Roger Holzberg

Early life

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Holzberg attended the University of Colorado in 1974 with a full Title III Talent/Creativity scholarship, majoring in scenic design for theatre and minoring in psychology. He received a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 1976, studying writing and directing in the Theatre School and Film School. After graduation, Holzberg worked in various art department positions on films and commercials while honing his writing and design skills in live theatre on productions like Desert Fire, The Trial of Mother Jones, and Under The Rainbow.

Reimagine Well

Holzberg is the co-founder and creative director for Reimagine Well. Building on the Disney theme parks' "architecture of reassurance", Reimagine Well seeks to evolve patient treatment and healing by utilizing emerging technologies to create programs and services that better health and wellness outcomes worldwide. Holzberg, himself a cancer survivor who was featured in a Livestrong Foundation survivorship video in 2009, designed the "Infusionarium" for the Children's Hospital of Orange County, a media setup which helps children with cancer cope with treatment by asking them questions designed to determine what setting would be most comforting to them, and then using virtual reality technology and live events to immerse them in such an environment during treatment. Recently, Reimagine Well built and launched an entire Infusionarium hospital floor specifically designed for adolescent and young adult patients. More Infusionariums are being built for Baptist Hospital South Florida, Miami Cancer Institute, and St. Joseph's Children's Hospital of Tampa, where the Reimagine Well content platform will also be in more than 250 pediatric rooms. ABC News highlighted the patient and physician experiences in an Infusionarium and referred to these experiences as a “game changer” in pediatric treatment.

Holzberg has presented innovations at the Society of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (SAYAO) conference, Health 2.0, Pediatrics 2040, and Brink 2.0. His panel at Health Interactive, "Athletes 4 Wellbeing: Real Athletes. Real Patients. Real Results", was a panel of athlete patients who are using diet and “active lifestyle” to manage chronic conditions which include cancer, MS, diabetes, heart disease, spinal cord injuries and more. The panel included: Jocelyn Harrison, USAT age category elite triathlete and consultant for the American Diabetes Association & Choose Health LA, Derek Chalmers, cyclist and 10 year MS patient, and Jesse Billauer, Founder of Life Rolls On. His personal use of triathlon as a part of his own wellness plan, and as an inspiration for survivorship, was featured by ABC news in Los Angeles in a promotion for the Malibu Triathlon.

My Bridge 4 Life

Holzberg founded My Bridge 4 Life (MB4L) to provide a wellness network for people facing health crises. MB4L partners with leading healthcare organizations and foundations to enhance patient community awareness, engagement and interaction. My Bridge 4 Life wellness networks enable patients to connect for customized professional healthcare content and expert educational support. MB4L also supports the patient community with professionally curated evidence based Tips 4 Life, one-on-one coaching and Video Survival Guides and Ebooks featuring leading specialists. The My Bridge 4 Life support platform has been featured in a series of on camera interviews on Rebels Patch.

National Cancer Institute

As the first Creative Director (consulting) for the National Cancer Institute, Holzberg led a team to "evolve" the digital portfolio of the institute's messaging and education platform. Projects involved redesigning and relaunching Cancer.gov, launching the institute's Facebook page, developing NCI’s YouTube channel and directing media experiences that include projects like Prognosis Video Series. The “Smoke Free Women”, “Voices”, “Deep Water”, “Clinical Trials” and “Neuroblastoma” videos were all developed and produced by Holzberg’s team. His presentations on behalf of the National Cancer Institute included this presentation at Digital Communication X.

Walt Disney Company

Holzberg was previously a Vice President / Creative Director for the Walt Disney Company. At Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online projects he was the creative director for projects that included the massively multiplayer online game, Virtual Magic Kingdom, as well as Disney's Villains' Revenge and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters Online. At Walt Disney Imagineering he served as the Senior Show Producer, and Imagineering creative director for projects including the 100 Years of Magic and Millennium Celebrations at Walt Disney World, and co-invented Disney's Magic Moment Pins, location sensitive display device, system, and method of providing animation sequences. Holzberg’s Magic Moments Pins and Magic Moments Game helped launch the Disney pin trading phenomena at Walt Disneyworld. He presented innovations during his tenure at Disney at events that included The Real Experts Panel: Kids] at Game Developers Conference. Holzberg sought to create immersive experiences in the tradition of Walt Disney's idea of "dimensional storytelling".

Holzberg is the first Disney Imagineer to create an attraction with a free swimming animatronic figure. DRU, a “Dolphin Robotic Unit” is featured at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. His dolphin experience was designed to experience marine mammals without catching them and keeping them in captivity.

Writing, directing, and designing

Holzberg produced Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair, a 1996 educational simulation video game, and directed Steven Spielberg in scenes in which Spielberg himself appeared. Holzberg wrote The Living Sea (1995; directed by Greg MacGillivray), which received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary. He is also credited as the co-writer and director of Midnight Crossing (1988; starring Faye Dunaway and Kim Cattrall), and as writer and director of the animated television film, The Magic 7, in the early 1990s. He directed the 2nd unit stunt units for Radioactive Dreams (1985) and The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), on which he also designed special effects props and weapons. Cinefantastique Magazine wrote of The Sword and the Sorcerer that "Roger Holzberg's special weapons are inventive creations, particularly Talon's spring-loaded triple-headed sword".

Inventions

Holzberg holds patents for four inventions:

Spokesperson

Holzberg is an international spokesperson for the following health and technology companies: