Have you seen the geomapping platform for our Youth Filmmaking Contest? http://t.co/buJJ2ZQg #film #contest #youth #water
Nicole Hansen studied theatre at North Carolina School of the Arts, then left for Los Angeles to study at Playhouse West with Jeff Goldblum. Soon after, she was acting as the unwitting victim of the Punk Magician in HBO’s, Opening Night at Rodney’s Place when a Hollywood agent spotted her and signed her. Soon after, she appeared in her first movie, The Sleeping Car.
Nicole co‐produced and acted in the pilot, GT Inc. with Keenan Ivory Wayans. After bleaching her hair to play the role of “Terry” in the play Extremeties she reluctantly entered and won a Marilyn Monroe look alike contest and day later, she was cast by director David Fincher to play Marilyn Monroe in the Billy Idol videos, Cradle of Love and L.A. Woman. Director Dominic Sena also cast Nicole as Marilyn in The Blue Nile’s, Headlights on the Parade video, which led to her image gracing their CD covers. After seeing The Blue Nile posters in London, young British director Danny Cannon cast Nicole as the young sister of Michael Cerveris’ troubled character in Mr. Cannon’s film, Strangers. This led to her leading role as the futuristic Virgin Mary in the action‐thriller, American Cyborg.
Since then, Nicole has co‐produced and acted in Tinseltown (Montreal and Austin Film Festivals) with Ron Perlman and Joe Pantoliano. She appeared as herself in, the documentary, Driving to Ground Zero ( Woodstock Film Festival), as Tony Goldwyn’s fleeing wife , Judy in, Beyond the Ashes (aka Ash Tuesday at Tribeca, Austin and Vail Film Festivals) with co‐stars, Jeaneane Garafolo and Giancorlo Esposito. In Noise (Santa Barbara Film Festival) with Ally Sheedy and John Slattery, Nicole played the caring but stern friend of lead Trish Goff’s troubled character.
In the past two years, Nicole Hansen produced Save It by 10-year-old Nikos Spiridakis with Executive Producer Marshall Herskovitz. The video for 1Sky starred Tony Goldwyn and Dimitri Spiridakis, and debuted on YouTube at #2 for non-profit videos. It ran on CNN and MSNBC during the 2008 Presidential Debates, and appeared on the Weinstein Company’s 2009 DVD releases such as The Reader and Zach and Miri.
In 2009 Nicole produced the first Renewable Energy Conference and Awards Gala at the United Nations, sponsored by the Honduran Permanent Mission to the UN, with notable speakers and honorees including Dr. Arthur Nozik of NREL, Dr. Daniel Nocera of MIT, as well as billionaire John Paul DeJoria and Josh Tickell, the director of Fuel. She partnered with the Los Angeles Entrepreneurs’ Organization to raise funds for renewable energy initiatives and to green their 2009 Business Entertainment Charity event. Nicole was also responsible for securing donations of FTL Solar tents and providing them to Global Green, Abolish Slavery and the Street Kids of Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Nicole has appeared as a panelist supporting the need for renewable energy at the 2009 Earth Day screening of Fuel with Josh Tickell and again with Josh as a panelist for Breathe LA in 2010. Later this year, she spoke at the Ideation Conference and at an event for ProVisors on her work to bring renewable energy solutions to Haiti. She was the guest of Rachelle Carson-Begley’s MomTV show and was a featured speaker alongside producer Marshall Herskovitz for the 2009 Green Girls Holliday Event. There, she publicly advocated for the use of renewable energy technologies to help stem the rise of developmentally delayed children impacted by environmental toxins.
Nicole looks forward to returning to her acting career in hopes that someday her son Nikos will cast her in one of his movies starring his brother Dimitri.
Mikki Willis is the founder and CEO of Elevate Films.
Art and entertainment have always been the heartbeat of Mikki Willis’ life. At the age of 25 he founded his first business endeavor, The New York/Los Angeles Theater of the Arts. “NYLA” became home to many Southern California artists who, like Mikki, were driven to push the envelope. As Theater Director, Mikki wrote, produced and directed countless experimental productions. This is where he learned the rules, and how to skillfully break them.
In 1996 Mikki made his directorial debut with the independent feature film Shoe Shine Boys. Academy Award winning actor Martin Landau signed on as Executive Producer, traveling with the film as it toured the festival circuit, winning numerous awards and praise from top critics. But it was radio personality Howard Stern’s continued on-air support that made Shoe Shine Boys an underground hit. The films innovative visual style attracted the attention of major record labels and launched Mikki’s career as a music video director. His first video was nominated for a Premio lo Nuestro, the Latin equivalent of an MTV Music Award. From there, Mikki went on to direct more than 45 breakthrough Spanish language music videos.
