Best of NFMLA 2018
On Saturday, May 12th, 2018, join NFMLA and its Board of Directors to celebrate!
A spectacular night recognizing the best talent in independent cinema from around the globe.
The evening will honor 115 films, writers and performers, nominated in 15 Award categories including new media, animation, documentary and narrative. The nominees are largely comprised of films from the NFMLA diversity initiative, InFocus.
Schedule
6:00pm VIP Reception
6:30pm Red Carpet
7:00pm General Arrivals
8:00pm Awards Show
10:00pm After-Party
Check out the 'Best of NFMLA' nominees from our 11th film festival edition.
Winner
Where Florence SleepsWinner
Bobby Sands: 66 DaysWinner
CharlieWinner
KinesthesiaWinner
Finishing TouchesWinner
The Nation Holds Its BreathWinner
CocoonWinner
GAMEWinner
Don't Mess with Julie WhitfieldWinner
La Madre Buena (The Good Mother)Winner
DelinquentWinner
The Sixth LeadTickets
Advance tickets until April 27
$75 VIP purchase (includes admission, food & drinks)
$50 General Admission Advance
Brooke Purdy
Quality Problems
Sin-Hong Chan
何日花再來 (Where Have the Flowers Gone?)
Pieter Goethals
About the Boy Who Ate an Oakwood Chair
Sarah Clift
La Madre Buena (The Good Mother)
John Bellina
Eventually
Douglas Cushnie
Neemkomok'
Jørgen Færøy Flasnes
Generation Mars
Alex Hardy & Elizabeth Mason
Soldier Bee
Ali Eagle & Dominique Roberts
Emerald City
Edgar Baghdasaryan
The Simon's Way
Cocoon
Director: Liying Mei
Producer: Xu Zhang
FRIGID
Director: Joe Kicak
Producer: Cat McCormick
Roxy
Director: Emile Schlesser & Fabien Colas
Producer: Emile Schlesser
Generation Mars
Director: Alexander Armas Turpin
Producer: Elisa Pirir Ruiz
2500KM
Director: Daniela Arguello
Producer: Daniela Arguello
NERÓN (NERO)
Director: Rubin Stein
Producer: Rubin Stein
The Simon's Way
Director: Edgar Baghdasaryan
Producer: Ruben Jaginyan
My Cousin Klara
Director: Aviva Neuman
Producer: Jorge A. Alfaro
Soldier Bee
Director: Alex Hardy
Producer: Cameron Wauchope
Emerald City
Director: Scott Coffey
Producer: Ali Eagle, Dominique Roberts & Edwina Forkin
How To Get Girls
Director: Omri Dorani & Zach Fox
Producer: NA
Knowing Nothing Cold
Director: Jeff Kao
Producer: Ali Hanson
Homestate
Director: David Hickey
Producer: Blaise Miller
Where Florence Sleeps
Director: Katsuto Kobayashi & Kenji Kobayashi
Producer: Hayato Mitsuishi
Quality Problems
Director: Brooke & Doug Purdy
Producer: Jen Prince
Zach Fox
How to Get Girls
Brooke Purdy
Quality Problems
Sam Keeley
The Nation Holds Its Breath
Brian George
Fanny Pack
Rick Glassman
The Sixth Lead
Christine Nangle
So F*cking Happy For You
Whitney Rice
NAMCAR Night Race
Maya Ferrara
Eventually
Henry van Roden
Eventually
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Don't Mess With Julie Whitfield
Timmy Hart Barron
Cry It Out
Blaise Miller
Homestate
Alex Shaffer
Delinquent
Nitzia Chama
Neemkomok'
Scarlet Moreno
Dolores
Kika Magalhães
Leslie
Luke Bedsole
Hush
Riley Bodenstab
The Road Between
Shauna Macdonald
Soldier Bee
William Lee
The Cage
Bobby Sands: 66 Days
Director: Brendan Byrne
Producer: Trevor Birney
Frágil Equilibrio (Delicate Balance)
Director: Guillermo García López
Producer: Pedro González Kühn
Arlette. Mut ist ein Muskel
Director: Florian Hoffmann
Producer: Peter Spoerri
LADDIE: The Man Behind the Movies
Director: Amanda Ladd-Jones
Producer: Rich Buhrman
Do U Want It?
