Creativity in Captivity

Often credited with single-handedly reviving the lost art of the concert poster, his creative career rose largely out of his enthusiasm for Austin’s growing underground punk rock scene in the early eighties. In 1981, he began designing and posting black and white flyers for friends’ bands on telephone poles. His reputation quickly grew as an artist whose work was graphically compelling and culturally gripping. An entirely self-taught artist, Kozik eventually transitioned into producing large, colorful silkscreen concert posters, which found international success. He has created artwork for musicians such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, The White Stripes, The Beastie Boys, Green Day, Neil Young and Nirvana. In the mid-nineties he directed several music videos, including Soundgarden’s “Pretty Noose”. In 1993, he moved to San Francisco. Within two years he had started his own record label, Man’s Ruin Records. The majority of his posters and album art during this era were hand silkscreened and numbered at his studio. During this time he designed and released over 200 singles and full-length albums including a record by the Sex Pistols and the first Queens of the Stone Age single. In 2001, Kozik closed Man’s Ruin to devote himself full time to fine art, design and the newly emerging art toy movement. He served as the Chief Creative Officer of  kidrobot to produce vinyl toys including many versions of his iconic Labbit character. He designed over 500 different limited edition figures. Kozik also designed products and campaigns for a spectrum of major media and lifestyle brands including a pair of NikeSB Dunk Quickstrike sneakers, a special edition Swatch watch, the 2007 Spike TV Video Games Award trophy, and an “Absolut Kozik” print ad. In addition to his outside clients, 2007 saw him launch his own brand, Ultraviolence. Under this imprint, Kozik produces limited edition art objects in vinyl, fiberglass, bronze and Limoges porcelain that are often more complex in content and larger in scale than his other vinyl toys. Kozik’s work has been exhibited in over 40 group shows and 35 one-man gallery exhibits worldwide. His impact as the godfather of lowbrow art will live on through the legacy of his signature creations. 

Rachel Bloom is best known as the co-creator and star of the CW musical dramedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She has won the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy, the 2016 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a TV Comedy, and the 2016 TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. In 2019, Rachel won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics alongside songwriting partners Jack Dolgen and the late Adam Schlesinger for Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal. Currently, Rachel is touring in her live show, Death Let Me Do My Special. In 2019, she sold out Radio City Music Hall performing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Live as part of a multi-show tour. In the same year she also starred in her own solo tour, What Am I Going to Do with My Life Now? which included a week-long residency at the Just For Laughs comedy festival. Rachel recently co-starred in the Critics’ Choice nominated Hulu comedy series, Reboot, alongside Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, and Paul Reiser. Her upcoming projects include guest starring in season 2 of HBO’s Julia as well as appearing in the new Muppets Mayhem Musical Series on Disney+. She has also appeared in numerous films including co-starring in IFC’s Bar Fight! and SXSW’s Most Likely to Murder. Her voice acting resume includes the role of “Silver” in The Angry Birds Movie 2 opposite Jason Sudeikis, “Queen Barb” in Trolls: World Tour opposite Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, and “Op” in the movie Extinct opposite Adam Devine and Ken Jeong. She’s also done VO work for television including The Simpsons and Bojack Horseman. Rachel got her start performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater at which she put up two live musical sketch comedy shows, Rachel Bloom is a Triple Threat!!! and Sing Out Loud, Louise. She self-released two albums of comedy music: PLEASE LOVE ME and SUCK IT, CHRISTMAS!!! (A CHANUKAH ALBUM). For tour updates go to www.racheldoesstuff.com

Jeremy Davis and Clay Johnson and their fiery 17 piece big band are collectively known as The Fabulous Equinox Orchestra.  All across North America, audiences have fallen in love with these sophisticated Southern gentleman and their high-energy show. A collection of the greatest songs, the best original arrangements and phenomenal musicianship, is the signature of these two exceptional musicians as they bring their rich friendship and charm to the stage. Fashioned in the style and swagger of the legendary entertainers lead by Frank Sinatra, Davis & Johnson are putting their own stamp on the Great American songbook, graced with a touch of Motown, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Elvis and more, offering a freshness and relevance that speaks to every soul. Music has carried them from coast to coast, to Europe, India, Canada, and soon for their third tour of Israel.  Jeremy & Clay are most enthusiastic about their nonprofit Equinox Global Missions where the use music to ENTERTAIN, CONNECT AND SERVE. Learn more at www.EquinoxKrewe.com

Seth is a director, actor, teacher, and the co-founder & co-artistic director of The Barrow Group in New York City. In his storied career as a director he was involved with the award-winning shows My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Solo Show), Sleepwalk With Me (Nightlife Award for Outstanding Comedian in a Major Performance), The Tricky Part (Obie Award, Drama Desk nominations for Best Play and Best Solo Show), Pentecost (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), Old Wicked Songs (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Garland Award for Best Direction), and Good (Straw Hat Award for Best Direction), and Mike Birbiglia:The Old Man and The Pool. For television he co-directed Mike Birbiglia:Thank God for Jokes. He directed My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend for Netflix, Mike Birbiglia:The New One and he co-directed and co-wrote the film Sleep Walk with Me. As well as being a consulting producer for the film Don’t Think Twice. He is the author of the book An Actor’s Companion – Tools for the Working Actor published by TCG. As an actor, Seth appears regularly in film and on television. 

