George Stevens, Jr. has achieved an extraordinary creative legacy over a career spanning almost 50 years. He is a writer, director, producer, playwright and author. He has enriched the film and television arts as a filmmaker and is widely credited with bringing style and taste to the national television events he has conceived, including The Kennedy Center Honors, which took place for the 36th time in 2013. As a writer, director and producer, Stevens has earned many accolades, including 17 mys, two Peabody Awards for Meritorious Service to Broadcasting, the Humanitas Prize and 8 awards from the Writers Guild of America, including the Paul Selvin Award for writing that bodies civil rights and liberties. In 2012 the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to present Stevens with an Honorary Academy Award for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement.” Stevens serves as Co-chairman of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities following his appointment by President Obama in 2009. Stevens is founder of the American Film Institute and during his tenure, more than 10,000 irreplaceable American films were preserved and catalogued to be enjoyed by future generations. In addition, he established the AFI’s Center for Advanced Film Studies, which gained a reputation as the finest learning opportunity for young filmmakers. Stevens made his debut as a playwright in 2008 with Thurgood, which opened at the historic Booth Theater on Broadway. The play had an extended run starring Laurence Fishburne as supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Fishburne received a Tony nomination and returned to the role in the summer of 2010 with runs at the Kennedy Center and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Thurgood was filmed while at the Kennedy Center and shown on HBO in 2011. Stevens was executive producer of The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He co-wrote and produced The Murder of Mary Phagan, starring Jack L mon, which received the my for Outstanding Mini-Series. He wrote and directed Separate But Equal starring Sidney Poitier and Burt Lancaster which also won the my for Outstanding Mini-Series. Stevens won two mys for the 1994 documentary, George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin, which depicted the wartime experiences of his father – one of the most highly regarded directors of all time. He produced an acclaimed feature length film about his father, George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey. In 2006, Alfred A. Knopf published Stevens’ Conversations with the Great Movi akers of Hollywood’s Golden Age – the first book to bring together the interviews of master movi akers from the American Film Institute’s renowned Harold Lloyd Master seminar Series. Conversations with the Great Movi akers – The Next Generation was released by Knopf in April, 2012. Stevens, in collaboration with his son and partner Michael Stevens, recently completed a feature length documentary Herblock – The Black The White on the famed political cartoonist Herbert Block. Current as of August 2014
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David Dower
David Dower joined ArtsEmerson as director of artistic programs in 2012. He is also co-founder and a contributing editor to HowlRound. Prior, he served as associate artistic director of Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.); and founded and served as artistic director of The Z Space Studio and co-founded and served as co-artistic director of The Z Collective (San Francisco, CA). With ArtsEmerson he directed Guillermo Calderón’s Kiss, Daniel Beaty’s Mr. Joy and Breath and Imagination, Melinda Lopez’s Mala, Baritones UnBound, and Maurice Hines’s Tappin’ Through Life. Dower earned the Inclusive Excellence Award (Emerson College); was a Gerbode Fellow (Gerbode Foundation); was named “MVP of Bay Area Theater” (San Francisco Chronicle); and was a Policy Fellow (National Endowment for the Arts). He studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, American University (Washington, D.C.) and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Originally from Westerly, RI, David resides in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
Daniel Beaty
Daniel Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and community activist. He is the co-writer and lead actor of the upcoming feature film Chapter & Verse with Loretta Devine and Omari Hardwick about a man who re-integrates into society after eight years in prison. His critically acclaimed plays Through the Night, Emergency , Mr. Joy, Breath & Imagination, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest, have been produced at leading theaters across the nation and venues ranging from Lincoln Center to the White House, garnering numerous awards including an Obie award for writing and performance and three NAACP Theatre Awards. A highly requested keynote speaker, Daniel has spoken throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa. In 2012, Daniel created I Dream, a nationally recognized social justice initiative that uses the tools of the arts, immersive group exercises, and trauma recovery to support young people to rewrite the story of race and class inequity in America, and create social justice projects to make that new story a reality. I Dream has reached over 2000 young people in three cities across the nation: Watts, CA; Omaha, NE; and Boston, MA. A graduate of Yale University (BA) and American Conservatory Theatre (MFA), Daniel has developed original TV shows for Showtime and Fox/Imagine, and recently completed a documentary about the impact of mass incarceration on children and families called Behind the Glass. A child of an incarcerated parent himself, Daniel’s poem “Knock Knock” is an Internet sensation receiving millions of views and has been made into a children’s book, also titled Knock Knock, published by Little Brown Books. Penguin-Random House published his empowerment book Transforming Pain to Power in 2014. DanielBeaty.com
Debra Walton
Debra has been in search of and tracking Mr. Joy since she first heard of it back in 2013. Being cast in the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park production of Mr. Joy changed her life forever. She is not only thrilled but honored that she has been tapped by the ArtsEmerson family to continue sharing this story with this community! Her recent artistic endeavors include finally being initiated into the Law & Order SVU family. In her words, making her now and forever a ”Real” New York actor! Other recent adventures include playing Gloria in the Robert Schenkkan play Building the Wall & The Leading Player in Pippin! Favorite roles include Anita in West Side Story, Minnie Fae in Hello Dolly, and Velma in CHICAGO, Broadway and off-Broadway highlights include The Pajama Game, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, The Bubbly Black Girl, and Cookin’ at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunte”, in which Debra created her award-winning roles that earned her a Drama Desk nomination and a Barrymore Award! She made her primetime debut on Blue Bloods. National tours include South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun and CHICAGO.
For more fun facts, check out YouTube. Or follow her on Twitter: @DebWaltonActs & Instagram: @Debwalton
Yukihiro KanesakaYukihiro Kanesaka
Yukihiro Kanesaka born in Japan in 1981 and started playing piano at 3 years old and by the age of 5, he starts composing. At 14, he starts professional experiences at YAMAHA Japan as a keyboardist. 19 years old he moved to Boston U.S.A to go to Berklee College of Music. With 21 years, he starts professional experience in studio “production work” and touring with major rap artist Cee-lo (Goddie Mob), Maceo (De La Soul), Medusa, MC Supernatural. Slum Village. Further he made jazz experiences with Darren Barret (trp / Elvin Jones), Giovanni Hidalgo (per) and John Blackwell (dr / Prince) and he also win the 1st prize at “THE SOURCE National rap music competition” as a producer. He founded his own studio called “KOMUGIKO” and work for own and foreign music productions (bands & artists).