Flashpoint Announces HAT as President/CEO
Tullman Named CEO of Flashpoint Academy
Flashpoint Academy announced today that Howard A. Tullman, Chairman of the Boards of The Cobalt Group, The Princeton Review and Experiencia, Inc. and President Emeritus of Kendall College is the lead investor in a group which has made a substantial investment in the new college (scheduled to open in September 2007) and that Mr. Tullman has assumed the role of President and CEO of Flashpoint Academy, effective immediately. Ric Landry, the founder of Flashpoint, will remain actively involved in the new school as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Chairman Landry noted that “Howard’s involvement delivers on our promise to shareholders, faculty, students and parents to provide the best and brightest leadership for Flashpoint Academy. Howard’s track record in the digital media arts and educational arenas is unequaled in its brilliance and we look forward to Flashpoint becoming the premier digital arts program in the mid-west if not the country”
Tullman is the founder of numerous Chicago-based businesses in a wide variety of fields as well as an expert in entrepreneurship and change management. He has worked and lived in Chicago for more than 30 years and has employed thousands of business, technical and creative individuals in over a dozen successful businesses. He is a particularly important addition to the Flashpoint management team because, in addition to being a seasoned entrepreneur and a long-time adjunct business professor at the Kellogg school, he is an accomplished and award-winning computer game designer and developer, the founder of several of the country’s largest online music websites, one of the earliest developers of many of the computer animation techniques which have now become industry standards, and an established author, screenwriter and director with several projects currently under development. Tullman’s first website was selected for inclusion in the Permanent Research Collection of the Smithsonian Institute. His various products and projects have won numerous industry and peer awards over many years.
In the last 5 years, Tullman has turned his considerable talents and attention to the pressing need to improve education at all levels in and throughout the City of Chicago. He was responsible for the dramatic financial and institutional turnaround of Kendall College and its move (after 75 years) from Evanston to a brand-new, state-of-the-art campus in Chicago on Goose Island where it has quickly become the City’s premier culinary and hospitality school (and one of the top 3 culinary schools in America) as well as an important player in online early childhood education studies.
Tullman points out that he is especially excited about building a brand-new school like Flashpoint because this is such a crucial time and tipping point in the development of new educational methods. He said that “we need to educate our students in areas that no one knew yesterday and prepare our schools for what no one knows today. And we need to provide our graduates with faster, more cost-effective and more direct paths to concrete and immediate employment opportunities in today’s explosive digital media fields where the best jobs are waiting. Flashpoint means just that to me – in the moment, in a flash and to the point…no muss, no fuss, no wasted time or effort – just results.”
He financed, designed, built and opened the Immersive Learning Center of Experiencia, Inc., located a block away from the new Kendall College, where tens of thousands of Chicago elementary school students are being trained in innovative new programs to be young scientists and entrepreneurs in a 25,000 square foot facility that houses a complete mini-Chicago as well as 4 natural habitats and over 60 species of live animals. Tullman was also instrumental in selecting the location and assembling the parties now building the British School of Chicago which will be relocated to a brand new facility just 3 blocks north of Kendall College on Halsted Street.
Tullman is a graduate with honors of Northwestern University and a graduate with honors of its Law School as well where he served as Chairman of the Editors of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Tullman was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
Flashpoint, The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences …………. “You know who you are, we know who you can be”
For Additional Information Contact:
Mary Owczarski
Flashpoint, The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences
28 North Clark
Chicago, IL 60602
312-332-0707
Or visit www.tfa.edu*
*Updated 7/9/12
HINDSIGHT - WRITE SOMETHING WORTH READING ABOUT OR DO SOMETHING WORTH WRITING ABOUT
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
New Art from g2 Gallery - Fort Guerin
Artist's Statement:
Writing has always been a struggle for me. I would sit down and attempt to write stories, only to find that it was much harder than painting. I assumed that if I spent the same time on my writing as I did with my painting, I would be able to develop my writing into something that would be bearable. Well that never happened, and I always felt guilty about taking time away from my painting. I finally arrived at a compromise of combining imagery with text. The images act as a spring board in developing a story. From a distance, the miniature text appears as lines in the background. However, as you approach the painting and realize that what you thought were lines are actually words, you are drawn in and the painting takes on a certain intimate quality. The text ultimately becomes part of the aesthetic quality of the painting.
