Join us for a panel event with an Cornellians that are Oscars nominees, Emmy nominees, Peabody Award winners and DGA Award winners who’ve all worked in award winning projects.  We will have an in depth discussion with them about how they obtained their success in the Entertainment Industry.  Come learn how they did it and get advice on how you can do it as well!

Come early to network with the Cornell in Entertainment Group members during a casual wine and cheese reception before the panel begins!

Below are the details of the event and a brief description of our distinguished panel: Tia Lessin, Scott Ferguson and Marc Henry Johnson.

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm Reception; 7:15 pm Panel; 8:30 pm Open Networking (EASTERN TIME)
Location: Snapple Theatre Center at the Corner of 50th and Broadway, Manhattan (1627 Broadway /210 West 50th Street NYC  212.921.7862 )
Nearest Train: The theatre is above the 1 train at 50th Street.
Cost: $10 (the cost of a drink in NYC…)
Dress Code:  Smart Casual /Business Casual 
RSVP: Click here to buy tickets!!! Please RSVP by Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Your name will be on a list at the door. YOU CAN PAY AT THE DOOR WITH EXACT CASH ONLY.

More info: Anaiza Morales at aem13@cornell.edu.   

TIA LESSIN

Tia Lessin is producer and director of Academy Award ® nominated feature documentary Trouble the Water, winner of the Gotham Independent Film Award and the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize.  Tia was a producer of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, winner of the Palme d'Or, and of Academy Award ®-winning Bowling for Columbine. In television, Tia’s work as producer of the series The Awful Truth earned her two Emmy nominations and one arrest. Tia received the Sidney Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for her documentary short Behind the Labels. She line produced Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and was associate producer of Charles Guggenheim’s Oscar-nominated film Shadows of Hate. Tia is a Sundance Institute Fellow, an Open Society Institute Katrina Media Fellow, a Creative Capital grantee and was awarded the Women of Worth “Vision” Award by L’Oréal Paris and Women in Film. Tia is a member of the Cornell Class of 1988.

SCOTT FERGUSON

SCOTT FERGUSON has had the privilege of working with some of the leading directors in the motion picture business including Jay Roach, Michel Gondry, David Mamet, Mick Jackson, and Steve Zaillian as well as Academy Award winners Milos Forman, Sydney Pollack, Robert Benton, Ang Lee and most recently, Barry Levinson. He has also helped talented newcomers such as Lisa Cholodenko, Alan Taylor, Catherine Hardwicke, and James Mangold on their first features. Most recently, Scott served as Producer and Unit Production Manager of YOU DON’T KNOW JACK for HBO Films, starring Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian and directed by Barry Levinson, which just wrapped principal photography. Previously he was Producer/Unit Production Manager on TEMPLE GRANDIN, which will be released in February of 2010, and the Unit Production Manager of the Emmy Award-winning film RECOUNT, both for HBO Films. Scott was Co-Producer of Ang Lee’s Academy Award winning 2005 release BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Executive Producer of Lisa Cholodenko's LAUREL CANYON and Co-Producer of David Mamet’s feature, HEIST.
 
He has worked extensively throughout his career with his mentor and colleague and fellow Cornellian, New York based producer Michael Hausman; he was Unit Manager on THE FIRM and Associate Producer on NOBODY'S FOOL, A FAMILY THING, TWILIGHT, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, and MAN ON THE MOON, and an Assistant Director on ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. He has also worked on a number of high quality indie films; he was Co-Producer of Alan Taylor’s PALOOKAVILLE which won the prize for best Feature Debut at the Venice Film Festival. Scott was Associate Producer & Second Unit Director of James Mangold’s HEAVY, which received a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He also served as Production Consultant on Catherine Hardwicke’s directing debut, THIRTEEN which received Best Director at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Scott is a proud member of the class of 1982, and returns to Ithaca frequently to screen his films for the Cornell Community.

MARC HENRY JOHNSON

Currently Marc Henry Johnson is Co-Executive Producer for KEEPER OF THE PINSTRIPES, the first film to be fully endorsed by the New York Yankees since 1942. Also in 2009 Marc Henry Johnson is an Executive Producer for the concert film/documentary entitled SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, with music by The Roots, Jos Stone, Wyclef Jean, Richie Havens, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Mary Mary, and John Legend.  Other Executive Producers include Danny Glover.  This film was an audience favorite at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and an Official Selection for the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival. Mr. Johnson is a Co-Producer on BROTHER TO BROTHER which won the Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, and three Gotham Awards.
 
Recently, Mr. Johnson arranged for the financing, production, and distribution for the Peabody Award winning, Banff Award winning, NAACP Image Award nominated A HUEY P. NEWTON STORY created by Roger Guenveur Smith and directed by Spike Lee-- and broadcast on Starz and PBS. In 2000, Mr. Johnson produced Bravo’s Emmy Award nominated THE AWFUL TRUTH WITH MICHAEL MOORE and co-produced PBS’s A LOVE LETTER TO NEW YORK, featuring Joy Behar, Heavy-D, Tommy Tune, Tricky, and Gordon Parks.  His first film producing credit was on COYOTES, winner of the Best Feature Film Award at the 1999 Savannah Festival and an audience favorite at the 1999 Palm Springs Film Festival.