Arts
Film
Storytelling, music, animation, and podcasts! Watch the magic of innovative content being born as creatives pitch their ideas to a panel of Planet Media judges, each hoping to launch short-form content aimed at helping kids understand climate change.
NBCUniversal News Group recently announced the honorees for its prime-time special, “Inspiring America: The Inspiration List.” NBC News’ Tom Llamas brings this conversation featuring Americans making a difference to Aspen. The panel includes environmental and climate justice activist Catherine Flowers; Susan Burton, creator of the nonprofit A New Way of Life; and actor Joh...
HBO’s hit show “Succession” is the latest example of how well the themes of tragedy, betrayal, ambition, and love — which Shakespeare depicted for the stage centuries before even the most basic technology — are capable of being magnificently transformed for the screen. Brian Cox, renowned Shakespearean actor and star of “Succession,” and Simon Godwin, Shakespeare Theatre C...
As the impacts of climate change become more evident on natural habitats, widespread focus on protecting these places is more critical than ever. With Hollywood finally flexing its cultural muscle to bring the climate crisis to worldwide audiences, we talk to the creatives working in both the real and imagined future worlds, with a shared mission of connecting people with...
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more. Doors open at 2 p.m.
What have we learned since the Manhattan Project, and how does the atomic bomb continue to challenge global warfare? Join Andrea Mitchell in conversation with documentary film director Chris Cassell and author Kai Bird in advance of the release of the NBC News Studios documentary, To End All War: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb.
Has a movie ever changed your mind, the way you act, what you eat? Leads from Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah and other media experts discuss how films are changing public conversations and capturing the attention of citizens and elected officials. Is the medium of the movie essential to societal progress? This panel will compel you to consider how films disrupt...
Although death is every bit as much a part of life as birth, we pretend it isn’t there. Perhaps it’s time that changed. The soon-to-be released HBO documentary Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America, tackles this final taboo. Join the filmmakers for a sneak peek and a frank discussion about end of life options. How might we design more meaningful deaths?
Originally recorded by Sydney Pollack over two days at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, LA, in 1972, and then brought to life decades later by producer Alan Elliot, Amazing Grace is a raw and unfettered documentary of the live recording of the incomparable gospel music album. Join us for a screening of the film that captures the majestic Franklin at the h...
“Music City” didn’t look to its stars to reboot Nashville’s story; instead it went to its heart and soul – it’s mostly unknown songwriters who have written some of our biggest hits. Can this strategy be a model for other cities to promote civic change and pride? Hear from the people who helped tell the city’s story and see clips from the award-winning film that brings thes...
Legendary performer and 2019 Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence, Rita Moreno has won all four of the coveted EGOT collection of awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) and has had a host of other prestigious honors bestowed upon her. This summer, Moreno tackles a revisit of her most iconic project with a new role in and executive producing duties on Steven Spielberg’s remake...
Get a behind the scenes look at the HBO documentary-news program, “Axios on HBO”, with its Executive Editor and the creative team behind the headline-making series. How did Axios translate its new style of journalism into television story-telling that the Poynter Institute calls "a major player in TV news" and the Baltimore Sun called "the show that almost everyone in the...
In 2016, filmmaker/photographer Pete McBride and writer Kevin Fedarko set out on a 750-mile journey on foot through the entire length of the Grand Canyon. But their quest was more than just an endurance test – it was also a way to draw attention to the unprecedented threats facing one of our most revered landscapes. Throughout their passage, McBride and Fedarko encountered...
For more than three decades, artist Carrie Mae Weems has created a body of work — including photographs, fabric, text, audio, and video — that probes the fault lines of race, gender, class, politics, and power. In this session, the Prix de Rome and MacArthur Fellowship winner stages a collaborative performance of her work and discusses how it merges the personal and the po...
With boundless creativity and irrepressible energy, 306 Hollywood memorializes and honors the life of the filmmakers’ grandmother, Annette Ontell. Housewife, fashion designer, and beloved family member, Ontell lived seven decades in the same house — 306 Hollywood Avenue in Hillside, NJ. Ultimately a profound reflection on how we examine and deal with the past, the film can...
Creative expression takes many forms. Through history, art has provoked a range of feelings: emotion, empathy, fear, surprise, joy, compassion, anger. Now, amidst a time of national angst, where many in society might not hear the voices of those who don’t agree, a group of remarkable artists and political strategists are imagining ways that art can be used to catalyze dif...
Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer, along with partner Ron Howard, just completed season one of “Genius,” a multi-part series for television based on Walter Isaacson’s book, Einstein. Why the focus on genius? What does the celebration of sheer genius do for society at large? What lessons can we learn by studying the lives and works of those we consider geniuses?
A discussion about how Hollywood is adapting to an increasingly cluttered and fragmented marketplace by embracing creative business solutions. Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of animation powerhouse Illumination Entertainment, and Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will look at both the macro and micro ways that the film business is being f...
Oscar-winning filmmaker John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, All Is by My Side) is known for his uncompromising and thought-provoking work examining some of society’s most pressing issues: immigration, sex trafficking, slavery, and race relations, among others. Ridley is joined by frequent collaborator, Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Felicity Huffman, in conversation abo...
A passion for food — growing it, cooking it, and eating it — has become one of the favorite pastimes of countless people. Did it all begin with James Beard? Learn why that claim is made in the new PBS American Masters documentary, James Beard: America’s First Foodie. Following the film, Corby Kummer, food writer for The Atlantic, will lead a panel discussion with two of Am...