"Listen to the Night Move"
"Friday Nights"
"Punk Rocker"
Writing has always been a struggle for me. I would sit down and attempt to write stories, only to find that it was much harder than painting. I assumed that if I spent the same time on my writing as I did with my painting, I would be able to develop my writing into something that would be bearable. Well that never happened, and I always felt guilty about taking time away from my painting. I finally arrived at a compromise of combining imagery with text. The images act as a spring board in developing a story. From a distance, the miniature text appears as lines in the background. However, as you approach the painting and realize that what you thought were lines are actually words, you are drawn in and the painting takes on a certain intimate quality. The text ultimately becomes part of the aesthetic quality of the painting.
"Listen to the Night Move"
"Friday Nights"
"Punk Rocker"
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Midwest Business Piece on Flashpoint Academy
Flashpoint Academy in Chicago to Provide Digital Media Training
Published on 3/6/2007
CHICAGO – Call it the 21st century mailroom. For generations, the best way to obtain real-world exposure to the media industry was to push paper for an agency or studio.
Beginning this fall, though, high school graduates interested in producing digital media can cultivate their craft at a new academy with classes in Chicago’s Loop and a sound stage on the west side.
Flashpoint Academy is the brainchild of Lake Forest, Ill.-based private equity professional Rik Landry.
After managing early stage investment firm MBC Global and running a few enterprises of his own, Landry is teaming up on Flashpoint with Chicago-based entrepreneur Howard Tullman and other local angel investors.
Tullman, who founded CCC Information Systems in 1980, is a pioneer of digital media productions. He produced CD-ROM games based on the “Where’s Waldo?” series and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film “Eraser” as well as early Web sites for Downbeat and Rolling Stone magazines.
More recently, he seems to be targeting educational ventures and is the chairman of Chicago-based Experiencia as well as the Princeton Review.
Flashpoint Academy is located at 28 N. Clark St. in the heart of Chicago’s Loop.
Among the topics discussed with Landry and Tullman in Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times column were the genesis of Flashpoint, its value proposition and Chicago’s place within the evolving media and entertainment landscapes.
On Why They Started Flashpoint
Landry: Teaching is an 18th century model.
There is so much information flow now. What you learn by standing around is much more than I learned going to high school. This idea has been around in my little brain for eight years. How do you get a kid into an environment where he is that passionate and focused and he be happy to be there 40 hours per week?
When game technology revenue worldwide blew by the film industry, that was it for me. That was in August and bang: I hit the button and we started.
Tullman: You are looking at the convergence of the entertainment business with game technology, which is now bigger than the film business.
This is an interesting new generation. There are a lot of kids who are talented but they don’t test well and don’t want to be a doctor or lawyer. This is what the mayor is all over: How do I get these kids to become successful members of the city?
On Value Proposition For Parents, Students
Tullman: In 24 months, we can create people with portfolios who can hit the ground running and make compensation levels that are four and five times what a typical liberal arts college graduate will make. They will have a proven track record because they will have spent their time working in the industry.
There isn’t a business in America that doesn’t need Web talent. Web talent is going to be music, sound and animation. In order to just be in business, your Web site is going to be your front door. We think on both ends there will be substantial demand to get in and substantial demand to get out.
Landry: In the game technology business, you have a funnel of ideas. While there may be some that are commercially viable and we can do something with, we are not counting on that. Flashpoint intends to charge a $25,000 annual tuition for the two-year program.
On Flashpoint’s Place Within Chicago’s Digital Media Industry
Tullman: Chicago is the absolute hub of the pinball machine and video world and has been for the last 35 to 40 years.
You also have film coming back to Chicago. On the North Shore, you have plenty of parents who say their kid has spent the last three years playing video games and working on a computer. The kid has no interest in going to a traditional, four-year thing.
Everything is about instant gratification these days. You tell people four years and that is a lifetime. You tell somebody they are going to be on the cutting edge of technology in the game industry, animation business or in film and you are talking about a different thing.
