Hey there, writers, producers, actors, agents, entrepreneurs, teachers, lawyers, creatives, executives, students, managers, and dreamers! Let's say you're about to

• Pitch your TV show or movie.
• Ask for a raise.
• Pitch your world-changing idea to raise money for your startup.
• Argue your case in a court of law.
• Defend your dissertation.
• Make a major presentation in front of a big-name corporate client.
• Get on stage at a big conference. 
• Run for public office.

Do you want to have jitters about this? Not know what to do? Lose the raise? Get passed over for the promotion? Mess up your thesis defense? Botch the presenation or pitch?

No? You don't want to suck at this sort of mission-critical thing? Of course you don't! 

Instead:

What would it feel like to know exactly how to pitch your ideas such that they have maximum impact? What would it feel like to do it without jitters or nervousness? What would it feel like to turn your public speaking ability from a weakness, to a strength, to your personal secret SUPERPOWER? What would it feel like to know you have the tools to WIN?

We can help you do that.

In this 4-hour workshop-style masterclass, you will learn how to present your ideas in a way that your life will become an avalanche of YES coming at you from all directions. This is a master class on real-world infuence and persuasive power by two seasoned professionals.

Your instructor for the first half is Brant Pinvidic - Hollywood producer, pitch master, and author of the new book The 3 Minute Rule: Say Less to Get More from Any Pitch or Presentation (Amazon rating: 5.0/5.0 stars!). He has sold more than three hundred TV shows and movies, runs a TV network, and helmed one of the largest production companies in the world with smash hits like The Biggest Loser and Bar Rescue. In his nearly twenty years of experience, he’s developed a simple, straightforward system that’s helped hundreds—from Fortune 100 CEOs to PTA presidents—use top-level Hollywood storytelling techniques to simplify their messages and say less to get more.

With Pinvidic’s ingenious 3-Minute Rule Method, anyone can deliver a great pitch, for any idea, in any situation, so your audience not only remembers your message but can pass it on to their friends and colleagues. With his accessible and humorous style, Brant will show us how the method works in a wide range of situations—from presenting investment opportunities in a biotech startup to pitching sponsorship deals for major sports stadiums. He will equip you with an easy, foolproof method to boil down any idea to its essential elements and structure it for maximum impact!

Your second instructor is three-time TEDx speaker, public speaking coach, behavioral change specialist, and self-help author Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil. A graduate of Harvard, Cambridge and UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr Ali has been helping clients radically change their behavior and dissolve personal barriers for over 20 years. He's the creator of the top-rated online course Super Charisma: How to Be a Transformative Speaker and author of The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible, the #1-rated dating book on Amazon for 5 years, which has helped tens of thousands of women create more fulfilling love lives.

Dr Ali will share with you the Super Charisma framework for world-class public speaking. He will show you how to use your body, voice and words to convey the essential qualities of competence, caring and presence so you can move your audience -- and change the world with your ideas. 

NOTE: This is the an extremely rare occasion where BOTH Brant and Ali are in town together in LA. They both charge hundreds per hour for coaching, so it's a damn fine deal to get 4 hours of both of them for a mere 100 beans. 

ONE MORE NOTE: This is a highly interactive workshop. To demonstrate the concepts live, during the talk Dr Ali will live-coach 3 volunteers from the audience. If you would like to be coached, have ready a 1min presentation on a topic of your choice.

HELL, WHY NOT, YET ONE MORE NOTE: Reasonably-priced, plentiful parking is available across the street in Santa Monica Parking Structure #6. Remember that it's right turns only into the lot, so approach it from Broadway 'cause you can't make a left coming from Santa Monica Blvd.  

WORKSHOP STRUCTURE:
9:00am: Doors open
9.15am: Brant Pinvidic, The 3-Minute Rule
11am: 15min intermission
11.15am: Dr Ali Binazir, Super Charisma
1pm: End of workshop and start of your imminent greatness

Come join fellow alumni for dinner, drinks, and games before we watch Just Mercy. Michael B. Jordan portrays Harvard graduate Bryan Stevenson ’85, who appealed the murder conviction of Walter McMillan, a man wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of a white woman. The inspirational legal drama also stars Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson.

