2023 MOSAIC EVENT GUEST
Carlos Rosas
Carlos Rosas was born on December 22, 1988 in Mexico City. His creative and artistic skills led him to study Animation and Digital Art at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico City Campus. As well as a specialization in Motion Graphics in the international Mograph Mentor course.
After experimenting in academic short films, the creation of audiovisual products has consolidated 9 years of experience in his professional career, where his participation as editor in the production company “Los Güeros Films” stands out. His talent finds in animation his main means of communication and the way to unleash his imagination and creativity, becoming Leader of the Animation and Virtual Reality area for the creative studio Muv, where he creates and develops audiovisual content for different platforms.
His innovative character and purposeful attitude, has developed in him a great skill in the production of 360 ° videos, which places him among the pioneers in creating pipelines for the implementation of this immersive technology, collaborating for client projects such as Walmart and proposals of social impact presented at the Memory and Tolerance Museum of Mexico City.
Phillip Boutte Jr
Phillip is an award-winning Concept Artist and Artistic Director for film, music video, and television for the past 15 years. He is also CEO and Co-Founder of 9B Collective, the first Black Owned Concept Artist Studio made up primarily of BIPOC artists.
His client list includes the likes of Warner Bros, Sony, Marvel Studios, Netflix, Fox, Disney, Dreamworks, and many more. His work spans a multitude of blockbuster hits including Marvel’s Black Panther 1 & 2, Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Inception, The Greatest Showman, Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson, the upcoming feature Blue Beetle for WB/DC, and the highly anticipated live action reboot, He-man: Masters of the Universe.
He has also Production Designed several music videos for artists such as Ariana Grande, The Black Keys, Panic at the Disco, Tiesto feat. Busta Rhymes, Travie McCay, Fete Dobson, Hot Chelie Rae, Saint Motel and the UK band The Blackout. A Highlight of his work, in the music industry, is having completed 3 world tours illustrating costumes for Madonna under the direction of Costume Designer Arianne Phillips.
Phillip enjoys dedicating his time to uplifting young artists and giving back to his community. He is a frequent panelist at San Diego Comic-Con and often does talks at Universities like UCLA, USC, FDIM, Cal State Long Beach, Otis, and he travels once a year to Grand Rapids Michigan to participate in The Mosaic Film Experience, which caters towards providing education about careers in the Entertainment industry to African American and Latino youths. He also partners frequently with non-profit organizations like The Bric Foundation and has been an executive board member of The Costume Designers Guild for the past 9 years.
Phillip currently lives in Valencia, CA with his lovely wife Jessica, daughter Alina (jellybean!), a cat named Frida Klawlo and a miniature Aussie named Cherry.
Liz Polk
Elizabeth Polk is a global media and technology executive, attorney, and entrepreneur with more than 16 years of experience in senior executive positions at privately and publicly held companies where she has influenced key business strategies and managed multiple P&Ls. Ms. Polk is also a co-founder of several small businesses and board advisor.
Ms. Polk is an attorney at Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP, handling high-profile talent in the entertainment industry. Prior to Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, she was Vice President and Head of Business & Legal Affairs for the Independent Film and Documentary Film divisions at Netflix, Inc., the leading global subscription streaming entertainment company with a focused growth strategy.
Ms. Polk previously served as Senior Vice President and led business and legal affairs at IM Global, an independent film production, sales, and international distribution company.
Through her entrepreneurship efforts, Ms. Polk also has meaningful experience in business management, finance, direct consumer sales, and marketing. She also values and has a demonstrated commitment to investing in people, culture, and communities in entertainment, tech, and wellness. Concurrently with her executive career, Ms. Polk co-founded a boutique fitness studio in Los Angeles. She has been recognized in numerous publications, including Shape Magazine, for her purpose-driven leadership. Ms. Polk also serves on the Advisory Board for the New Community Transformation Fund, a VC firm investing in scalable early to mid-stage companies with founders from underrepresented communities; Atmen, a fintech start-up serving the UK, Caribbean, and Africa; and The Blackhouse Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to help Black creatives and executives gain a better foothold in the film industry.
Ms. Polk received her J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and B.A. in Communications from Howard University in Washington DC. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and the Television Academy and was recognized by Variety in their "Dealmakers Impact Report" in 2018, the trade publication's annual profile of the leading players behind major media and entertainment deals. Ms. Polk resides in Los Angeles with her husband and three sons.