September 11th, 2001 marked the turning point in Mikki’s life and career. Having been inside the twin towers just hours before they fell he helped to organize and lead a group of civilians who risked their lives to aid rescue workers. Mikki was one of a handful of people allowed to remain at ground zero to aid in search and rescue efforts. It was on the ruble of the World Trade Center that his life was forever changed. On his return to Los Angeles he began laying the foundation for his life’s mission by founding Elevate Films, Elevate Foundation, and Elevate Film Festival, which challenges the international film community to create works of social and global importance. For this, Mikki Willis received the 2008 Conscious Life Humanitarian Award.
Steve Michelson is the Executive Producer for Specialty Studios and the Video Project, the nations oldest environmental educational distributor celebrating its 26th year in 2010. He has functioned as the Executive Producer on many award-winning films involving environmental and social justice issues including Climb Against the Odds (1998), Oil on Ice (2004), Crude Impact (2006), Burning the Future (2008) River of Renewal (2009) and Power Paths (2009). Two new films in production that he is Executive Producing during 2010 are This is Our Land, about the Tongass National Forest and Epidemic?, a study of the rise in autism and related disorders affecting nearly 30 million children.
In 2001 he opened the Studio at Lobitos Creek Ranch that specializes in providing production and completion services for documentary producers.
He has served four terms as a Governor with the National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and is the recipient of the Gilbert Award from the San Francisco Bay Area film community for his contributions to the industry. Steve was the co-founder of One Pass Inc., San Francisco’s largest production service from 1975-1988.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he attended The Annenberg School of Communications and the Wharton School of Business.
Marlene Velasco Begue is an independent producer and documentary consultant. Currently, she is the producer for “Latin Pulse/Pulso Latino,” a bilingual English/Spanish news magazine on Link TV covering relevant news from Latin America, now in its third season. Marlene has over 20 years of international experience working as a producer, consultant, programmer and film and video trainer for youth and adults. She has seved as a juror, panelist and screener for numerous organizations including SF International Film Festival, Latino Public Broadcasting, SF International Jewish Film Festival, SF Latino International Film Festival, and El Salvador Second Video Festival.
As a long time film programmer and writer, Zoë Elton serves as Director of Programming for Mill Valley Film Festival, California, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the United States. Since the festival’s inception, she has distinguished herself by pioneering the exhibition of new and digital media in the ‘80s; initiating the festival’s Active Cinema program–a forum for connecting the dots between films on activist issues and the causes they represent; and conducting interviews with artists such as Ang Lee, Helen Mirren and Alejandro González Iñárritu, both onstage and in print. Zoë is film critic for KVOT radio in New Mexico, has been a programming consultant for the Rwanda Film Festival, and has served on panels for the Rockefeller Foundation, the Haas Foundation’s Creative Works Fund and the Independent Spirit Awards. She is a graduate of New College of Speech and Drama in London.
Craig is a Co-Founder of Specialty Studios, a distribution and outreach studio for conscious media. Specialty Studios supports sustained outreach efforts around media and seeks to provide engaged viewers with a clear path to gettig involved with the issues and organizations that inspire them. In his role as head of Business Affairs and Strategy, Craig develops collaborative partnerships and distribution channels for media campaigns built around compelling cause-related feature films. He is currently leading a few Specialty Studio projects that have captured his personal interest including So Right So Smart, a film featuring Ray Anderson that makes the business case for sustainable business and Coral Sea Dreaming that makes the connection of our global ecosystems through the stories of our oceans and coral reefs.
Craig has worked in the area of “media convergence” for over 15 years as a media transactions and IP attorney, consultant, and business executive. He specializes in building intellectual property portfolios around media, and crafting deals that more fully leverage the rights of content owners and their ability to direct distribute to support their social and economic goals. He is a fierce advocate for independent film makers and seeks better markets and models for them and their important work.
Gary is CEO of Transformational Media and its recently launched AwareGuide – the online guide to media making an impact on social and environmental issues. A pioneer in the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) market, Gary brings 30 years of experience in marketing, business development, technology, operations and management together with a vast network of strategic relationships he has developed since founding Evolutionary Ventures. His honors include two PC magazine’s Editors Choice Awards and an Inc. 500 award.
As CEO of Ethical Markets Media he led the launch of the first national weekly broadcast television series reporting on issues of sustainability and social consciousness. He was a cofounder of BroadcastHealth.com, a leader in producing video for web streaming and broadcast Gary has led CSRwire, worked with Harmony Channel’s launch on Comcast VOD, and served as COO of Passionate Living Media. He also worked with Media Zone, Healthy.com, Deepak Chopra’s MyPotential.com, Whole Life Expos and Media, and Peter Pan Entertainment (now Inspired Media). He has organized, produced, and promoted major events such as the Healthy Living Expo, and worked with many notable leaders.
Gary is on the Board of Nourish America and Aquamantra. He was formerly on the Board of the Association of Transformational Media Arts, GreenHouse Network, Center for Advancement in Cancer Education, and Peaceful Passages. He is an advisor to theCORE, We The World, and others.
Drop by Drop: Water Stories, a video contest for youth created by the Social Change Film Festival & Institute (SCFFI), Channel G and EarthvisionZ, is now accepting submissions.
