Today we kicked off our 24th Creative Social global. For those that don’t know, our Globals are at the heart of Creative Social and is where we bring together a perfect tribe of Creative Leaders to an inspirational city that has a real cultural and business relevance. We have some amazing attendees – a mixture of Fellows, Socials and Newbies. Check out who is here. The theme over the next two days is transformation, probably the biggest challenge for any business that was not born in the digital age. Transformation of industries, transformation of how we work and transformation of how people live and how we design our cities and living spaces. And Downtown Los Angeles is the epicentre for how a city can transform and become home to some of the most creative people in the world. A good example of this is the Ace Hotel which is our official hotel and it was fitting that we kicked off CS with a tour of the quite beautiful Theatre at Ace Hotel (formerly United Artists Theatre): And it was fantastic to welcome Urban planner, arts developer, cultural activist, poet Ari Simon who gave us a fascinating insight into the history of downtown LA.
A pivotal figure in the cultural transformation of downtown LA, and co-founder and managing editor of Get Down Town – a Downtown-focused arts guide and magazine, there are few people better qualified to give us the scoop on what’s bubbling away in this special part of Los Angeles. After That’s Me That Is (TMTI) we will be heading over to Austere for an exclusive dinner, brought to us by our super members, Absolut. Do follow us on Instagram to get shots from the dinner. You can read more about Austere’s latest pop-up here. And then follow us on Periscope (@creativesocial) tomorrow as we will be kicking off with our full speaker programme. Here is an extract from our agenda: We couldn’t come to LA without lifting up the lid of the movie industry for a poke around. We welcome Dan Lin – a seasoned movie producer and studio executive whose films that have grossed over $2.0 billion in worldwide box office sales + Mikkel Bondesen a serial entrepreneur and manager of creative talent including Josh Schwartz (The OC, Gossip Girl), James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Truth),and Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes, The LEGO Movie).
Come prepared with the questions that you’ve always wanted to ask about how Hollywood really works. If you think electronic holography, large-scale interactive visualization techniques, and the I/O Bulb Luminous Room systems sound like things from a sci-fi film, that’s because they are. John Underkoffler was the man behind the interface of Minority Report, and has also been science advisor to films including The Hulk, Aeon Flux, and Iron Man. John will discuss the changing interaction between man and machine, and what the future of UX could look like. Atom Factory is a multi-dimensional branding, entertainment, and artist management company. When their Creative Directors Rob English and Reggie Know are not crafting award winning work, they help create projects that break down barriers for young people in a networked world. They will talk to us about the collaborative venture exploring connected learning with the MacArthur Foundation, that has seen them transform youth centers into libraries and beyond.
Emma Reeves is a true avant-gardist. Always ahead of her time, she doesn’t scout trends but shapes them instead. Having influenced our visual culture at cutting-edge fashion magazines such as Dazed & Confused and AnOther, she has also worked with moving images. Reeves was until recently creative director of MOCAtv, the YouTube channel of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. A rare chance to catch up with this busy multi-hyphenate, Emma will share her unique insights on how the content game is being transformed in today’s hyper connected world. Hey, like this post? Why not share it with someone?California Braces For More Rain After Storm Kills At Least 7 This Is What Obamacare's Critics Won't Admit Or Simply Don't Understand Oroville Evacuation Order Lifted As Flooding Threats Ease Oroville Dam Crisis Shows Why We Must Invest In Infrastructure Trump's Labor Nominee Sells His Mansion To Porn Mogul For $8 Million Trump Attacks 'Out of Control' California In Sanctuary Fight
California Cop Caught Threatening To 'Create' Charges Against Innocent Man 14 Iranian Artists Explore Just How Complex Identity Can Be 14 Photos That Show The Original Asian-American Resistance A Tremendous Roundup Of Street Art Ridiculing Donald Trump Anti-Semitic Tweets Erupt After Rabbi’s Prayer At Trump’s Inauguration North Americans Spent $53.3 Billion On Marijuana Last Year, Most Of It Illegally Ryan Gosling Was Forced To Watch His Childhood Dance Moves And It Was Adorably Embarrassing Looking For Anti-Trump Protests? Here Are Dozens To Choose From. More Republicans And Democrats Sign On To Bill To Protect Dreamers From Trump Aziz Ansari Slated To Be 'SNL's' First-Ever South Asian Host Dash Store Reportedly Robbed Because 2017 Also Hates The Kardashians Wife Accused Of 'Diabolical' Rape Frame-Up Of U.S. Marshal's Ex-LoverThis story first appeared in the Nov. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. She wanted to be the Oprah Winfrey of China.
