Creativity in Captivity

Comedian, actor, television writer, author and musician Paul Reiser is one of Hollywood’s most prolific creatives.2024 is a busy year for Reiser. On the heels of his new comedy The Problem with People which Reiser wrote, produced, and starred in alongside Colm Meaney and Jane Levy, Reiser has projects across a multitude of media formats. In March, Carter Burke, Reiser’s iconic character from Aliens re-emerged in a What-if… concept comic book from Marvel comics and he appeared in the independent comedy The Gutter, directed by Isaiah and Yassir Lester. Reiser also co-wrote the New York Times bestseller What A Fool Believes: A Memoir the candid, freewheeling memoir of his friend and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Michael McDonald. In July, Reiser will appear in Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, reprising his role from BH Cop 1 and 2. Recently, Reiser could be seen in Hulu’s critically-acclaimed comedy series “Reboot” by Modern Family creator Steve Levitan. He also took his first step into bloody, superhero glory in Season 3 of Amazon Prime’s Emmy-nominated The Boys playing “The Legend.” Reiser is widely celebrated for his roles in two hit shows for Netflix: Stranger Thing  and Chuck Lorre’s The Kominsky Method, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Mad About You, the long-running Emmy, Peabody, and Golden Globe-winning comedy that Reiser created and starred in with Helen Hunt, returned as a limited series on Spectrum Originals. Reiser earned acclaim for his supporting role in the Academy Award-winning film Whiplash. The veteran actor has garnered praise for notable performances in films such as Diner, Bye Bye Love, One Night At McCool’s, and The Thing About My Folks, which Reiser wrote for his co-star Peter Falk. Reiser is a fixture behind the camera as well. He co-created and produced the seven-episode series There’s Johnny!, a seven-episode series which streamed on Hulu and Peacock. The show, a fictional story set behind-the-scenes of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show circa 1972, co-produced with director David Gordon Green. His new standup special – his first in 30 years – will be released later this year via Comedy Dynamics.

A comedian and magician who headlined Cirque du Soleil’s Mad Apple, has been featured on America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, Conan, Sherri, Comedy Central's This Week at the Comedy Cellar and National Geographic Channel's Brain Games. Harrison was a senior producer for Primetime: Would You Fall for That? and story producer for VH1’s This is HOT 97. He was also the head writer for Tu Nite con Lorenzo Parro, the first late night show on NBCU/Telemundo, a staff writer for Tha God’s Honest Truth with Charlamagne Tha God on Comedy Central, and a long-time freelance writer for MAD Magazine. He is a recipient of the Andy Kaufman Award (2010) for creativity and originality in comedy, the Shorty Award in collaboration with Comedy Central and the New York Comedy Festival for "Best Emerging Comic" (2011), and the Magners Comic Stand-Off (2011). But the award Harrison is the most proud of is Tannen's Magic Camp "Camper of the Year," which means two things: (1) Harrison went to Magic Camp and (2) Harrison was a virgin until college. He co-founded the Harvard College Stand-Up Comic Society, the first organization at Harvard dedicated to the performance and appreciation of stand-up comedy, and one still popular on campus today.

An innovation strategist, design thinker and the author of The Wonder Mindset who is on a mission to transform companies, foster community and empower human potential. With over two decades of experience in spearheading strategic initiatives, she successfully led organizations through complex challenges, elevating design maturity and fostering cultures of innovation and growth. Sarah’s expertise spans digital strategy, design thinking, and corporate social responsibility, with a focus on leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI, AR in integrated Customer Experiences to create sustainable value and impact. As the CEO and Founder of Evolve X Wonder and Wander, Sarah built a thriving community and a dynamic portfolio of offerings that empower individuals and organizations to evolve and excel. 

The Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Nashville-based independent ad agency THE MAYOR. Tom produced award-winning work in four straight Super Bowls for Avocados from Mexico and RadioShack. He's also a contributing factor in the famous Farmers Insurance jingle "We Are Farmers" and starting the infamous Popeye's Chicken Wars. Tom's work has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, and the Guinness Book of World Records. Four pieces of his work are in the permanent collection at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. 

A Creature F/X artist in the UK for over 30 years, Maria’s career began working at Jim Henson's Creatureshop in London.  She went on to specialize in art finishing, hair, fur and feathers. Her work has taken her on many adventures from Star Wars, to Harry Potter and Maleficent, to a number of epic historical films over the years. She has a passion for magic and circus and is a collector of hobbies.