An artist, cartoonist, and the author of the book Skip to the Fun Parts: Cartoons and Complaints About Creativity.  Dana has been a contributor to the New Yorker Daily Shouts since 2018. Her online cartoon series The Worried Well was syndicated by Andrews McMeel Universal in 2016 and can be seen online on GoComics.com.  She has illustrated for The Phillips Collection, the DC Public Library, Politics and Prose, and Museum Hack, and her artwork and murals can be seen at various restaurants in the DC area. In 2019 she invented the highly popular (and unauthorized) Ladies Drawing Night Against Humanity workshop series.  She lives with her husband and their two cats in Washington, DC.

Tom Dudzick is one of the few playwrights who makes a living at it. His first play, a Christmas tale called Greetings!, opened at New York’s John Houseman Theatre and starred Darren McGavin and Greg Edelman. It is now a holiday favorite across the country and has had well over one hundred productions. His next play, Over the Tavern, the first in a semi- autobiographical trilogy, has over three hundred productions under its belt, with many box office records broken throughout the U.S. Tavern has recently spawned a holiday musical as well, entitled Christmas Over the Tavern. The Irish adaptation, Over the Pub, also broke the box office record at Cork Arts Theatre in Ireland. Tom has written eight plays to date, most published by Playscripts, Inc. He was recently honored with a memorial plaque embedded in front of his boyhood home in Buffalo. And an even greater honor – he was once a question on Jeopardy! 

An award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show on Amazon Prime. She is the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Gutsy Girls Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. Kelly was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines and the keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention. Kelly’s wacky wit and powerful stories have charmed hearts and tickled funny bones for over 18 years. In addition to her role as a funny motivational speaker, Kelly teaches people how she does it by sharing what she has learned about connecting and engaging to have more influence in business, through the use of one tool – strategic storytelling. Sharing her own powerful journey through story and the formula she discovered, you come to that magical place where the art of story meets the business of persuasion. In July of 2022 she was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.

Beowulf Boritt is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award® winning set for Susan Stroman's production of New York, New York. He designed the Tony Award® winning set for James Lapine's Act One. He has received four additional Tony Award® nominations for his designs of The Scottsboro Boys, POTUS, Therese Raquin, and Flying Over Sunset, for which he won a Drama Desk award. His book about set design, Transforming Space Over Time, is available on Amazon. He is the founder and manager of The 1/52 Project which provides financial support to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups, with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community. Beowulf designed Harold Prince's final Broadway shows: Prince of Broadway and LoveMusik. In addition, he designed the sets for Sondheim on Sondheim, The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Steve Martin's Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, Come From Away. Freestyle Love Supreme, Ohio State Murders, Mike Birbiglia's The New One and The Old Man and The Pool. Other highlights include the New York and Russian productions of Chaplin, the revival of On The Town, Rob Askins' Hand To God and the long running hit Rock of Ages. Off-Broadway, he has designed over one hundred shows, including Much Ado About Nothing, Merry Wives, and Coriolanus for Shakespeare in the Park, Fiddler on The Roof (in Yiddish), The Last Five Years, Mike Birbiglia's The New One, Sleepwalk With Me, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, Thank God For Jokes and Strindberg’s Miss Julie. His designs are in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian Museum of American History and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as well as several private collections. In addition to a Tony Award he has been honored with an 2007 OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in Set Design, an Audelco Award, a Barrymore award, a Live Design Award for Innovation in Scenic Design, a Broadway Beacon Award, and a St. Louis Theater Circle Award. He has been nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards, four NY Outer Critic's Circle Awards, an LA Ovation Award, an LA NAACP Award, a San Francisco Critic's Circle Award and six Henry Hewes Awards. 

Marja Harmon plays Angelica Schuyler on the "And Peggy" tour of Hamilton. Her Broadway credits include Book of Mormon, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and New York City Center’s Merrily We Roll Along. She starred as Nala in the national tour of The Lion King, as well as regional productions of Aida, Ragtime, Hairspray, Dreamgirls, Grease, and more. Her TV appearances include God Friended Me, Murphy Brown, and Jessica Jones. Stay up-to-date with Marja by visiting her @marjaharmony on Instagram or her website at marjaharmon.me.

Simone Giertz is a Swedish inventor, maker, robotics enthusiast, TV host and professional content creator on YouTube. Simone’s creations include an alarm clock that slaps the user to wake them up, a lipstick applier, and an invention that shampoos the user’s hair. Giertz showcased several of these robots on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2016, Simone joined Tested.com, collaborating with Adam Savage on her first project, the popcorn feeding helmet. In 2017, she hosted the comedy TV show Manick with Nisse Hallberg on Swedish TV6. In 2018, she created a robot to promote season 2 of HBO’s Westworld. The same year she made her debut presenting at a TED conference on “Why You Should Make Useless Things”, encouraging people to ask questions through creation. Simone is the founder of a product design company called Yetch, with an online shop that can be found at Yetch.store. You can find her easily on her YouTube channel.