Director: Josh Freund
Producer: Alex Mallonee
The Boxer
Director: Craig Cutler
Producer: Fela Cortes
Charlie
Director: Kadri Koop
Producer: Kadri Koop
A Poem Of Glass And Steel
Director: Ryan Clancy
Producer: Ryan Clancy
Paolo Pelosini: Death is My Last Chance
Director: Federico Possati
Producer: Giulia Trabaldo Togna
Soy Cubana
Director: Jeremy Ungar & Ivaylo Getov
Producer: Robin Miller Ungar
Cecil & Carl
Director: Elvis Leon & Gastón Yvorra
Producer: Sasha Milonova
I Lived on Parker Avenue
Philip Braun III
Producer: Benjamin Clapper
The Tables
Director: Jon Bunning
Producer: Jon Bunning
Yi
Director: Jiacheng Xu
Producer: Lily Jiacheng Xu
The Duel
Director: Sean David Christensen
Producer: Sean David Christensen
The Bus Trip
Director: Sarah Gampel
Producer: Sarah Gampel
何日花再來 (Where Have the Flowers Gone?)
Director: Sin-hong Chan
Producer: Sin-hong Chan
Angel
Director: Gregory Casares
Producer: Nicolas Burlet
The Meltdown
Director: Connor Kerrigan
Producer: Connor Kerrigan
Space Face and the Big Eye Crew
Director: Jose Alfredo Garcia & Coker Jones
Producer: Coker Jones
Contigo
Director: Julia Quiceno
Producer: Julia Quiceno
Mosquito: The Bite of Passage
Director: Brian Vincent Rhodes & Teng "Eric" Cheng
Producer: Ivan Bordas
Christopher Walken’s Coffee Shop
Director: Leah Dubuc
Producer: Alan Snider
Bosatsu – Year of the Dragon
Director: Sid Ahl
Producer: Sid Ahl
Finishing Touches
Director: Jennifer Pham & Sarah Weaver
Producer: Jennifer Pham & Sarah Weaver
Quelle vie!
Director: Joakim Scheidegger
Producer: Joakim Scheidegger
The Nation Holds Its Breath
Director: Kev Cahill
Producer: Joey Horvitz
Into The Ground
Director: David Tuil
Producer: David Tuil
About the Boy Who Ate An Oakwood Chair
Director: Pieter Goethals
Producer: Pieter Goethals
The Machine
Director: Adolfo Mena Cejas
Producer: Reynier Cepero
La Madre Buena (The Good Mother)
Director: Sarah Clift
Producer: Jorge Aguilera
The Little Truth
Director: Stefan Mandachi
Producer: Stefan Mandachi
Is Sumiaty Going To Hell?
Director: Meshaal Aljaser
Producer: Ibrahim Mississippi
The Raisin
Director: Rob Carter
Producer: Sara Shulman
Cahide's Open Marriage
Director: Ali Kemal Guven
Producer: Seda Ozkaraca
SPACEMAN.
Director: Christopher Oliva
Producer: Caitlin Morris
Eventually
Director: Tuan Le
Producer: Steve Stringer
Bastard
Director: Joe Mackedanz
Producer: Joe Mackedanz
The Fat Panda
Director: Ante Cheng & Reeyaz Habib
Producer: Monica Johnson
Cups & Robbers
Director: Jim Simone
Producer: NA
Garbage
Director: Tayler Vee Robinson
Producer: Arne Gjetlen, Francesca Smith & Kristen Laffey
The Best and the Loneliest Days
Director: Qianzhu Luo
Producer: Don Ohmer
Fanny Pack
Director: Uttera Singh
Producer: Isabel Marden
Companion
Director: Matt Ferrucci
Producer: Alain Uy & Nick Mouyiaris
Don't Mess With Julie Whitfield
Director: Amy Barham
Producer: Priyanka Mattoo
The Sixth Lead
Director: Rick Glassman
Producer: Rick Glassman & Randall Winston
A Field Between
Director: Mundo Sisters
Producer: NA
NAMCAR Night Race
Director: Lance Khazei
Producer: Lance Khazei
The Cage
Director: Ricky Staub
Producer: Dan Walser
The Lonely Whale
Director: Sophie Tabet
Producer: Julia Roth
Shadows Of My Mind
Director: Peter Harton
Producer: Peter Harton
Sherry
Director: Eliane Lima
Producer: Eliane Lima
Single Mother Only Daughter
Director: Ellie Wen
Producer: Ellie Wen
Long Term Parking
Director: Lance Oppenheim
Producer: Lance Oppenheim
Where We Begin
Director: Mitsuyo Miyazaki
Producer: Peter Maestrey
Kinesthesia
Director: Jesse Atlas
Producer: Jon Arpino
Killing A Tree
Director: Beau Jamieson
Producer: Beau Jamieson
Neemkomok'
Director: Douglas Cushnie
Producer: Shanshan Sun
Waste
Director: Justine Raczkiewicz
Producer: Justine Raczkiewicz
Dolores
Director: Scarlet Moreno
Producer: Scarlet Moreno
GAME
Director: Jeannie Donohoe
Producer: Joey Horvitz
Death in a Day
Director: Lin Wang
Producer: Lauren Brooks
Leslie
Director: Alejandro Montoya
Producer: Alejandro Montoya
Hush
Director: Michael Foster
Producer: Eric Casalini
The Road Between
Director: Brett Sorem
Producer: Jake Eagle
JIMBO
Director: Rodrigo Zanforlin
Producer: Rodrigo Zanforlin
The Was
Director: Tui Asau
Producer: Adam Ryan Rennie, Elizabeth Haley, Tui Asau, Clayton Cardenas & Richard Cabral
Ana Maria Bahiana
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, writer, journalist and author Ana Maria Bahiana has worked in the entertainment industry out of Los Angeles for over two decades. She is the author of nine books on film, music and pop culture, and has translated and edited the Brazilian edition of Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Michael Herr’s Dispatches .In addition to her work as a journalist and author, Bahiana is a lecturer, curator and consultant for film-related projects. Her first project as writer/producer, 1972, was co-produced and distributed in Latin America by Buena Vista.
