Ryan & Ethan Hawke in Conversation 

Date: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Time: 4:00 PM EST
Location: The New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre (The Hawkes will join via Zoom)
This event is free of cost. However, you must RSVP to attend.

Ryan and Ethan Hawke join via Zoom to present an open conversation about the commonalities and differences working in diverse media, the importance and nuance of collaboration, and their insights on how to follow your heart.

The keynote will be followed by a Q&A.

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke is a four-time Academy Award®-nominated artist and one of Hollywood’s most multi-faceted stars, Ethan Hawke is an actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and best-selling novelist.

He recently directed the critically-acclaimed six-part documentary, The Last Movie Stars, about Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. Hawke’s recent onscreen roles were in the TV series Moon Knight, the horror film The Black Phone, and The Northman. He can soon be seen in Raymond and Ray and Leave the World Behind.

In 2020, Hawke received a Peabody Award for the Showtime series The Good Lord Bird, which he starred in, executive produced, and co-wrote. His prolific film acting career includes Dead Poets Society; Reality Bites; Gattaca; Training Day; Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead; Boyhood; Born to Be Blue; Maudie; Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight; and First Reformed. He made his directorial debut with Chelsea Walls and then went on to direct the Hottest State, and most recently directed, co-wrote, and produced the music biopic, Blaze. He also directed the music documentary, Seymour: An Introduction.

As a Tony Award-nominated stage actor, Hawke starred on Broadway in the revival of Sam Shepard’s True West; Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia; Macbeth; Henry IV; and The Seagull. He also has acted off-Broadway and directed the acclaimed productions of A Lie of the Mind, Clive, and Things We Want. 

A best-selling author, in 2021 he released A Bright Ray of Darkness and the graphic novel Meadowlark: A Coming-of-Age Crime Story. Other written works also include the novels The Hottest State and Ash Wednesday, the graphic novel Indeh, and the children’s book Rules for a Knight.

Photo Credit Francois Berthier

Ryan Hawke

Ryan Hawke runs Under the Influence Productions, working with founder Ethan Hawke to write, develop, produce and release a wide variety of content for film, TV, and theater.

She has produced I AM A TOWN (MOMA Doc), Seymour: An Introduction (Telluride, TIFF), BLAZE (Sundance, SXSW, Locarno FF), Adopt A Highway (SXSW), and the critically acclaimed, First Reformed (AFI). Ryan was an executive producer on The Good Lord Bird, a Peabody Award & AFI winning limited-series for SHOWTIME, based on the National Book Award novel by James McBride. Most recently, she produced The Last Movie Stars, a six-part documentary on HBO Max about the incredible couple Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman, which has been met with wide acclaim.

She is on the Board of The Alex Fund, Soccer Without Borders, and EngenderHealth. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Seek Digital Wellness, Unleash Your Creativity with Anastasia Vlasova

Date: Friday, October 28, 2022
Time: 1:45 PM EST
Location: The New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre
This event is free of cost. However, you must RSVP to attend.

During this intimate keynote Anastasia Vlasova shares her personal journey and the impact social media had on her mental health and physical wellbeing. She describes the tools and resources she used to overcome her psychological addiction which began the moment she deleted her instagram account. This presentation aims to raise awareness of the consequences of social media addiction among young people and highlight the positive role digital wellness plays in our creativity.

The keynote will be followed by the Boston premiere screening of the film Our Turn To Talk, a Panel Discussion, and Q&A. After the program, attendees are invited to participate in a quiet, private walk-through of the New England Aquarium.

Anastasia Vlasova

Anastasia Vlasova is a sophomore at NYU Gallatin studying sustainable business and design. She is a mental health activist and host of Our Turn to Talk, a mental health podcast for teens and parents, and its accompanying PBS documentary. She has been an avid public speaker on topics ranging from digital wellness to eating disorders. Anastasia has spoken for The Jed Foundation, NAMI, Our Minds Matter, #HalfTheStory, and more.

Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Journal, Today Show, CNN, People, WUSA9, and Lemonada Media. She is a Tory Burch Innovation Scholar, Vice President of the Albert Gallatin Founders Fund, and Female Founders Circle and NYU Startup Bootcamp alumna.

