Van Vandegrift
Encyclopedia
Van Vandegrift is an American
Hollywood producer
, entrepreneur
, speaker, and adventurer.
Major film projects in 2008 included Get Smart (film)
(Warner Brothers) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 film)
(New Line). He has produced numerous television projects including Kings of South Beach
starring Donnie Wahlberg
from Van’s concept with writer Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas
, Casino
).
His credits also include hit series such as Gene Simmons Family Jewels
(A&E
) and other Fox
and NBC
series as well as innovative viral marketing web series and mobile series. His next project stars Ludacris
and Tommy Lee
.
. As a child, he would frequently spend his after school days and weekends at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp
where he fell in love with films and television documenting the space race and the human experience. His childhood hero was Wernher von Braun
.
The family later moved to Zweibrücken
Air Base in Germany
where Van discovered many adventures, traveling extensively as a young adult to European countries and immersing himself in history and culture. Van also developed a talent for languages studying German and Russian. He also became an admitted adrenaline junkie earning certifications and awards for snow skiing, mountaineering, rifelry, spelunking, SCUBA diving, catamaran sailing, motocross racing, skydiving and even hang gliding. As an extension of these adventures, Van wrote, directed and produced a number of 8 mm films covering these subjects.
An excellent student, Van dreamed of one day working at the NASA Mission Control Center
in Houston, TX. In 1985, he received a scholarship to nearby Texas A&M University
where he enrolled as one of over 300 freshmen in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, later graduating in 1990 as one of only 34 remaining students. At the age of 19, Van became one of the youngest protégées ever selected by NASA
into its undergraduate cooperative education
program and began working in Mission Control at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
.
Van received a Top Secret clearance and trained astronauts for space walks, working underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
and flying in zero-gravity aboard the famed NASA
Vomit Comet
. Van also earned multiple FAA certifications including flight instructor, logging over 1200 pilot-in-command hours in 29 different types of aircraft. Continuing his love of storytelling, Van was able to work with Arriflex 16 mm and IMAX
72 mm cameras used by the astronauts to film breathtaking scenes.
Following graduation, Van attended the International Space University
in Toronto, Canada in 1990 (and returned as an instructor in 1991 in Toulouse, France). He received a NASA
post graduate fellowship at the Marshall Space Flight Center
Alabama Space Grant Consortium where he designed and built experiments and computer hardware that flew into space aboard NASA
Consort Rockets and the Space Shuttle
and earned a Masters of Science degree.
With his adventurous background and language skills, Van was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1992. After his promotion to Lieutenant in 1994, Van became a Naval Intelligence Officer serving with United States Navy SEALs
aboard the USS Whirlwind, the , and the aircraft carrier . Van’s Navy training and experience helped craft his strategic and leadership abilities.
Japan scholar and spent four months in Japan
where he worked closely with Panasonic
, Sony
and other leading Japanese multinational corporations on next generation communication software and entertainment hardware. In 1996, he joined TAC full time as President, working closely with the investor group, and helped bring about its successful sale in 1997. Van was recognized for his achievements by Inc. Magazine
, who as part of its mission to identify and bring together the next generation of entrepreneurs, named him to its prestigious Birthing of Giants group.
Van was then recruited to Digital Equipment Corporation
outside Boston, Massachusetts as Marketing Senior Executive with plans to take the search engine AltaVista
public on the heals of the very successful IPOs of Lycos
and Netscape
. AltaVista
and other Digital Equipments assets proved to be too enticing and the company was acquired by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1999 for $9.6 billion – at the time the largest acquisition in computer industry history.
Using personal proceeds from the TAC and DEC acquisitions, Van formed a venture capital firm in 1998 called whodoweknow.com and made a number of early stage investments including The Saratoga Group (acquired by ChannelWave ), Frictionless Commerce (acquired by SAP ) and, along with fellow entrepreneur Charles Schwab
, Yazam (acquired by US Technologies ). Van often took an active role in his investments, serving as a “mentor” capitalist and working closely with the founders.
In 1999, Van moved to Chicago and became the first outside member of the board of directors for WebPromote where he set about to rapidly accelerate this pioneering internet advertising and entertainment company. Van hired the CEO and management team and led a $10 million venture capital round with other notable investors including Andrew “Flip” Filipowski
.
Van personally created and negotiated 14 of the 15 public company strategic partnerships including major revenue sharing agreements with AOL and others. He helped craft the renaming of the firm to yesmail.com and the SEC
registration statement to prepare for the IPO
. Van then helped select the investment banking team led by Deutsche Bank
. He has commented publicly that one of his proudest moments was standing on the floor of the stock exchange as the first shares of Yesmail were publicly traded to Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen
, one of the smartest and richest men in the world, thus forever validating Van's strategy. The YESM IPO in September 1999, valued the firm at over $360 Million. Van continued to serve on the board of the public corporation and was instrumental in arranging the sale of YESM to CMGI
in March 2000 for $770 Million. The firm was later spun out and sold to InfoUSA
.