A Deputy Editor of the website goldenglobes.com, she is currently working on a book about Brazil and Hollywood, and a documentary about the cultural connections between Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles.
Anna Marie De La Fuente
Variety Magazine
Film Journalist
Anna Marie de la Fuente is Variety's Chief Latin America Writer.
Based in Los Angeles, she began her career in journalism while living in Madrid where she was the Spanish Bureau Chief for the Hollywood Reporter.
She moved to Los Angeles in 1996 where she became a freelance media writer contributing to the Los Angeles Times, Variety Deal Memo, Billboard and Broadcast among others.
In 1998, she was appointed Latin America Bureau Chief for London-based trade Screen International where she covered the Latin American entertainment industry until she joined Variety.
She has served as a juror in multiple international film festivals, including the festivals of Cartagena (Colombia), Lima (Peru), Cuenca (Ecuador) and Palm Springs.
Bettina Fisher
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
Director of Education
Bettina Fisher, Director of Educational Initiatives, currently leads all education programs for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is responsible for the Academy’s public education and teacher professional development workshops, Media Literacy Program for middle school and high school students, the Academy’s Visiting Artist and Tours Program, as well as the panels and workshops for the Academy Gold internship enhancement and mentorship program. She’s also working to expand the Academy’s national education outreach initiatives, including the development of new online classroom curriculum for teachers.
In 2015, Bettina launched the Academy’s first annual Careers in Film Summit, an educational program to inform youth about the vast jobs in the film industry. Held in Los Angeles, California, the day-long event features industry panels on various careers. The program has now expanded to London as well as New York with half-day programs.
Carlos Aguilar
IndieWire, Variety Latino & MovieMaker Magazine
Film Journalist
Originally from Mexico City, Carlos Aguilar was chosen as one of 6 young film critics to partake in the first Roger Ebert Fellowship organized by RogerEbert.com, the Sundance Institute and Indiewire in 2014. Aguilar’s work has appeared in prestigious publications such as Indiewire, RogerEbert.com, MovieMaker Magazine, Remezcla Filmmaker Magazine, Variety Latino, Slate, Bustle, Americas Quarterly, among others.
Besides his work in journalism, Aguilar regularly works as a screener for the Sundance Film Festival and a screenplay reader for Sundance’s Screenwriters Lab. Carlos Aguilar has also been on the jury at renowned festivals such the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Gasparilla International Film Festival, the Louisiana International Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Indian Film Festival. He attributes his all-consuming passion for storytelling to his mother’s love for European films. Aguilar currently co-hosts, One Week Only, a weekly podcast highlighting independent and international cinema. He also regularly participates in panel discussions about the importance of people of color in film criticism and his experience as a DACA recipient working in the film industry.
Casey Minella
Circle of Confusion
Film Literary Coordinator
Casey is currently the Film Coordinator at Circle of Confusion, a feature film & television production and management company with offices in NY and LA. She has also worked for an Academy Award winning Producer, and previously worked in TV and Film development for director/producer team Star Thrower Entertainment (THE POST, LBJ, JAMESY BOY), writer/director Josh Greenbaum (BEHIND THE MASK, THE SHORT GAME), and VP of Federation Ent (MARSEILLE). Casey graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Television Studies, triple minored in Business, Communication, and Visual Studies. She dreams more than she sleeps.
