SXSW Film Startup Alley: Fifty Shades of Creativity

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Animation legend Fred Seibert (Frederator Studios, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Hanna-Barbera) and producer Dana Brunetti (“House of Cards,” “Captain Phillips,” “Fifty Shades of Gray”) join Fast Company senior writer Chuck Salter to share how they successfully navigate projects to the screen (tablet, smartphone, TV, movie, you name it), find an audience for their work, and develop young talent. Brunetti, president of Kevin Spacey’s production company, Trigger Street Productions, runs an online platform for aspiring filmmakers and screenwriters. Seibert, whose YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover has more than one million subscribers, is known for cultivating up-and-coming animators, such as Seth MacFarlane (“Family Guy”) to Genndy Tartakovsky (“Dexter’s Laboratory”) as well as the occasional techster, such as Tumblr founder David Karp.

Presenters

Chuck Salter

Sr Writer

Fast Company

Chuck Salter is an award-winning senior writer at Fast Company and a multi-media storyteller. He specializes in writing intimate profiles of innovators and taking readers inside the world’s leading companies in print, online and, most recently, on stage in his original live-narrative performances. The creator of Fast Company’s ebook business, he’s the editor of the anthologies Hacking Hollywood, Breakthrough Leadership, and #Unplug. His work has appeared on This American Life, and he’s written for The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, among others.

Dana Brunetti

Pres & CEO

Trigger Street Productions

Dana Brunetti is the president of Trigger Street Productions and most recently produced Captain Phillips alongside Scott Rudin and Michael Deluca, written by Billy Ray and starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengass. The film is currently nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Picture. He is also a producer on the new Netflix Original Series House of Cards directed by David Fincher starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, which is set to return for its second season on February 14, 2014. The show received nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations and is the first non-traditional television show to land nominations in a major Emmys category. It’s currently nominated for four Golden Globe nominations. Brunetti is also co-Founder Trigger Street Labs - an online platform for feedback and exposure for undiscovered writing and filmmaking talent. In 2013, Brunetti won a Special Achievement Webby Award for his impact on the Web.

In 2009, again with Rudin and Deluca, Brunetti produced the film The Social Network, the story of how Facebook was created. Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin the film received numerous awards including eight Academy Award nominations. Brunetti won his first Golden Globe for the film, as well as many other honors including the National Board of Review and The Critics Choice Award. Brunetti also produced Bernard & Doris (HBO) starring Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon which received 10 Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe Nomination. He’s currently producing the upcoming film adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey, along with Michael De Luca. The book has sold over 90 million copies worldwide. The film is scheduled for release February 14, 2015.

Fred Seibert

Pres

Frederator Studios

Fred Seibert is a serial media entrepreneur.

He was the first creative director of MTV and the last president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons.

His Frederator Networks is a leading independent cartoon production company, and Frederator Books makes digital books for kids. Frederator distributes animator owned YouTube channels.

Fred is the founder of Channel Frederator, one of the first online animation networks, of Next New Networks (acquired by YouTube), and Cartoon Hangover, the home of Bravest Warriors and Bee & PuppyCat (the largest animation Kickstarter in history).

He was the first investor in Tumblr and is on the board of directors of Sawhorse Media.