We are training kids today with things we did not even know yesterday. We are building schools for things we won’t know until tomorrow.
Published on 3/6/2007
CHICAGO – Call it the 21st century mailroom. For generations, the best way to obtain real-world exposure to the media industry was to push paper for an agency or studio.
Beginning this fall, though, high school graduates interested in producing digital media can cultivate their craft at a new academy with classes in Chicago’s Loop and a sound stage on the west side.
Flashpoint Academy is the brainchild of Lake Forest, Ill.-based private equity professional Rik Landry.
After managing early stage investment firm MBC Global and running a few enterprises of his own, Landry is teaming up on Flashpoint with Chicago-based entrepreneur Howard Tullman and other local angel investors.
Tullman, who founded CCC Information Systems in 1980, is a pioneer of digital media productions. He produced CD-ROM games based on the “Where’s Waldo?” series and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film “Eraser” as well as early Web sites for Downbeat and Rolling Stone magazines.
More recently, he seems to be targeting educational ventures and is the chairman of Chicago-based Experiencia as well as the Princeton Review.
Flashpoint Academy is located at 28 N. Clark St. in the heart of Chicago’s Loop.
Among the topics discussed with Landry and Tullman in Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times column were the genesis of Flashpoint, its value proposition and Chicago’s place within the evolving media and entertainment landscapes.
On Why They Started Flashpoint
Landry: Teaching is an 18th century model.
There is so much information flow now. What you learn by standing around is much more than I learned going to high school. This idea has been around in my little brain for eight years. How do you get a kid into an environment where he is that passionate and focused and he be happy to be there 40 hours per week?
When game technology revenue worldwide blew by the film industry, that was it for me. That was in August and bang: I hit the button and we started.
Tullman: You are looking at the convergence of the entertainment business with game technology, which is now bigger than the film business.
This is an interesting new generation. There are a lot of kids who are talented but they don’t test well and don’t want to be a doctor or lawyer. This is what the mayor is all over: How do I get these kids to become successful members of the city?
On Value Proposition For Parents, Students
Tullman: In 24 months, we can create people with portfolios who can hit the ground running and make compensation levels that are four and five times what a typical liberal arts college graduate will make. They will have a proven track record because they will have spent their time working in the industry.
There isn’t a business in America that doesn’t need Web talent. Web talent is going to be music, sound and animation. In order to just be in business, your Web site is going to be your front door. We think on both ends there will be substantial demand to get in and substantial demand to get out.
Landry: In the game technology business, you have a funnel of ideas. While there may be some that are commercially viable and we can do something with, we are not counting on that. Flashpoint intends to charge a $25,000 annual tuition for the two-year program.
On Flashpoint’s Place Within Chicago’s Digital Media Industry
Tullman: Chicago is the absolute hub of the pinball machine and video world and has been for the last 35 to 40 years.
You also have film coming back to Chicago. On the North Shore, you have plenty of parents who say their kid has spent the last three years playing video games and working on a computer. The kid has no interest in going to a traditional, four-year thing.
Everything is about instant gratification these days. You tell people four years and that is a lifetime. You tell somebody they are going to be on the cutting edge of technology in the game industry, animation business or in film and you are talking about a different thing.
We are training kids today with things we did not even know yesterday. We are building schools for things we won’t know until tomorrow.
Chicago Sun-Times Article on Flashpoint Academy
Flashpoint brain trust well-schooled in digital media
(http://www.suntimes.com/business/spirrison/282857,CST-FIN-spirr05.article)
March 5, 2007
BY BRAD SPIRRISON Sun-Times Columnist
Entry level video-game developers earn fatter paychecks than many experienced accountants, health care professionals and (gulp) journalists. While many of us are not in the position to press the vocational reset button, today's teenagers weaned on digital media have educational and employment options that barely existed even half a generation ago.
"We are training kids today with things we did not even know yesterday, and we are building schools for things we won't know until tomorrow," explained Howard Tullman, serial entrepreneur, new media impresario and recently appointed chairman of Flashpoint Academy.
