Guest Lecturers
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Beryl Bellman
Western/World Civilization Topics Course: Intercultural Communication
Dr. Bellman is a tenured full Professor of Communication Studies at California State University where he has taught for the past 20 years. He is also the co-founder and Academic Director of the FEAC™ Institute, which is an education, training, research and certification organization in Washington DC for enterprise architecture. He has been involved in teaching, research; publishing, consulting and project management in the fields of Intercultural Communication, Organizational Communications, Enterprise Architecture, Knowledge Management, and distributed e-Learning for some forty years, and has an excellent reputation in both academe and professional consulting. He held faculty and research positions at the University of California at San Diego, SUNY Stonybrook, CUNY Graduate Center and California Institute of the Arts, and was Research Director of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute prior to his current university position. He conducted eighteen years ethnographic research on African secret societies in Liberia, as well as conducted additional direct and applied research in Mali, Kenya, Zambia, Peru, Barbados and Mexico. In addition to academic positions he has twenty plus years concurrent consulting experience in both government and the private sectors, and has been a Principal Consultant and Project Manager with three major Enterprise Architecture consulting companies. He has consulted in Enterprise Architecture related programs in the public sector for the DoD, Departments of Agriculture, Forest Service, Energy, Justice/INS and the Whitehouse for the Executive Office of the President as well as was a contract consultant for NCR, AT&T, ASK, RAND and Digital Equipment Corporation - working for their internal and external customers. This included doing EA in the aerospace, financial, banking, pharmaceutical, entertainment and manufacturing sectors. This work included intercultural communications consulting in China, Korea, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, England and Ireland. He has published several books and over ninety articles. He is a frequent presenter at national and international professional and academic conferences.
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Charles Bernstein
History of Film Music
Charles Bernstein has played jazz in the cellars of Paris - danced and played folk music with the Greeks and with gypsies from the Balkans - he has won academic honors including the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship and a Chancellor's Teaching Fellowship - conducted his own orchestral music at the age of sixteen - written and produced off-Broadway - recorded with great artists and legendary producers - studied composition at Juilliard, and with American master Roy Harris - he is equally at home with electronic, orchestral, ethnic, jazz, pop and music of the spirit.
Mr. Bernstein is very active as a composer of film and TV scores. He has composed scores for over 100 motion pictures, including genre classics A Nightmare on Elm Street (the original), The Entity, Stephen King's Cujo, Dracula spoof Love At First Bite, and a wide variety of comedies, dramas and action films. He has provided music for Academy Award winning documentaries Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision and the all-music film Czechoslovakia 1968, as well as for the Tom Hanks Vietnam saga, Return with Honor. His many made-for-television films include the Jane Seymour historical epic Enslavement (Emmy Nominated for Best Score), HBO's Emmy Award winning Miss Ever's Boys with Alfrie Woodard, the Michael Mann Emmy winning 10-hour miniseries Drug Wars, Hallmark Hall of Fame's Emmy winning Caroline, Jack London's The Sea Wolf (Emmy nominated for Best Score), and Emmy Nominated mini-series The Long Hot Summer, as well as the acclaimed historical mini-series Sadat.
When he is not writing music, Charles Bernstein is writing about music. National film critic Leonard Maltin calls Charles Bernstein's award winning writings about music "stimulating, informative and fun." According to Oscar winning song writers Marilyn and Alan Bergman, he is "always a fascinating writer." His writings have won the prestigious ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award. In addition to scoring movies, Mr. Bernstein has composed for modern dance, theater and the World Festival of Sacred Music. His MASS: Voices of the World won praise from Quincy Jones, who called it "a beacon of light bringing hope to our hearts as we enter the twenty-first century," and from best-selling author Thomas Moore, who deemed it music "to bring re-enchantment into our lives."
Mr. Bernstein is currently elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Board of Directors of The Society of Composers and Lyricists, and the Board of Directors of the ASCAP Foundation. He has taught on the graduate film scoring faculty at USC, and holds an annual film scoring seminar in the summers at UCLA Extension.