Our group will meet at Tabletop Tap House, a restaurant, bar, and social game hall serving American tavern-style food and drinks at 6:30pm. The venue features billiard tables, foosball, and over 80 board games. Tabletop Tap House is located next door to the theater, and we’ll head to the film together at the AMC Metreon 16 after dinner.

The film beings at 7:15pm in theater 14 and tickets are $16.99. Tickets are now on sale online (https://www.amctheatres.com/) and through the paid AMC Stubs A-List app. We recommend you purchase your tickets ahead of time to reserve the seats you like and avoid a potential sell-out. If you book ahead with the A-List app, you can also order snacks to be delivered to your seat. Please note it is *your responsibility* to secure a seat reservation to watch the movie.

The organizer will email attendees event details on Thursday, January 16. Rain date is January 25. If the event is sold out, please contact the organizer to be placed on a wait list.

Registration Deadline: January 16

On Monday, January 20th, following the 7:30pm screening, there will be a Q&A with Director Ofra Bloch and producer Jack Riccobono AB '03, moderated by Julia Turner, Los Angeles Times deputy managing editor for arts and entertainment.

Jerusalem-born trauma expert Ofra Bloch forces herself to confront her personal demons in a journey that takes her to Germany, Israel and Palestine. Set against the current wave of fascism and anti-Semitism sweeping the globe, AFTERWARD delves into the secret wounds carried by victims as well as victimizers, through testimonies ranging from the horrifying to the hopeful. Seen as a victim in Germany and a perpetrator in Palestine, Bloch faces those she was raised to hate as she searches to understand the identity-making narratives of the Holocaust and the Nakba, violent and non-violent resistance, and the possibility of reconciliation. The film points towards a future – an “afterward” – that attempts to live with the truths of history in order to make sense of the present.

Produced by Jack Riccobono AB '03 and edited by Michael J. Palmer AB '03.

As a young aspiring chef in Mexico, Iván works at a restaurant, hoping to land a spot in the kitchen while supporting the mother of his child. One night he meets Gerardo, a handsome teacher who, unlike Iván, is out as a gay man. Their chemistry is instant. The discovery of their romance, however, causes conflict, and he is told he can no longer see his son. In despair, Iván makes the arduous decision to cross the border to advance his culinary career, promising his son and newfound love he will return.

After co-directing many award-winning documentaries, many of which have screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Heidi Ewing returns with her solo directorial narrative debut. This bittersweet American Dream is based on an acclaimed New York City chef, whose cuisine pays homage to his beloved country. Lensed by the impressive and fast-rising Mexican cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez, Iván’s memory is rendered indelible, making Iván’s predicament of not being able to return to Mexico all the more heartrending. The film is a tender romance and a complicated journey beautifully captured.

Produced by Mynette Louie AB '97

Sundance Film Festival screening information here.

When Deb (Glenn Close) gets a surprise visit from her daughter Molly (Mila Kunis), she is less than thrilled. She is, in fact, terrified. At first, it may seem like Deb is being cruel, initially refusing to let Molly into her house. But Molly is a drug addict with a decade-long history of failed detox programs, who repeatedly swore she wanted to get better but then lied to and stole from the family. Deb’s refusal to give Molly yet another chance gradually fades when she sees glimpses of the child she knew in this deeply broken young woman. Something about this time feels different—or does she just want it to feel different?

Rodrigo Garcia AB '82 is a master of empathy, whose confident direction guides two exceptionally nuanced performances by Close and Kunis in this tense story of hope and codependency. A true emotional rollercoaster, Four Good Days showcases the desperate decisions of a family destroyed by Molly’s addiction to drugs and her mother’s guilt-ridden compulsion to save her.

Rodrigo Garcia’s award-winning films include Nine Lives, Albert Nobbs, Mother and Child, and Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her. His television credits include the pilots of In Treatment, Carnivàle, Big Love, Bull, and the upcoming Party of Five series reboot. Garcia is co-CEO of the digital studio Indigenous Media, which produced the series Five Points, Lauren, and Blue.

