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Artists as Enterprise Consultants

Speaker: Jonathan Foster
Jonathan Foster
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 5:20pm
Second Stage, Theater Arts Center (UCSC)
Presented by: 
Arts Division

Jonathan Foster has over 20 years of Internet marketing, content publishing, UI/UX writing, and media experience. He currently leads the Windows & Devices Group's Content Intelligence Content Experiences team at Microsoft. Their work includes defining content experiences powered by and instantiated in AI, writing conversational interactions for the virtual agent bot that supports the Microsoft platform, as well as developing Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, for United States and international markets. He and his team--which includes screenwriters, playwrights, novelists, and even a poet--are responsible for the continued development of Cortana’s personality, crafting fun, personal and culturally relevant experiences across the globe, as well as building an ML-powered conversational layer to support Cortana’s interaction. As a writer, Jonathan started out in film and television writing screenplays and working in development. However, he was drawn away from Hollywood by tech, starting with an interactive storytelling project that was honored by the Sundance Film Festival.

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The 2018 Arts Dean’s Lecture Series on Creative Entrepreneurship is part of the Arts Division’s new creative entrepreneurship initiative entitled Artist21, this year’s series features a distinguished roster of arts practitioners, creatives, educators, and advocates who provide illuminating insights, practical tools, and personal stories on how to shape an artistic or arts-related career in the 21st century.

As a component of the course THEA 7-01 taught by Dean Susan Solt with Co-Instructor Nada Miljkovic, the series is open to graduates and undergraduates. Non-arts students are also welcome to enroll in the course and attend the series. The public is invited.  

Sponsors: UC Santa Cruz Arts Division, Arts Dean’s Fund for Excellence, Theater Arts Department, U.S. Bank

Speakers are subject to change.

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FREE and open to the public
Parking $4 by permit (available from paystation vending machine in the Arts parking lot #126 after 4:30PM).