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Jeffrey Brabec
Music Publishing
JEFFREY BRABEC is Vice President of Business Affairs for the Chrysalis Music Group (representing the catalogues of OutKast, Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Blondie, Paul Anka, Billy Idol, Jethro Tull, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, A3 ("The Sopranos theme) Cy Coleman, Dan Wilson, TV on the Radio and Ray LaMontagne).
Brabec is the co-author with his twin brother Todd (former Executive Vice President of ASCAP) of the best-selling book "MUSIC, MONEY, AND SUCCESS: The Insider's Guide To Making Money In The Music Business" (6th Edition / Schirmer Trade Books/Music Sales) and has been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism.
Previously, he has been Vice President of Business Affairs for The PolyGram Music Group and Director of Business Affairs for both The Welk Music Group and Arista-Interworld Music Group. A graduate of New York University School of Law, he has also been a government legal services attorney.
Brabec is an adjunct professor at the USC Thornton School of Music/Business Division, contributing editor to the Entertainment Law & Finance Magazine and has written numerous articles on the music industry which have appeared in the NARAS Journal, New York Law Journal, Advertising Age, Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment, Publishing And The Arts Handbook, Entertainment Law & Finance Magazine, the Entertainment Law Reporter and the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers Music Handbook.
Brabec also lectures extensively on the business and legal aspects of the music industry including the American Bar Association, Game Developers Conference, the California Copyright Conference, American Film Institute, Billboard/Hollywood Reporter's Annual Film and Television Conference, the California Bar Association, The Beverly Hills Bar Association, South by Southwest, the Texas Bar Association, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Borders Books, Southwestern Law School, Loyola Law School, numerous universities, songwriter organizations, ASCAP, Taxi and the national Guitar Center chain.
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Todd Brabec
Music Publishing
Todd Brabec, Deems Taylor Award winning writer and co-author (with his brother Jeff, Vice President of Business Affairs, Chrysalis Music Group) of Music, Money and Success: The Insider's Guide to Making Money In the Music Business (6th Edition/Schirmer Books/505 pages), is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the USC Thornton School of Music where he teaches the course on music publishing, the licensing of music in all media, foreign country royalties and film, television and videogame score and song contracts. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, he is an entertainment law attorney, a former recording artist and the current Budget Chair as well as former Division Chair for the American Bar Association's Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries.
He has over 300 articles published and lectures extensively on all aspects of the business, legal and money side of music at colleges and universities, state and national bar associations, conventions, conferences, seminars, law firms, management firms, songwriter associations, business and law schools, ad agencies, technology companies and performing right organizations both in the U.S. as well as in foreign countries.
For the past 15 years, Todd was Executive Vice President and Director of all Membership for ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. In this position, he was responsible for and in charge of all aspects of the Society's membership operations throughout the world encompassing 340,000 U.S. songwriters, composers, and music publishers, over 1 million foreign society writers and publishers and 7 offices. In this role, he was in charge of all membership policies and personnel, writer and publisher signings, the retention of members, songwriter, composer and music publisher payment formulas and execution, foreign society member dealings, competitive payments and systems analysis, advances and projections of income, dealings with lawyers, managers and agents and recommendations as to what ASCAP needed to do to be successful in the competitive world of licensing and songwriter, composer and music publisher royalty payments. Prior to that, he held various positions at ASCAP including Senior Vice President of Membership, Western Regional Executive Director, Western Regional Director for Business Affairs and Director, New York Membership Department.
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Vincent Brook
Vincent Brook has a PhD in film and televison from UCLA. He has worked as a film editor and screenwriter, has taught media studies on the college level for over 20 years, and currently also teaches at UCLA, USC, Cal-State LA, and Pierce College. He has published dozens of journal, anthology, and encyclopedia articles; has edited the anthology You Should See Yourself: Jewish Identity in Postmodern American Culture (2006); and authored Something Ain't Kosher Here: The Rise of the "Jewish" Sitcom (2003), and Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir (2009).
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Ben Laski
Current Issues in the Music Industry
Bestselling author and music lover Nick Hornby wrote that everyone needs a music enthusiast to continuously tip them off and serve as a matchmaker between them and new music. Ben Laski is such a music enthusiast and matchmaker. Mr. Laski can remember the first tape recorder his parents bought for him when he was 4 years old. "I used to tape songs off the radio and make my own mix tapes," he recalls.
