OUR FOCUS
Our focus = Makers | Movements | Media
We are a Media for Action social design studio focused on systemically renewing the metropolitan areas of the world through good business, media, learning and the arts. We believe that global change starts with the individual.
Testimonials
The power and product of a skilled and creative vision caster is essential for every business, every brand, and every leader. Art Hooker has that power and we all need it. God has given all of us creative genius since we are made in God’s image but Art is among those few who has figured out how to express his creativity on multiple media and live platforms. From the page to the stage to the screen this man has lived long enough, suffered deeply enough and recovered fully enough to bring your vision to life through his gifts. For us, he was a gift.
Art and all those at New Metropolitan go above and beyond to listen, learn and deliver the highest quality product I could imagine. Passion, that is what made the difference on this project. Art and his team delivered on their promises and helped us bring our message to our target audience. The three words that best describe Art and the people at New Metropolitan are passion, hard work, and excellence. I am so glad we hired Art.
Art is the man! He has helped us make several videos for our marketing and sales team’s that have resulted in tangible results. We hit our annual goal this year as a sales team, and many spikes came from marketing campaigns involving the videos that Art made. He’s very professional, offers excellent advice and makes the uncomfortable feel comfortable in front of the camera. I am looking forward to doing more work together in the future and would 100% recommend Art to anyone that’s looking to create professional and creative videos.
The Team
New Metropolitan Team
Art Hooker
Producer | Writer | Director
Art Hooker is the founder and principal of New Metropolitan, a social design and transmedia studio. He has successfully consulted, designed, produced campaigns, and developed content for leading brands such as Herman Miller, Verizon, The White House, and the American Heart Association.
Informed by over 10 years of qualitative research on 5 continents in the areas of passion, creativity, and movements, he partners with companies and individuals who desire to replenish the metropolitan regions of the world through leadership development, learning, media, and business innovation. During his career, Art has won numerous awards in the areas of film, theater, speaking, and learning design. In 2017, he formed Hope Labs Inc. which is a non-profit organization that creates unique collaborative opportunities for individuals, corporations, other non-profits, and civic entities.
Art understands that powerful storytelling is the lifeblood of business innovation. He completed a 6-part docuseries for CRU Inner-city, delving into the poverty crisis in America. Using insightful storytelling methods, he was able to deliver a media product that is now one of the hallmarks of CRU Inner city’s learning content offerings. In 2019, his work was recognized by the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI). Utilizing, his story innovation framework, Art and his business partner were selected as winners of the 2019 CAI Virginia Beach Bio-Innovation Challenge for their Intergenerational Living concept for veterans.
Growing up with 4-time Grammy Award Winning Blues Legend John Lee Hooker as a great uncle, Art has a unique perspective of how the arts can affect culture globally and locally. He uses key insights from his life experiences as well as those gained in his international work in over 20 countries to procure unique strategies, films, photography, and learning content that meets each client’s custom needs. Art lives in the Dallas- Fort Worth metroplex with his wife Natasha of 20 years and his two daughters Khloe and Kaitlin.
Todd Blankenship
Cinematographer | Editor
Todd is a Director of Photography and Filmmaker for narrative/documentary films, as well as commercials and music videos.
He has worked on many types of projects within the production realm on many different cameras and formats (RED, F55, FS700, Blackmagic, DSLR, etc) over the six years that he’s been a professional cinematographer. During that time, he’s shot broadcast spots for Cartoon Network / Adult Swim, as well as national and local ad campaigns. Some of his other clients
include Xbox, Funimation, Geek & Sundry, Hyper-X, and the United States Department of Justice.
Scott Peeples
Business Operations
Scott is a company starter, systems builder, and philosopher whose mastery of metaphor connects organizations’ mission and vision to useful everyday practices that increase engagement, connection and empathy. He is also an exited entrepreneur. He co-founded and served as President of Peerfit, a leader in the corporate wellness space. In 2020, Peerfit sold their digital platform to Peloton. In 2022, Peerfit was acquired by FitOn, a streaming workout app started by the founders of FitBit and All Trails.
Scott is also the co-founder of the Stakeholder Score, an open-source, 360 assessments used by companies across the world to assess the “vital signs” of their stakeholder relationships. In addition, in 2021, Scott partnered with Daron “Farmer D” Joffe to launch the Citizen Farmers Academy – a non-profit youth education program teaching agriculture, entrepreneurship, and life skills. He is also a professional musician and an avid hiker.
Hannah Elston
Writer
Hannah has been working in the entertainment, media and live events industry for 4+ years as a professional writer and producer. Since the start of her career, she has written for the likes of Idris Elba, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Ariel Winter. Her experience extends beyond live show events, as she has written for television broadcasts, live streaming virtual events and has produced a multitude of television commercials for P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Schneiders and Burnbrae Farms. But her true passion lies in bringing people’s genuine stories to life and is proud to work on artistic and innovative projects with the goal to create social change. As a lifelong and proud Canadian, Hannah currently resides in downtown Toronto, Ontario.
Passion is what drives us