Who Is David Hoffman

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Who Is David Hoffman

My colleague/friend Jay Walker put together this presentation for me as a gift. I love it. Thank you Jay.

Uploaded by

allinaday

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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David Hoffman

FILMMAKER PHOTOGRAPHER STORYTELLER

Who is David Hoffman?

A lifetime of lm. 10 million YouTube viewers
David Hoffman works with individuals and organizations who sense a need or an opportunity. They bring him in to help them to articulate, oftentimes produce and oftentimes disseminate, their story, service, values, or cause.
Here are comments from some of his clients and colleagues

Hoffman on location at 22 yrs old for his rst documentary

From Musician to Filmmaker David began his work life as a musician. At 22, he was offered the position of second oboe in the renowned Minneapolis Symphony. Instead, he decided to become a lmmaker. His rst lms were about musical themes, and at age 24 he was recognized by the United States Information Agency as one of the ten best young lmmakers in America. Television & Corporate Communications In the mid 1970s, David moved into corporate communications and learned that craft from Herb Schmertz, the well-known and widely regarded head of PR and Advertising at Mobil. Hoffman developed similar communications programs for UTC, Aetna, Motorola, TRW, Merck, Merrill Dow, Fidelity, AT&T, and Sony, among others. David also worked for major institutional clients, such as the ASPCA, The American Cancer Society, The Air Force Association and NASA. Prime Time Television In his career he has made more than 150 television documentaries and series for PBS, Turner, A&E and Discovery. These included his 6-part PBS series Making Sense of the Sixties and his 4-part Turner Network series Moonshot, which won the Peabody Award for best prime-time television series. During his career, David has also made dozens of educational lms and lms for nonprot organizations. Feature Filmmaking During his 50year career, Hoffman has made ve feature-length documentaries, including King, Murray, an experimental feature lm about a Long Island salesman who goes to Las Vegas on a junket to gamble with other high rollers. Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends, starring Scruggs with Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, and The Byrds; Sing Sing Thanksgiving, lmed in New Yorks Sing Sing Prison and starring B.B. King, Joan Baez and others; Its All Good, a lm chronicling the lives of two aggressive inline skating teams in New York City and Los Angeles, and Sputnik Mania: the story of The Sputnik Moment and what happened to America as a result.

Jay Walker
Priceline.com, Walker Digital CEO, TEDMED Owner and Curator The stories we tell, based on the messages we craft, are central to success in the modern world. There is no substitute for a clear and compelling narrative it is the essential ingredient in how we persuade others that our mission, our product or our service should become an important part of their lives. David Hoffman is a master at this, not just because he has spent 50 years telling powerful, direct and engaging stories, but because he can think in story terms, he can imagine at multiple levels for multiple audiences, and because his insatiable curiosity about what motivates others drives him to nd the best possible stories the ones that capture the essence of what needs to be told.

Bob Kavner
Idealabs Chairman of the Board, Former Senior Ofcer at AT&T David is a valuable blend of innovation and determination a communicator who can really listen. When I was the senior ofcer of AT&T, I took full advantage of Davids skills. He grew to become a highly respected consultant to our group of executives and helped us to articulate what we felt and thought. He produced wonderful materials that launched new products, coached me on presentations and wrote a number of important speeches including the keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show. Whether he is paid by the hour, on a retainer or with a at fee, he will deliver more than he promised. David is a valuable blend of innovation and determination a communicator who can really listen.

John Johnson
Verizon Wireless Corporate Communications, Executive Director At Verizon Wireless, we needed low-cost targeted video communications that would reach and motivate employees in our stores throughout the West. I felt we had a good story to tell but we also had strong competition from other carriers. I brought David Hoffman and his team in to make the needed video communications for us but he did much more than that. He created the concept we ended up using, helped us understand the distribution platform (the web and live performance) and stayed with us until the distribution of his videos was completed. His work captured the real differences between us and our competitors and using his unique man-onthe-street approach. The resulting set of video stories ran live before audiences of our sales forces and others. They got a standing ovation and, more importantly, achieved our goal. It was a magnicent experience and I will use Hoffman and his team again.

Kevin Surace
CEO Appvance, Formerly CEO Serious Energy, Awarded 23 patents I have known and worked with David Hoffman for nearly 20 years. He has produced and directed impactful videos for me at CommerceNet, Serious Materials, Perfect Commerce and others. David is a storyteller a story creator really. He uses video to express stories that are aimed at target audiences. But his expertise at YouTube, at Adwords, at positioning, and key messaging, mixed with his brilliant video storytelling capability, make him an invaluable asset to any company trying to get their message into the right hands (or eyes and ears as the case may be).

Tim Schmidt
CTO: FAA, Former CIO, Internal Revenue Service David Hoffman is tenacious, persistent and to the point. While I was a senior executive at the IRS, I could count on David to clearly understand my needs and to present the best startup talent to my doorstep. I frankly nd David amazing in his ability to sense the necessary chemistry, open communication channels, and to set the stage for mutually rewarding and enduring business relationships. I would recommend him to anyone having a need to stratify their marketing options and who must stay abreast of the evolving competition and upcoming talent within a specic industry segment.

