Ana Serrano Email & Phone Number

Toronto, On, Ca

Toronto, On, Ca

Founded in 1876, OCAD U is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD U continuously builds on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, members of the OCAD U community are uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.Our programs and research bridge fields of digital media and design, sustainability, health and wellness, cultural diversity and indigenous cultures.Our students engage in creative studio-based, aesthetic and technical learning, together with critical, theoretical, scientific and historical knowledge and methods.Finally, our location inspires. OCAD U is situated at the heart of the nation's art, design, business and new media capital, on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe and the Huron-Wendat — the original owners and custodians of the land on which we stand.

Toronto, On, Ca

Advise graduate students in the Digital Futures Programs.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

In 2012, created Canada’s only digital entertainment accelerator, IDEABOOST which has pioneered an industry-focused startup bootcamp like no other, leveraging the experience of a specialized network of entrepreneurs, investors, and insiders that companies require to build sustainable 21st Century media businesses and launch innovative products. IDEABOOST portfolio companies include Slim Cut Media, Liquid Cinema, Brinx, SAM, and more.Key initiatives include:• Creation of an extended suite of IDEABOOST services including a pre-accelerator program, NETWORK CONNECT with now over 30 companies, including wearable tech company Penta, analytics companies IVVI, Greenlight Essentials, and more.• Creation of COMMERCIALIZATION LABS for start ups looking to increase sales, move into new markets, create strategic partnerships with digital influencers and more.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

As the Centre's first Chief Digital Officer, responsible for creating the CFC's digital transformation roadmap which includes formulating the digital strategy across all of the CFC program offerings; designing, developing, and executing the CFC's multi-stakeholder digital communications and cloud-based operations infrastructure; and leading the CFC's innovation space - CFC Media Lab.PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION initiatives include:• Creation of Canada's first digital entertainment accelerator, called IDEABOOST. (See above)• Design & Development of Online Originals Talent & Product acceleration strategy, which included the development of Canada's first YouTube Festival Industry Conference called Buffer Industry Day; creation of JUMPING SCREENS program with CBC and Aircraft Pictures taking well-known YouTubers, such as Next Time Productions creators of Epic Meal-time and going through an MVP development process for a TV comedy series.• Creation of CFC Media Lab's AR/VR Labs starting in 2013 with a Google Glass prototype development program with Silicon-Valley Based start up Mind Pirate (since acquired), and currently producing a variety of VR productions including the CFC Media Lab's CFC VR Sketches Series with Occupied VR, and others.DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION initiatives include:• Complete redesign of the user experience, architecture, and backend of the CFC's website, featuring fully responsive design, data-driven information architecture, and improved customer experience. (http://cfccreates.com)• Design and execution of a new business development strategy focussed on a growing network of international digital entertainment partners.• Creation of the digital strategy for all CFC program offerings, shifting the Centre from its historic analog /film platform to a digital/transmedia platform.

Toronto, On, Ca

Award-winning, creative producer of multi-platform works in the theatre, film and interactive industries. For notable productions, see selected projects below.

Toronto, On, Ca

Founded CFC's new media division from the ground up and established CFC Media Lab as an international centre of excellence in digital entertainment. • Managed, mentored, and evaluated team of 20 direct and indirect reports. • Raised over millions in funds through multiple entities public and private.• Designed and delivered a number of digital media programs and initiatives focussed on seeding the digital entertainment industry with talent, products and companies.• Established partnerships with complementary centres of excellence around the world and key players in digital entertainment. Key programs and initiatives developed include: • Interactive Art & Entertainment Program currently recognized as one of North America's first new media post-graduate programs serving the entertainment industry. (Evolved into a Master's Degree program in partnership with OCADu.)• Bell Globemedia Content Innovation Network, a national education, production, research, and development network that linked Canada's best new media training institutions the CFC Media Lab, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Montreal-based L'Institut national de l'image et du son.• Interactive Project Lab (IPL), an 8-month new media project acceleration program that took interactive projects through a commercialization process that included seed financing, business model bootcamps and prototype refinement.• NBC Universal Multiplatform Matchmaking Program (MMP) for experienced professionals from across Canada in the traditional media and interactive industries to explore creative and commercial challenges of developing multiplatform content.Key partnerships include:• Developed co-production partnerships with NFB, TIFF, TELUS and others.• Fostered strategic relationship with OCADu that transformed residency initiative into a Master's Degree program. • Focused efforts on accelerating and sustaining company growth, including prototype commercialization and created partnership with MaRS.

Prison Dancer, Inc. is a production company that owns and produces Prison Dancer -- an award-winning transmedia property inspired by the viral YouTube sensation the “Dancing Inmates of Cebu.” Painting a fictional portrait of the people behind this YouTube legend, the complete Prison Dancer story world comprises a 12-episode interactive musical web series, a stage musical, an original soundtrack, and “live shows.”

Provide expert-level recommendations for organizations' key digital programs and initiatives, including consultations with top-level executives.

Toronto, On, Ca

From time to time, (less and less these days), and when needed, advise certain start ups in the Information, Communication and Entertainment practice at MaRS.

Toronto, On, Ca

Design and teach 4th-year undergraduate course entitled "New Directions in Interactive Art and Entertainment" for the Communication Studies department.

ACT was a consulting firm established by Don Tapscott, David Ticoll, Alex Lowey and Paul Woolner in 1993. (It later became one of Canada's top consulting firms under a new brand Digital 4sight.) I was the first Associate hired for this start-up. And we had a great time producing one of North America's first syndicated studies on what we called at that time NIM - Networked Interactive Multimedia. Seems too reductive to describe my time there in bullet points. Suffice to say that between Freddy the Fish, and augmented reality technologies in the DOD, the content of our case studies, best practice analyses, CEO interviews and roundtable discussions was a lot more prescient than anyone could have imagined.

Honors Ba, English Literature

Post-Graduate Certificate, School Of Architecture: Information Technology And Design