Topic: Creativity and Inspiration

Refik Anadol

Refik is the leading media artist and expert specializing in big data visualization artworks through the aid of A.I., specifically, the application of machine and deep learning. His installations address the intersection of art, data, and cutting-edge technology, making the invisible visible.

The rise of super-fast computers and computational algorithms have enabled Refik to innovate and push boundaries of reality by juxtaposing physical and virtual worlds. This new hybrid relationship between architecture, machine self-learning intelligence and immersive experiences have created new categories of art: latent cinema, live A.I. data paintings and augmented data storytelling.

Last September, he created “WDCH Dreams” for the LA Philharmonic’s 100th year anniversary. Accessing the LA Phil’s immense archive, 45 terabytes of data, Refik created machine learning algorithms to interpret their data-sets to create an evolving artwork in real time. The work became a week-long public art installation projected onto the exterior façade of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Refik also designed “Melting Memories,” a data-driven installation in Istanbul, Turkey that studied human memory from Ancient Egyptians to Blade Runner 2049. It investigated and transposed the elusive process of memory retrieval and enabled visitors to experience renditions of neural pathways inside a human brain.

Refik has also worked on collaborations with the UN Climate Action Summit, NASA, LAX, the new LA Rams Stadium, Google and LVMH. Refik also debuted the inaugural installation, “Machine Hallucination” a history of New York at Artechouse NY.

When describing Refik’s work, director Alejandro González Iñárritu said “it is the first time I feel like I can touch science-fiction.”

Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone has been credited with writing and or directing over 20 full-length feature films, earning him a well-respected place in cinematic history for some of the most influential and iconic films of the last few decades.

Throughout his long career, which began at a young age writing short plays for his family, Oliver has served as director, writer and producer on a variety of films, documentaries and television movies. He is widely recognized for his controversial versions of recent American history, some of them at deep odds with conventional myth -- films such as 1986's Platoon, the first of his Vietnam trilogy (along with Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth), or 1991’s JFK and 1994’s Natural Born Killers and Nixon, his 1995 take on the finer points and parables of the Nixon administration, as well as on George W. Bush in W (2008). Stone says his films are "first and foremost dramas about individuals in personal struggles," and considers himself a dramatist rather than a political filmmaker.

In 1966, Oliver signed on to the U.S. Merchant Marine, where he worked as a “wiper” in the engine room below deck on several ships. His travels took him from Asia back to Oregon and then Mexico. In Guadalajara, he began writing a first novel, a 1,400-page manuscript entitled A Child's Night Dream. He later reedited the novel down to a manageable 236 pages, which was released 30 years later by St. Martin’s Press (1997). 
In 1967, Stone enlisted in the United States Army and served in the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border, where he was wounded twice, and then later in the 1st Calvary Division in the northernmost part of Vietnam. He was honored with a Bronze Star for heroism and Purple Heart for his service.

Tackling subjects often deemed controversial and too grand in scale, Stone continued to build his successful film career in projects like Wall Street, a tale of greed, corruption and power in the excess era of the 80’s and The Doors, a drug-saturated biopic of the legendary and controversial singer Jim Morrison.

Oliver continues to write, direct and produce movies and documentaries that fit with his sensibilities and challenge the conventional teachings. With recent projects like Savages, an action-packed story of three SoCal friends going up against the Baja cartel to his 10-part Showtime documentary series called The Untold History of the United States, Oliver Stone shows no signs of slowing down his creativity while daring the global audience to see events in a whole new light.

Alejandro Iñarritu

Academy Award-winning director, writer and producer Alejandro G. Iñárritu is one of the most acclaimed and well-regarded filmmakers working today.

Iñárritu won his second consecutive Academy Award for Best Director for The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. He co-wrote the film with Mark L. Smith. The epic adventure film, which received 12 Academy Award nominations, follows trapper Hugh Glass, who, driven by his love for his son, sets out on a quest for revenge against the harrowing backdrop of the 19th century American frontier.

Last year Iñárritu won three Academy Awards for directing, co-writing and co-producing Best Picture winner Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). The acclaimed dark comedy also won Best Cinematography and was nominated for an additional five Academy Awards. Iñárritu won a DGA Award and a PGA Award for the Fox Searchlight film, which starred Oscar nominees Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton.

Iñárritu made his feature directorial debut with Amores Perros, a drama that explored Mexican society told through the perspective of three intertwining stories connected by a car accident in Mexico City. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2001 Academy Awards.

His next film, 21 Grams, was nominated for two Academy Awards for Lead Actress Naomi Watts and Supporting Actor Benicio del Toro and released by Focus Features. His third film, Babel, released by Paramount Pictures, premiered at Cannes where Iñárritu won Best Director. That same year, Babel subsequently went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture Drama, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including two for Iñárritu for Best Picture and Best Director. With his two nominations, Iñárritu became the first Mexican filmmaker to ever be nominated for either director or producer in the history of the Academy Awards. Iñárritu’s fourth film, Biutiful, was his first Spanish-language film since Amores Perros. He directed and produced the acclaimed drama, which he also co-wrote with Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone. The Focus Features film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Javier Bardem was nominated for Best Actor for his moving lead performance.

Iñárritu first began his career as a radio host and radio director at Mexican rock radio station WFM, which became the number one radio station in Mexico during his time. After working in radio, Iñárritu spent three years studying theater in Mexico City with Ludwik Margules, and then began writing, producing and directing short films and commercials under his Z Films company in Mexico.