Pulling Focus: DIGITAL UPRISING

Join us for the second in our series of events about the business of film featuring digital media pioneers Michael Arrieta (Big Air Studios) & Hanson Hosein (Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in Seattle)

Moderated by Warren Etheredge

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DIGITAL UPRISING
The digital revolution may not be televised. While many boast about the democratizing impact of new, inexpensive technology, has it created false hope instead? Movie-makers may now be able to shoot for next to nothing, but how can the truly independent distribute and market their work? Does digital enable greater creativity or engender a greater dependence on established institutions? How can the film community avoid the pitfalls of analog paradigms and best profit from the latest advancements?

Tuesday, May 4
Sorrento Hotel / Top of the Tower Room
900 Madison Avenue (Madison and Terry)

6:30pm     Doors
7:00pm     Discussion with Michael Arrieta & Hanson Hosein
Cocktail Reception hosted by the Washington Wine Commission to follow event.

Tickets
$15 General Public
$10 Participating Organization Member.  Please contact participating organization to receive discount code.
Purchase COMBO tickets early for both May 4th and May 11th Pulling Focus events and receive a discount.

Brown Paper Tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/109837
Tickets also available at the door day of event depending on availability (cash only).  COMBO tickets will not be available for purchase on May 4th so make sure to get them early at Brown Paper Tickets.

Guest Bio:
Michael Arrieta
Founder & CEO Big Air Studios

Michael has over 20 years experience in the entertainment and new media business.  A true pioneer in digital media, Michael spent the last 12 years of his career at Sony Pictures where he oversaw the formation and operation of all Sony’s Digital Entertainment businesses as well as programming, games and services.  Michael established Sony’s licensing, ad sales and distribution relationships that drove new revenue sources from all business models across all digital platforms.  His divisions included Digital Content Production, Digital Distribution, Online and Mobile Video Networks, Online and Mobile Games, Promotional Websites, Digital Ad Sales and Technology/Advanced Platforms.

Through his leadership Sony Pictures was the first to offer film and television downloads on the internet, the first to offer full-length film on mobile phones, the first to offer film in virtual worlds, the first to create professional content for the internet and the first to launch a user-generated video service (Sony Screenblast, 2001).  Michael has produced over 200 websites including Sonypictures.com, over 75 mobile and online games – winning the coveted “Game of the Year” award in both 2005 and 2006 – and has produced over 35 made for digital series – including the first made-for-digital movie Angel of Death.

Michael has established deals with the biggest companies in the traditional and digital entertainment world, including iTunes, Xbox, PlayStation, Blockbuster, CinemaNow, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, YouTube, Hulu, AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, Netflix, Vudu, TiVo, DivX, Samsung, HP, Dell, Nokia, Motorola, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Starz.

Prior to Sony, Michael worked for 20th Century Fox and Morgan Creek Productions, and served as a strategic consultant in the Entertainment Group at Price Waterhouse.  Michael is a C.P.A and earned his B.A. in Economics and M.B.A from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hanson Hosein
Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in Seattle

Hanson Hosein specializes in storytelling, social media strategies and new models of communication. As President of HRH Media, he employed this expertise to direct the award-winning documentary films “Rising from Ruins” and “Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop,” which have been broadcast around the world and widely distributed online via Hulu and Yahoo!. Hanson advises organizations and companies such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Boston University, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Public Relations Society of America on media strategy. He has also won Emmy and Overseas Press Club Awards for his work as a television journalist with NBC News. He was embedded with the U.S. military in Iraq and covered the impact of the war throughout the Middle East, armed only with a laptop, satellite phone and camcorder. Hanson has a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University, and law degrees from Montreal’s McGill University and the University of Paris. He’s presently occupied with writing a book on storytelling in the digital age, hosting TEDx Seattle, and building the Media Space at the University of Washington, which aims to be a hub and business incubator for the Pacific Northwest’s digital media community. Hanson serves on the boards of the Common Language Project, UWTV, Puget Sound Off and is an affiliate member of the Jackson School’s Middle East Center.

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About Pulling Focus:

Pulling Focus is a series of three panels about the business of film designed to speak to the diversity of audience members, from screenwriters to actors, from directors to producers and on to musicians.  The goal is to elevate the conversation and design a dialogue that will have a little something for everyone and simultaneously help to give our community a rock solid education about how business is done in the film industry.