Helen Huang (Director of Content Acquisitions for SHOWTIME NETWORKS INC.) / Pitch Panelist
Ms. Huang has negotiated deals for thousands of hours of programming for the Showtime Networks, including independent features such as: Peter & Vandy (starring Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler), The Waiting City (starring Radha Mitchell), Gigantic (starring Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman), Hounddog (starring Dakota Fanning), Paper Man (starring Emma Stone, Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds) and Transsiberian (starring Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson); documentaries such as: The Last Play at Shea (featuring Billy Joel and Paul McCartney), Make Believe (winner of Best Documentary Jury Prize at the 2010 LA Film Festival), and Dragonslayer (documentary winner of the SXSW 2011 Grand Jury Prize); stand-up specials such as Margaret Cho: Cho Dependent, and classic films such as Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. In 2010, she acquired 182 films for Showtime, and shepherded the initial business deal between Showtime and Tribeca Films during Tribeca Films’ inaugural year.
In 2010, Ms. Huang also served on the Board of Directors of the Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA), as the Director of Communications Council: supervising public relations, website and digital communications, the publication of JLLA’s full-color magazine Inspire, the development of the JLLA Video Production Institute, and the partnership with California State University at Northridge’s Oviatt Library in the initial year of archiving 85 years of women’s history in Los Angeles. She wrote and won a Legacy Leadership Circle Grant, and received a commendation from the County of Los Angeles, and a commendation from the State of California “for being an inspiration to the people of the 23rd Senate District” for her leadership in voluntarism.
Prior to acquisitions, Ms. Huang was the Director of Development for Academy Award nominee James Cromwell’s production company, Koshari Films. She has also line-produced commercials for >en.net partners Dell, Blockbuster Videos, Ford, Pepsi, and Pizza Hut, and was an Associate Producer of COMEDY CENTRAL’S 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
Ms. Huang holds an MFA in feature film producing as a graduate of the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, and a BA in English literature from UC Berkeley.
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Kim Swartz (Entertainment Attorney with Mitchell, Silberberg and Knupp) / Law Panel & Pitch Panel
Kim H. Swartz is an entertainment attorney at the Los Angeles-based law firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, founded as an entertainment firm in 1908 (celebrating over 100 years of practice and whose clients include the major film studios, television networks and music companies). Before joining Mitchell Silberberg, he served as the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Republic Pictures and Spelling Entertainment; the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs and Assistant General Counsel at Saban Entertainment; and as Senior Production Counsel in Studio Legal Affairs and Head of Music Business Affairs at MGM and United Artists Studios. Mr. Swartz represents both companies and talent in all areas of the entertainment industry, including the development, production, distribution and financing of motion picture, television and new media projects; merchandising and licensing of entertainment properties; music composing, publishing, recording and distribution; literary publishing; intellectual property, including copyright law; and artist management and agencies. He represents a range of clients, from producers and distributors of event motion pictures and award winning talent to independent productions and new talent. Mr. Swartz is a frequent guest speaker at entertainment industry events, including film festivals, universities, film schools, law schools, bar associations, talent guilds and international trade organizations, speaking on a variety of topics related to film, television, music and new media. Boards he currently or formerly has been on include The Farrah Fawcett Foundation, the University of Georgia Music Business Program, the Jacksonville Film Festival and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce. Although based in Los Angeles, Mr. Swartz has significant ties to Jacksonville, where he was married to his wife, a Jacksonville native and former Miss Jacksonville – actress and pet expert, Megan Blake, owns a second home and several investment properties, represents a number of entertainment industry clients, and sits on the Jacksonville Film Festival Industry Advisory Board.
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Laura Bernieri (producer) / Pitch Panel
Laura Bernieri is co-executive producer on SUNNY SIDE UP. Laura co-produced Next Stop Wonderland (Miramax, Sundance ‘98, Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman). She co-directed & produced Delta Rising: A Blues Documentary (Morgan Freeman, Willie Nelson; winner Best Producer Award Beverly Hills Film Festival ’09.) She won a standing ovation for a 12 minute short she directed with Satch Sanders on the Boston Celtics Legends and opponents Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West at All Star Weekend 2010. She was executive producer on Kettle of Fish (Tribeca ’06), Could Be Worse!. (Sundance ‘00), Passage to Paradise (Julie Harris) Cristaldi Films (Cinema Paradiso), She was associate producer of Squeeze (Spirit Award Nominee ‘96), The Darien Gap (Sundance ‘96) and Death: A Love Story.(Sundance ‘99) Laura founded the Harvard Square Scriptwriters collaborative. She has led panels with Norman Mailer, Michael Cunningham, Russell Banks, Dennis Lehane, James Schamus, Pamela Gray and Susannah Kaysen.
