Ken Goldstein

Born	June 24th 1969 Chicago, Illinois
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Nationality	United States
Other names	Kene G
Education	M.F.A.
Alma mater	Syracuse University
Occupation	Chief Marketing Officer
Years active	1985 - present
Employer	Planet illogica
Known for	(book series) The Way of the Nerd: Practical Advice for Impractical People
Influenced by	Video Games, Comic Books, Marx Brothers, Muhammad Ali, George Plimpton
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Website
www.planetillogica.com

Ken Goldstein, also known as Kene G, born June 1969, is an American film and television writer, producer and director. He is the Co-Founder of Planet illogica^[1] and the author of the book series, The Way of the Nerd ^[2][3]. Ken is an active speaker at conferences and festivals, universities and private and public institutions. He has been a featured and Keynote speaker in Brazil, Australia, France and Germany ^[4][5][6][7].

Contents 1 Background 2 Media career 3 Planet illogica 4 References 5 External links

Background

Goldstein grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, the town formally called, Shermerville, Illinois,^[8] which is the setting for several of the classic films of the late director, John Hughes, who attended Northbrook's, Glenbrook North High School (formerly, Shermeville High (the name and setting of the town and High School in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club). Goldstein can be briefly seen in the film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles, as all of the classic Hughes' films were shot during the years he attended Glenbrook North High School and utilized students as featured extras. A chance encounter with John Hughes in 1987, during which Ken and John performed the song, "Good Love", in front of a gymnasium filled with students, foreshadowed his employment as Hughes' personal and creative assistant during the pre-production of Home Alone 2 and throughout the production of the film.^[9]

As a teen he attended the London School of Dramatic Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago before graduating from Syracuse University in 1990.

He is the grandson of Cecilia Dubin, the Russian concert pianist.

Media career

He was a photojournalist for the New York New Times in the late 1980s, a writer for the Chicago Tribune in the early 1990s, and a television news commentator and field reporter for FOX News and NBC, including the on-air host of Too Much Information, a television news magazine for Fox News in Chicago.^[10] He also wrote, directed and produced television for A&E Network, The History Channel, BET, TF-1, BBC, PBS, Fox Broadcasting Company and NBC.^{[11][12][13][14][15]} Goldstein co-produced, directed and edited the several documentary specials including The Angel of Bergen-Belsen and "Copycat Crimes", which were released by A&E Network,^[16][17][18] and received an Emmy from the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his production of the children’s television program There’s No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein, in 1995.^[19]

In 2011, he became the Bureau Chief for Wizard Magazine's, "Games, Girls, Gadgets and Gear" and Wizard World Comic Cons. His column, "State of the Game", appears weekly in the Wizard World magazine.^[20] On April 29 he celebrated the launch of the speaking tour for his book, "The Way of the Nerd: Practical Advice for Impractical People," at the 2011 Anaheim Comic Con ^[21][22]

Planet illogica

Ken Goldstein partnered with Tonny Sorensen to form Planet illogica, an agency and an online creative community for artists and art organizations. The site launched in beta July 2009^[23] with the help of the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]} Ken is currently the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) and oversees all marketing, promotion and branding efforts.

Examples of Planet illogica’s marketing support of its artists in residence include their South by Southwest art exhibit of American contemporary artist Ron English’s Historic KISS art and other music-related prints,^[35] its online sale and promotion of custom limited edition apparel from English’s Popaganda collection,^[36][37] the brokering of Ron English art into the video game, inFamous on the PS3^[38] and co-Producing Ron's 2010 retrospect, Status Factory.^[39]

Another recent project includes Infiltrate, an art installation touring the University of Utah, George Washington University, and the University of Florida, among other campuses.,^[40][41][42] that Planet illogica produced for Disney Nature and Participant Media, as an educational and promotional vehicle for the film, Oceans.^[43]

Planet illogica also develops and produces multi-media projects including movies, television shows, books and albums. Recent projects include, "First and Grand", the first classical organ record ever recorded at the Walt Disney Concern Hall in Los Angeles,^[44][45] Climate Refugees documentary film^[46] and the book, History of Los Angeles Graffiti Volume 2^[47]

References

External links

• Ken Goldstein's website
• Planet illogica website
• Imdb Credits
• Profile of Goldstein at Planet illogica

Persondata
Name	Ken Goldstein
Alternative names	Kene G
Short description	Entrepreneur
Date of birth	1969-06
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Date of death
Place of death