Credits: BUSHWICK BEATS, MAYHEM, UNTITLED CHATEAU MARMONT DOCUMENTARY
Christine Davila
Warner Bros: Stage 13
Creative Executive
Christine Dávila is currently a Creative Executive at Stage 13, a new, original, digital-first content brand of Warner Bros. Digital Networks. In this role she develops short-form episodic series like I Love Bekka and Lucy, which was the first digital series to ever screen at the SXSW Film Festival in 2017, and is currently being distributed online. Other shows include the critically acclaimed horror anthology series, Two Sentence Horror Stories, the upcoming action grindhouse series, La Quinceañera and comedy series,Incredible Life of Darrell. Prior to Stage 13, Davila established and ran the U.S. non-profit, Ambulante California, a traveling documentary film festival that originated in Mexico by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal. She has over twelve years of experience in film programming at various top-notch festivals like Sundance Film Festival, where she has been a Programming Associate since 2008. Dávila is also a Programmer at the Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam, which focuses on discovering emerging Caribbean filmmakers. She tracks American Latino films and filmmakers, and the independent film festival scene on her blog chicanafromchicago.com.
Clint Bowie
New Orleans Film Society / Film Festival
Director of Programming
Clint Bowie is the Artistic Director of the New Orleans Film Society, where he has worked since 2010. In this role, he oversees the curation of content for all of the organization's year-round programming, including the Academy Award-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival, now in its 28th year. He also works with the organization's filmmaker development programs, including the Southern Producers Lab and the Emerging Voices Mentorship Program.
He has spoken on panels at the 2018 Center for Asian American Media Artists Convening; 2017 Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris; the 2016 Palm Springs International ShortFest; the 2015 ArtHouse Convergence conference in Utah; and has served on juries at the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival, 2017 River Run International Film Festival, 2016 Cleveland International Film Festival, 2015 Florida Film Festival, 2014 Dallas International Film Festival, the 2013 Denver Film Festival, and others.
He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, and before working in film was a print journalist, having worked at both daily and weekly newspapers around the country. He currently sits on the board of directors for the Film Festival Alliance, a professional organization of film festival organizers, founded as a program of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP).
Deborah Del Pretee
Coronet Films
Producer
Deborah Del Prete is a veteran film producer. Her many producing credits include the hit Columbia Pictures comedy THE WEDDING PLANNER, starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey; Lionsgate’s THE SPIRIT, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, and Scarlett Johansson; GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS, starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam, winner of the SXSW Audience and Grand Jury Prizes; GREEN STREET 2, starring Ross McCall; Dimension’s BURIED ALIVE, starring Tobin Bell; the romantic comedy SUBURBAN GIRL, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin, based on the best-seller Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing; and the creature feature LIVING HELL for The SyFy Channel.
Under the label Coronet Films, she produced the film LIFTED, directed by Academy Award nominee Lexi Alexander, THE SUBMARINE KID, starring Emilie De Ravin and Finn Wittrock, and two recently completed films, LOCATING SILVER LAKE, starring Josh Peck and Aubrey Peeples and THE PAY UP, starring Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor. In addition, Del Prete served as executive producer on Paramount Classic’s MEAN CREAK, starring Rory Culkin, which won both an Independent Spirit Award and a Humanitas Award; THE OPEN ROAD, starring Jeff Bridges, Justin Timberlake, and Kate Mara; Lionsgate’s FROM PRADA TO NADA, starring Camilla Belle and Alexa Vega; HBO’S HOSTILE INTENT, starring Rob Lowe; and ENDER’S GAME, starring Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, and Asa Butterfield for Summit/Lionsgate Entertainment.
Drew Tewksbury
GOOD Media
Contributing Editor
Drew Tewksbury is a Los Angeles-based cultural journalist, editor, photographer, and multimedia producer. He is currently a contributing editor at GOOD Media. Until 2017, Tewksbury was the managing editor of LA Weekly, Los Angeles' second largest newspaper and online platform. From 2012-2016, he was the managing editor / co-producer for KCET-TV's Artbound, an arts journalism online publication and Emmy-winning television show providing in-depth arts/culture coverage of 11 counties in Southern California as well as Northern Mexico. As a journalist, Tewksbury has written and reported feature articles or radio pieces for: NPR, Playboy, Time Magazine, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, KPCC Southern California Public Radio, NME, Billboard Magazine, Hollywood Reporter, among other publications. As an educator, Tewksbury has taught Entertainment Journalism at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Emily Best
Seed&Spark
Founder and CEO
Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed & Spark, an entertainment platform built to increase diversity and inclusion for filmmakers and audiences. Seed & Spark’s curated streaming platform is fed by its crowdfunding platform, which has the highest campaign success rate in the world. In 2011, she produced the feature film, Like the Water, starring Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex, UnREAL). Since then she has served as executive producer on a host of film and virtual reality projects that have played at festivals from Sundance to SXSW to Tribeca and beyond. Most recently she co-created and co-directed the web series F*ck Yes!, which Refinery 29 called, "The sex education you wish you had in high school." Emily was named a 2013 Indiewire Influencer, a 2014 New York Woman of Influence, was included on the 2015 Upstart 100 list, and graduated from the 2016 class of Techstars Boston. She has raised millions of dollars in traditional funding, equity crowdfunding, and rewards based crowdfunding, and contributed to over 300 crowdfunding campaigns to date.