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Khris Baxter (screenwriter, producer & script consultant.) / Art Of The Pitch: Workshop
Khris Baxter teaches screenwriting at the low-residency MFA at Queens University in Charlotte, NC, and at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. His body of work includes six optioned screenplays and one produced film. Khris is the founder of Story Lab Partners, a Washington D.C. production company developing “Inside the Beltway” stories for Film & TV. He is also a member of the Virginia Film Office where he is a judge for the annual Virginia Screenwriting Competition. He lives in Georgetown.
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Lou Maggio (producer) / Pitch Panelist
Lou Maggio’s career has been a versatile balancing act between business and creative. The USF mass media and public relations graduate spent a year interning with the Tmpa Bay Buccaneers PR department before taking a position with Venus Swimwear. Lou’s strength in producing aided him in his ascension at Venus into director of photography and product promotion, traveling to some of the most exotic beaches around the world. In his seventeen years at Venus he saw the company grow from $2 million in sales to current sales in an excess of $130 million. On the road over a hundred days a year his career was the subject of episode feature on the nationally televised shows EXTRA and E! Entertainment. In 2006, Lou partnered with Ring Productions to pursue his life long dream of producing motion pictures. In less than one year the Florida based production company was able to develop and produce two major motion pictures. The first “THE YEAR OF GETTING TO KNOW US” starring Sharon Stone; Jimmy Fallon; Lucy Liu & Tom Arnold was accepted to this years SUNDANCE Film Festival. The second “THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY LEFAY” features an all-star cast that includes Tim Allen; Elisha Cuthbert; Andie McDowell; Jenna Elfman; Paz Vega; S. Epatha Merkerson and Chris Klein and will be in release in the fall of 2010.
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Paul Cohen (motion picture executive) / Pitch Panelist
is an independent motion picture executive who has created a number of successful distribution and production companies including Stratosphere Releasing, Analysis Films, Masada Productions, Moonbeam Productions, and Aries Films. He has acquired and marketed a wide range of successful films often recognized as cinematic gems and contemporary classics. These include Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel, Mephisto, the 1981 Academy Award-winner for Best Foreign Language Film, My Brilliant Career directed by first-timer Gillian Armstrong and starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill, Luchino Visconti’s The Innocent, Enigma, starring Kate Winslet and Jean-Luc Godard’s In Praise of Love. Cohen serves as the Director of The Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts innovative initiative, The Torchlight Program, which was established by The Film School to enhance the education of students through instruction in current and emerging business practices of the motion picture industry. He remains active in the independent film world marketing feature films for a number of notable clients supporting the voice of contemporary independent cinema.
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Jennie Jarvis (Filmamaker/Educator) / Structuring Character Arc: Workshop
Jennie Jarvis worked in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New York City before returning to her home state of Florida. While working in Beverly Hills, she served as a script analyst, producing coverage for producers, investors, actors and writers. She has operated as a freelance script consultant (“script doctor”) for over ten years working with clients around the world. Through her independent production company, Astorax Productions, she has created a number of short narrative and documentary films. Jennie’s major film and television credits include Matrix: Reloaded, Matrix: Revisited, American Idol, Déjà Vu, The Riches, Accepted, Bobby and more. She obtained her BFA in Film from Florida State University, holds a master’s degree in English (Film Studies and Dramatic Literature) from the University of North Florida and will shortly complete her MFA in Writing for the Stage and Screen from Queens
University of Charlotte. Jennie current teaches in the MFA Creative Writing for the Entertainment Industry program at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
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Cassandra Freeman (Actress – Kinyarwanda)
Freeman is an established star of both stage and screen. She has appeared on Broadway in “Seven Guitars,” and on TV in The Guiding Light, All My Children, Shark and Numbers. On the big screen, Freeman came to international recognition with roles in Chris Rock’s I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE and Spike Lee’s INSIDE MAN, where she starred alongside Denzel Washington. She is a graduate of both Florida State University and NYU’s prestigious acting programs.
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Christy Cashman (writer/producer/actress – Sunny Side Up)
Christy Cashman, as President of Saint Aire Productions, has been at the heart of the New England film community for over 15 years. Working in New York and Los Angeles before settling in Boston, Christy has acted in over 20 movies, including PINK PANTHER (Steve Martin), MAIDEN HEIST (Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy), THE WOMEN (Annette Bening, Meg Ryan), FEVER PITCH (Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon), WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN (Danny DeVito), CHATHAM (Bruce Dern, Rip Torn, David Carradine), DISAPPEARENCES (Kris Kristofferson).
Saint Aire partnered with Michael Mailer Films in NYC to produce KETTLE OF FISH, where Christy co-starred opposite Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon. Christy executive produced 2010’s breakout hit THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. She starred with Whoopi Goldberg in a two-character animated short, DESCENDANTS, which debuted at Telluride and won acclaim from festivals around the world. She executive produced HOMIE SPUMONI starring Whoopi, Paul Mooney, Tony Rock, and Donald Faison.