She is also an aspiring artist, with work featured in the 2022 NYU Gallatin Arts Festival. A disciplined creative, Anastasia is committed to using her education, ideas, and energy to design environments and objects that make people feel good.

New Era, New Voices with Whitney C. Johnson

Date: Friday, October 28, 2022
Time: 6:00 PM EST
Location: The New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre
This event is presented in partnership with the New England Aquarium Lecture Series, which is free to the public through the generosity of the Lowell Institute. While there is no cost, registration is required.

Whitney C. Johnson, Director of Visuals and Immersive Experiences at National Geographic walks us through how her team adapted to produce the Year In Pictures, a first for the 133-year-old National Geographic magazine. Johnson also led the effort to expand storytelling methods in the midst of unexpected production challenges and physical limitations. "By embracing new ways to create and distribute our stories," she says, "it was possible to share these empowering moments with millions of people."

The keynote will be followed by a Q&A.

Whitney C. Johnson

Whitney C. Johnson is the director of visuals and immersive experiences at National Geographic. She leads the visual and immersive staffs, overseeing photography, video, Instagram, and podcast teams. She joined National Geographic in 2015 as the magazine’s deputy director of photography.

From 2007 to 2015, Johnson was on the staff of The New Yorker, first as a picture editor and later as the director of photography. Prior to joining the magazine, Johnson worked at the Open Society Foundations, where she was a founding member of the Documentary Photography Project and managed an international grant competition and exhibition for documentary photographers.

Her work has earned numerous awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Society of Publication Designers and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (the Webbys). In 2011, Johnson — together with The New Yorker staff photographer Platon and Human Rights Watch — received a Peabody. In 2018, Pictures of the Year International honored the National Geographic photo staff with the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award and recognized Johnson with an Award of Excellence in the Magazine Visual Editor of the Year category. In 2019, National Geographic was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Johnson received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and continued with graduate work in American studies at Columbia University.

Photo credit: Mark Thiessen/National Geographic

DeWanda Wise and Colin Trevorrow In Conversation

Date: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Time: 5:00 PM EST
Location: The New England Aquarium's Simons Theatre
This event is free of cost. However, you must RSVP to attend.

DeWanda Wise and Colin Trevorrow ignite a fireside chat about their experiences in the industry and what they are each most passionate about.

The keynote will be followed by a Q&A.

DeWanda Wise

DeWanda Wise is a critically-acclaimed American actor and filmmaker.

Most recently, Wise made her blockbuster debut as the scene-stealer Kayla Watts in Jurassic World Dominion.

In 2023, she can be seen in the highly anticipated Showtime adaptation of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women, and Chris Pine’s directorial debut, Poolman, alongside Annette Benning, Danny Devito, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Pine himself.

Additional credits include her first leading role in ABC’s Firelight, her breakout role as Nola Darling in the Netflix adaption of She's Gotta Have It, the hit comedy Someone Great by Jenn Kaytin Robinson, and playing Swan opposite Kevin Hart in the Sony/Netflix film Fatherhood among others.

Select stage credits include Atlantic Theater Company's Fireflies, originating the roles of 'Nina' in Dominique Morisseau's Sunset Baby, and ‘Mercy’ in Flight, directed by Liesl Tommy, David Mamet’s Race, and In the Continuum.

An Ambassador for NAMI, DeWanda is committed to reducing mental health stigma, and systemic change towards accessible care for all.

Colin Trevorrow

Writer, director and producer Colin Trevorrow is best known for re-launching the Jurassic franchise with the 2015 Universal release JURASSIC WORLD, which he co-wrote and directed. Trevorrow also co-wrote and executive produced the follow up film, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM in 2018 and directed, co-wrote and executive produced the final chapter in the Jurassic series, JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION, released this summer, which features cast members from the original 1993 Steven Spielberg film. He currently executive produces the Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Previously, he directed the indie film SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, which won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and THE BOOK OF HENRY for Focus Features.

Upcoming, he has multiple projects in development with his production company, Metronome Film Company.