Senior Fellow

Jane Kagon, JD, for the past decade, has been a pioneer on globalization and digital technology issues focused on the nexus between education and entertainment. She is a media and education/entertainment advisor to among others: the Japanese Vice Minister of International Affairs; the UN Bureau correspondent for China Central Television (CCTV); the City of Cannes, France; the UK’s South East Media Network (SEMN); Screentraining Ireland (FAS government agency); Kim chi Ha, Korean national poet, philosopher and political icon; the Dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law (The Center for Law & Global Justice) and; the Rwanda Cinema Center. 

In addition, Jane is a founding member of the Digital Hollywood University Project (DHUP) a subsidiary of Digital Hollywood, the premier U.S. digital media conference.  DHUP, sponsored by Sun Microsystems, is a consortium of educators and domain experts in the media sector, collaborating on next generation learning models.  She is also a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future and Honorary Fellow of the National Advisory Board of the Desantis Center for Motion Picture Industry Studies.  Currently, Jane is assisting in the organization and development of the RFK Digital Media and Social Justice Community Learning Center in Los Angeles (“RFK thru 12”) to foster the legacy and values of Robert F. Kennedy and to serve as a model for future digital media community labs around the United States.  

Jane has written articles on media and education for such diverse publications as the “Korean Times”, “Japan Spotlight” and the “UCLA Bruin” and has lectured on media, culture and the entertainment industry at venues around the world, including the Japanese Diet Media Committee, the Beijing Film Academy, the World Culture Forum (Seoul Korea), Screentraining Ireland and the West Coast Asia Society. 

At UCLA, as the Director of the Entertainment Studies and Performing Arts Department in the University’s Continuing Education Division, Jane managed one of the most highly acclaimed professional entertainment training programs on media, supervising approximately 500 courses per year.  She initiated innovative technology based programs to address the changing realities in both the educational field and the entertainment industry. Jane positioned the Department as the central hub in a global network of educational institutions, governmental agencies and media companies supporting the next generation of content creators and media entrepreneurs.  For her contributions to UCLA in the international arena, Jane was inducted in 2006 into the honorary UCLA society, The Order of the Golden Bruins.

Prior to joining UCLA, Jane was a long term Hollywood production and development executive, working as Vice President of Production for Michael Douglas, at Fox Studios among other Hollywood Majors, as well has having been an independent film producer and a writer for animated children’s series (Disney) serious games (McGraw Hill Interactive) and sci-fi web series (The IdeaLab).  She began her entertainment industry career as a lawyer, representing screenwriters, producers, film composers and actors.  Jane did her undergraduate degree in English at Mills College and UC Berkeley and received her JD from Loyola Law School.  She lives in Los Angeles, with her husband, Ed Greenberg.