamptons for a summer and embeds himself amid the rich and famous. The movie premiered with two sold-out screenings at the 2010Hamptons International Film Festival
and was the feature film on opening night at the 2011 Long Island International Film Expo on July 7, 2011.
Christie Brinkley
, who appears in the film, commented, "King of the Hamptons is a small-town film with a huge soul." Dan Rattiner, founder of Dan's Papers, the Hamptons largest newspaper, said, "Dennis Michael Lynch created the best film ever made about the Hamptons. He is a filmmaker to watch in the years ahead." Other celebrities in the film are Billy Joel
, Alec Baldwin
, Chevy Chase
, Edward Burns
, Mercedes Ruehl
, Kim Cattrall
, Andre Agassi
, Stefi Graf, James Lipton
, and Alexa Ray Joel
.
Lynch's second film, "A One Man Tsunami", is a short documentary about Tom Widel. Widel, who is an out-of-work carpenter, has been protesting everyday for six years straight against the hundreds of undocumented day-laborers who solicit themselves on the corner outside a 7 ELEVEN in Southampton, New York. On October 11, 2011, Lynch released the movie on his website, DennisMichaelLynch.com. The making of the film inspired Lynch to produce a full-length documentary about illegal immigration. The film is called, THEY COME TO AMERICA, and is scheduled for film festival release in January 2012.
Personal life
Lynch was raised in Hicksville, New YorkHicksville, New York
Hicksville is a hamlet and census-designated place located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 41,547 at the 2010 census...
where he struggled through middle school and graduated near the bottom of his class at Holy Trinity High School
Holy Trinity Diocesan High School
Holy Trinity High School is a co-educational learning environment located centrally in Hicksville, Nassau County, New York on Long Island. Education is based on New York State Education Standards with a strong emphasis on Religious Studies as well...
. His efforts to obtain a college degree were no better; Lynch is a five-time college drop-out.
In 1990, Lynch attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States. The college offers programs in Forensic Science and Forensic...
in Manhattan so he could play on the school's baseball team. After seeing Lynch pitch just one inning in an exhibition game, a major league scout for the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
invited him to spring training try-outs in Lantana, Florida. Upon failing to earn a spot on the Expos' minor league team, Lynch gave up on baseball and returned to New York to marry his high school sweetheart.
His cousin, Elizabeth Hendrickson
Elizabeth Hendrickson
Elizabeth Hendrickson is an American actress. Her big break came when she was cast as character Frankie Stone on the daytime drama All My Children...
, is an actress and cast member of daytime soap, Young and the Restless
Entrepreneur
At age 22, Dennis received a $2,000 loan from his mother to start a computer recycling company called Lynx Technologies. Lynch grew the company by opening a chain of retail stores on Long Island called Computer Again. In 1999, a reporter from NewsdayNewsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
requested an interview with Lynch after seeing him on the Long Island Expressway in a Mercedes 500SL bearing a personalized license plate reading, "NOCOLEGE". On the day the article ran, Lynch was contacted by numerous venture capitalists eager to invest in Lynx Technologies. In August 1999, Lynch secured $13 million from venture capitalists Rho Management, George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
, Boston Millennium Partners, and John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple and Pepsi.
In January 2000, the company was renamed to TechSmart.com From August 1999 to July 2000, Lynch grew the company from 35 to 217 employees, revenue increased by more than 800%, and the company's locations increased from one warehouse in New York, to five throughout the country. Lynch and his company quickly captured the attention of media outlets. He appeared on CNN's Business Unusual, CNBC's Business Center, ABC NEWS and News 12 Long Island. He was featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today and various business magazines.
In June 2000, Lynch won the prestigious Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
Entrepreneur of the Year Award in e-Business. A few weeks later, Lynch was hospitalized with a life-threatening case of double pneumonia. After six-days in ICU, Lynch resigned from TechSmart. Subsequently, John Sculley resigned from the company's board of directors. Three-years after Lynch resigned, the company was incapable of maintaining profitability and closed its doors.