Eroll Bilibani
DokuFest
Executive Director
Eroll Bilibani is a film producer, photographer and communications manager – currently the executive director of DokuFest, Prizren Kosovo. He is extensively involved in developing programs that use cinema and storytelling as platforms for social change, through creative educational packages designed to inspire young people. He is also involved in the promotion of documentary cinema in rural villages of Kosovo through DokuFest’s traveling cinema “Cinema at Your Door”.
In 2014 “New Europe 100” an initiative of Google, Res Publica, Visegrad Fund and the Financial Times, enlisted Eroll amongst 100 people who have inspired change in Central and Eastern Europe.
Jon Gann
Reel Plan
Founder, Festival Consultant
Jon Gann is the a force in the film festival world, having created, consulted with and fostered dozens of events around the globe. In the past year, he has worked on AFI Docs, Key West FF, DC Environmental FF, Bermuda International FF, Port Townsend FF, SF IndieFest and the Woods Hole FF. He is a founding Board Member of the Film Festival Alliance, the first organization to professionalize the festival space, and sits on the Advisory Board at George Mason University’s School of Film & Video Studies.
Jon is the Founder of DC Shorts, a non-profit organization championing short filmmaking, and the creator of the DC Shorts Film Festival, one of the country’s premier short film showcases. He has also served as the Executive Director of CINE, a 60-year old organization that honors the best in film, TV and digital media with the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award.
Kelly Parker
Columbia College Hollywood & Independent Producer
VP
Kelly Parker, Vice President of Student Affairs for Columbia College Hollywood and Tribeca Flashpoint College in Chicago, IL leads both colleges' departments responsible for student services, career development, entertainment internships, career fairs, and guest speakers. Her team puts on an annual Student Film Festival to showcase emerging talent and introduce students and graduates to the entertainment industry. Kelly is a Chicago native who started her career as an actor and casting director for the stage and screen. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2017, outside of education, she has centered her focus on producing. Kelly is endlessly inspired by the amazing students on both her campuses, along with the creative minds she gets to collaborate with each and every day. She looks forward to continuing raising awareness for gender equality and global diversity in education and the entertainment industry.
Kristen Konvitz
ICM Partners - International & Independent Film
KRISTEN KONVITZ is an agent in the International and Independent film group at ICM Partners. She was most recently the Head of Production for New York-based film fund and production company, Stay Gold Features. Their first film was Sundance breakout, PATTI CAKE$ which sold in an all-night bidding war to Fox Searchlight. Other productions include David Robert Mitchell's upcoming UNDER THE SILVER LAKE to be released by A24 and SXSW award winner, THE STRANGE ONES.
Previous to Stay Gold, she was Director of Film for the world's largest crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo, where she was instrumental in transforming the platform from a virtual unknown in the film space. Prior to joining Indiegogo, she spent 6 years in acquisitions and production at Wild Bunch, one of the leading independent film sales, financing & distribution companies - working on films such as THE WRESTLER, TWO LOVERS and BACHELORETTE. She began her career working in acquisitions at The Weinstein Company and made the transition to Wild Bunch to assist in opening its first U.S. office. Kristen holds a B.S. in media studies from New York University and an M.F.A. in film producing from Columbia University.
Liam Oznowich
Abrams Artists Agency
Assistant Agent
Liam Oznowich is an Agent-In-Training at Abrams Artists Agency, working in the Film/TV literary department. After graduating from Oberlin College with a degree in film, he worked in film and TV development before transitioning over to the agency world.
Liz Manashil
Sundance Institute
Manager of Creative Distribution Initiative
Liz Manashil earned her B.A. in Film and Media Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and her M.F.A. from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Post graduation, Liz spent several years as a film critic for the PBS/Hulu series JUST SEEN IT (which she also helped produce and direct). Overlapping this, Liz worked with distribution guru Peter Broderick. Her debut feature, BREAD AND BUTTER, was called “an absolute must-watch for women everywhere” by HelloGiggles. It was released by The Orchard and can be seen on VOD nearly everywhere (including Hulu!). Liz is currently in post-production on her second feature film, SPEED OF LIFE, and lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Laura Palmer, and her partner, Sean Wright. She is the Manager of Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative.