As a then confirmed serial entrepreneur, Van formed matrixx in 2000 as a broadband entertainment and production company and began meeting with major studio and record label executives. While at the Toronto Film Festival, the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded. Van was recalled to active duty as a Naval Intelligence Officer and was deployed on a classified mission for Operation Enduring Freedom. Following that mission, he was discharged in 2002. During his course of military service, he was awarded The Joint Service Medal, Two Navy Achievement Medals, The National Defense Service Medal and Expert Pistol and Expert Rifle Marksmanship Medals.
Van then moved to Santa Monica, CA where through his relationships with Creative Artists Agency, he formed a strategic partnership with Grosso Jacobson Communications http://grossojacobson.com, a leading Hollywood production company formed by Sonny Grosso
. Van worked on a number of major projects and productions, becoming an integral part of the Hollywood community of moguls, financiers, executives and celebrities. In 2006, matrixx moved to its new facility near MTV
, Lionsgate, Yahoo!
, and Universal Music Group
. Van and the matrixx team of writers and producers continue to create exciting and compelling entertainment. In 2007, matrixx was awarded several prestigious industry honors including: a Creativity Award, two Ava Awards, an AEGIS award, a Davey Award, a Summit Emerging Media Award, a Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award, and a MarCom Award. In 2008, matrixx was awarded three Telly Awards.
Van is a frequently invited speaker at media, entertainment, advertising, and marketing conferences where he provides humorous and insightful analysis and future predictions.
at Syracuse University
and veteran of several leading creative agencies including Ogilvy & Mather
and Crispin Porter + Bogusky
) share a love of eco-adventure and world travel.
Other notables include four-star General
and Medal of Honor
recipient Alexander Archer Vandegrift (the USS Vandegrift is named for Archer) and Fanny Vandegrift
, patron and wife to Robert Louis Stevenson
. Their son Lloyd
became the inspiration for Treasure Island
. The Vandegrift family name has undergone a number of variations in the United States
since pilgrims arrived in the early 18th century in New Amsterdam
(now Pennsylvania
). Common variations today include Vandergrift, Vandegriff and Vandergriff. Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
was named for Captain Jacob Vandergrift and today is a quaint Victorian town.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Hollywood producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, speaker, and adventurer.
Major film projects in 2008 included Get Smart (film)
Get Smart (film)
Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
(Warner Brothers) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 film)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 film)
Journey to the Center of the Earth is an American 2008 3D adventure film starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, and Anita Briem...
(New Line). He has produced numerous television projects including Kings of South Beach
Kings of South Beach
Kings of South Beach is a film written by Nicholas Pileggi about an infamous operator of nightclubs in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, Florida. The lead character is portrayed by Jason Gedrick and his best friend is portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg...
starring Donnie Wahlberg
Donnie Wahlberg
Donald Edward "Donnie" Wahlberg, Jr. is an American singer, actor and film producer. He is a member of the popular 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block. His work background includes music, feature films, and television...
from Van’s concept with writer Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, Casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
).
Gene Simmons Family Jewels
Gene Simmons Family Jewels is an American reality television series that premiered on A&E on August 7, 2006. The show follows the life of KISS bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons, his longtime partner Shannon Tweed, and their two children, Nick and Sophie....
(A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
) and other Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series as well as innovative viral marketing web series and mobile series. His next project stars Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and Tommy Lee
Tommy Lee
Thomas Lee Bass , best known as Tommy Lee, is an American musician and founding member of glam metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, and has pursued solo musical projects...
.
Early adventures
Van was born in Huntsville, AL where his parents worked at the NASA Marshall Space Flight CenterMarshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
. As a child, he would frequently spend his after school days and weekends at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp
United States Space Camp
U.S. Space Camp is owned and operated by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission d.b.a. U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Space Camp" refers to both the actual camp and a family of related camp programs offered year-round by the facility. The camp provides residential and...
where he fell in love with films and television documenting the space race and the human experience. His childhood hero was Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...
.
The family later moved to Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.- Name :Zweibrücken appears in Latin texts as Geminus Pons and Bipontum, in French texts as Deux-Ponts. The name derives from Middle High German Zweinbrücken...