In January 2001, Lynch and John Sculley
John Sculley
John Sculley is an American businessman. Sculley was vice-president and president of PepsiCo , until he became CEO of Apple on April 8, 1983, a position he held until leaving in 1993...
started a Manhattan-based consulting and investment firm called Signature21. Sculley and Lynch focused on small companies with unique products and services. Two of their clients were instant successes. The first was InPhonic
InPhonic
InPhonic Inc was an American company which sold wireless services and devices online, both through its own electronic commerce sites and through private labeled websites it created and managed for online retailers. InPhonic was founded by David A. Steinberg who resigned in 2007 due to poor debt...
, a wireless services company which later conducted a successful IPO. The second was The Wine Clip, a wine accessory product sold worldwide on the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
and Sharper Image.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lynch was in downtown Manhattan where he witnessed the terrorist attacks. Shortly thereafter, Lynch left Signature21 to pursue his dream of film making. Lynch enrolled in a 5-week digital film making class at the New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy - School of Film and Acting is a film school andacting school based in New York City, Universal City, California, USA and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. NYFA offers short-term film-making and acting courses, as well as one- and two-year conservatory and Master of Fine Arts...
. He later launched TV360Media.com as an Internet-based video production company that hires freelance film makers from around the world to produce high-quality short videos for clients such as ABC NEWS
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and UCLA Health Systems. With more than 12,000 freelancers, TV360Media.com claims to be one of the largest networks of its kind.
Web, TV & Films
Since 2007, Lynch has been CEO of TV360Media.com He's been Executive Producer of 3,000 web videos called REALQUESTIONS. In 2008, he produced a series of short documentaries called REALHEALTH. The films ran for one season on ABC NEWS' HEALTHY LIFE with Dr. Tim Johnson.Lynch's debut film, King of the Hamptons, is a full-length documentary about his own mid-life crisis. In search for something better than his daily routine, he abruptly moves out to the Hamptons for a summer and embeds himself amid the rich and famous. The movie premiered with two sold-out screenings at the 2010Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...
and was the feature film on opening night at the 2011 Long Island International Film Expo on July 7, 2011.
Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley is an American model and actress best known for her three consecutive appearances on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for her long-running contract with CoverGirl, the longest ever of any model in history, and for her marriage...
, who appears in the film, commented, "King of the Hamptons is a small-town film with a huge soul." Dan Rattiner, founder of Dan's Papers, the Hamptons largest newspaper, said, "Dennis Michael Lynch created the best film ever made about the Hamptons. He is a filmmaker to watch in the years ahead." Other celebrities in the film are Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Edward Burns
Edward Burns
Edward Fitzgerald Burns is an American actor, film producer, writer and director.-Early life:Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Molly , a federal agency manager, and Edward J. Burns, a public relations spokesman and police officer. He was raised a Roman Catholic...
, Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes J. Ruehl is an American theater, television and film actor.-Personal life:Ruehl was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, the daughter of Mercedes J., a school teacher, and Vincent Ruehl, an FBI agent. She was raised Catholic. Her father was of German and Irish descent and her...
, Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
, Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
, Stefi Graf, James Lipton
James Lipton
James Lipton is an American writer, poet, composer, actor and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He is the executive producer, writer and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, which debuted in 1994...
, and Alexa Ray Joel
Alexa Ray Joel
Alexa Ray Joel is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She is the daughter and only child of singer-songwriter Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley....
.
Lynch's second film, "A One Man Tsunami", is a short documentary about Tom Widel. Widel, who is an out-of-work carpenter, has been protesting everyday for six years straight against the hundreds of undocumented day-laborers who solicit themselves on the corner outside a 7 ELEVEN in Southampton, New York. On October 11, 2011, Lynch released the movie on his website, DennisMichaelLynch.com. The making of the film inspired Lynch to produce a full-length documentary about illegal immigration. The film is called, THEY COME TO AMERICA, and is scheduled for film festival release in January 2012.