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Speakers confirmed for the 2011 Portland Creative Conference:

Jim Kouf – Screenwriter (National Treasure, Rush Hour, Stakeout), Producer (Con Air, Ghost Whisperer, Angel, Grimm)

Jim co-wrote Rush Hour starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker for New Line in 1998, Snow Dogs starring Cuba Gooding and James Coburn in 2002, and Taxi staring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in 2004. He has also worked in television, producing and writing with David Greenwalt for Angel (WB) and writing and producing on The Handler (CBS). In 2004 his last Disney release was National Treasure which Jim wrote and starred Nicolas Cage, directed by Jon Turteltaub and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.  National Treasure 2, which is based on his characters, was released in 2007. Jim has also Executive Produced and written for the CBS TOUCHSTONE/DISNEY series Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, during its first two seasons. In 2011 Jim has written TV Pilots for Fox Cable (Buck) and NBC (Grimm).  In March of 2011 Jim produced the pilot for Grimm in Portland, Oregon with his partners David Greenwalt, Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner.  He is presently working on Grimm, the series for NBC, filming in Portland.

David Greenwalt – Producer (X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Eureka, Grimm), Writer (Wonder Years, X-Files, Buffy, Miracles, Angel, Grimm)

David’s credits include three Disney TV movies – Help Wanted Kids, Exile and Double Switch — (all of which he directed), PROFIT, which he co-created with John McNamara, Buffy The Vampire Slayer (exec producer, writer and director) Angel (co-created with Joss Whedon)  Miracles for ABC, Jake 2.0, and many other projects. His current venture is Grimm, coming to NBC this October on Friday nights. He and his long time partner Jim Kouf wrote and produced the pilot and are running the show with Hazy Mills producers Todd Milliner and Sean Hayes.

Rob Legato – Special Effects Supervisor (Avatar, Harry Potter, Titanic, Armageddon, etc.)

Rob was a popular speaker from the original run of the Portland Creative Conference in the 90′s.  He returns to our stage on the heels of his deep involvement in driving the how-did-they-do-that special effects behind Avatar, the highest grossing film in history.  Rob’s industry-leading expertise has also been behind the special effects of other blockbusters, including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Titanic, Apollo 13 and Armageddon.

Brynn Bardacke – Global Group Creative Director, Coca-Cola

Brynn has a strong connection to the Portland area after spending four years in Nike Advertising in the 90′s.  She then worked 10 years for top ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, working on key accounts such as Apple, Gatorade and P&G brands.

Courtney Taylor-Taylor – Singer/Songwriter, Founder of The Dandy Warhols

Courtney Taylor-Taylor is a singer-songwriter. He is the lead singer and guitarist of alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols, a band he co-founded. The vast majority of the band’s songs are written by Taylor-Taylor, including hits “We Used to Be Friends” and “Bohemian Like You”. He appears in and narrates the film Dig!, a documentary about the relationship between his band, The Dandy Warhols, and sometime friends/rivals The Brian Jonestown Massacre. In 2009 Taylor-Taylor released a graphic novel titled “One Model Nation”. Courtney is one of the contributors to the book “Sex Tips from Rock Stars” by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.

Peter Richardson – Documentary Director, How to Die in Oregon

Peter’s documentary, How to Die in Oregon, won the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize.  The film premiered on HBO this past May. Peter’s previous film, Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon (his home town), debuted at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Richardson was the cinematographer on Saving Pelican 895, Irene Taylor Brodsky’s documentary that aired on HBO in April.

Jelly Helm – Founder, Jelly Helm Studios

Jelly is the owner of Jelly Helm Studio, a communication arts studio in Old Town Chinatown. His clients include Wikipedia, Dell, Nike, Red Hat, the Portland Timbers and Oregon Humanities. Jelly Helm is formerly Executive Creative Director of Wieden+Kennedy in Portland and Amsterdam, Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter, Group Creative Director at The Martin Agency, and Founder/Director of W+K 12, Wieden+Kennedy’s experimental in-house school. Jelly has spent over 20 years in advertising as a teacher, writer, art director, critic and activist.

Naomi Pomeroy – Chef, Bravo’s Top Chef Masters TV show

Bon Appètit named Naomi Pomeroy as one of the top 6 of a new generation of female chefs in September 2008 and Food & Wine magazine recognized her as one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America in 2009. Most recently, Marie Claire named Pomeroy one of the 18 most powerful women in business in October 2010. Locally, Pomeroy was voted Chef of the Year for 2008 by Portland Monthly. Pomeroy’s restaurant Beast was named Restaurant of the Year by the Oregonian in 2008 and chosen as Best Brunch by the Willamette Weekly. In March of 2010, Pomeroy was selected as a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Awards for Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest.

Irene Taylor Brodsky – Documentary Director, Saving Pelican 895, Hear & Now

Irene is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning, Oscar-nominated, producer, director, writer and cinematographer whose documentaries have shown theatrically, at film festivals and on television worldwide. Her most recent film, Saving Pelican 895, followed the life of a single bird rescued during the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, premiered on HBO in April and continues to win film festival accolades around the country. Irene was nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for her documentary short-subject film The Final Inch, which also won International Documentary Association’s Pare Lorentz Award for cinematic excellence.  Irene turned the camera on her own family to make her first feature-length film Hear and Now, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award for best documentary.  Hear and Now went on to receive numerous Audience and Jury awards around the world, a 2008 Peabody Award, a Clarion Award, and a nomination for Documentary of the Year by the Producer’s Guild of America.

Robyn Tenenbaum – Co-Creator & Executive Producer, Live Wire! Radio

Robyn knows live radio. From 1994-1998, Robyn was the Producer of West Coast Live, a weekly radio show broadcast live in front of a theater audience in San Francisco and carried by public radio stations across the country. She’s also worked extensively in live concert and festival production for Bill Graham Presents doing VIP ticketing and credentials for groups ranging from the Rolling Stones to HH Dalai Lama.

Courtenay Hameister – Head Writer & Host, Live Wire! Radio

Courtenay is writer, filmmaker, and radio personality in Portland, Oregon. In addition to being the head writer and host on Live Wire!, she is a guest every Wednesday on the “Cort and Fatboy Show,” which airs every day at 10 a.m. PST on cascadia.fm.  Courtnay writes and sometimes directs short films, and is a member of “Cinema Syndicate,” a film collective in Portland, Oregon.