With an unprecedented four Juno awards for songwriter of the year, Jim Vallance is one of Canada’s pre-eminent songwriters and the creative force behind top tracks for artists like Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Joe Cocker and Glass Tiger. He played drums with the Vancouver band Prism, and wrote their first single, Spaceship Superstar (which was played on the Discovery Space Shuttle). After touring with Prism,  he became a session musician before a chance meeting with 18-year-old Bryan Adams determined his songwriting career direction. The two began a fruitful decades-long songwriting collaboration.  Adams’s album, Cuts Like a Knife, yielded three hit singles co-written with Vallance, and reached platinum. The follow-up album Reckless cemented the Vallance-Adams writing partnership in the annals of rock music. No. 1 on the Canadian and U.S. album charts, it sold five times platinum, with six Vallance co-writes in the Top 15, including the duo’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, Heaven; and the No. 1 Mainstream Rock tracks Run To You and Somebody. Vallance concentrated on songwriting, penning a non-stop stream of hit rock ballads, including the now-famous chart-topping charity single Tears Are Not Enough, a collaboration with Adams and fellow Canadian producer David Foster. Jim’s creative talent has benefitted top international acts like Pat Benatar, Roger Daltry, Neil Diamond, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, Joan Jett, The Go-Go’s, Rick Springfield, Tina Turner,  Rod Stewart, Anne Murray, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Chilliwack, Loverboy, Toronto, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, KISS and The Scorpions. Vallance went on to collaborate with Adams on songs for the Broadway show Pretty Woman: The Musical. He has served on the boards of SOCAN, the Songwriters Association of Canada, and FACTOR, is a member of the Order of Canada, and boasts 22 SOCAN Classic awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A well-regarded producer of television specials and variety shows, George Schlatter, in 1967 pitched to NBC an idea that was a radical departure: a comedy special inspired by the hippie counter-culture, one which would take the idea of sit-ins, love-ins, and be-ins, and manifest that politicized, sexualized, consciousness-raising energy into comedic sketches. The special, Laugh-in, was so successful it became a regular television series, running from January 1968 to March 1973 and eventually becoming the #1 show on TV.  George is the author of the new book Still Laughing: A Life in Comedy featuring never-before-told backstories from the creation of one of the most beloved shows in television history. It also recounts the coming-of-age of one of television’s great producers, from his early nightclub days in Vegas, rubbing elbows with iconic mob figures like Mickey Cohen and John Stompanato, to his influential friendships with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, for whom George was asked to deliver a eulogy at his funeral.

The creator and writer of FindingJoy.net and the author of three books: Get Your Spark Back, Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood. Rachel is a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her inspiring articles have been translated into over 25 languages and her original content has been featured in The Today Show, NPR, The Huffington Post, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand, John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity and Her View From Home. Rachel believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive and to find deep joy and because of that she speaks worldwide encouraging others to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyond that she is a mother of seven, and calls Nashville her home. 

An International literary artist, Texas poet laureate nominee and nationally ranked slam poet who manages to turn life into written and spoken works of art.

He is a regular at Austin Poetry Slam since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2005. Christopher is an MC, champion, host, writer, author, educator, publisher, pappy, professor veteran and nurse. Christopher Michael uses poetry to address mental health, relationship accountability, and Black American history. He’s the resident host at Austin Slam, EncoreATX and Master Piece’s For Love of Words (F.L.O.W.) Show case and F.L.O.W. International. He is the founder of 310 Brown Street publishing that seek to make poets immortal. His latest book “Black Type Poems” will take you on the poetic ride that you deserve. You can learn more by going to www.mrmichael310.com

A multi-hyphenate theatre maker who views her solo work as an artistic extension of the social justice work she has been committed to for the last thirty years. Arlene’s award-winning solo works tour throughout the United States and internationally. Many of these works are an exploration of disability in our culture. As an actor she has performed on stages big and small in LA and Chicago and has worked in film, and television (Some of it good- Most of it bad). As a playwright she is the recipient of a Chicago Cultural Center Theatre Residency, a 3 Arts/UIC Fellowship, a Millennium Parks Grant from The Boeing Company Charitable Trust, a LA Ovations & a LA Garland Award. Her work has been a finalist in New Plays from Heartland, and a semi-finalist for Blue Ink Award, O’Neill Play. Her writings have been featured in Ms. Magazine, Huffington Post, Medium, Paramanu Pentaquark, En Posse Review, True Stories About Love - Chicago Story Press and Women of Letters Anthology by Penguin Press. She has a Doctorate degree from UCLA, teaches writing and performing and coaches across the country. Arlene is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists where she developed the Solo & Story curriculum. Her soon-to-be released new book Writing & Performing the One-Person Show will be published by Northwestern University Press 2025. Finally, she is to her knowledge the only actor to have appeared in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure AND Dougie Howser, M.D. in the same 24 hours.