Lynnette Gryseels
Film Collaborative
Director of Fiscal Sponsorship
Lynnette is passionate about film and helping filmmakers tell thought provoking stories that entertain, stimulate social change and support their filmmaking aspirations. Lynnette holds a BA in Film Studies and another in Media Studies and has a long history of working with notable film organizations such as the American Film Institute, Film Arts Foundation, Women in Film, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, AFI Fest, and Hot Docs International Documentary Festival. Lynnette assists filmmakers in learning their craft through educational program design and project development support. At the Film Collaborative she developed and launched the fiscal sponsorship program and regularly advises filmmakers on fundraising strategies and sources, audience development and film distribution strategies during the development and production process of filmmaking.
Marina Moyses
APA Agency
Agent
Marina Moyses is an agent in APA's physical production department. She reps below the line department heads and is particularly passionate about discovering and developing diverse voices from all backgrounds in the physical production space. Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Marina received her bachelor's degree in Communications, Radio and Television from Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado, Brazil’s top film school. She furthered her studies in Business Management of Entertainment and Production at UCLA. While a student in Los Angeles, she interned at Lionsgate Entertainment, eOne Entertainment and Untitled Entertainment. Prior to moving to the United States, she was a producer on a comedy TV show where she quickly discovered her passion for production. Marina began her career at APA as an assistant to the Co-Head of the physical production department and was promoted to the department coordinator shortly thereafter. After continuing to prove herself and rapidly rising through the ranks, she was elevated to agent.
Mitch Klebanoff
Filmmaker/Writer
Mitch Klebanoff has sold nearly 40 Film and TV projects, working for Warner Brothers, United Artists, Universal Pictures, MGM, TriStar, Sony, Paramount, Disney Live Action and Disney Animation as a screenwriter. As a producer, he’s produced films in L.A. Vancouver and South Korea and 40 episodes of television for the Disney Channel.
His writing work led to the produced films: Oceans 11, Beverly Hills Ninja, The Dancing Ninja, Disorderlies, 36 Hours to Die and There Goes The Neighborhood. He’s consulted on many more, including A Cinderella Story, The Crush and others.
Noam Dromi
Legion of Creatives
Co-President
Noam Dromi is the President of Legion of Creatives (LOC), a fully integrated multimedia entertainment studio specializing in scripted and unscripted digital first programming that targets underserved audiences.
A veteran writer/producer, marketing executive and digital strategist, he specializes in cross platform content development and production for media companies, consumer brands and non-profits.
Noam is the winner of the 2015 Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for his work with the Fox Broadcasting Company as producer of the Sleepy Hollow Virtual Reality Experience. He co-wrote the Warner Bros/Alcon Entertainment film Dolphin Tale starring Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr & Ashley Judd. The film grossed $100 million at the worldwide box office.
Ranell Shuber
International Documentary Association (IDA)
Programs Manager
Ranell Shubert is the Educational Programs Manager at the International Documentary Association (IDA) in Los Angeles, a membership organization dedicated to serving documentary filmmakers, artists and activists. She provides essential programming and operational support for IDA’s educational and conference programming. Ranell has managed IDA’s Conversation Series, showcasing interviews with prominent filmmakers; Master Classes, workshops about documentary storytelling and craft; What’s New sessions, spotlighting nonfiction leaders in the entertainment industry; and technical and virtual reality workshops. She has participated in planning and managing the IDA Getting Real Documentary Filmmaker Conference (2014, 2016 and 2018). She also manages IDA’s summer Internship program and serves as a mentor and advisor for international film festivals and markets. She received her BA in Film and Video at Columbia College Chicago with a focus in documentary film production.
Susie Kim
NFMLA Co-Founder & Artistic Director, BiFrost Media Co-Founder & Producer
A Hollywood native born to Korean immigrants, Susie Kim is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), and wrapping up her position as Director of Programming after 11 years. She has dedicated most of her professional life working together with brands and organizations on initiatives that focus on supporting the arts and inclusion of all, including her brainchild, the NFMLA InFocus diversity program.
A world traveler, Susie shares her discoveries of emerging talent by producing innovative projects and experiences for the public. On her current documentary project, 'Into the Aurora', Susie is working with NASA, the Reykjavik University and the University of Puerto Rico around the cultural and scientific understandings of the aurora borealis.
Thom Geier
TheWrap
Journalist
Thom Geier is an award-winning journalist who currently serves as Managing Editor of TheWrap News. He previously served as a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly for a dozen years, overseeing film and Oscar coverage among other areas of expertise. He served as a news editor there and before that as a film reporter at The Hollywood Reporter.
