MOSAIC EVENT
Our annual event inspires students by creating a space to experience storytelling through creative ideas and technology. Each year an eclectic group of speakers from the worlds of digital media, entertainment, and tech share inspiration and insights with students about their journey and the lessons they have learned along the way. Past guests have worked for Electronic Arts, NPR, HBO, Marvel Entertainment, Facebook, Netflix, and Spotify.
With a series of interactive workshops, we invite local professionals to connect students to the exciting work in digital media and technology happening in their own community. The Mosaic Event helps students understand how classroom learning can be applied to future careers they may never have considered.
The Mosaic Event also showcases Mosaic Mobile, an annual short film competition, where students create entirely on a mobile device, telling stories from their unique perspectives. The competition awards the largest cash prize offered to student filmmakers in Michigan.
2024 MOSAIC EVENT
Join us on Thursday, November 6, 2025, for our 14th annual Mosaic Event at Celebration Cinema Grand Rapids North.
2024 Mosaic Event Speakers
Peter Chhum
Senior Manager of Social Media Strategy, MasterClass
Peter is an award-winning social media marketing leader with a more than 9-year track record of building world-class, innovative social communities and overseeing high-impact launches that reach +150M followers. Whether leading viral campaigns that drive massive brand awareness, creating share-worthy content with influencers that amplify the business' POV, or leading high-performing teams, Peter consistently achieves big results and demonstrates a massive return on investment. The secret to Peter's success is his ability to leverage both his creative and analytical brain to speak authentically to global audiences, pinpoint the moments that make those campaigns successful, and repeat results on a massive scale. A seasoned storyteller, Peter is obsessed with all things social media and stays highly plugged into the internet in order to create a culture of innovation that inspires high-performing teams and consumers alike.
Kirie Quackenbush
Cinematic Artist for The Sims, Electronic Arts
Kirie is a Cinematic Artist for The Sims and specializes in creating aspirational Sims characters and sets before filming the content for various media assets, such as trailers and social media. She has always been a huge Sims fan and, in her free time, makes her own Sims machinima content for her YouTube channel. Kirie attended Grand Valley State University and graduated with a BA in Film and Video Production in 2019. She strives to create digital media content that inspires and excites her viewers.
Ryan Stephens
Filmmaker, Producer, Post Production Supervisor
During Ryan's 13-year television, streaming, and commercials career, he has teamed up with some of the industry's leading visionaries and media companies to produce critically acclaimed and commercially successful content. His collaborators include Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Disney, AppleTV+, and Take-Two Interactive/2K. Ryan's work as a producer and post-supervisor spans many different projects including Shrinking (Apple TV+), The Cleaning Lady (FOX), When They See Us (Netflix), Queen Sugar (OWN), Katy Keene (CW), Still Star- Crossed (ABC), and the Launch Trailers for the NBA 2K24 and WWE 2K24 video games. He is passionate about empowering and educating young professionals through direct mentorships, internship opportunities, and entertainment workshops. When he's not working, he enjoys traveling, hiking, writing, drinking matcha, and spending as much time as possible at the cinema.
Past Speakers
Marisa Arbona-Ruiz
NBC Correspondent and NPR Music Critic
Jane Feldman
Award-Winning Photojounalist
Nate Hargress
Netflix Business and Legal Affairs Original Documentary Films
Mike Uwandi
9B Collective Co-Founder and Concept Artist
Phillip Boutte Jr.
9B Collective Co-Founder and Concept Artist
Aldis Hodge
Actor and 9B Collective Co-Founder
Rolando Gonzalez Runente Creative Director
Julien & Justen Turner
Dreadhead Films Co-Owners
Mimi Chakarova
Still I Rise Founder
Mariah Barrera
Filmmaker
Robert Butler
Easy Breezy Productions Owner
Lisa Oliver King
Branch Out Productions Co-Founder
Lisa Mathis Allen
Branch Out Productions Co-Founder
Carlos Rosas
MUV Chief of Production
Nikk Franklin
Live Sports Replay Operator and Producer
Kirie Quackenbush Electronic Arts (EA) Cinematic Artis
Lauren Adams
National Hot Rod Association Director of Photography, Feature Producer and Editor
Liz Polk
Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP
Cass Taylor
former Sports Marketing Manager at Adobe
Lohanne Cook
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
FOR TEACHERS
The immersive Mosaic Event provides an opportunity for students to see the work of talented local and national professionals. By hearing from guests on how storytelling influenced their lives and shaped their careers, Mosaic wants to work with you to help students who are inspired to seek avenues of storytelling in digital media and tech that may be right for them.