DECEMBER 1994
Netscape Navigator web browser is invented. Microsoft has yet to develop a product.
STEPHEN notices, and...
JANUARY 1995
STEPHEN pivots and quickly picks up the skill of coding page markup for the web. He realizes (based on experience, plus the Sun Microsystems lawsuit) that Microsoft was going to cause issues when they launch their still-in-development web browser (Internet Explorer), so he introduces language into his contracts to limit his liability:
Pages will display properly when viewed with Netscape Navigator web browsing software regardless of whether using the software on Macintosh or Windows. Any web browsing software "yet to be invented" that fails to display the W3C standards-compliant code properly shall require a separate fee, IF substantial time is estimated to be required to achieve the results desired by the client.
When the browser wars started, his contracts allowed him to confidently bill for structural retrofits to accomodate "broken" browsers. Originally written up to reduce his personal exposure, the boilerplate language was immediately re-purposed for contracts being drafted at International Creative Management.
APRIL 1995
STEPHEN codes his first professional website for LAIFF, the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. He turned a printed media kit into a fully linked festival guide to showcase his new talent, and promoted it on the pre-cursor to the web, the USENET.
APRIL 1996
The following year, the founder of LAIFF (Robert Faust) offered STEPHEN a platinum sponsorship package of badges, tickets and in-festival signage plus feature pre-roll advertising in exchange for his volunteer efforts. STEPHEN and his team provides LIVE streaming of the second annual festival opening and closing gala receptions directly to a CU-SeeMe server mirror for a scalable broadcast of the LAIFF. STEPHEN would maintain his sponsorship level and commitment to excellence every year until Robert Faust's project is acquired by IFP/west.
1996
STEPHEN's company, Pacific Ocean Digital, is awarded the contract to create a website and companion media for Sony Pictures Entertainment's motion picture, Jerry Maguire. The client at Sony hinted that Tom Cruise selected STEPHEN's team specifically because STEPHEN said "YES" when asked if they could just throw in a Palace Chat.