The Art Institute of Atlanta is pleased to announce Ozzie Areu, Founder and CEO Areu Bros. Studios, as the keynote speaker of their 2019 commencement ceremony. The event will take place on Friday, June 14, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, located at 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339.
Mr. Newton I. Myvett, President of The Art Institute of Atlanta said: “We are honored to have someone with the vision and industry expertise of Ozzie Areu as this year’s keynote speaker. Our academic programs are formulated with industry input to ensure students are equipped with skills and competencies that are aligned with industry standards. Having Mr. Areu as the keynote speaker of our commencement ceremony will give our graduates insightful, hard-won knowledge that will propel them to success.“
Cuban-American producer Ozzie Areu is the Founder & CEO of Areu Bros. Studios, the first Latino-owned and operated film and television studio in the United States.
Ozzie’s introduction to the entertainment industry began with a security guard position at Warner Bros. His tireless work ethic led him to be the head of security for “Friends”, which opened doors for him such as becoming a personal assistant to Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt for five years, followed by two years with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi. He was then hired by Tyler Perry to be his Executive Assistant.
Ozzie began commuting from Los Angeles to Atlanta in order to stay close to his family until his family encouraged him to make the move and try to learn as much as possible from a visionary and pioneer such as Tyler Perry. Ozzie was promoted from assistant to President of Tyler Perry Studios just about a year after starting with Tyler.
Since his start as President of Tyler Perry Studios, where Ozzie also served as Executive Producer, he has become a trailblazer in the entertainment industry.During his fruitful career, Ozzie has made many films and produced over 900 episodes of television dramas and sitcoms over nine different series. Ozzie helped manage Tyler Perry Studios’ vision for his company, “A Place Where Even Dreams Believe”, intertwining worlds through storytelling and family-friendly entertainment, while inspiring audiences with real-life and thought-provoking issues.
Ozzie also helmed 34th Street Films, a Tyler Perry Production arm that discovered the film Precious while at Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Precious garnered two Academy Awards in 2010 for Best Supporting Actress and Best Writing Adapted Screenplay while also winning a Golden Globe Award, an NAACP Award and an Independent Spirit Award.
After 13 years of working for Tyler Perry he left his post as President to become the Owner and Founder of Areu Bros. Studios. Ozzie purchased Tyler Perry’s former studio complex in December 2018 in Southwest Atlanta with the aim of transforming it into a multifaceted media campus encompassing music, tech, short-form content, motion pictures and television operations.
Ozzie has a long list of production work that includes many of Tyler Perry’s sitcoms like TBS’s highest rated comedy House of Payne, the popular Meet the Browns, For Better and for Worse, The Haves and the Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor just to name a few. The Haves and the Have Nots set records for OWN scoring the highest ratings ever for a series premiere and the highest overall ratings in the network’s history. Love Thy Neighbor acquired the second highest-rated series program on the OWN Network after The Haves and the Have Nots.
Film production credits include: For Colored Girls, Madea’s Big Happy Family, his first animation Madea’s Tough Love, Good Deeds, Madea’s Witness Protection, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, Peeples, Single Mom’s Club, A Madea Christmas, Boo! A Madea Halloween, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Acrimony, A Madea Family Funeral and many more.
Ozzie has worked with A List talent such as Sofía Vergara, Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Taraji P. Henson, Phylicia Rashad, Eugene Levy, Doris Robert, Nia Long, Thandi Newton, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kathy Najimy, John Schneider, Zulay Henao and many more.
Awards: The 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia and The Presidents’ Award by The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The Eagle Leadership Award by The Latino Leaders Network, The Global Cultural Hero and Outstanding Georgia Citizen Awards by the World Chamber of Commerce, For Colored Girls received honors at the NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Directing for a Motion Picture/Television Movie for Tyler Perry and Outstanding Motion Picture. At the 2011 BET Awards, For Colored Girls received top honors with Best Picture.
Additional Awards include the Georgia Highlight Award (2015) and the Who’s Who Top 100 Presidents (2015). The Hispanicize Latinovator Award (2016), American Diabetes Association (2016), Father of the Year Award (2016), CEO Executive Excellence in Entertainment Award by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (2016), Men In Black Award (2016) and was also recognized by Fox News Channel for Hispanic Heritage Month (2016). He and his brother received the 2017 Untold Stories Honorees by the Black Women Film Network and were featured in CNN Money: My American Success Story.
The Art Institute of Atlanta has a tradition of quality, career focused-education for the creative field. Founded in 1949 as Massey Business College, the college became The Art Institute of Atlanta in 1975 and is proud of its more than sixty-year legacy of education for creative professionals. It offers degree programs in the areas of Design, Fashion, Media Arts and Culinary. The Art Institute of Atlanta houses a gallery exhibition space, and is home to Creations, its student-run restaurant, which is open to the public. The Art Institute of Atlanta is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404.679.4500 for questions about the accreditation of The Art Institute of Atlanta.
The Art Institute of Atlanta is one of The Art Institutes, a system of private, non-profit schools throughout the United States. Programs, credential levels, technology and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd, NE, Embassy Row, Atlanta Georgia 30328. © 2019. The Arts Institutes International LLC. All rights reserved.
In Conversation with Michael Oblowitz Director of Confidential Informant
Confidential Informant stars Mel Gibson, Dominic Purcell, and Kate Bosworth