Barak Kassar
Rassak Communications David brings something to the currency of corporate communications that is usually reserved for the big-budget TV commercial. That is the perfect marriage of message strategy and emotion. The results of Davids ability to hear and articulate stories that inuence positive change. Though in some ways we compete I nd myself calling on David to work with me on behalf of my clients.

Katherine Reid
BioChemist, Serial Startup Chief Scientist I am a Ph.D. biochemist and I have worked in biotechnology /medical diagnostic industry for over 15 years. When I met David I told him of my recent personal scientic discovery, that my daughters autism behaviors were completely managed through diet, namely by removing all the excess glutamate (also commonly known as MSG) that is in our food. I wanted to share this information, but at this point the only way I knew how to share scientic information was through a scientic journal. David had the idea of making a video in a grocery store, a place that everyone could relate to, and post on YouTube to help others suffering from autism. I was impressed how David was able to visualize the end product and then lm, edit, and message to make the nal product. He has a fabulous and unique set of skills. He assembled a great story with key messaging and has helped me tremendously in reaching out to those most in need.

Brian Dougherty
CEO Airset, Founder of GeoWorks, Wink and seven other startups David is THE master of marketing communications. He has an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a company, a product, a person or a technology and gure out how to communicate its benets to customers and key |inuencers in visceral ways. At Wink, we had the challenge of launching a new technology into the cable and satellite television industry. Without Davids help we would not have been able to cut through the noise.

Mike Singer
CEO Strategic Partners, Owner of Cherokee Nursing Uniforms

Howard Urnovitz
CEO Chronix Biomedical, Former CEO and Founder, Calypte Biomedical

Neil Greer
President/CEO, Impact Engine, Inc. Neil has founded and led companies in the Online Advertising for 18 years Ive worked with David Hoffman for years. There are few people who can do what he does; period. As an entrepreneur in the software industry, people ask me about my proprietary advantage. Honestly, Ive rarely found proprietary advantage in the technology. The magic of technology comes from the dramatic, sometimes amazing, impact it has on someones life when the technology enables that person to do something they otherwise could not do. Hoffman unlocks the power of that bottom line proprietary advantage because he understands that the benet from advances in technology are what make technology proprietary, not the technology itself. This has gotten me very real dollars and other support from the best of investors and partners. In short, if David Hoffman helps you, your story will get heard. In my opinion, this makes David Hoffman the proprietary advantage.

Judy Shapiro
CEO engageSimply, formerly at tech companies large and small, AT&T, Bell Labs, Lucent Comodo and Paltalk I rst hired David Hoffman when I was CMO at Paltalk. My goal was to work with David to create messages that opened doors to new corporate advertising clients. David did both superbly. Since I have founded my agency, EngageSimply. I now use David to help me to articulate my thinking and marcom as well. What I nd is that when I am at a point where I just cant get it right, speaking with David and having David express on paper my thinking and add his own, changes and improves my expressions. David is invaluable at this.

Ever since meeting David In the age of mass Hoffman at TED, he has communication, that is worked for me in my instant and in most cases company and on several of uncensored, one can reach my startups. He is a unique an enormous audience. talent in his ability to Chronix Biomedical has articulate ideas and to hear discovered a breakthrough the ideas of others and in cancer and needs to get re-articulate them in ways the message out that it that benet everyone. needs partners to help I take him on my exec bring this discovery to the meetings to add value and market place to save lives increase the likelihood and reduce rising healthof a positive outcome. care costs. The message I dialogue with him often. needs to be crafted I am happy to recommend correctly and by a master him to others. storyteller. Chronix has engaged David Hoffman because he truly is one of those master storytellers. We are delighted he has agreed to work with us so we can combine his vast experience in science and technology lm making with the new age of mass communication.

Blaise Heltai
President, genus2 Technology, Former head of e-business at Fleet Boston Financial and Bank of America I have known David Hoffman for over 25 years and Im pleased to recommend him without reservation. I rst worked with him at the Consumer Lab at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He and his team were known to us as extraordinarily talented and reliable lmmakers. They created lms for public viewing as well as some for industry consumption. But Hoffman went far beyond that; He helped us to articulate who we were, helped us to understand who we were trying to reach and how each audience felt, and helped us in the end succeed time and again. Finally, what remains with me most are Hoffmans personal attributes: his enthusiasm, his sheer competence as a communicator and his never-ending quest to listen and learn.

Steve Block
Managing Director, Amazon Partners, Former Director of Advertising AT&T David Hoffman worked with me on dozens of projects over a 20-year period while I was director of advertising at AT&T. Our collaborations resulted in television commercials for direct response sales, real-people story commercials for network television brand specials, even issuesadvertising commercials targeting Washington policy inuentials. We crafted videos to help launch new technologies and to support executives with vision videos at international conferences. We won awards, surpassed sales targets, even made friends and inuenced outcomes.Working with David will make you a better thinker and improve your own ability to direct programs and leverage your team and talents.