In 2007-2009, Christy hosted OPEN BOOK CLUB, a monthly television talk show where she interviewed Dennis Lehane, Andre Dubus, Junot Diaz, Judy Belushi, Tom Perrotta among others.
In 2000, she starred in NIGHT DEPOSIT which won the Audience Award at Slamdance and received over a million hits on its website. Her directorial debut, THE LITTLE THINGS, played in over 40 festivals.
In addition to SUNNY SIDE UP, Christy has written other features that she is rolling out in 2012.
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Alexandra Dawson (writer/director – Wild Horse Wild Ride)
Husband-and-wife team Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus have worked in the production of non-fiction television for over 15 years. Alex is a documentary producer and writer whose body of work covers a wide range of themes and genres and has appeared on networks including History Channel, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, CNBC, HGTV, OLN and PBS.
Greg is a Director of Photography whose job has taken him all over the world- from Myanmar to the Amazon; New Zealand to Saudi Arabia; Alaska to Liberia. He has filmed well over 100 programs for networks including Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, History Channel, Travel Channel, A&E, and PBS and has also contributed to several independent films and music videos. Having lived and worked in New York and Chicago, Alex and Greg currently reside in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with their two-year-old daughter, Penelope. Wild Horse, Wild Ride is their feature directorial debut.
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Kevin Porter (actor/producer) / Pitch Panelist
Kevin started his career in front of the camera staring in such productions as Daredevil, Dodgeball and General Hospital. In 2004, with his close friend Andre’ Gordon, Mr. Porter founded White Chocolate Films (WCP). their goal was to develop inspirational programming for both sports and film. Their big break came in 2008 when they were commissioned to produce Jerry Rice’s new reality show “Going Pro”. Taking on both the writing and directing of the show, Kevin displayed his signature theatrical style that has garnered his countless industry awards.
In 2009, Kevin opened the East Coast division of White Chocolate Productions: Iconic Innovations Media Group (IIMG). The objective of IIMG is to cater to a more commercial/ industrial client. With the West Coast vibe, Kevin balances the needs of the client while maintaining the compelling imagery that drives his reputation. IIMG and partnering WCP work on various projects nationwide and maintain offices in Los Angeles, California and Florida.
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Parker Croft (writer/actor/producer – Falling Overnight)
Parker Croft made his film acting debut in the teen comedy Hooking Up with co-stars Corey Feldman and Bronson Pinchot. He went on to play a supporting role in festival darling Were The World Mine, winner of 11
Jury Awards and 10 Audience Awards. Recently Parker has appeared in Nuclear Family alongside Ray Wise and starred in Falling Overnight. Parker Croft’s work in Falling Overnight earned him a Best Actor award
at the Nashville Film Festival, the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award at the Visionfest Film Festival and a Best Actor award at the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival.
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Dwight Cenac (writer/producer/actor – As Night Falls)
Dwight Cenac began his entertainment career early, creating high-octane adventure films with his father’s VHS Magnavox camcorder and a box of green army men. Since that time, he has gained over ten years of experience in front of and behind the camera on various productions for cinema and television across the United States. In 2006, Dwight opened the doors of his own soundstage with the launch of Crown Films. In 2007, Dwight produced and directed the Star Wars television pilot Sandrima Rising, shot locally in Jacksonville. Since that time, he has produced several features, television shows and corporate comercials across the state of Florida. A son of Jacksonville, Dwight has gone against the grain and devoted his company to bringing film and television back to Florida and continues to help independent filmmakers in his community
Andrew Kenneth Gay (writer/director – A Beautiful Belly)
Florida native Andrew Kenneth Gay is an award-winning writer/director/producer and a visiting assistant professor of film at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Together, his previous short films have won eight awards and received more than 50 official selections at festivals around the world. A Beautiful Belly is his first feature film.
Damian K. Lahey (Filmmaker) | pitch panel
A Jacksonville native, Damian graduated from Douglas Anderson School Of The Arts and is an alumnus of The University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts Film School. Damian has produced several independent films, including festival blazing cult faves Ding-A-Ling-Less(2004) and Cocaine Angel(2006). He was a staff writer for Indie-Slate Magazine from 2006-2010 and his work has appeared in Movie Maker Magazine and IndieWire among others. In 2008-2009, Damian went to Mexico and produced the micro-budget documentary, ‘Calva Zapeda: Cannibal Poet Of Mexico’, which is currently in post-production. A short film he wrote, ‘Children For A Day’ finished up a successful festival run in 2010, winning a slew of awards and his next feature ‘The Heroes Of Arvine Place’ begins shooting in Jacksonville in February of 2012. Damian also teaches continuing education film production courses for The University of North Florida and is also a writer for The Folio Weekly.