Prior to co-founding and heading up The Hollywood Hill, an entertainment industry social change membership organization, Ariel worked at United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier Hollywood talent agencies, where he trained under the co-head of the motion picture literary department and assisted in the representation of more than a dozen A-list directors such as Chris Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento), and Tom Shadyac (Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor). Prior to that position, he trained under other top agents in the motion picture literary and indy film packaging division, assisting in the representation of dozens of A-list writers, directors, actors, and producers including Alan Ball (writer of American Beauty, creator of Six Feet Under) and Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can, Rush Hour 2). Before moving to Los Angeles, he worked as an e-commerce specialist at Internet venture capital firm CMGi, moving on to assist in the expansion of the Experience Design division of Internet consulting firm Zefer, Inc. in Boston. Preceding his work in the Internet, he was co-owner of a product design & consulting firm, Tiles & Christiansen, Ltd., managing clients such as Barney’s NY, Four Seasons Hotels and Donna Karan Home Fashions. He attended Clark University where he studied International Economies, and attended high school at North Carolina School of the Arts (at North Carolina University) where he trained in ballet under the direction of Duncan Noble of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
Ori Neidich is a filmmaker, television producer and visual effects artist living in Los Angeles, California. He is currently the Media Tools & Post-Production Technology Engineer for DreamWorks Animation. An award-winning graduate of the UCLA School of Film, Television & Digital Media, he was previously the Technical Assistant for Digital Domain, the largest independent digital studio in Hollywood. Prior to his entertainment industry career, he was a software engineer at several prominent silicon valley startups. He launched his career by creating one of the world's first Web sites in 1993. He is a contributor to Wireless Business & Technology magazine, and has been featured in Wired Magazine. He is frequently sought as both a consultant and keynote speaker on the intersection of online community, media & technology.
Lawrence Bender, Producer/Partner, A Band Apart
Mark Canton, Chairman/CEO, Atmosphere Entertainment
Victoria Hopper, Political Consultant
Arianna Huffington, Editor-In-Chief, The Huffington Post
Mike Medavoy, Chairman/CEO, Phoenix Pictures
Larry Winokur, Co-Founder/CEO, BWR Public Relations
Pam Abdy, EVP, Paramount Pictures
Marcos Barron, Producer
Emilio Diez Barroso, President, NALA Films
Michael Birnbaum, Empire Pictures
Jason Blum, President, Blumhouse
Robin Budd, Producer
Kristin Burr, VP, Buena Vista Motion Picture Group
Chuck Bush, Producer/Financier
Bernard Cahill, Partner, ROAR
Stokely Chaffin, Producer
Berly Ellis, Actress
Martha Haight, Head of TV, Rat Entertainment
Keith Kegley, Clearstone Venture Partners
Jon Keidan, Founder, Keidan Management
Jessica Kill, Producer
Ben Kim, Director of Institutional Giving, Sundance
Sam Martin, VP, HBO Films
Alexia Melocchi, Producer, Little Studio Films
Laura Rister, Manager, Untitled Entertainment
Jen Roskind, Producer/Partner, Redbone Films
Mark Ross, Producer/Partner, Maguire Entertainment
Jonathan Segal, Writer/Director
Keri Selig, President, Intuition Productions
Antonio Sosa, Producer/Financier
Madeleine Smithberg, President, Mad Cow Productions
Steven Cohen, Warner Bros.
Callie Khouri, Director/Writer
Julia Jay Pierrepont III, Partner, CreativArts Entertainment Corp.
Scott Ross, Digital Entertainment Pioneer; Founder & Former Chairman/CEO, Digital Domain
Frances Arnold, Founder, Gevo; Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry, CALTECH
Philip Coyle, Senior Advisor, Center for Defense Information
David Howe, Managing Director & COO, Civitas Group
Babak Razi, Founder/Partner, Third Wave Ventures
Alex Steffen, Co-Founder, WorldChanging.com
Jonathan Zittrain, Co-Founder, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard; Chair, Internet Governance, Oxford
Ethan Zuckerman, Fellow, Berkman Center, Harvard