Creative Entrepreneurs: Peter Hansen

I recently reconnected with my close friend and business colleague Peter Hansen. Over the past several years, Peter has been closely involved with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, AB Canada. Having served as the institution’s Chair, Digital Media Design, since 2002, then as Chair Digital Media and IT, since 2009, earlier this year he returned to his private consultancy, Plasmechanica Media Design. I peppered him with some questions about his experiences with NAIT, which he kindly anwers below.

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N.A.S.A. NSFW 2010 (adult content)

Last February, N.A.S.A. (North America/South America) debuted “The Spirit of Apollo” on Anti- Records. I’ve written before about the ongoing creative collaboration between lifelong music aficionados Squeak E. Clean (aka Sam Spiegel) and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes. Today, “The Spirit of Apollo” continues involving many superstar artists from both U.S. coasts in bringing people together through music and art. I hope you enjoy the updated playlist, featuring the talents of N.A.S.A.’s many fine-artist friends. Read more

Moving forward: World Water Day 2010

In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks. For more information, please visit http://storyofbottledwater.org. Read more

Hail brave crusaders! Brian Marr from Wexley School for Girls

Last evening, the American Advertising Federation of Greenville, South Carolina hosted Brian Marr, Managing Director for the West Coast marketing agency Wexley School for Girls, at the lovely Westin Poinsett in downtown Greenville.

Well known for their innovative approaches in engaging customers for Microsoft, Nike, Seattle Sounders and Seahawks, Copper Mountain and others Read more

Much love to and from The Children’s Playhouse

A creative play space for families, and a powerful force for community goodness in Boone, North Carolina, USA

After helping my wife Beth Darnell, and her sister Ann Kiefert, their comrade Kathy Parham, and many others from our then-new hometown of Boone, North Carolina, open The Children’s Playhouse in November of 2002, I am very proud to see how Kathy has led the venture in countless ways which continue adding precious dimensions to our community. The video featured here was produced by our friend Beth Jacquot in 2003, and much has happened since then. I invite you to visit the official site www.GoPlayhouse.org and explore the Facebook group, and I also wanted to share news from a recent event that reveals a lot about our community, and Kathy.
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Brilliant Directors: Brand New School

With studios in New York and Los Angeles, Brand New School is a bicoastal directing collective working in all fields of commercial art. Ever evolving, the studio continues to cultivate a sense of wonder and exploration. For its artists and clients alike, BNS represents an opportunity to play at work, to conduct experiments in imagemaking, and to feed the inspiration that drives the industry. For more information, please visit www.BrandNewSchool.com.

I’m all about learning, friending at the 2009 Boards Summit

Calendar year 2009 has been a constant challenge for me, and I consider myself very lucky compared with many I know who are facing difficult times. My thoughts remain with them as I carry on daily in what is truly my dream job, and while I’m hoping things will get easier for everyone who’s struggling, I’m also doing more to benefit others. Through this process, I’m finding that strengthening myself and my capabilities is impacting a growing circle of friends and colleagues. A large share of my business now occurs within the commercial production industry. Read more

Proven social media marketing strategies, tactics and breakthrough ideas for the ad and film industries

This week I had the pleasure of attending a webinar entitled, “Tweet this! Using Twitter and Social Media to Promote your Project and Yourself,” which was organized and moderated for StudioDaily.com by Film & Video Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Bryant Frazer (@bryantfrazer), and featured Mike Monello (@mikemonello), co-founder and executive creative director at Campfire Media and co-producer of “The Blair Witch Project,” Erik Proulx (@eproulx), freelance creative director, copywriter, employment activist, social entrepreneur at Please Feed the Animals, and director of the short documentary film, “Lemonade,” Ian Schafer (@ischafer), CEO of Deep Focus, and Paul Klinke and Tobin Nageotte (@37click), co-founders of thirtysevenclick, and producers of the independent comedic short “Moustachette.” Read more

We Are Plus relaunches, drives positive brand movement worldwide

Since first launching Plus et Plus in New York City in 2002, company founder Jeremy Hollister, his co-creative director Judy Wellfare, projects director Zu Al-Kadiri and their colleagues have built a reputation as a go-to company for fashion brands seeking to create sexy, marketing-savvy visual content for high-profile promotional uses ranging from live and in-store events to online, offline and traditional broadcast marketing campaigns. Recently relaunched as We Are Plus, over the past several months the company has delivered innovative projects for AMC, Shu Uemura Cosmetics, and Kidrobot, among many others. Read more

Editors from “Stand Up to Cancer” broadcast earn Creative Arts Primetime Emmy

Last September, “Stand Up to Cancer” (www.standup2cancer.org) was broadcast live and commercial-free simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC, and was seen in over 170 countries. During the broadcast, which was produced by Laura Ziskin Productions and Seligman Entertainment, and hosted by Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Sheryl Crow, Charles Barkley and Melissa Etheridge, the event raised more than $100 million in an unprecedented effort to end cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death. Meanwhile, last Sat., Sept. 12, 2009, Read more