Rick Keating
Founder and CEO, Keating Communications NYC

Rob Faw
General Partner Investech, 35 years consulting with dozens of private and Fortune 500 companies

David Hoffman is a mentor to me. I am in the business of communication. They call I have called on David me a public relations expert Hoffman to help me articulate my ideas with but my work goes far 3 of my businesses and for beyond that. On more than several of my Fortune 500 a dozen occasions, I have clients. Each interaction called on David to help me to articulate what my client with him has been extraordinarily useful. needs to communicate to His ideas are provocative, have success. Some times sometimes disruptive, that involves his using his constantly creative, and superb lmmaking skills. always constructive. He Other times, it is writing sees the world in wonderful on paper that I need. Other ways. I have loved our times, it is just face-to-face or phone dialogue. For all of interactions. I am working with him currently to help these, I have used and will build a global media continue to use David for entertainment initiative, his unique capabilities and 33Hope, my newest effort. his blunt but wonderful points of view. You can depend on David Hoffman and his team to stay with you and your client from the start of a concept through its distribution to target audiences and the analysis of its results. He understands how to begin, to produce, and to complete a project.

Marc Porat

VC Lara Druyan

Peter Thomas

Bill Fallon
VP Marketing at Comodo, Formerly at Audible & EasyLink Services When the task involves articulating and communicating the essential value of a company, product or service, David Hoffman is the best that I have ever worked with. Hoffmans way of thinking begins by asking: why should your audiences care about this? You nd yourself engaged in a dialogue with someone who has helped executives in companies ranging from the worlds largest to startups. Someone who has created award-winning communications that moved millions of people, worldwide. Although he always has an opinion, Hoffman is very adept at hearing what you have to say and adjusting where he is going so that you feel heard. This aspect of working with him is unique and much appreciated. Good luck David Hoffman.

Founder of Private Satellite Partner, G&B Partners, Americas most famous Network, General Magic, Venture Advisor, SRI voice over narrator perfect.com, CalStar As a longtime VC in I have been in the business Products & Serious Northern California but for over 60 years. I have Materials. originally from the East narrated hundreds of lms, I am currently at work on Coast, I search out others television commercials and my 6th start up. It is the 6th whom I can trust to give series, etc. both the United time that I have called in me the straight poop. I can States and abroad. In all of David Hoffman. He has trust David Hoffman. True that time, I can condently extraordinary insights, and he is from the East Coast say that I consider David can extract the essence of and speaks directly. But Hoffman to be the best in a vision, and idea, a product the result of my interactions our business. His writing in a fresh and non-intuitive with him always makes and directing talent and way. Working with David is me (and I hope for him as dedication is like no one a pleasure. He is passionate, well) clearer regarding a else. persistent and highly company, a key individual, effective. or an idea, David is a great under-the-radar researcher and I depend on him for his evaluations.

Joe Rizzi
Serial Entrepreneur and Investor, Founder Matrix Partners

Catherine Hand

Valarie Gelb

Thomas Dolby

30 year Film and Television Former Chief of Sales, Composer, Song Writer, Veteran, currently in an MasterCard Worldwide Internet Artist executive position at the As a senior executive in I am an artist who has US government I have worked with David sales and marketing worked in the world of music Of all of the people who Hoffman at a number of communications for more but always appreciated David Hoffman has asked startups including SanDisk, multimedia, lmmaking and than a quarter century to recommend him, I am MicroLinear, PostX, and video. To me, David is a nding the best and probably the one who Beatnik. Recently, I called master lmmaker. I have brightest talent has often knows him the longest. upon him to help tell the consistently bounced ideas been identied as one of We rst worked together story of the founding of off him and used the results my core competencies. on Alaska Senator Gravels Liquid Robotics and how it to improve my creative David Hoffman is one of successful political came to be the remarkable output. Also, a while ago those best and brightest campaign in 1972. start-up it is. He quickly he was key consultant that I have been fortunate captured the heart and soul Throughout my career to work with. David has the to my company Beatnik including my time with of our early days and and was a part of the innate ability to take ideas Norman Lear, I have presented it in a way that companys successes from and bring them to clarity worked with David on captivated the founders, its beginnings. and focus. He executes communications strategy, the company, and many with excellence to bring positioning, and lm and others that have since these enhanced ideas to video storytelling. In each watched the lm. I have market. We have been case, he delivered more been impressed by the fortunate to increase our than what was expected power of Davids style of sales and to bring clarity of from him. Every great story-telling which has message through our work lmmaker has the same helped promote great with David. talent knowing how to interest and curiosity in be heard by the audience. our undertaking. For me, most video producers these days cant really do that, but all the great ones can and thats the class that David is in. He is a great lmmaker, communication strategist, and entrepreneur. I proudly recommend him.