New Film Series Featuring Swizz Beatz, Carrie Mae Weems, Terence Nance, Arthur Jafa, And More Launches Today

UTA Artist Space and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean are pleased to announce the launch of a one-on-one interview series that puts distinguished creatives across contemporary art, music, and film in conversation and in front of the camera. The series launches today, March 22, 2019, and features Swizz Beatz, Carrie Mae Weems, Troy Carter, Terence Nance, Arthur Jafa, and more.

The series is created in celebration of the group exhibition DREAMWEAVERS (co-presented by UTA Artist Space and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean and curated by Nicola Vassell), and is produced in partnership with Lyft Entertainment, which has a mission to champion creative expressions from a diverse set of artists and storytellers.

Each episode is produced and directed by Migos and Halsey collaborator and Mamag Studio founders Sing J. Lee with Sylvia Zakhary.

For the inaugural episode, music producer Swizz Beatz sits down with Troy Carter, an entertainment manager who defines pop culture with entertainers like Lady Gaga and Eve formerly in his roster. The two music industry experts share their enthusiasm for collecting art. The conversation is filmed at UTA Artist Space, set against a backdrop of paintings, sculptures, and photographs created by some of the greatest artists of our time.

Subsequent episodes will feature creatives like Terence Nance, the filmmaker behind HBO's comedy series Random Acts of Flyness; Arthur Jafa, an artist, pioneer of black cinema, and regular collaborator with Spike Lee, Beyoncé, and Solange; and Carrie Mae Weems, the indomitable visual artist who features TV shows starring powerful black women, like EMPIRE and Scandal, in her photography. Jafa and Weems both have works featured in DREAMWEAVERS. Further names to follow.

Co-presented by UTA Artist Space and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, DREAMWEAVERS is a group exhibition curated by Nicola Vassell that contemplates the surreal in society against a vigorously shifting 21st century. It features the work of several major contemporary artists, including Nick Cave, Karon Davis, Cy Gavin, David Hammons, Hector Hyppolite, Arthur Jafa, Pope L, Deana Lawson, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Noah Purifoy, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Tschabalala Self, Ming Smith, Nari Ward, Carrie Mae Weems, Charles White, and Kehinde Wiley. The exhibition is on view at UTA Artist Space through April 13, 2019.

UTA Artist Space is an exhibition venue in the heart of Beverly Hills that is committed to showcasing art by globally recognized talent. Since its establishment in 2016, UTA Artist Space has presented notable exhibitions by artists including Ai Weiwei, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Derrick Adams, Petra Cortright, The Haas Brothers, and Larry Clark. For more information, please visit utaartistspace.com.

Concept NV is a curatorial agency founded by Nicola Vassell that develops art projects based on social and cultural phenomena. It creates dynamic concepts that tell stories of life through art. Its singular vision links the traditional and experimental art worlds with brands, music, fashion and film. The agency offers unique synergy between creative stakeholders that generates maximum cultural impact. Concept NV helps its collaborators navigate the complex global creative community, transforming knowledge and access into ideas and opportunities. For more information, please visit conceptnv.com.

Kasseem Dean (Swizz Beatz) is an internationally acclaimed Grammy-Award Winning music producer and global entrepreneur. As a producer, Dean has worked with a diverse range of musical artists and some of the greatest talent in the world, contributing to the sale over 350 million records worldwide. Dean established The Dean Collection in 2014 with his wife Alicia Keys. It is a contemporary family collection and cultural platform. The collection actively acquires and commissions work by visual artists while the platform includes artist support initiatives such as the No Commission art and music festival and TDC 20. Dean sits on the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum, NY and Americas Foundation of the Serpentine Galleries, London.

Sing J. Lee is a film director and co-creator of MAMAG Creative Studios, an extension of MAMAG, an award-winning creative agency and production company. Born in Manchester, UK to immigrant parents from Hong Kong, Lee was raised in North Wales. Initially driven by music for several years, Lee returned to other artistic disciplines at the Manchester School of Art before writing and directing his first two multi-award winning short films and an award-winning animated music video that launched him as a film director before graduating. Lee immediately followed up by directing several breakout music videos for the UK band Chvrches. He garnered several nominations for his short film, First the Bird Fell, including the 2012 Exposures Film Festival Awards where it was nominated for BBC's Best of the North award and the 2012 Watersprite Film Festival Awards, among others. Most recently, Lee was nominated for the 2018 iHeartradio Music Video Awards for Halsey Bad at Love. He is also known for directing the acclaimed Migos Stir Fry music video as well as Halsey Now or Never (55 million Youtube views) and Sorry videos. In 2018, Lee and his wife, Sylvia Zakhary, launched MAMAG Creative Studios, a creative agency that focuses on bridging the gap between culture and commerce with a vision to create, disrupt the spheres of music, film and advertising. Most recently, Lee directed the Google Pixel 3 global campaign, starring Donald Glover that aired in 2019 during the 61st Grammy Awards. It has already received 32 million views on YouTube. He has also collaborated with brands like Adidas, Havana Club, G-Star RAW, CASS Beer and talent including Pharrell, John Legend, Halsey, Jay Park, AOMG and Muse to name a few. Lee and Sylvia Zakhary are repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion for film and television projects.

Sylvia Zakhary is a film producer and the founder of MAMAG, an award-winning creative agency and production company with offices in New York and LA, with a vision to create, disrupt and progress culture under the disguise of music, film and advertising. Zakhary is Egyptian-American, born in New York City to immigrant parents. By the age of 18, she lived in seven countries before returning to New York City on her own to pursue a career in film. Her perspective has been greatly shaped by the multi-cultural and social landscapes of her upbringing. As such, MAMAG's body of work acutely focuses on cultural authenticity within commercial and entertainment spheres, bridging the needed gap between culture and commerce. Zakhary most recently produced and launched the Google Pixel 3 global campaign starring Donald Glover that aired in 2019 during the 61st GRAMMY AWARDS that has already received 32 million views on YouTube, as well as the Emmy-nominated New York Times mini-series Great Performers. In 2018, she was nominated for a UKMVA for the multi-award-winning Kali Uchis' After the Storm music video. Her work also includes the award-winning mini series New York Minute, Migos Stir Fry music video, and the 2017 short film Ouroboros starring Rosario Dawson. Since its launch in 2016, MAMAG's client list has grown to include Adidas, Nike, Pepsi, Givenchy, Mercedes-Benz, Maybelline and Tag Heuer and talent collaborations with Pharrell, Glenn Close, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Roberts, Regina Hall and Ethan Hawke, among others. In 2018, Zakhary and her husband, Sing J Lee, co-created Mamag Creative Studios, an extension of MAMAG. Her humanitarian efforts include Common Threads, a NYC program she founded in 2015 that honors re-settled female refugees in the tri-borough area. She and Sing J. Lee are repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion for film and television projects.

Lyft Entertainment is the original content development arm of Lyft, Inc. Lyft is a values-led company whose mission is to improve people's lives with the world's best transportation.

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