The Center for Creative Solutions bestowed this year’s CREO! to Jack Olesker during Northwest Indiana’s World Creativity & Innovation Week. Michigan City writer, producer and director, Olesker received the prestigious award for four decades of writing, producing and directing over 1,200 episodes of television programs, 18 films, several PBS documentaries, 7 published novels, and more.
“Jack is a consummate story teller. His tales have entertained us, educated us, taken us to places we’ve never been, and taught us some of life’s most valuable lessons. Through his own creative journey, he has encouraged each of us to be brave, follow our dreams, be persistent, take risks, imagine, work hard, and tap into our own brand of creativity,” said Cynthia Hedge, CEO of the Center.
Olesker accepted the award at the A. K. Smith Career Center in Michigan City on April 15. Speaking to area student innovators, their families, and community leaders, he shared one of his life’s most important lessons.
Not long ago, Olesker said, he and his wife, Kim, were leaving a New Buffalo restaurant. They were approached by a women who just learned he had written for the television show, Care Bears. “She grew up in a dysfunctional family in which her father was verbally abusive to her mother. She told me all week she waited for one thing – the Care Bears on Saturday mornings. ‘It was my oasis.’ And then, her voice choking with emotion, she said, ‘I want to thank you for saving my childhood…’”
Olesker continued, “There’s a difference between success and being successful. Don’t get me wrong. The money and being a success are important. But being successful comes from touching someone’s heart and soul. I don’t care if you’re a writer or a chef or an automobile mechanic. Your using your skills to repair a broken fuel line might enable a single mom to keep her car on the road so she can work two jobs. Your amazing carne asada may make a memory for a young couple who will end up getting married. And your wonderful script just might save a young woman’s childhood.”
Olesker’s creative hand can be found in other television shows. These include The Littles, The New Adventures of He-man, M.A.S.K. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Hello Kitty’s Fairytail Theater, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. For PBS, he has written documentaries, including At the Zoo; With Max and McKenzie; Campus, filmed at Purdue University in Lafayette; and The Power of 100, based upon the 100 Black Men of America mentoring organization.
Olesker owns his own production company in Long Beach. He served as president of KEN Creative Studios, based in Chennai, India. His newspaper column, “A Writer’s Life…During the Golden Age of Television Animation,” appears weekly in the New Buffalo Times.
Success comes with a price, Olesker reminded the audience. “If you want to be successful, then you need to understand that you will have mountains to climb, that every time you begin a new venture you will be standing in the foothills of the Matterhorn, Everest and K2 and that it’s a twenty-nine thousand foot climb to the summit. So, you’d better have a relentless work ethic and an adamantine drive to be successful. You’d better remember what Sylvester Stallone said in the final installment of the Rocky films: ‘It’s not about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can be hit and keep moving forward.’”
The CREO! recognizes an individual or organization for outstanding contributions to promoting a culture of innovation in the region. CREO is a Latin term, meaning “to create.” It stands for Creativity, Regional, Excellence and Originality. For 10 years, the Center has honored area innovators and entrepreneurs in business, education, health care, technology, art, and non-profit organizations serving the community.
The Center for Creative Solutions has been the sponsor of Northwest Indiana’s World Creativity & Innovation Week for the last 16 years. Joining it are community partners, the Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest Indiana, Sinai Temple, The Nest, Westville Public Library, Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Radio, and WIMS Radio.
The week’s celebration is made possible in part by the generosity of the Bethany Church Foundation of La Porte; the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the B.R. Foundation; the Morgan Family Foundation; and Family Express.
The Center is a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging a culture of innovation in Northwest Indiana. To see how the rest of the world is celebrating World Creativity & Innovation Week, go to https://wciw.org
Currently, 140 countries observe World Creativity & Innovation Week. The United Nations has designated April 21 as World Creativity & Innovation Day. For more information, go to the CenterforCreativeSolutions.