Who We Are

META was created in 2009 by a group of devoted media professionals who wished to serve the media, entertainment, technology and arts industries by encouraging the awareness and increased responsibility that how we use our media, entertainment, technology and art, will determine how we shape society now and into the future.

META asks the questions of all creators, “What is the value system beneath the content you create and what is its impact on humanity? How are your creations working to transform the planet?”

META is a 501.c.6 professional trade association made up of individuals and companies at the forefront of this transformational movement. By empowering professionals and companies within the industry, META fosters the development of a professional online community, provides a standard of excellence, produces networking events, provides resources for sharing, promotes education, and offers discount opportunities and other valuable services.
 

META's Board of Directors:

Executive Director: 

Advisory Board:

 

Elizabeth Estrada

Elizabeth has worked in the industry as a producer since 1985. A woman of many skill sets and experience, she has successfully monetized her work with corporate sponsorship placement for television and media content that has meaning. With a strong background in banking, her talents have easily transferred to the media platform in acquisitions and financing. As a highly trained producer, she provides a strong base for business development, structuring projects and management. Her strong sense of purpose and belief in the power of media has remained steadfast throughout her long-standing career.

Elizabeth developed, produced and coordinated financing for two made for television series entitled “Million Dollar Homes” and “Tahoe Weekly Magazine”. She also secured media time on ABC and NBC for these shows. As the managing producer for a blockbuster hit LIVE television special, “Help-A-Thon”, she was responsible for overseeing the funds raised, goods acquired and volunteer time for the homeless. The show was hosted by Valerie Harper.

As Executive Producer and key consultant to many events and companies, Elizabeth has worked with many high-profile giants including ABC, NBC, Stanford University, Filmwest, HB Media, Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) and more. She is the Executive Producer for a feature documentary, Cobell v which is slated for post production in the fall, 2010. She is also the Producer for a feature film entitled, “The Hummingbird Project”, slated to be shot in the Phillippines and the US in 2011. She is a consulting Producer for a feature film entitled, “Swing”, cast includes Jacqueline Bisset, Johnathon Winters, Tom Skerit, Nel Carter (her last picture) and Jim Hanks. She was the Executive Producer for “Angel Beach”, a short feature which was the finalist in the Sedona Film festival. She is the Producer for a special Awards Show for the Arts Olympus honoring artists for their humanitarian efforts in June, 2010.

In 2008, Elizabeth founded the Institute for Conscious Entertainment, which provides education about positive media to the public viewing audience. It is developing a standards rating system to evaluate the conscious meaningful content in media projects. She is currently the Chariman of the Board for META. Internationally, she has accepted an appointment as Chairman of Media Initiatives for the Global Summit 2010.

 

Andrew H. Orgel

Andrew is well-known within the media and entertainment industry for the startup and management of highly-successful, innovative media, entertainment and technology-based consumer media brands.

Currently he is Chairman & CEO, Global Media Group, a select portfolio of media and entertainment businesses in television, film, online, video-on-demand and mobile platforms and is Founder and Chairman of Human Planet, an emerging humanitarian media company within the personal, social and global consciousness category.

Orgel was a founding executive at the CBS FM Radio Division; at MTV Networks; at A & E Network and was President & CEO of the world’s first interactive television network, Video Jukebox Network. He also consulted with U.S. West and the Wisdom Media Group. Major industry events have been the forum for Orgel as a keynote speaker on new media trends.
Orgel was labeled by Success Magazine as the man who “made TV interactive.”

 

Lisa Schneiderman

Lisa Schneiderman began her publicity career in 1994 representing high profile authors, many of whom were NY Times best-seller status. Taking after her father‘s entrepreneurial spirit, Lisa founded Schneiderman Public Relations, an entertainment/cause-related boutique agency in 1998, managing social and humanitarian causes and large-scale celebrity events. Through the span of her career, evoking social change through positive messaging has always been a common theme.

In 2003, Schneiderman Public Relations merged with the legendary and late Hollywood publicist, Lee Solters of Solters & Digney. As Executive Vice President, she expanded her “red carpet” and “VIP room” experience with celebrities such as Oprah, Diana Ross, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Pierce Brosnan and many more. Lisa’s clients have included Vanity Fair Pre-Golden Globe Party; Nike and Clear Channel. She has publicized American Idol Stars along with L.L. Cool Jay, Gloria Steinem, Gail Sheehy, Wayne Dyer, Asa Hutchinson, to name a few. She has also placed many clients on the national media circuit including two spots on Oprah.

As an entertainment/cause-related publicist and brand expert for 16 years, Lisa has built the careers and re-branded some of the world’s most prominent cultural creatives.

On a personal note, Lisa is best known for her activism and the equality of human justice. As a children’s advocate for over two decades, she has served as Marketing Chair on several boards and currently has many projects in development including a documentary and foundation highlighting celebrity positive role models and the next generation of leadership. As a performing and recording artist, she, along with her two sisters have four children CD’s on the market with the OyBaby series and That Baby project. She is currently working on her own music project entitled, “Olam” that bridges ancient Hebrew hymns with eastern traditions.

