The Art Institute of Atlanta Announces Ozzie Areu as Keynote Speaker

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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. www.artinstitutes.edu/atlanta

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. www.areubros.com

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. For More Information on the Art Institute of Atlanta, please
visit www.artinstitutes.edu/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.

Contacts

Press Contacts:
Marcia Gomez
(305) 397-9207

Camille Cortes
(787) 390-1980
camille@espadapr.com