Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

2:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Track III: Herscher Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 303-304, Live Webcast

Working in the Industry: An In-Depth Discussion with Executives and Creatives from TV, Film and Technology

J. Todd Harris, founder, Branded Pictures Entertainment (Producer, The Kids Are All Right, Bottle Shock, Jeepers Creepers and Piranha 3D)

Laura Rodriguez, Marketing Coordinator, Social Media, The Recording Academy

Alma Derricks, Founder and Managing Partner, REV

Derrick N. Ashong, TV Host/Producer/Activist & Co-Founder Amp.it

Lucia Brawley, Executive Producer, The World Cup of Hip Hop & Co-Founder, Amp.It

Nick Vallelonga, Writer/Producer/Director/Actor, “Green Book”

Moderator, Simone Nelson, Managing Director, The CSU Entertainment Alliance

Lucia Brawley is an Executive Producer of two-time Interactive Emmy finalist, THE WORLD CUP OF HIP HOP and a co-founder of amp.it, a content engagement startup. She got her start as an actress for some of the world's foremost directors, including Oliver Stone, Barry Levinson, and Game of Thrones director, Alex Graves, and played the title character in the award-winning Hungarian film, LORA. She has a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard, an M.F.A. in Acting from the Yale School of Drama. Lucia started a group of 2 volunteers in the Obama '08 campaign and helped grow it to a membership of 2,000, with her congressional district winning for then-Candidate Obama by the largest margin in the California Primary. She writes for national outlets like The Huffington Post and CNN.com, and has been a keynote speaker at The Yale School of Music.

NICK VALLELONGA - DIRECTOR/ WRITER / PRODUCER / ACTOR  -  Nick Vallelonga wrote the script with Peter Farrelly & Brian Currie and also is one of the producers on GREEN BOOK for Steven Spielberg's Amblin and Participant Media,  with Peter Farrelly directing. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini and will be released in the fall of 2018.  Other recent credits include Directing and Producing  UNORGANIZED CRIME, a TV Pilot starring Chazz Palminteri.  Nick developed and was a one of the producers on I AM WRATH starring John Travolta, Christopher Meloni and Paul Sloan which received a theatrical release in 2016.  He was one of the producers on  VIGILANTE DIARIES which starred Paul Sloan, Michael Madsen, Michael Jai White, Jason Mewes, Quentin Rampage Jackson, James Russo and Danny Trejo, which also received a theatrical release in 2016 and was purchased by HBO.  Nick was one of the producers and co-starred in the SYFY film, DOOMSDAY DEVICE in 2016.  Nick Line Produced CHOCOLATE CITY, which starred Vivica Fox and Michael Jai White and which was picked up by Paramount and released theatrically in 2015.  Nick Directed and Produced STILETTO starring Tom Berenger, Stana Katic, Michael Biehn, William Forsythe, Diane Venora, Tom Sizemore and Kelly Hu.  Nick Directed and Produced the indy Western, YELLOW ROCK, starring Michael Biehn and James Russo.  Yellow Rock won many film festivals including the The Wrangler Award for Best Film and Best Director at the prestigious National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Derrick N. Ashong, TV Host/Producer/Activist & Co-Founder Amp.it: “We’re counting on that one,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Derrick N. Ashong (“DNA”) who was born in a house with no running water in Accra, Ghana, carried a gas mask to school in the Middle East during the first Gulf War and made it Harvard as an undergraduate and PhD student, then went on to work with Spielberg, Oprah, and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. An Emmy-nominated TV host and producer, Derrick has pioneered meaningful, innovative content across all platforms over the past twenty years.  He is the founder of Amp.it, a 21st-century media company that combines TV-quality programming with the interactivity of social media. He is also the creator of two-time Interactive Emmy finalist, The World Cup of Hip Hop, which gives a voice to young artists and fans around the world. Derrick has spoken about issues of Tech, Media and Society on five continents, including for UK Parliament, the United Nations, Stanford, Harvard and Wharton Business Schools, and MIT. @DNAtv