Lisa is a sought after speaker, coach and filmmaker.

 

Terry Kierzek

For more than 30 years Terry has been a highly-regarded entertainment distribution and marketing executive having served tenures at Paramount Pictures, Orion Pictures, Miramax, Destination Films and MGM.

Terry entered the field in the 1970’s when he began working for Paramount in Chicago. He then moved to the East coast where he was named Vice President of distribution. In 1986 he relocated to Los Angeles. While at Orion Pictures he set the distribution pattern for "Dances with Wolves which won the Oscar. While with Paramount they had record years at the box office and he was part of the team that made it happen. During his time at Miramax he distributed "Life is Beautiful". He has seen the business evolve from a multi million dollar box office to a multi billion dollar box office. The dynamics of how that happens is Mr. Kierzek.

 

Ron Schultz

Ron is the founder and Executive Director of the International Social Action Film Festival (ISAFF), a year-round film festival which has been screened in venues around the world and is dedicated to helping support and sustain the efforts of local and international social action organizations. Ron has been recognized internationally as a thought leader in the field of Social Entrepreneurship. A paper he co-authored on Social Entrepreneurship and Complexity was delivered at Oxford University, at the Skoll International Social Innovation Research Conference in September, 2009. Ron has written or co-written and had published 20 books, with number 21 coming out in 2011.

His Hollywood career, in both television and movies, includes a Movie of the Week for CBS, The Switch, which ultimately changed independent living laws in the State of Georgia for quadriplegics and is considered IMDB to be one of the finest TV MOWs ever made. He has also had a feature film produced and written dozens of children’s TV shows, including five of the first 30 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episodes. He created, wrote and produced the cable TV series The Poet’s Voice, 11 half-hour episodes featuring 22 nationally recognized poets, and a variety of short documentaries including one as media director for former CA Governor, Jerry Brown, called, The Learning Society, about exemplary computer-in-schools programs in the early 80s, which was funded by Apple Computers.

 

Cynthia H. Stringer, M.Div,PCC

Cynthia is a professional speaker & trainer, coach, international career media blogger, and Board President for Sonoma State Alumni Association. She has been the owner of the career and business enhancement company called Success By Design for over 16 years in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area. She is one of the top 10% of coaches first certified in the entire world and in the top 1% of coaches still working full-time from those initial first days. She is an extraordinary event planner and serves on various Board of Directors for social causes. Her clients have included companies and individuals in England, Japan, Australia and the United States.

She is known for her ability to assess business challenges quickly and identify a plan of action. Her customized, step-by-step business and life coaching programs facilitate clients to increase profits while enjoying life more. Her work as an Executive Director comes from many years in the creative, global social service movement. Her style is direct, through, and collaborative. She served as the Media Coach for ATMA.

She received her coaching training from Coach University, CCUI and her Professional Coach Certification (PCC) through the International Coach Federation. She facilitates large and small companies locally and nationally to produce results consistently in line with their vision.

She specializes in life long relationship networking, business integration, inspired leadership, and accountability for your bottom line. Ms. Stringer clarifies hard to resolve problems and facilitates clients to think outside the box and ask different questions. As a pioneer she inspires leaders, non-profit directors and business owners to support causes that make a difference.

 

Kit Thomas

Kit is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-winning film and music producer, social activist and philanthropist. His impressive body of work revolves around issues of personal and social transformation. He was commissioned by rock musician Sting to produce and direct a documentary on the global rainforest crisis, Burning Down Tomorrow, that was nominated for an Oscar in 1991. Nearly two decades later, it is still considered one of the most important films to address that subject. Spaceship Earth: Our Global Environment, the Earth Day television special, that he co-produced and directed for the Disney Channel, aired on Earth Day for six consecutive years and has won several National Emmys, including Best Daytime Special.

He then co-produced the award-winning ECO (Earth Communication Office) PSA campaign which was shown in over 20,000 movie theaters in the US and, after being adopted by the United Nations Environment Program, was seen worldwide by over one billion people.. an advertising record. Kit also co-produced and directed the United Nations official 50th Anniversary film, entitled A Place To Stand, which has been translated into many languages and has also won numerous awards.

As a record producer, Kit has produced over sixty albums of jazz, pop, and world music and has been an active member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences serving on the Board of both the Los Angeles and Philadelphia chapters.. He was instrumental in establishing the New Age Music category for the Grammys and has served as National Chairman of that category for over twenty years.

Kit is Chairman of META’s Music Council.

 

Dea Shandera

Dea is a seasoned entertainment production and marketing executive with more than 25 of years experience. Her career began at Paramount Pictures, and then continued to The Walt Disney Company and MGM/United Artists.