Air Base in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where Van discovered many adventures, traveling extensively as a young adult to European countries and immersing himself in history and culture. Van also developed a talent for languages studying German and Russian. He also became an admitted adrenaline junkie earning certifications and awards for snow skiing, mountaineering, rifelry, spelunking, SCUBA diving, catamaran sailing, motocross racing, skydiving and even hang gliding. As an extension of these adventures, Van wrote, directed and produced a number of 8 mm films covering these subjects.
An excellent student, Van dreamed of one day working at the NASA Mission Control Center
Mission Control Center
A mission control center is an entity that manages aerospace vehicle flights, usually from the point of lift-off until the landing or the end of the mission. A staff of flight controllers and other support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission using telemetry, and send commands to the...
in Houston, TX. In 1985, he received a scholarship to nearby Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
where he enrolled as one of over 300 freshmen in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, later graduating in 1990 as one of only 34 remaining students. At the age of 19, Van became one of the youngest protégées ever selected by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
into its undergraduate cooperative education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...
program and began working in Mission Control at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight training, research and flight control. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres in Houston, Texas, USA...
.
Van received a Top Secret clearance and trained astronauts for space walks, working underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is an astronaut training facility maintained by and located at the Sonny Carter Training Facility on NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The NBL consists of a large indoor pool of water, the largest in the world, in which astronauts may perform simulated...
and flying in zero-gravity aboard the famed NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Vomit Comet
Vomit Comet
A Reduced Gravity Aircraft is a type of fixed-wing aircraft that briefly provides a nearly weightless environment in which to train astronauts, conduct research and film motion pictures....
. Van also earned multiple FAA certifications including flight instructor, logging over 1200 pilot-in-command hours in 29 different types of aircraft. Continuing his love of storytelling, Van was able to work with Arriflex 16 mm and IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
72 mm cameras used by the astronauts to film breathtaking scenes.
Following graduation, Van attended the International Space University
International Space University
The International Space University is a private university founded in 1987. The University currently offers three degree granting programs — Master of Science in Space Management, Master of Science in Space Studies and Executive MBA — in addition to a non-degree-granting Space Studies Program.The...
in Toronto, Canada in 1990 (and returned as an instructor in 1991 in Toulouse, France). He received a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
post graduate fellowship at the Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
Alabama Space Grant Consortium where he designed and built experiments and computer hardware that flew into space aboard NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Consort Rockets and the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and earned a Masters of Science degree.
With his adventurous background and language skills, Van was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1992. After his promotion to Lieutenant in 1994, Van became a Naval Intelligence Officer serving with United States Navy SEALs
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
aboard the USS Whirlwind, the , and the aircraft carrier . Van’s Navy training and experience helped craft his strategic and leadership abilities.
Entrepreneurial career
In the early 1990s, Van became an expert with the new technology of the Internet and its ability to distribute entertainment. While still in graduate school in 1994, he helped form TAC Systems, an early technology pioneer of CD-ROMs and video games, and was elected to the Board of Directors. In 1995, for his software and design prowess, Van was named a National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Japan scholar and spent four months in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where he worked closely with Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and other leading Japanese multinational corporations on next generation communication software and entertainment hardware. In 1996, he joined TAC full time as President, working closely with the investor group, and helped bring about its successful sale in 1997. Van was recognized for his achievements by Inc. Magazine
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
, who as part of its mission to identify and bring together the next generation of entrepreneurs, named him to its prestigious Birthing of Giants group.
Van was then recruited to Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
outside Boston, Massachusetts as Marketing Senior Executive with plans to take the search engine AltaVista
AltaVista
AltaVista is a web search engine owned by Yahoo!. AltaVista was once one of the most popular search engines but its popularity declined with the rise of Google...
public on the heals of the very successful IPOs of Lycos
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
and Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
. AltaVista
AltaVista
AltaVista is a web search engine owned by Yahoo!. AltaVista was once one of the most popular search engines but its popularity declined with the rise of Google...
and other Digital Equipments assets proved to be too enticing and the company was acquired by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1999 for $9.6 billion – at the time the largest acquisition in computer industry history.
Using personal proceeds from the TAC and DEC acquisitions, Van formed a venture capital firm in 1998 called whodoweknow.com and made a number of early stage investments including The Saratoga Group (acquired by ChannelWave ), Frictionless Commerce (acquired by SAP ) and, along with fellow entrepreneur Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab may refer to:*Charles M. Schwab , American steel magnate*Charles R. Schwab , founder of the eponymous brokerage*Charles Schwab Corp., an American based brokerage firm...
, Yazam (acquired by US Technologies ). Van often took an active role in his investments, serving as a “mentor” capitalist and working closely with the founders.