Beginning this September, Flashpoint will offer two-year training programs for high school graduates interested in pursuing careers in game development, computer animation, film and recording arts. The 40-hour-per-week program will include classroom instruction in the Loop at 28 N. Clark as well as applied training at a soundstage a few blocks northwest of the United Center. Approximately 400 students are expected to enroll this fall with plans to accommodate up to 1,000 in the coming years. Annual tuition is $25,000.
"Students will be trained on real world stuff," said Flashpoint founder and Chief Executive Ric Landry, previously of Lake Forest-based early stage investment firm MBC Global. "Most teaching is based on an 18th century model. But there is so much information flow now that you can learn more just standing around than I learned going to high school."
Landry, 60, first pondered the idea of a digital media academy eight years ago while his son was studying film and sound at Columbia College. Last year, as the video game industry grew to $30 billion worldwide, Landry pointed and clicked his way to a business plan. A few weeks ago, Jim Hoesley of Credit Suisse First Boston introduced Landry to Tullman, now a significant investor. They are in the process of raising a seven-figure investment round.
Tullman, 61, founded CCC Information Systems in 1980, and has spent the last 15 years conceiving, funding and directing several companies in the new media and education industries. His credits include producing CD-ROM games based on the Where's Waldo? series and Arnold Schwarzenegger's film Eraser, as well as early Web sites for Downbeat and Rolling Stone magazines.
More recently, Tullman saved culinary institute Kendall College from financial ruin and serves as chairman of the Princeton Review and Experiencia Inc. Experiencia operates a learning center focusing on civics and science for elementary school students, and is a block from Kendall at the corner of Halsted and Chicago Avenue.
Regarding his Flashpoint investment, Tullman said, "In 24 months we can create people with portfolios who can hit the ground running, and make compensation levels that are four and five times what a typical liberal arts college graduate will make. If you had to pick the leading industries for the next 10 years, this is where you put your money."
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Mayor Richard M. Daley Visits Exchange City
Mayor Richard M. Daley, just days before his historic election win, visited Exchange City for a tour and breakfast with a number of supporters. The Mayor was extremely excited to receive a KEY to the City.
Presenting the KEY to the City to the Mayor
The Mayor spoke to the group and then posed for pictures with all guests
The Breakfast was co-hosted by Jan Starr and Glen Tullman
The entire Experiencia Staff visited with the Mayor.
Presenting the KEY to the City to the Mayor
The Mayor spoke to the group and then posed for pictures with all guests
The Breakfast was co-hosted by Jan Starr and Glen Tullman
The entire Experiencia Staff visited with the Mayor.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
New York Art Fairs - New David Hevel Piece
Day One of the Fairs - a lot to see and a chance to visit with a bunch of new and old friends. Couldn't resist getting another David Hevel sculpture from Heather Marx - it's Brittany Spears, of course, with her pet beaver. A perfect companion to David's piece of K-Fed (her ex) which is already in the Collection. Pix below and more to come:
HAT Appears on Crain's Chicago Website - Talking Management
A recent interview which I did for Crain's just appeared on their website.
The link above should work but, if not, here it is again:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/TalkingManagement/Tullman.html
The link above should work but, if not, here it is again:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/TalkingManagement/Tullman.html
Article in Blog on HAT Video
Leadership in the Real World BlogNotes, links, and inspiration about topics related to personal and leadership development.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Leadership Lessons from Howard Tullman
Crain's Chicago Business recently posted a short video from Howard Tullman that I recommend you take the time to watch. I appreciate the clarity in which he communicates the essence of what it means to lead. Though his lessons are tuned for entrepreneurs, they can easily apply to anyone who leads, whether a team, a department, or an entire company.
Key lessons to highlight include:
Mistakes are inevitable. Admit, fix, and forget them. One of the great frustrations as an executive coach is to work with someone that tries to be so perfect that they won't make a mistake. Clearly that's impossible. We regularly work with our kids on this: when you make a mistake, admit it. Fix it. Then get past it. Learn from them, for sure, but you can't obsess over them or you will not lead.
It's about winning, not being right. In our e-learning workshop, we talk about the difference between positions and interests. Too often people get wrapped up into their positions, having to be "right." I like how Tullman states "It's about winning, not being right."
