Nirvan Mullick
Nirvan Mullick (born April 8, 1975) is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, writer, speaker, stop motion animator, and founder of the Imagination Foundation. He came into public view in April 2012, primarily through the creation of a viral short documentary called "Caine's Arcade" about a 9-year-old boy Caine Monroy who created a cardboard arcade in his father's auto parts shop. Caine's Arcade, released on April 9, 2012, became a viral phenomenon, achieving international media attention,[1] and launching a movement of cardboard creativity.[2] The official website's objective of a $25,000 college fund for young Caine reached $180,000 in Paypal donations by April 20, 2012 (only 10 days after the initial release of the video) - and is now over $240,000,[3] with over 9 millions views via YouTube and Vimeo. In addition, the Goldhirsh Foundation announced a matching challenge grant of up to $250,000 for the initiation of the Imagination Foundation, founded by Mullick, which has a mission to "find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in more kids like Caine." The film includes music from actor Ryan Gosling's band Dead Man's Bones and an original song 'Caine's Arcade" by local songwriter Juli Crockett.
Other notable projects include "The 1 Second Film", a non-profit collaborative experimental film 10-years in the making, amongst the first crowd-sourced films, Mullick began selling $1 Producer credits in 2000 to raise funds for the film, with companies and individuals funding the film in exchange for being listed in the film's credits. Producer donations from dozens of prominent celebrities, as well as computer giant Apple Inc., Burbank-based post production facility FotoKem, and Pittsburgh-based web host Pair Networks, have helped the film achieve international recognition with over 14,000 producers and counting. Mullick also directed the opening title sequence to the 2003 film Willard and two stop motion animated films "The Box Man" and "The Three of Us" which have screened in film festivals, winning numerous awards.