On the eve of President Bush's State of the Union address, leadership from Hollywood and Capitol Hill converge in Park City at a private dinner to discuss the foremost issues on the national agenda. VIP guests included talent, executives, national opinion leaders, former White House officials and 2008 Presidential Campaign insiders and advisors.
The Creative Coalition was formed for the charitable and educational purposes of bringing together artists and entertainers to learn about pressing issues so they can better inform and influence the community and nation.
Bio
Eric Alterman
Eric Alterman is Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, the "Liberal Media" columnist for The Nation, senior fellow and "Altercation" weblogger for Media Matters for America, (formerly at MSNBC.com), a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he writes and edits the "Think Again" column, as well as the World Policy Institute at New School University in New York.
Robin Bronk
The Creative Coalition (TCC) appointed Robin Bronk Executive Director on July 7, 1998. TCC is the leading nonprofit, nonpartisan social and political advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment industry. As Executive Director, Ms. Bronk is dedicated to educating and mobilizing the arts community on issues of public importance, particularly the First Amendment, arts advocacy and public education.
John Paul DeJoria
Cofounder, President and CEO, John Paul Mitchell Systems
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lawrence O'Donnell is an MSNBC Senior Political Analyst and a panelist on "The McLaughlin Group."
O'Donnell is an Emmy-winning producer and writer of NBC's The West Wing. He also served as the creator and Executive Producer of NBC's drama Mister Sterling. The West Wing episode he co-wrote on the death penalty won the 2000 Humanitas Prize for writing that "communicate(s) those values which most enrich the human person."
During the election year 2000, O'Donnell was a contributing editor of New York magazine with a column on national politics.
Joe Pantoliano
Joseph Pantoliano is former president of the Creative Coalition. He is an American actor and sometimes referred to as Joey Pants.
Pantoliano is also known for his role as "Eddie Moscone", the bail bondsman, in the Robert De Niro comedy Midnight Run and a police officer of dubious credentials named John Edward "Teddy" Gammel in Memento. He also played "Deputy Marshal Cosmo Renfro" in The Fugitive along with Tommy Lee Jones and reprised the role in the sequel U.S. Marshals.
In 2003, Pantoliano won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of "Ralphie Cifaretto" on The Sopranos.
Gene B. Sperling
Gene B. Sperling is Director of the National Economic Council and
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He was appointed by
President Barack Obama on January 7, 2011.
Mr. Sperling served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Department of
the Treasury, Timothy F. Geithner starting in 2009. In that role, Mr.
Sperling served as a lead policy advisor for Secretary Geithner on
fiscal, budget, tax, job creation and small business issues.
Previously, Mr. Sperling served during the Clinton Administration as
the Director of the National Economic Council for four years, from 1997
to 2000, and as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council
from 1993 to 1996. In these positions, Mr. Sperling played a lead role
in the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and was a key negotiator for the 1997
bipartisan Balanced Budget Agreement.
In addition to his economic work, Mr. Sperling has specialized on
education in poor and conflict-affected nations. He was the founder and
Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign
Relations and co-authored the book What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World. Mr. Sperling was also Senior Fellow for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress, where he authored The Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity. He also served as a part-time consultant on corporate citizenship and economic matters for private sector companies.
Mr. Sperling holds a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
What an amazingly candid discussion. Truly documents the polarizing intensity that has defined W's presidency. It's nice to see a lefty getting so riled up though - I think Joey was channeling Ralphie Cifaretto there for a minute.
member. 
