Ariel has been the Executive Director of The Hollywood Hill since co-founding it in 2004, leading strategy, business development, and programming. He is also spearheading the design and development of our media projects division launching in 2009. Prior to co-founding and heading up The Hollywood Hill, 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 as a ballet dancer under the direction of Duncan Noble of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
In addition to his work as Technical Director at DreamWorks Animation SKG, Ori is also the creator and Co-Executive Producer of Tiger Team on TruTV. For over fifteen years Ori has been a key player behind many seminal web startups and brings his Silicon Valley acumen to The Hollywood Hill in an era when social action requires flawless technologies in order to be well-executed. His career has included several years at the pioneering visual effects studio Digital Domain, building the world's first non-military funded web site in 1993 and graduating as an award-winning filmmaker from the prestigious UCLA School of Film & Television.
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
Callie Khouri, Director/Writer
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
Lawrence Bender, Film Producer
Scott Z. Burns, Film Writer / Director / Producer
Nadia Conners, Film Writer / Director
Susan Bonds, President & CEO, 42 Entertainment
Doug Church, Independent Game Producer
Mark DeLoura, Independent Game Producer
Dave Durnil, Director of Engineering, Software Strategy and Multimedia Ecosystem Group, Qualcomm Inc.
Robin Hunicke, Producer, thatgamecompany
Stone Librande, Creative Director, Maxis (EA); Lead Designer, Spore
Adam Sussman, VP Worldwide Publishing, EA Mobile