Aldis Hodge
Aldis Hodge can be seen in "Cross," where he plays the lead role of "Alex Cross," based on the best-selling novels by James Patterson. He also recently starred in "Black Adam," where he played Hawkman opposite Dwayne Johnson; the award-winning "One Night in Miami," where he played Jim Brown; and Straight Outta Compton," where he played MC Ren.
"Straight Outta Compton" gained critical acclaim and was nominated for awards, including a 2016 Screen Actors Guild Award in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, a 2016 Producers Guild Award, as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. "Straight Outta Compton" received African American Film Critics Association awards for Best Picture and Best Ensemble and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture.
Aldis also starred in "Clemency," which won the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film. He won a Virtuoso Award for his work in the film at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Additional films include "The Invisible Man," "Bleeker Streets," "What Men Want," "Hidden Figures," "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," "Magic Camp," "The East," "A Good Day to Die Hard," "Die Hard with a Vengeance," "Bed of Roses," "The Stone House," "Edmond," "The Lady Killers" and "Big Momma's House."
On the Television side, Aldis stars in and is an Executive Producer on the Showtime Series "City On A Hill." Other television work includes his appearances in "Black Mirror," "Medal of Honor," and "Underground." He is well-known for his role as Alec Hardison in "Leverage," which was awarded a People's Choice Award in 2013. Other television roles include the critically acclaimed series "Friday Night Lights," "Supernatural," "The Walking Dead," "Girlfriends," "American Dreams," "City of Angels," "Bones," "CSI," "ER," "Cold Case," "Charmed," and "Boston Public."
Aldis started his career at three years old as a model for print ads and commercials until he made the transition to the small screen when he and his brother Edwin Hodge were cast on "Sesame Street" and later on stage when they joined the Tony-winning revival of "Showboat" on Broadway. Hodge was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and raised in New York. In addition to acting, Hodge has a Film and Television Production company, designs luxury timepieces, and is an avid artist and painter. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Lohanne Cook
Lohanne Cook is the Manager, Public Engagement at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Prior to joining the museum, Cook found joy curating conversations through an internship, where she later served as the Director of Seminars, Honors Awards, and Industry Relations. Since then, she has collaborated with film organizations and festivals to produce engaging and educational programs including American Cinema Editors (ACE), The Chimaera Project, New Filmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), Newport Beach Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM), and Variety magazine’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch and Billion Dollar Cinematographer series. She holds a BA in Communications - Entertainment Studies from California State University, Fullerton. Through her work, Cook seeks to bring filmmakers and film enthusiasts together to learn, create dialogue, and celebrate the art and craft of film.
Special Guests
Cass Taylor
Cass Taylor is the former Sports Marketing Manager at Adobe. In this role, he focused on marketing and brand strategies to support Adobe's sports sponsorships, working with organizations like the WNBA and the National Women's Soccer League. Before this role, Taylor served as Adobe's Purpose Marketing Lead, led the visual design team in managing the creative and impactful visual process for accounts like Coca-Cola, Nike, and T-Mobile, and led the visual experience strategies and production management for some of Adobe's most significant conferences, such as Adobe MAX. He has produced events with global creative luminaries like M. Night Shyamalan, Aaron Draplin, Annie Atkins, and David Blanter. Taylor has also been part of a micro-internship program and brand workshop for college student-athletes and managed a University Creative Student program for creative students who attend Adobe conferences and capture the overall experience in video, photography, and design.
Outside of Adobe, Taylor is on the Board of the nonprofit Codehouse, which focuses on cultivating a pipeline between students of color and industry-leading technology companies and tackling the diversity gap in technology. He previously served on the board for his alma mater, Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California.
Mariah Barrera
Mariah Barrera is a Mexican-American filmmaker and writer born and raised in Michigan. She is based part-time in New York City as a first-generation student at Columbia University. Her films have been shown at festivals such as HBO-founded Urbanworld, Cleveland International Film Festival, NFFTY, and DOC NYC, and highlighted by NowThis, Stylecaster, The Washington Post, and Adobe Gen Create. Barrera has garnered recognition as a YoungArts Alumna, Mitú-Walmart Film Mentee, Made In Her Image Panavision Mentee, Hispanic Heritage Foundation Awardee, & Sotheby's Art Noir Grantee. Her films aim to amplify themes of social justice and equity, drawing from her family's experiences in the urban Midwest. Using these stories, she is passionate about bridging the gap between narrative and documentary through poetry. Currently, she is exhibiting her film "Still Here," which follows three brothers affected by violence, poverty, and prison. She is also working on her second documentary as a Still I Rise Films Fellow.