Ivan Williams is a film, tv, and theatre producer with a passion for the arts, social impact, science and technology. As a media and entertainment entrepreneur, he supports the use of state of the art technology to develop and present live and filmed entertainment and art work that engages audiences in new creative ways. All of which is built upon a 35 year career as a chemical engineer and senior business leader with ARCO, BP and Worley Parsons.
After transitioning to Hollywood, Ivan became a partner and executive with a leading story development company called Scenario Entertainment. He was also involved with launching several media technology companies while he helped produce multiple entertainment projects. These projects included films like BIG STONE GAP that starred Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, and Patrick Wilson, the Geena Davis executive produced documentary about gender misrepresentation in Hollywood called THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Art and Music Festival documentary CREATING WOODSTOCK, and the Broadway musical FIRST DATE that starred Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriquez.
As for the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Ivan is on the UCI Foundation Board of Trustees, Honors College Executive Roundtable, Chairman of the UCI Advisory Board of the International Brain Initiative, the Leadership Committee of the Claire Trevor Society, Co-Chairman of the Cybersecurity Policy & Research Institute Executive Advisory Board, and member of the Dean’s Arts Board of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Additionally, he has been named a community member of the Graduate Division’s Dean’s Leadership Council, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts Embodied Media Research Group, the School of Humanities Dean’s Leadership Council, and the Advisory Board of the Black Thriving Initiative. Ivan even occasionally steps into the classroom, as an adjunct professor, to give lectures on arts management, creativity, entrepreneurship, and filmmaking.
Outside UCI, Ivan sits on the advisory boards of several organizations, including the Apples and Oranges Arts theater development program, L.A. Region Broadway Dreams theater training program, a video sharing media startup called Rebis, and an A.I. powered script packaging and distribution tech company called ScriptHop.
In addition to the board positions, Ivan has been active in national and state level advocacy efforts. This includes being named a “Distinguished Member” of The Creative Coalition non-partisan organization of writers, actors, producers, directors, agents, designers and lawyers from the entertainment world. A group that is focused on addressing both entertainment and art related issues, as well as general social issues. Efforts include educating leaders in the arts community on issues of public importance, specifically in the areas of First Amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education. One of Ivan’s key successes on this front, included his instrumental role in securing $34 million from the State of Oregon legislature to fund a new Oregon State University arts and education complex.
In support of the coronavirus pandemic, Ivan has served on a committee of a grass roots group of former senior White House officials, cabinet secretaries, governors, medical experts, sports executives, and media leaders who were focused on making sure all Americans receive clear and consistent communications about COVID-19. The National Organizing Coalition of Virus Information Distribution-NOCOVID (https://nocovid. us) helped improve public awareness of COVID-19 by initiating and creating public service announcements with celebrities, sport figures, academics, and even Dr. Anthony Fauci that eventually reached over 10-million people.
Due to major press coverage of NOCOVID’s activities, Ivan was named an advisory board member of the C19 Coalition (https://c19coalition.org). The C19 Coalition brings crucial partners together to help build an efficient, unified supply chain for PPE and lifesaving medical devices. State governments, corporations, manufacturers, non-profits, and individuals can connect through C19 to share and request resources and information.
In the area of climate change, Ivan is the co-founder of two not-for-profits that leverage the power of art and computing technology to illuminate ecological issues. One is called Eco ArtLab and the other is Eco DesignLab. Eco ArtLab creates artistic performances and exhibitions that enhance ecological awareness, through new forms of expression enabled by emerging media technologies, at the same time providing a creative hub for artists concerned with environmentalism and climate justice. Whereas Eco DesignLab is a platform where designers create open source software and hardware systems to enhance ecological awareness through artistic projects. These initiative will provide opportunities for creators to learn new tools, while engaging with new forms of expression enabled by emerging media technologies.
Ivan is a veteran U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer and a member of the preeminent Producers Guild of America, Sundance Institute, and Film Independent organizations. He holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Oregon State University, and was a Dean’s M.B.A. Scholar at UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business.