Timur Bekbosunov
ACE Pictures
Associate Producer
Kazakh-American performing artist and film producer Timur Bekbosunov has recently worked with LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, American Repertory Theater, Budapest Palace of the Arts, Bang on a Can All-Stars and Prototype Festival NYC. His solo projects have appeared on many diverse platforms including BAM 2016 Next Wave Festival, Operadagen Rotterdam, REDCAT Theater, America's Got Talent, and Miami Light Project. In 2017, he became a creative director of ACE Pictures Entertainment, an investment company of Malaysian-based conglomerate ACE Group. The company is now funding three films in Hollywood, including "M for Magic" documentary about The Magic Castle, prison-drama "Clemency" starring Alfre Woodard, and a psychological thriller "Daniel" produced by SpectreVision.
Art Show
How do you Dream?
PAST | FUTURE | NOW
With it's culturally diverse network of artistic communities and education, Los Angeles provides a unique space for innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive. It's foundation recognizes the legacy of the film and TV industry in Hollywood and its influence in the arts. As the creative capital of the world, LA leads the nation in the economy of the creative sector with one of every six people employed in a creative field. With so much possibility, is it any wonder that creators from around the world flock to LA to pursue their dreams?
Curators:
Jason Little | HFPA
Susie Ran Kim | NFMLA + Program12
Lynn Park Charveriat | The Untitled Art Gallery
PAST
Curated by Jason Little Hollywood Foreign Press Association
A nostalgic journey of the Golden Globes and the work of the HPFA foundation.
PRESENT
Curated by Susie Ran Kim NFMLA + Program12
(Photography)
Behind the scenes
Contributors:
Film LA
Deluxe with The American Society of Cinematographers
Canon
The Camera Division
(Paintings)
Julia Silverhoof
Lena Moross
(Environmental)
Michael Lin Design | Camerich LA
FUTURE
DREAMS A LA LAND Group ART Exhibition
Curated by Lynn Park Charveriat The Untitled Art Gallery
Contributors:
Juan Carlos Rivera (AR - Need image to include in program design)
Lynn Park Charveriat -Need painting of Lynns with Juan's AR piece
Christopher Charveriat
Eric Leiser
Igor Gusex
Adam Handler
Eric Leiser
Juan Carlos Rivera (AR - Need image to include in program design)
Brian Schwary
Daniel Fisher
Dan serves as Vice President of Acquisitions at Freestyle Digital Media. His previous posts include Senior Director of Acquisitions at Gravitas Ventures, Director of Worldwide Acquisitions at Entertainment One, and Assistant to James D. Stern at Endgame Entertainment. His acquisitions include Buddymoon, Folk Hero and Funny Guy, Billionaire Ransom, American Anarchist, and 11:55. Dan holds a master’s degree in film studies from The School of Cinematic Arts at USC and a bachelor’s degree in art history from he University of Notre Dame. He is a board member of New Filmmakers Los Angeles and teaches a course in the business of entertainment at UCLA Extension.
Danny De Lillo
David Quan
David is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter who daylights as the Director of Video Production for Blueprint Test Preparation, an LA-based educational company specializing in online higher education. He studied film at the University of North Texas where he gained a deep appreciation for documentary and non-fiction cinema.
He has worn multiple hats for NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, as an intern, Festival Consultant, and Screening Committee member. Currently he directs and produces their monthly Stage 5 interview series, featuring in-depth conversations with emerging local and international artists, which also serves as an educational opportunity for aspiring student filmmakers to gain valuable on-set experience.
Demian Lichtenstein
Demian Lichtenstein is an international best selling author of Discover the Gift, a prodigious producer, director and writer with over 250 major media and music videos to his credit such as Sting, Eric Clapton, and Queen Latifah as well as feature films such as 3000 Miles To Graceland starring Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell. Demian is also a writer, producer, and director in the Video Game industry, with #1 hits such as the successful PAYDAY 1 & 2 video game franchise / Net TV series. Demian has built and sold five media, VR and gaming companies. During his tenure as US Studio Head for Starbreeze, Demian oversaw Production on the John Wick Chronicles VR Video Game, the Walking Dead VR Experience as well as Producing and Directing the PAYDAY Live Action 360 VR Experience. Currently Demian is building his new venture, Futurism: Where Technology and Entertainment meet.
Franco Sama
Independent feature film producer Franco Sama boasts a remarkable and extensive history in public speaking, public relations and a decade of independent film development, production and financing.
Sama has Executive Produced an impressive array of over twenty (20) independent feature films including most notably, “Guns, Girls and Gambling” starring Academy Award Winner Gary Oldman, Christian Slater and Dane Cook which is quickly becoming a cult favorite; this film was released into theatres on December of 2012 and, in January 2013, acquired a worldwide distribution deal from Universal Pictures.
