Greeks Gone West Reloaded

Greeks Gone West is a pioneering American Studies program, currently on its second season, which depicts life in the U.S. through the work experiences of a score of people with roots in Greece. As you know, Greece is in a period of severe economic hardship, and there is considerable public interest in the world of work in the U.S., including but not limited to entrepreneurship and innovation. The series was born of our desire to highlight the world of work in the U.S. and to leverage Greece’s talented diaspora in the U.S. Employment specifically, showcasing U.S. models of work, as Greece tries to pull itself out of a five year economic recession.

Episode 1: Argyris Zymnis

Argyris Zymnis is the creator of AdGrok, an online advertising start-up, recently bought by Twitter, and a specialist in data analysis. Born in Athens, Argyris began his academic studies at Cambridge University in 2004 and later received a master’s degree (MS) and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Episode 2: Aliki Theofilopoulos

Aliki Theofilopoulos works at Walt Disney Television Animation as a director, and is the creator and co-producer of the «Unnamed Project». She is also the designer, writer and lyricist for the animated series «Phineas and Ferb. » She started her career at Disney with renowned films “Hercules” and «Mulan. »

Episode 3: Constantine A. Stratakis

Constantine A. Stratakis is the lead investigator at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Director of the Division of Genetics and Endocrinology (SEGEN) since its creation in 1999.

Episode 4: Penny Manis

CNN’s Director from Patras who has won two Emmy awards! Penny Manis is the Director of Business Programming at CNN International in New York. Her family comes from Patras, and she is a first-generation Greek-American who grew up in New Jersey.

Episode 5: Konstantin Kakanias

Konstantin Kakanias is a draughtsman, painter, animator, sculptor, ceramicist, gardener, and all-around demiurge. His work has appeared in many gallery shows and international media, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the The Observer.

Episode 6: Julie Karatzis

Greeks Gone West: Meet the printer who overcame the 2008 recession and created her own letterpress studio and card business in California Julie Karatzis is the founder and owner of Cartoules Press, a design studio that uses the traditional “letterpress” technique. She was raised in Belmont, California but now lives in Long Beach. Her family is from Kefalonia.

Episode 7: Meet Vlas and Charley Parlapanides

Vlassis and Charley Parlapanides are the screenwriters behind the 2011 film “Immortals,” which tells the story of a mortal hero who enlists the Gods for help against a vicious tyrant. Based loosely on several Greek myths, the film was directed by Tarsem Singh, who also made The Cell and The Fall.

Episode 8: Meet George Kledaras

George Kledaras is a tech company founder, in-demand speaker, professor, and author on e-commerce standards. He is a leader in developing financial software for instantaneous global trading anywhere, anytime, and most importantly, by everyone.

Episode 10: John James Toya

John James Toya is the founder of TOYAstudio, an architectural firm in San Francisco that specializes in homes inspired by the landscape and traditional materials. John has been a partner of the award-winning architecture firm Ike Kligerman Barkley.

Episode 11: Alexia Tsotsis

Meet Alexia Tsotsis, the Greek woman who made it to the Forbes list of up-and-coming journalists under 30! Alexia Tsotsis was editor of TechCrunch, one of the most popular tech blogs around the world, starting in 2010, a position which she decided to leave in 2015 to attend a graduate program at Stanford University.

Episode 12: Meet Chrysanthos Dellarocas

Chrysanthos “Chris” Dellarocas is professor of Information Systems and director of the Digital Learning Initiative at Boston University. His primary fields of study are online reputation, the disruptive effects of social media, and collective intelligence.

Episode 13: Nick Verreos

America got to know Nick Verreos ten years ago in season two of the hit show Project Runway, the design competition hosted by German supermodel Heidi Klum.

Episode 14: Father Aris

Meet the U.S. Navy pilot who became a priest in San Francisco! Since 2008, Father Aris has been the parish priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco, California. He leads retreats for adults and counsels parish members about issues in their daily lives. He has two children with his wife, Presvytera Valerie.

Episode 15: Alexandra Cavoulacos

Meet Alexandra Cavoulacos, founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Muse, a top U.S. career development site. In 2011 Cavoulacos left a prestigious job as a consultant at McKinsey to set up, with two other women, a site that would improve the way people sought and found jobs. Since then the Muse has helped over 30 million people with their careers.

Episode 16: George Zisiadis

Meet George Zisiadis, the artist from Astoria who became the “happiest artist in San Francisco.” Interactive artist George Zisiadis is a San Francisco institution. He’s the latest in a chain of locals who have made the city famous for mind-blowing happenings.

Episode 17: Leonidas Economides

For Greek surfer Leonidas Economides it all began in a pool in the seaside town of Vouliagmeni, where his mother took him for a swimming lesson at the age of 6. One day he told her that he was tired of counting the tiles at the bottom of the pool, and wanted to try something else: the sea.

Episode 18: Greeks Gone West: Meet YouTube strategist Matt Kovalakides

Matt Kovalakides, best known as Matt Koval, has gained worldwide popularity via Youtube. He’s the creator and director of videos uploaded to his personal Youtube channel and he was recently hired to work as a strategist with the major video-sharing website.

Episode 19: Meet Christine Kondoleon, curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Christine Kondoleon is a renowned scholar and curator, who has drawn abundant praise for her imaginative and bold reinstallation of the Greek collection at the largest private museum in the United States. The three galleries that have opened to date are devoted to works from ancient Greece . One room is devoted to “Homer and the Epics,” another to “Dionysus and the Symposium,” and the last to “Theater and Performance.”

Episode 20: Leon Logothetis

Greeks Gone West: Meet the broker who ditched it all to become a nomad on a kindness quest Leon Logothetis is a TV host, producer and author who left a successful career as a broker in the city of London for a life on the road. He is the host of the TV series Amazing Adventures of a Nobody, which is broadcast across the world by National Geographic International, and author of the Amazing Adventures of a Nobody.