Tell a simple story: who are we, where are we going, and why. I find many aspiring leaders who are "how" people: they want to cut to the To-Do's and tasks right away, without first figuring out the "what". In our customized leadership workshops we coach leaders to first answer "Where?", "Why?" and "What?". Once leaders answer those questions, then you can get to the "How?", "Who?" and "When?".
Keep raising the bar. Keep getting better. Celebrate successes but don't get complacent.
Don't wait until it's perfect. Start with what you have.
Look for people who want to build a career, not just a job. Presenteeism (employees who are at the worksite regularly, but for a variety of reasons, are not producing as they should) reportedly accounts for 80% of lost productivity. One of my biggest staffing fears is not those who leave, but those who have left but are still with us.
Surround yourself with people who are different from you. It took me too many years to figure this one out. Now I cherish the principle, which helps me from driving over a cliff in business.
Having to fire people comes with the job. It can be done respectfully, but if your desire is to be popular, it will get in your way.
Part of a leader's job is to be an absorber of uncertainty and anxiety. Things can be ambiguous, but as a leader, we must continue telling the story, keeping people focused on the vision and direction. If we are freaking out when things get tough, it will simply spread the anxiety and be a distraction.
In my book "Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business and in Life", I talk about the concept of keeping your eyes on the horizon when the wind and waves are raging. It's not only good advice for sailors: it works for leaders as well.
I commend Mr. Tullman's video for your viewing pleasure and personal development.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Leadership Lessons from Howard Tullman
Crain's Chicago Business recently posted a short video from Howard Tullman that I recommend you take the time to watch. I appreciate the clarity in which he communicates the essence of what it means to lead. Though his lessons are tuned for entrepreneurs, they can easily apply to anyone who leads, whether a team, a department, or an entire company.
Key lessons to highlight include:
Mistakes are inevitable. Admit, fix, and forget them. One of the great frustrations as an executive coach is to work with someone that tries to be so perfect that they won't make a mistake. Clearly that's impossible. We regularly work with our kids on this: when you make a mistake, admit it. Fix it. Then get past it. Learn from them, for sure, but you can't obsess over them or you will not lead.
It's about winning, not being right. In our e-learning workshop, we talk about the difference between positions and interests. Too often people get wrapped up into their positions, having to be "right." I like how Tullman states "It's about winning, not being right."
Tell a simple story: who are we, where are we going, and why. I find many aspiring leaders who are "how" people: they want to cut to the To-Do's and tasks right away, without first figuring out the "what". In our customized leadership workshops we coach leaders to first answer "Where?", "Why?" and "What?". Once leaders answer those questions, then you can get to the "How?", "Who?" and "When?".
Keep raising the bar. Keep getting better. Celebrate successes but don't get complacent.
Don't wait until it's perfect. Start with what you have.
Look for people who want to build a career, not just a job. Presenteeism (employees who are at the worksite regularly, but for a variety of reasons, are not producing as they should) reportedly accounts for 80% of lost productivity. One of my biggest staffing fears is not those who leave, but those who have left but are still with us.
Surround yourself with people who are different from you. It took me too many years to figure this one out. Now I cherish the principle, which helps me from driving over a cliff in business.
Having to fire people comes with the job. It can be done respectfully, but if your desire is to be popular, it will get in your way.
Part of a leader's job is to be an absorber of uncertainty and anxiety. Things can be ambiguous, but as a leader, we must continue telling the story, keeping people focused on the vision and direction. If we are freaking out when things get tough, it will simply spread the anxiety and be a distraction.
In my book "Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business and in Life", I talk about the concept of keeping your eyes on the horizon when the wind and waves are raging. It's not only good advice for sailors: it works for leaders as well.
I commend Mr. Tullman's video for your viewing pleasure and personal development.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
RECENT APPEARANCE ON "24" TV SHOW
I recently flew to Hollywood and filmed a small walk-on appearance in an episode of 24 which will appear in a couple of months. It was a fabulous adventure - I can't really tell you anything else - or I'd have to have you killed. But, needless to say, the excitement and craziness of this hot series continues full-speed ahead. A few shots cleared by the censors appear below. (YES, since I was working in the CTU, they made me wear a tie.)
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