J. Todd Harris, President, Branded Pictures Entertainment: J. Todd Harris is the president of Branded Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles. Branded Pictures Entertainment (BPE) is a multi-media production and development company that focuses on creating successful film, television and stage productions based on under-utilized brands, both classic and new. He brings a track record of nearly 40 films he’s produced. These include the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right, as well as Bottle Shock, Crooked Arrows, Jeepers Creepers and Piranha 3D.  Five of the films he’s produced have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including Digging to China, Urbania and Lewis & Clark & George. His first feature, the $600,000-budgeted Denise Calls Up, won a Special Mention for the Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 and went on to become a hit in France, eventually tripling its investment. Other films have played nearly every major film festival in the world, including Toronto, Tribeca, SxSW, Deauville, Montreal and many others. He is a founding board member of the Napa Valley Film Festival. In the summer of 2012 he produced the film musical Lucky Stiff, starring Jason Alexander. His latest feature production, So B. It, debuts in fall 2017, starring Alfre Woodard, Cloris Leachman and newcomer Jacinda Barrett. For television, Harris and BPE is developing a series based on the acclaimed and controversial book The Blondes for AMC’s horror channel Shudder. J. Todd Harris’ stage history includes producer credits on the musical production Doctor Zhivago, Heathers The Musical and, most recently, the stage musical production of American Psycho. He is also an investor in the upcoming Soul Train, a high-energy musical inspired by the long-running TV show. He is a former lecturer at the Los Angeles Film School and has contributed thoughtful, informed columns for various trade publications. Harris earned his BA and MBA from Stanford University and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Amy Powers, a songwriter, and their two sons.

Laura Rodriguez manages social media marketing for The Recording Academy—the world’s leading society of music professionals. The Academy also honors music's history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards — music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. Rodriguez works year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators and has been integral in growing the Academy’s branding and presence through social media campaign creation and implementation to connect global music fans year-round and on Music’s biggest night – The Grammy Awards.  She has a B.A in Communications from California State University Fullerton, where she guest lectures about working in social media marketing and the entertainment industry.

Alma Derricks, Founder and Managing Partner, REV: Alma Derricks is an accomplished marketing executive and brand strategist with over 20 years of experience building inventive new businesses at the edges of established media, entertainment and consumer products companies. She has launched content networks for internationally acclaimed franchises including Star Trek and Dilbert; advised executives at NBCU, Verizon, Redbox, Blue Man Group, and Southwest Airlines; and held senior management positions at HBO, Paramount, Deloitte Consulting, El Rey Network, and Cirque du Soleil. Alma holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Simone Nelson, Managing Director, The CSU Entertainment Alliance: Simone Nelson has developed and produced films, theater productions, festivals, and digital media entertainment start-ups for more than 20 years. She’s worked with, among others, the former head of Disney Studios & Theatricals Peter Schneider; filmmaker/writer Rebecca Miller and actor Daniel Day Lewis; Forensic Films; Film Arts Foundation; the Mill Valley Film Festival/California Film Institute; the Global Film Initiative; San Francisco Opera; The International Festival of Arts & Ideas and London’s famed Royal Court Theatre & Shakespeare’s Globe. More recently she produced the Berlin Film Festival award-winning documentary City of Borders; was a two-term President of Bay Area Women in Film & Media; served as head of distribution & partnerships for Webby Awards founder/filmmaker Tiffany Shlain’s Moxie Institute Film Studio; and as managing director of the inaugural Social Change Film Festival in Bali, Indonesia. Besides her work for CSU, Simone is a producer for Richard Branson’s Virgin Disruptors and a new narrative feature film, The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Simone is also a strategic communications & creative development consultant working at the cross section of entertainment and technology. She is skilled at crafting innovative, engaging & high impact new & traditional media funding, marketing, publicity, & distribution strategies across multiple platforms & channels generating increased presence, audience share & revenue. Simone trained as an actor and has performed in venues all over the U.S. and abroad in musicals, plays and as the lead singer of several bands.  She’s taught producing, acting and directing at The Art Institute of CA–San Francisco sand has trained at New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the British American Drama Academy in London, England.  She graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Theater and has an MFA from Yale University’s Graduate School of Drama.