Ursa Minor is a fellowship of artists and media professionals who share a passion for media, consciousness, and changing the world. We have come together from diverse backgrounds in filmmaking, television, web technology, video games, music, and advertising.
Benjamin De Pauw: Founder and CEO
Also known as TSO, Benjamin has over twenty years of experience in media production. He is driven by a deep passion for combining art, media and social technologies to solve planetary problems and evolve global consciousness. In 1989 he founded a small recording studio, Conscious Sound Productions, which became one of the Bay Area's most sought-after audio houses, serving artists and record labels across the musical spectrum, and corporate clients such as Sega, Hewlett Packard, Fox, and Disney. Benjamin's creative vision and expertise has propelled the success of numerous commercial albums, web sites, media workflow processes and software products. In 2002, he founded Ursa Minor to meet expanding multi-media demand. Deeply committed to furthering Integral Consciousness and The Great Story movement, Benjamin has been privileged to work with some of America's leading thinkers including Ken Wilber, Peter Russell, Brian Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Rev. Michael Dowd, Anodea Judith, Andrew Cohen and Michael Murphy.
Robin Livingston: Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Robin is an acclaimed Bay Area producer, sound engineer, musician, and creative director who has helped hundreds of organizations and professional artists bring their creativity to market. He was a staff teacher on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus which traversed the United States empowering youth by promoting songwriting and music technology. Robin appeared with Yoko Ono on Good Morning America, and has performed with Matchbox 20, Kool Keith, and Chris Barron, among others. In addition to his professional audio expertise, Robin is an accomplished art director, with exceptional instincts for visual design, marketing and branding. His wide range of professional media skills and dedication to social and ecological causes have made him a sought-after resource for major web sites, albums, commercials, marketing campaigns, and live events.
George Kao: Chief Operating Officer
Prior to coming on board with Ursa Minor, George obtained an MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio School of Management, then served as its Director of Admissions for two years. The operational processes George created in the organization helped quadruple the enrollment numbers, turning Presidio into one of the most recognized business schools in the sustainability and corporate social responsibility space. George's interests and expertise include online social networks, the GTD system (Getting Things Done - David Allen) for managing workflow, personality typing, and applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to business leadership (recommended reading: Peak by Chip Conley).
Thomas Caudle: Technology Director
Tom is an expert in Information Technology, with more than twenty years of experience providing technical solutions to clients throughout Northern California. He has analyzed and supervised numerous enterprise level network installations, with extensive leadership experience in computer hardware, software and network technology. Tom was a key team player in Lucasfilm's video game business unit for nine years, and is well-versed in creative content production for audio, video, and multimedia products. He has managed the design and implementation of many types of media projects including film sets, online databases, websites, and software applications. Tom's diverse set of media and network technology skills, and multidisciplinary creative production talent make him a valuable member of the Ursa Minor team.
Neal Rogin: Writer / Director
Neal Rogin is an Emmy winning, Oscar-nominated writer, film maker and social observer whose work has had an impact on millions of people around the world. His latest film, “The Awakening Universe”, based upon the Universe Story by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, explores how the New Cosmology is changing the very definition of what it means to be a person. He is a member of the board of directors of The Pachamama Alliance, a non-profit partnership between people from the modern world and indigenous people in the Amazon region of Ecuador, and is part of the development team that has created the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium, the purpose of which is to bring forth and environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on this planet as the guiding principle of our time.
Craig Hamilton: Writer / Communications Strategist
Craig Hamilton is an accomplished writer, broadcaster, and integral communications strategist with a passion for the evolution of consciousness and culture. Internationally acclaimed for his work as senior editor of the Eddy award-winning What Is Enlightenment? magazine, Craig has partnered with many of the leading visionaries of our time to help forge a new, scientifically informed spiritual worldview bridging the great wisdom traditions of the East and the West. He is a founding member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute, and a participant in the Synthesis Dialogues, a 35-person interdisciplinary think tank presided over by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Craig has lectured widely on spiritual transformation and hosted a panel discussion on the Future of Religion at the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona. His in-depth interviews with leading luminaries are regularly heard by New Dimensions Radio’s seven million listeners, and form the basis of the forthcoming documentary film: Toward a Science of Consciousness. An active player on sustainability issues, Craig is a driving force behind the grassroots movement surrounding Low Carbon Diet, an easy-to-use carbon reduction guide, and the Cool America Campaign, which is mobilizing communities across the country to reduce their CO2-footprint 20% by 2010.
Chris Riley: Business Development Director
Chris has a unique combination of business acumen and mastery of organizational psychology. His track record of generating creative solutions to complex problems spans high-level consulting for major corporations such as Sprint, Hallmark and CitiCorp to founding and managing a $46 Million hotel management company. Chris has developed a proprietary personality assessment system that bridges the gap between business and psychology by identifying key organizational personalities and motivations to increase effectiveness in workers and organizations alike. He has founded and managed several non-profit organizations aimed at community building and restoration, and is committed to applying his expertise in business and psychology to solve social problems and expand human potentials.
William Moulton: Product Development Director
Bill Moulton has been a high technology hardware and software publishing operations manager, developer, and business workflow systems engineer in the high technology and multimedia industry for over 25 years. He has designed and brought to market over 50 consumer software and hardware products, and managed large teams through successful product roll-out. He has patents and patents-pending in image, video, and audio technology for deployment in PSTN, internet networks, search software and information visualization technology, and in digital film and video media. Bill shines in the step by step implementation of ideas into manifested form, and in design invention and solution. His warm leadership style is perfect for Ursa Minor's fast-paced production environment.
James Curtis: Multimedia Artist
James Curtis is a multimedia designer whose first concern as an artist is to faithfully convey the emotion and ideal behind the medium. A graphic artist from an early age, he is widely appreciated as an innovator in digital design and branding, having created hundreds of professional identity, web and print designs for corporate projects as well as consumer market segments from technology to fashion. James has been recognized with several awards including the prestigious Bombshock Award for original web design interfacing, and sponsorships from Vivendi Universal, nVidia and Alienware. His advanced technical and stylistic skills, along with a highly developed aesthetic creativity are a perfect fit for Ursa Minor.
