Original Thinkers Announces Meredith Lavitt, former Sundance Institute Program Director to Join Company as President
Telluride, CO (August 10, 2021) -- Original Thinkers (OT), a multimedia company that provides a platform for people around the world to share and engage with current and thought-provoking ideas through its October festival and other initiatives, announced today that Meredith Lavitt, formerly of the Sundance Institute, is joining the company as President and Partner. Lavitt spent more than two decades at Sundance, during which time she was involved in the development of the Institute’s Documentary Film Program, created the Sundance Ignite program, which supported new voices and talent from the next generation of filmmakers and created access to countless young film professionals to the Festival, and helmed the international Sundance Film Forward initiative. Lavitt is also a filmmaker, who has produced non-fiction work through her production company Swirl Productions.
OT founder David Holbrooke said,
“I am thrilled that Meredith, who has such a world of experience, is coming to join us at Original Thinkers. She has built such noteworthy programs at Sundance and she is uniquely qualified to help us shape the future of Original Thinkers.” Lavitt said, "the vision and mission of OT really resonate with me and the work I want to focus on. It's an exciting and meaningful opportunity to be able to join this young company and help grow it into a force that will have significant impact on audiences and create real value." Holbrooke shares the sentiment saying, “this is a step change for this company and I am so looking forward to seeing what Meredith, myself and the OT team can make happen.” Lavitt added, "The work David and the talented team are doing to amplify so many exceptional voices, artists, and visionaries is needed as we as a society figure out how to move forward in these challenging and quick changing times.”
Original Thinkers has given a stage to well-known speakers such as actor Jeffrey Wright, war correspondent Jane Ferguson, Egyptian Rock singer and activist Ramy Essam, photographer Lauren Greenfield, filmmaker Jeff Orlowski, writers Ron Suskind, Laurie Garrett and David Quammen, podcaster Rich Roll and social entrepreneur Zenia Tata. However, OT’s tagline “We are all original thinkers when we put our minds to it” reflects the company’s philosophy and vision - that great ideas can come from anyone and should be accessible to everyone. Fully understanding the deep and abiding challenges we face, OT works to provide clarity, context and, in some cases, comfort to its audiences as so many systems fray and fall apart. By engaging with new ideas and authentic stories, we can better navigate the complex world we live in
Original Thinkers
Original Thinkers (OT) is a four-year-old multimedia company focusing on impactful ways to convey current and essential ideas to a growing and diverse audience. Original Thinkers amplifies the intersection where story meets idea, believing that our everyday, individual wisdom combined with storytelling has enormous societal value. The heart of Original Thinkers is our annual ideas festival, taking place in-person September 30-October 3 in stunning Telluride, Colorado, and virtually for the month of October. The festival features an eclectic group of speakers, artists, musicians and visionaries gathered to share their fresh ideas and interact with audience members and one another. Using the festival’s rich programming as a springboard, Original Thinkers has launched several initiatives - from OT On The Road, which shares Original Thinker’s content with schools, theatres, resorts and communities, to OT B2B, which reconfigures OT’s unique blend of programming to focus on specific themes for private events with corporate entities. Additionally, OT Presents is the company’s production arm, where we produce a variety of content including podcasts, streamed interviews and short films featuring guests from the festival and beyond.