During the last nine years Dea has consulted in the areas of production, distribution, publicity, marketing and events with the mission to help create entertainment that nourishes the soul, sparks the imagination and celebrates the human spirit. Her projects are for film, television and direct-to-DVD. Dea has created events and consulted for such clients as Universal Music, MGM, Sony, Regent Releasing, Trifecta Entertainment and Media, Gener8Xion Entertainment, American Botanical Pharmacy, Off the Pier Productions, Waterside Productions and authors James Redfield, William Gladstone and Jesse Dylan.

Dea led the independent theatrical motion picture PR effort for One Night With The King, Kabluey, among others; and led the marketing for the limited release of The Celestine Prophecy movie. She developed and executive produced more than 75 programs for The Disney Channel, including Earth Day at Walt Disney World, hosted by Ed Begley Jr. and Dana Delaney, and starring, among others, John Travolta, Al Gore, Ted Danson and Matthew Modine.

 

Marcia Martin

Marcia is the President of One Degree Media & Entertainment, Inc., a transformational media company creating, producing and distributing media across all traditional and alternative platforms including cable, satellite, VOD, broadcast, mobile and broadband. Before that, She was the CEO and Founder of WOMBAT Media Network, and has extensive experience in management, marketing, product development and transformational training. Martin was one of the original founding members and Senior Vice President of est (Erhard Seminars Training, now The Landmark Forum), the largest self-improvement educational company in the world.

She was one of three founders and the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Operations for Tsuru, Inc, an international design and manufacturing company, which manufactured and marketed women’s fashion jewelry designed by the acclaimed artist Laurel Burch. Martin managed both the US and the international offices, including Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Beijing. She formed a transformational training firm, where she designed and delivered corporate and public trainings and seminars in the art of leadership, communication, and sales. She is renowned as one of the top Executive Coaches and trainer in relationships, leadership, and communication; and her clients have included Capital One, Inter-Continental Hotels, Hospital Corp of America and Loews Hotels. She has trained over 150,000 people in corporations and public markets.

In 2004, Marcia helped to form the Transformational Leadership Council with Jack Canfield, was one of the original Founding Members and was the Managing Director from inception until 2007, and continues to serve as Board Member Emeritus. She first dreamed of creating a transformational media company in late 2004 while under contract to Warner Bros. It was then she decided to combine her knowledge of the Human Potential Movement, the talents of the transformational industry teachers, Hollywood production values, and digital alternative distribution channels.

 

Diana Loomans

Diana is a professional speaker & trainer, media spokeswoman, best-selling author, journalist and Executive Director of The Quantum Life Institute. She has been a pioneer in the human potential field for over two decades, with a passion for furthering human consciousness through inspirational publications, leading-edge workshops, transformational media & coach mentoring programs.

As a journalist, Diana has written feature articles on celebrities making a difference for numerous publications, along with a monthly column entitled, Media That Matters. She spearheaded an ongoing think tank group in Los Angeles called, Conscious Media Associates, with an emphasis on positive media.

 As a presenter, Diana taught for three universities, and has delivered over 1500 speeches for national associations, business & government, universities, schools, non-profit groups, and all who are called to make a difference. She has hosted satellite media tours for charitable causes, served on The Governor's Council on the Future, and continues to serve on several advisory boards.

As an author, Diana has penned eight non-fiction books and has over one million books and short stories in print. She and her daughter, Julia, have co-authored 3 books together, and have appeared on numerous national TV & radio shows. They are currently writing two books together and working on a documentary. Diana's inspirational poetry has been used in commercials & campaigns, and can be found in books, greeting cards, gift items and websites worldwide.

As the Founder of the Quantum Life Institute, Diana offers a unique professional coaching program & coach certification training with an emphasis on leading a soul-directed life and creating conscious partnerships. Her clients range from business executives, leaders, celebrities, entrepreneurs, speakers, teachers & authors.


Sharon Hart, M.S.

Sharon is a video producer and a pioneer in the Human Potential Field. She began her career in Psychology and Co-founded four Human Potential and Personal Development Schools in San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma Counties. During this time, she co-produced transformative and educational health-related documentary style videos, and 2 series of 25 San Francisco cable television shows on personal transformation. She also co-authored the New Media Training Course. which provided in-studio, on-camera training for local actors and television personalities.

Sharon is a multi-talented artist, whose background includes performances as a classical pianist, actress, model, and keyboardist in three local rock bands,

In 1996, she created Hart Productions, a video production service for workshops, seminars and lectures. Through Hart Productions, she co-produced "LIfe in The Balance," a documentary style video about the life and work of Psychologist, Sedonia Cahill. She also co-produced: "Are You Prepared?" an earthquake preparedness video which sold internationally.

She is an original Co-Founder of the Association of Transformative Media Arts (ATMA) non-profit, its former Board Chair and Director of Operations. She closed ATMA after 14 years of service to transformative media producers to become a founding member of META. Her mission is to produce media that educates, enlightens and entertains.