DEREK BERES, AUTHOR, GLOBAL BEAT FUSION
Derek Beres has devoted his life to exposing people to international music, yoga and mythology, and better nutritious choices as a means of creating both better individuals and a more understanding global culture. In the global music industry, he works as a journalist and DJ as well as producer and presenter. He has published five books, including his first, Global Beat Fusion: The History of the Future of Music, and has contributed to dozens of magazines and websites regarding the traditional and digital realms of global music, currently writing for Rolling Stone Middle East, National Geographic, Yoga Journal, Huffington Post, and Relix, among others. He was recently hired as the lead journalist for Women’s Health on the magazine’s new ‘Innovations in Endurance’ initiative on Facebook alongside Nissan Leaf. Derek is one half of global music producers EarthRise SoundSystem, which creates innovative contexts for 21st century music and cultures to be explored. The duo’s debut album reached #5 on the iTunes World charts. Derek has worked as a music consultant for numerous venues and companies, serving as the Music Director for the documentary film DMT: The Spirit Molecule and the HRSA Living History HIV/AIDS project. He currently teaches 13 weekly yoga classes at Equinox Fitness, Pure Yoga and Stala Yoga. Derek has been featured on NBC Weekend Today, ABC Eyewitness News, Fox Business, BBC, and NY1, as well as in print and online in the NY Times, Businesweek, Fitness, Yoga Journal, Boston Globe, AOL’s Spinner, Newsday, MTV, NPR, and PRI.
MITCH SCHULTZ, PRODUCER/WRITER/DIRECTOR
Mitch Schultz began his life journey in Memphis, Tennessee and has since called Texas, Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Europe, and Peru home. Guided by his lifelong love of storytelling, Mitch has cultivated a multi-disciplinary expertise in motion pictures, interactive media and culture hacking. As the Director of Sales & Marketing and Conceptual Producer of VisionLab, the progressive HD cable channel dedicated to experimental video art, Mitch honed his commercial and branding skills with global clients including BMW, Dell, Range Rover, Time Warner and Intel. He segued from the commercial realm into developing Spectral Alchemy, a creative entity generating bona fide mythology through the exploration, formulation and revelation of revolutionary edicts via an esoteric modus operandi. Spectral Alchemy creates stories for the transmedia space, exploring the inherent connections between consciousness, nature, language, technology and the evolving human mythology. The company’s first production included the highly successful DMT: The Spirit Molecule, which helped to reinvigorate the burgeoning field of psychedelic research in scientific studies. Mitch is also the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the DMT Remix Project and served as Artistic Director for the I/O Port at JFK International Airport, overseeing a conceptual & practical installation engaging the user through interpreting information from the airport’s arrival system as visual content mined from the web in order to aesthetically enhance the existing space. He has also contributed to R&D for Microsoft on Amnesia Moon, an episodic, interactive sci-fi mystery. As a screenwriter, Mitch has collaborated with Guy Garcia on Skin Deep and Douglas Rushkoff on Ecstasy Club. He continues developing novel concepts by writing, directing, producing, and examining experiential design.
MICHAEL HULL, PRODUCER/EDITOR
Michael Hull moved to New York at 24 to write the great American novel, but soon realized he didn’t like all of the alone time. Ten years later he is co-owner of a production company with over 200 completed jobs, co-director of a feature film released by Vanguard Cinemas, and has won awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editor at the 2007 FilmJack Festival in Los Angeles. Hull currently works as a producer, director and editor of commercials, music videos and other marketing material, while keeping one foot in the civilized world as a part-time editor for CBS News.
SHILOH CRAWFORD, PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER
Shiloh Crawford is an inaugural graduate from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University, and an awarding-winning photographer for Cox News Media. His vision has allowed him to capture life’s moments with a camera for dozens of production companies and networks while traveling the world. Crawford has managed to maintain his reputation as one of New York’s most talented and sought after cinematographers, and keep up with current technology, by immersing himself in the world of H.D. Digital Cinema. His talented eye and abilities with Red One camera technology were sufficient to impress Getty Images, who’s primary stock footage buyer completed a representation contract with Shiloh after a chance meeting while filming a sunrise scene at the Brooklyn Bridge. One look in the monitor was all it took for the world’s foremost imaging company to offer Crawford a deal.