Sundance Film Festival screening times here.

It’s the 1980s, and David, a seven-year-old Korean American boy, is faced with new surroundings and a different way of life when his father, Jacob, moves their family from the West Coast to rural Arkansas. His mother, Monica, is aghast that they live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere, and naughty little David and his sister are bored and aimless. When his equally mischievous grandmother arrives from Korea to live with them, her unfamiliar ways arouse David’s curiosity. Meanwhile, Jacob, hell-bent on creating a farm on untapped soil, throws their finances, his marriage, and the stability of the family into jeopardy.

Inspired by his own upbringing, writer-director Lee Isaac Chung creates a gorgeous, delicate American Dream story by infusing it with Korean melodrama and the playful charm of a Yasujiro Ozu film, as the Yi family embraces their highs and endures their lows. Each character is drawn with loving authenticity and depth, while Steven Yeun shines as Jacob, a man determined to achieve his dreams at all costs.

Produced by Jeremy Kleiner AB '98

Sundance Film Festival screen times here.

In a dreary Midwestern suburb, aggro punk rocker Simon (Kyle Gallner) finds himself on the run again after a bout of arson and a close call with the police. A chance encounter with the eccentric Patty (Emily Skeggs) provides him a place to hide, though she fails to realize that her new friend is the anonymous lead singer of her favorite band. As the two embark on a series of misadventures, they realize they have a lot more in common than they first expected.

Skeggs and Gallner are the perfect unconventional couple in this off-the-wall, daring comedy boosted by a generous helping of absurdity and instantly quotable dialogue. Skeggs’s vulnerability and unassuming charm seamlessly offset Gallner’s no-nonsense recklessness and unwavering scowl. Without compromising his surprisingly sweet touch, writer-director Adam Rehmeier explores how two misfits find each other through music and chaos. Set to the beat of brilliant original songs, Dinner in America is an empowering and wild ride through the places and people of suburbia—in all their peculiar forms.

Produced by Nicky Weinstock AB '91

Sundance Film Festival screening times here.

Emmy Award-winning writer David Mandel (Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Veep) takes students into the writers’ room for two days, during which students will attempt to create a comedy pilot, while learning about structure and joke writing. No experience necessary. All ideas welcomed! Lunch included.

Capacity: 12 students. Register here. 

The January Arts and Media Seminars – JAMS! – offer students the time and space to try something new that would not be possible during the fall or spring semesters. Visit the Dean of Students Office for more information about college-wide offerings during Wintersession.

Antoinette Nwandu’s play Pass Over, a mashup of the biblical Exodus story and Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, premiered in 2017 at Steppenwolf in Chicago and sparked a national conversation about bias in the theater community. In this discussion-workshop, students will attend one of three performances of Pass Over at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston (7:30 p.m. January 22; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 23), and then, on Friday, January 24, join Nwandu for a conversation about the play and a workshop on writing what she calls “confrontational and deeply unsettling plays” to do “healing work.” Lunch included.

Capacity: 15 students (all of whom receive free tickets to Pass Over). Register here.

The January Arts and Media Seminars – JAMS! – offer students the time and space to try something new that would not be possible during the fall or spring semesters. Visit the Dean of Students Office for more information about college-wide offerings during Wintersession.

Spending time with the music of Bach is both a privilege and a humbling experience. It challenges us to listen deeply, open our spirits, and imagine infinite possibility through sound. Joseph Lin AB '00, formerly of the Juilliard String Quartet, will be joined by four Harvard student string players for this workshop, exploration and reflection on of some of the most essential works in the violin canon. This is event is open to all Harvard students as well as the general public. Experience in music not required! All are welcome.

Also, in a separate event, Joseph Lin will be performing Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin on January 31 at Jordan Hall. 

Free and open to the public. Register here. 

The January Arts and Media Seminars – JAMS! – offer students the time and space to try something new that would not be possible during the fall or spring semesters. Visit the Dean of Students Office for more information about college-wide offerings during Wintersession or call 617.495.8676.