Speakers Announced and Tickets on Sale Now for TED2016: Dream ‘Opening Night’ Live Only in Cinemas
February 15 LIVE Event in Local Movie Theaters Presented by Fathom Events and BY Experience in Partnership with TED
DENVER – January 14, 2016 – For the first time ever, the opening night of TED’s flagship annual conference will broadcast live to select cinemas nationwide, and the list of speakers is now confirmed:
- With the runaway success of shows like “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” Shonda Rhimes has become one of Hollywood’s most powerful icons. When ABC kicked off its 2014 television season by devoting its Thursday night line-up to the Shondaland shows How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes — already one of the most influential producers in Hollywood — became arguably the single most powerful voice in television today. In 2015, ABC snapped up Rhimes’ latest series, The Catch. Shondaland shows have the special ability to capture both fan devotion and critical attention – she’s won everything from a Peabody Award to a People’s Choice Award. Rhimes is known for her groundbreaking storytelling, her candor and humor in the face of her critics, and for never shying away from speaking her mind. She’s also known for her social media savvy, and fans of her shows basically own Twitter on Thursday nights. Her first book, Year of Yes, was published in November 2015.
- As “Captain of Moonshots” for X, Astro Teller oversees the secret projects that could reshape our lives in coming decades. Astro Teller oversees X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory for building magical, audacious ideas that can solve concrete problems for millions of people through science and technology. As X’s head, Teller has an unmatched vantage point from which to watch possible futures unfold. In addition to his day job shepherding Peter Pans with PhDs, Teller is on the board of several businesses including AI-based hedge fund Cerebellum Capital, Inc., and Flux.io, a startup reinventing how buildings are designed and built. He is also the author of two novels and co-author (with Danielle Teller) of Sacred Cows, a nonfiction work analyzing society’s attitudes on divorce.
- In India, AR Rahman is a household name. Now his infectious music is poised to capture the ears (and the hearts) of the rest of the world. In India, AR Rahman is a household name. Now his infectious music is poised to capture the ears (and the hearts) of the rest of the world. While he’s known in the West for scoring Slumdog Millionaire (which earned him two Oscars and two Grammys), in South Asia, film composer AR Rahman is a superstar. His music is featured in hundreds of movies, his recordings are among the best-selling releases in history, and his fans number in the billions. Rahman’s film scores are an eclectic blend of Eastern classical, Western electronica and pop-culture touchstones in a musical mélange familiar to Indian film fans. But with appearances at the 2012 London Olympics and several successful global tours, his soulful music has spread far beyond the silver screen.
- Acting on his mandate to move Bhutan into the 21st century, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay is transforming his nation — while maintaining its “Gross National Happiness.” Tshering Tobgay went from civil servant to politician to prime minister — all the while maintaining his star social media profile in one of Asia’s most progressive emerging states. As the second democratically elected Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tobgay continues to emphasize his country’s core value of happiness. Bhutan’s acclaimed “Gross National Happiness” index prioritizes well-being over financial growth. But Tobgay also seeks to solve Bhutan’s great challenges: unemployment, poverty, gaps in education and infrastructure. WIth a foundation of optimism, his administration and the country’s fledgling democracy hope to become a paragon of stability in the developing world.
- With his artistry and creativity, Bill T. Jones has inspired a generation of dancers, choreographers — and audiences. In 1982, Bill T. Jones co-founded the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with his partner Arnie Zane. As the company’s artistic director and choreographer, Jones has created more than 140 works, and in 2011, merged his company with New York’s historical Dance Theater Workshop to create New York Live Arts. The company’s 2015 piece Analogy/Dora: Tramontane is based on Jones’ mother-in-law’s recollections of life under the Nazi occupation of France. Jones is a 1994 MacArthur Fellow; he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010 and the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2013. He has won two Tony awards for Best Choreography, for the Broadway musicals Spring Awakening in 2007 and Fela! in 2010. Jones is the author of a memoir, Last Night on Earth, and Story/Time, a reflection on his 2012 piece inspired by the work of John Cage.
- Riccardo Sabatini applies his expertise in numerical modeling and data to projects ranging from material science to computational genomics and food market predictions. Data scientist Riccardo Sabatini harnesses numerical methods for a surprising variety of fields, from material science research to the study of food commodities (as a past director of the EU research project FoodCAST). His most recent research centers on computational genomics and how to crack the code of life. In addition to his data research, Sabatini is deeply involved in education for entrepreneurs. He is the founder and co-director of the Quantum ESPRESSO Foundation, an advisor in several data-driven startups, and funder of The HUB Trieste, a social impact accelerator.
Cinema audiences will have the previously unimaginable opportunity to experience the complete opening night of TED’s legendary annual conference along with the live audience watching from the TED theater in Vancouver, Canada. The Presidents’ Day event unfolds Monday, February 15 live in North America at 5 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET, time shifted to 7 p.m. local time in HI/AK, and the following evening, February 16 (captured live on February 15) for the rest of the world. Tickets for “TED2016: Dream ‘Opening Night’ Live in Cinemas” can be purchased online by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices.
“Seeing these speakers and presentations live in cinemas in their entirety is a most extraordinary way of experiencing TED,” said Julie Borchard-Young, co-president of BY Experience. “If you cannot be in Vancouver where the conference takes place, and wish to see more than TED Talk videos online in weeks to come, being a part of the live experience in real time in a local theater is an incredibly meaningful way to be a part of TED’s ‘ideas worth spreading.’”
For more information about “TED2016: Dream ‘Opening Night’ Live in Cinemas” including worldwide locations and showtimes, visit www.TEDTalksinCinemas.com
About Fathom Events
Fathom Events is the recognized leader in the alternative entertainment industry, offering a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events in movie theaters nationwide that include live, high-definition performances of the Metropolitan Opera, the performing arts, major sporting events, music concerts, comedy series, Broadway shows, original programming featuring entertainment’s biggest stars, socially relevant documentaries with audience Q&A and much more. Fathom Events takes audiences behind-the-scenes and offers unique extras, creating the ultimate entertainment experience. It is owned by a consortium called AC JV, LLC., comprised of AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC), the three largest movie theater circuits in the United States. In addition, Fathom Events’ live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live events to 875 locations in 179 Designated Market Areas® (including all of the top 50). For more information, visit www.fathomevents.com.
About BY Experience
BY Experience kicked off the digital revolution of live events to movie theaters and other locations globally with David Bowie’s 2003 Reality album launch and since then, over 23 million tickets have been sold worldwide for cinema events BY Experience has distributed globally. Current cinema series credits: Distribution Representative, The Met: Live in HD (Worldwide; since 2006), the UK’s National Theatre Live (Ex-UK; since 2009), Bolshoi Ballet (North America; since 2014), TED Talks in Cinema (February 2016), Women of Faith in Cinema (February 2016). BY Experience has executive produced and/or distributed several diverse programs for cinema including numerous rock concerts, radio programs, fine art exhibits other special content events. In 2015, BY Experience began partnering with major motion picture studios on national theatrical re-releases of classic and in some cases fully restored films including Universal Pictures’ 30th anniversary screenings of the seminal John Hughes film “The Breakfast Club”, “My Fair Lady” (50th), “Oklahoma!” (60th) and “Fantasia” (75th). BY Experience distributes to over 60 countries, to over 2,000 movie screens. www.byexperience.net.
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, its TEDWomen conference and its TEDGlobal conferences—then made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.
TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the TED Radio Hour on NPR; TED-Ed, a service that pairs educators with animators to create lessons worth sharing; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