In 1999, Van moved to Chicago and became the first outside member of the board of directors for WebPromote where he set about to rapidly accelerate this pioneering internet advertising and entertainment company. Van hired the CEO and management team and led a $10 million venture capital round with other notable investors including Andrew “Flip” Filipowski
Andrew Filipowski
Andrew J. "Flip" Filipowski is a Polish American technology entrepreneur born in 1950 in Chicago, IL. He is currently the Executive Chairman and CEO of SilkRoad Equity, a private investment firm, and founded Platinum Technology in 1985...
.
Van personally created and negotiated 14 of the 15 public company strategic partnerships including major revenue sharing agreements with AOL and others. He helped craft the renaming of the firm to yesmail.com and the SEC
Form S-1
Form S-1 is an SEC filing used by public companies to register their securities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as the "registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933". The S-1 contains the basic business and financial information on an issuer with respect to a specific...
registration statement to prepare for the IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
. Van then helped select the investment banking team led by Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
. He has commented publicly that one of his proudest moments was standing on the floor of the stock exchange as the first shares of Yesmail were publicly traded to Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
, one of the smartest and richest men in the world, thus forever validating Van's strategy. The YESM IPO in September 1999, valued the firm at over $360 Million. Van continued to serve on the board of the public corporation and was instrumental in arranging the sale of YESM to CMGI
CMGI
ModusLink Global Solutions, formerly CMGI Inc., is an American technology and venture capital company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company supplies a range of internet and communications services, mostly to computer companies, its biggest customer being Hewlett-Packard Company...
in March 2000 for $770 Million. The firm was later spun out and sold to InfoUSA
InfoUSA
Infogroup, Inc., is a data, research and marketing company which offers email marketing and other marketing services. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Papillion, Nebraska. Infogroup employs approximately 3,200 people and operates in 9 countries.- History :Infogroup was formed in...
.
As a then confirmed serial entrepreneur, Van formed matrixx in 2000 as a broadband entertainment and production company and began meeting with major studio and record label executives. While at the Toronto Film Festival, the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded. Van was recalled to active duty as a Naval Intelligence Officer and was deployed on a classified mission for Operation Enduring Freedom. Following that mission, he was discharged in 2002. During his course of military service, he was awarded The Joint Service Medal, Two Navy Achievement Medals, The National Defense Service Medal and Expert Pistol and Expert Rifle Marksmanship Medals.
Van then moved to Santa Monica, CA where through his relationships with Creative Artists Agency, he formed a strategic partnership with Grosso Jacobson Communications http://grossojacobson.com, a leading Hollywood production company formed by Sonny Grosso
Sonny Grosso
Salvatore "Sonny" Grosso is a movie and television producer and former New York City Police Department detective, noted for his role in the case immortalized in the book and movie versions of the French Connection...
. Van worked on a number of major projects and productions, becoming an integral part of the Hollywood community of moguls, financiers, executives and celebrities. In 2006, matrixx moved to its new facility near MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Lionsgate, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, and Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
. Van and the matrixx team of writers and producers continue to create exciting and compelling entertainment. In 2007, matrixx was awarded several prestigious industry honors including: a Creativity Award, two Ava Awards, an AEGIS award, a Davey Award, a Summit Emerging Media Award, a Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award, and a MarCom Award. In 2008, matrixx was awarded three Telly Awards.
Van is a frequently invited speaker at media, entertainment, advertising, and marketing conferences where he provides humorous and insightful analysis and future predictions.
Vandegrift family
Van and his wife Laura (a graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public CommunicationsS. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is the communications school at Syracuse University. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; advertising; public relations; and television and film....
at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and veteran of several leading creative agencies including Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
and Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Crispin Porter + Bogusky , a member of publicly-traded MDC Partners, is an advertising agency that currently employs around 1,000 people. It was founded in 1965 by Sam Crispin.. Crispin then became partners with Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky...
) share a love of eco-adventure and world travel.
Other notables include four-star General
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
and Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient Alexander Archer Vandegrift (the USS Vandegrift is named for Archer) and Fanny Vandegrift
Fanny Vandegrift
Frances Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson was the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson and mother of Isobel and Lloyd Osbourne.-Early life:...
, patron and wife to Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
. Their son Lloyd
Lloyd Osbourne
Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the stepson of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson with whom he would co-author three books and provide input and ideas on others.-Early life:...
became the inspiration for Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
. The Vandegrift family name has undergone a number of variations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since pilgrims arrived in the early 18th century in New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
(now Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
). Common variations today include Vandergrift, Vandegriff and Vandergriff. Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Mosher shows how Vandergrift was representative of the new industrial suburbs of Pittsburgh. Caught up in a dramatic round of industrial restructuring and labor tension, Pittsburgh steelmaker George McMurtry hired Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape architectural firm in 1895 to design Vandergrift...
was named for Captain Jacob Vandergrift and today is a quaint Victorian town.