Ben Laski continued to make tapes for his friends as a teenager and was eventually offered a DJ spot at one of the biggest clubs in Israel. It didn't take long before he was spinning at clubs, private parties and eventually at various clubs in London. He would fly to London every two months to spin taking only a carry-on but returning with two suitcases full of records. Now Mr. Laski can be found most nights enjoying live music around Los Angeles and prefers small intimate venues over stadium rock shows. When he's not drinking up the local music scene he spends time at home with his wife Jenna organizing his ever expanding CD collection and taking care of their 4 year old girl.
After advising and counseling various clients in the entertainment industry from 1996 to 1003 at the law firms Baker & Hostetler LLP, Keats McFarland & Wilson LLP, and Alschuler Grossman Stein and Kahan, LLP, Mr. Laski left the corporate law firm world to form the Law Offices of Benjamin Laski in June 1003. He currently represents music, motion picture, television, and internet clients in all aspects of the entertainment industry. Mr. Laski also teaches at Boston University's Los Angeles campus.
Mr. Laski recognized early on that while he does not have the vocal chops or axe abilities for tasty guitar licks, he does have the ear to recognize such talent long before others do. That is why in addition to his law firm Mr. Laski formed Sonic Managment where his passion for music found a home in managing and assisting talented musicians in their careers.
Ben Laski continues to make mix CDs for his close friends but now these CDs also include artists that he represents and hopes will be household names one day… a music matchmaker for life!!!
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Marty Silverstone
Sr. Creative Director, Film & TV, Primary Wave Music
Marty is part of the dynamic film & TV music team in the West coast office of Primary Wave Music, cultivating and securing creative synch licensing opportunities for the company's songwriters and artists, which include Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Def Leppard. Prior to that, he headed the creative department of music publisher North Star Music Group, where he managed and promoted song catalogues featuring works by Collective Soul, Butch Walker and Bruce Hornsby, while also founding and building out an indie artist division for the company, signing several compelling new artists along the way.
Before transitioning into music publishing and artist development, Marty launched his career in music as part of the Queen's University Department of Psychology music research team in Kingston, Canada, leading studies on the psychology of pop music and music technology. A Berklee grad, Marty is also an accomplished musician and producer, working with emerging artists and songwriters in his spare time. He is a member of The Recording Academy, the AIMP and the California Copyright Conference, and regularly speaks at music conferences and on industry panels.
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James Thing
Urban Sociology
James Thing received his Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California in 2009 His primary research interest include gender and sexuality, queer studies, immigration, and Latino sociology. His dissertation "Entre Maricones, Machos y Gays: Globalization and the Construction of Sexual Identities Among Queer Mexicanos" is a multi-sited ethnographic study that focuses on sexual identity and sexual culture formation among gay men in Mexico City and Cuernavaca, and gay Mexican immigrant men living in Los Angeles. Drawing on participant observation and interviews, the dissertation offers a theoretical and empirical analysis of the formation and articulation of gay identities among Mexican men in an attempt to more fully understand the global dimensions of queer identity formation.
Currently, Thing is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California and at California State University, Long Beach. His scholarship is complimented by a history of activist work with various immigrant rights organizations and HIV/AIDS prevention programs and service organizations. Currently, Thing is a consultant for the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition. He has worked on research projects at AIDS Project Los Angeles that looked at factors contributing to sexual risk among young gay men of color. Thing also has worked on program development for Delhi Community Center's Entre Hombres HIV prevention program which specifically serves Latino gay and bisexual immigrant men.
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Pamela Viele
Health and Wellness
Pamela Viele, PhD, MPH holds dual appointments at UCLA as Executive Director of Student Development and as a Lecturer in the School of Public Health. Throughout her career, Pam has worked collaboratively with colleagues throughout the university to provide co-curricular and curricular experiences that promote success and development of the whole student. Her current professional and teaching activities focus on helping students to successfully navigate the developmental challenges of the college years, including coping with stress, developing identity, healthy self-management, and developing social and cultural competence. Courses she has recently taught include "Life Skills for College Students", "Making the Most of College: Fulfilling Your Potential", and "Campus and Community Health and Wellness Promotion: From Theory to Practice".