Other films Sama has produced include; “Black Limousine” starring David Arquette and Vivica Fox, “Tooth and Nail” starring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones, "Paid," starring Corbin Bernsen and Tom Conti and “The Penitent Man,” starring “The Terminator’s” Lance Henriksen. Sama also serves as Executive Producer on the film festival darling “Petunia” starring Thora Birch, Brittany Snow and Academy Award Winner Christine Lahti.
John W. Fagerholm
Margaret Wu
Margaret is the founder of 3 Dots Entertainment that develops, produces and promotes content with focus on China-U.S. It also develops education programs on filmmaking for the China market.
3 Dots Entertainment is currently producing The Genesis Game, a feature documentary on artificial intelligent music. It is also responsible for the marketing/promotion of Better Angels, a feature documentary that focuses on the U.S. - China relationship. The movie is directed by a two-time Academy Award winning director, Malcolm Clarke and is set to be released in China and U.S. in 2018.
Before 3 Dots Entertainment, Margaret was a veteran in the advertising industry with over 20 years of experience in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific where she worked with blue chip clients such as Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, General Motors, L’Oreal, American Express across different disciplines in different regions. Under her supervision, many of them were award-winning campaigns that produced tangible results. She was nominated by Campaign Magazine for “Account Person of the Year” in 2010 and 2011. She was also named one of the “Best Performing Professionals in Advertising in Asia-Pacific” by R3, a highly regarded brand consulting company in Asia. Having lived in China for 11 years, Margaret has a deep understanding of the country. She now lives in Los Angeles and still travels frequently to China for cross-border initiatives.
Steven J. Wolfe
STEVEN J. WOLFE (Producer) is a seasoned film producer and President of Sneak Preview Entertainment, a production and talent management company he founded almost 25 yearsago. Steven has produced a diverse range of films throughout his career including Golden Globe® Best Picture nominee 500 Days of Summer starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Our Family Wedding with Forest Whitaker and America Ferrara, David E. Talbert's Baggage Claim, Phat Girlz starring Mo’Nique, A Dennis the Menace Christmas; Twin Falls Idaho and the Sundance Film Festival hit Relax, it’s Just Sex! starring Jennifer Tilly, Lori Petty and Mitchell Anderson.
Wolfe recently produced a musical re-imagining of the 1983 classic, Valley Girl with Matt Smith for MGM as well as acclaimed writer-director Alan Rudolph's Ray Meets Helen and writer-director Nnegest Likke's Everything But a Man, which is currently winning awards on the festival circuit. His vast list of producing credits such diverse films Miss March, The Secret Lives of Dorks, Tollbooth, Fast Sofa, When Do We Eat?, Beautiful Loser, Civilization of Maxwell Bright, Hellbent, Circuit, The Clean & Narrow, Bird of Prey, Only You, Scorchers and My Mom’s a Werewolf.
Varda Bar-Kar
Varda Bark-Kar is a world traveler and an award-winning film director based in Santa Monica, California. Varda got her start in film production working as a Script Supervisor for maverick feature directors like Jim Jarmusch, Wayne Wang and Carrol Ballard. Varda’s short and long form films explore the breadth of the human condition. Her most recent feature documentary Big Voice chronicles a challenging year in the life of a determined high school choir director and his most advanced ensemble. Big Voice won the “Best U.S. Premiere” at the Heartland Film Festival, “Best Documentary” at New Filmmakers Los Angeles and “Best Family Documentary” at the South Dakota Film Festival. Netflix picked up Big Voice for distribution, and a broadcast version of the documentary is now airing on PBS stations across the United States.
Currently, Varda is in pre-production on the feature documentary Fandango At The Wall which will weave together music, dance and nature imagery to tell the stories of local musicians who gather once a year on the border of Tijuana and San Diego to celebrate family, community, and culture with a style of dance called fandango and music called son jarocho. During the festival the musicians and their families are inches apart but often unable to cross the international border.
Varda Co-Chairs the board of New Filmmaker Los Angeles, and a member of Film Independent, the Alliance of Women Directors & Film Fatales.
William Swann
William currently heads entertainment for BBH-LA, the development arm of the global creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty. He has over a decade of experience in the studio space, including work at Disney and The Weinstein Company. He then went on to helm the content strategy for Coca-Cola Europe as their Content Director. William understands how brands need to align in partnership with Hollywood to execute prestige content to meet marketing objectives. During his tenure at the TWC, he managed all brand relations for the 13 time Emmy-nominated series Project Runway and all feature films, including The Artist, My Week With Marilyn, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, The Kings Speech, and more. While at Coca-Cola, he won a gold Cannes Lion for his first marketing campaign.