EVENT

Alice Arnold is a documentary media maker and educator. She creates, edits, designs and photographs projects that explore the urban environment and visual culture — from street art to advertising and from sidewalks to electric signs. Her films are in the collections of university libraries throughout the United States and have screened at MoMA and other festivals. She is a NYFA Photography Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow in film and an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York. She recently published “Goldie Timeless” (Cafe Royal Books), a small photo book about a drum‘n’bass event in 1995.

Panelist

David Hershkovits has published articles on pop culture and politics in numerous newspapers and magazines, including GQ, Vanity Fair, Max, High Times, the NY Post, Daily News and Newsday. He authored a monthly column, hundreds of articles, profiles and numerous cover stories for Paper Magazine. Vanity Fair credits co-founders David Hershkovits and Kim Hastreiter with having “changed the face of pop culture magazines” with Paper Magazine.

Born in Israel and raised in Brooklyn, his early work in journalism included the Soho Weekly News where he held editorial positions and was Assistant Managing Editor, and he was the only journalist on the New York Rap Tour which brought hip hop to Europe in the early 80s. In 1984 he co-founded Paper Magazine, and in 1995 launched Papermag.com. David co-edited the book From Abfab to Zen: Paper’s Guide to Pop Culture (1994) and 20 Years of Style: The World According to Paper (2004). In 2015, Paper “Broke the Internet” with the Kim Kardashian cover shoot by Jean-Paul Goude. As the host of the Light Culture podcast, he has interviewed more than 120 artists, photographers, musicians and cannabis culture personalities. 

David was a charter member of the Style Council – the VH-1 Fashion Awards nominating committee; and voted on the Council of Fashion Designer of America Awards. He also ran for Mayor against Rudolf Giuliani and played a principle role in the founding of the New York Nightlife Association. David is currently CEO of the Cultural Content Consultancy, LLC.

Panelist

Maurice Bernstein

Maurice is the co-founder and CEO of Giant Step.  Hailing from Manchester UK, he landed in New York in the late 1980s and immediately immersed himself in club culture and the music of the city. Since Giant Step’s start in 1990 as underground concert and club promoters; he built it into a management company, record label releasing albums like Nuyorican Soul, to a music marketing agency working with artists like Amy Winehouse, Daft Punk and Janelle Monae. Today Giant Step is an award winning marketing agency working with brands like; Marriott, Under Armour, Samsung and Related properties to name a few across their music verticals.  Maurice is an Adjunct Professor at Tisch School of The Arts at NYU, vinyl junkie and was the co music supervisor on NY Times documentary series The 1619 Project on Hulu.

Panelist

Erica Lee is an accomplished producer with over 30 years of experience in corporate and non-profit experiential marketing.  She has produced a wide variety of events including product launches, concerts, consumer-facing activations, and public art installations. 

Her event career began in the music industry at Giant Step in 1990 through 2007, producing and promoting concerts for various artists such as Jamiroquai, Bebel Gilberto, Massive Attack, The Roots, Air, and Macy Gray.  After years in the concert realm, she began producing events across the country for brands and companies including Levi’s, Nike, Samsung, Target, Conde Nast, Delta, New York Magazine, and the Robin Hood Foundation.

She is currently the Head of Production at Kenzo Digital Immersive, an immersive storytelling studio that juxtaposes elements of art, film, theater, and architecture to produce groundbreaking work on a global scale.