Instead, sources say American-educated Zhang Wei is relocating from Shanghai to Los Angeles to head an office for e-commerce giant Alibaba as it makes a much-watched incursion into Hollywood. In October, Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma described his firm — the Amazon of China, only with more money after its IPO raised $25 billion — as "the world's biggest entertainment company." He is known to be interested in purchasing American content to stream and possibly investing in American movies. But some observers believe his ambitions also include buying a stake in a U.S. studio or even acquiring one outright. If that's the case, Zhang, who carved out a career as a top talk show host in China before focusing on her career as an executive, appears set to be a vital part of Alibaba's plans. The company declined to respond to questions about Zhang or her L.A. move, and those who have worked with her declined to speak on the record for fear of angering the Chinese giant. Read more China's Huayi Brothers To Raise $588M;
Tech Giants Alibaba, Tencent To Buy Stake But sources paint a portrait of Zhang as a seasoned and savvy executive. She has worked at Alibaba in various capacities since 2008, serving before that as COO in charge of TV power Star's operations in China. Though she's only in her early 40s, her résumé includes stints as managing director of CNBC China, a consultant to Bain & Co. and finance specialist for General Electric Co. For a time after getting her MBA at Harvard in 1999, Zhang lived her dream, working at Star (then owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.) as host of Common Ground, a talk show on Beijing TV. With the slogan, "Building a bridge between China and the world," Zhang took on topics that were considered daring, including AIDS and drug abuse. In a segment on Internet dating, an American man proposed to a Chinese woman he'd met online. At Harvard, Zhang was one of a dozen students from China who had left the country after the 1989 crackdown on dissidents, described in a Newsweek profile in 2000 as part of an influential "Tiananmen Generation" who had received American educations and were debating whether to accept lucrative offers from U.S. companies or return to help build the Chinese economy.
Classmates included The Lego Movie producer Dan Lin as well as Media Rights Capital co-chairmen Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu. Then described as "a buoyant 29-year-old woman whose dream was to become China's answer to … Oprah Winfrey," Zhang urged her classmates to return to help their country. Fifteen years later, she has come full circle as a part of the Alibaba team that met at the end of October with top Hollywood executives in what was described as a "getting to know you" visit. While it's unclear what specific plans Alibaba has for entertainment, the company formed Alibaba Pictures in March when it bought a majority stake in Hong Kong-based ChinaVision Media Group, which produces Chinese-language TV shows and movies. The company is headed by Zhang Qiang, a former senior executive in the state-run China Film Group. Read more Ari Emanuel Travels to China to Continue Wooing Alibaba's Jack Ma Zhang Wei graduated from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa., with a bachelor's degree in international organizational management before getting her MBA from Harvard.
She was described in her talk show era as a stylish dresser who enjoyed a hazelnut coffee from Starbucks. She hung a poster of her favorite television show, Friends, on the wall in her office. The talk show's producers were taking a risk working with her, she said then, because, "I've gotten a lot of my values from abroad." When they complained about her casual look and asked her to dress in a gray suit, she pleaded, "Please let me be me!" In a 2010 appearance at Alifest, an annual conference organized by Ma in the company's hometown of Hangzhou, Zhang hosted key sessions at the event attended by then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, eBay CEO John Donahoe and former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman. Although her days as a TV host are over, Zhang still appears to be living by the show's motto, building bridges between China and the world. A top U.S. film executive who met with her in L.A. says she came across as interested in "Megan Ellison-type fare," alluding to the highbrow producer of films including Zero Dark Thirty, American Hustle and Foxcatcher.