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Michael Donaldson
Michael Donaldson is an attorney representing writers, directors, producers, General Counsel to Film Independent (home of the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival) and the Writers Guild Foundation. Author: "Wish Want Walk - A Failsafe Guide to Fearless Negotiating," & "Clearance and Copyright: Everything the Independent Filmmaker Needs to Know"
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Jeff "The Dude" Dowd
Jeff Dowd is a writer, producer (Ferngully The Last Rain Forrest, Zebrahead, The Last Game) and a producer's rep, marketer (Chariots of Fire, Hoosiers, Desperately Seeking Susan, Blood Simple, The Black Stallion, Neil Young's Greendale & Heart of Gold, Scratch, Better Luck Tomorrow). He is perhaps best known as the basis for the central character in the Cohen brothers' cult hit "The Big Lebowski."
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James Greenberg
James Greenberg is editor in chief of the DGA Quarterly, the craft journal of the Directors Guild of America. He was film critic for Los Angeles magazine and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time Out New York and Entertainment Weekly. He was senior editor of the late, lamented American Film magazine and started his career as a critic and reporter for Daily Variety.
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Matthew Greenfield
Matthew Greenfield, Sr. VP. Production Fox Searchlight Pictures Mr. Greenfield was formerly the associate producer for the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. As a producer of independent films he is known for The Good Girl, Buck and Chuck, Star Maps, the latter of which won 5 Independent Spirit Awards.
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Catherine Hardwicke
Catherine Hardwicke A prolific art director and production designer in the 1980s and 1990s, Catherine Hardwicke made an impressive leap to the director's chair with 2003's harrowing Thirteen. Hardwicke followed this with Lords of Dogtown (2005), an unsentimental look at teen skateboarders in the early eighties. In 2008, she tackled the biggest project of her directorial career with Twilight, which has grossed over $350 million worldwide to date.
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Dan Ireland
Dan Ireland, formerly an exhibitor at Seattle's top art house, The Egyptian Theatre and co-founder of The Seattle International Film Festival, Mr. Ireland is an award winning Producer and Director. He was Executive Producer of such films as The Rainbow, Twister, The Lair of the White Worm and was Director of Mrs. Palfry at the Claremont, Passionada, The Whole Wide World (his first film that introduced Renee Zellweger).
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Lawrence Lasker
Larry Lasker is the writer of the hit movies War Games, Sneakers and Project X and was a Producer on Awakenings, True Believer and Project X. He has been nominated for 2 Oscars (Wargames and Awakenings).
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Fred Roos
Fred Roos Hollywood legend and Producer of The Godfather I, II, III, He shared the Oscar for Best Picture with Francis Ford Coppola for Godfather II, and shared the nomination with Coppola for the same award with Apocalypse Now. In addition he has been nominated for several Emmys and is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Casting Society of America, USA. Other films he has produced include The Black Stallion, The Outsiders, Tucker, Cotton Club, Lost In Translation and Virgin Suicides.
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Nancy Schreiber
Nancy Schreiber, ASC is cinematographer of Loverboy, November, Motherhood (Fall '09) and the upcoming Serious Moonlight (Dec '09) . She was the 4th female to be accepted into the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers and the recipient of numerous awards including Best Dramatic Cinematography Award for "November" (Sundance 2004). Ms. Schreiber is a frequent Sundance Juror.
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Sharon Waxman
Sharon Waxman is founder and editor of thewrap.com, the new on line version of Variety that everyone in the biz is reading. She was Hollywood correspondent for New York Times 2003-2008, Washington Post 1995 -2003, also covered the Middle East for the Washington Post & Reuters Author "Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors And How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System" (HarperCollins, 2005), about the emergence of a new generation of writers and directors in the 1990s, making landmark films in a corporate-run Hollywood.
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Ralph Winter
Ralph Winter, Producer of independent classics as Hackers as well as Studio powerhouses such as Twentieth Century Fox's X-Men, X-Men 2, Planet of the Apes and Fantastic Four. Mr. Winter is highly respected throughout the film world and is a frequent resource to film festivals around the globe.
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Kurt David Anderson
Currently one of the founding partners and the Director of Operations for Punching Bees Productions, Mr. Anderson carries a wealth of experience and an in-depth understanding of the creative processes of film and stage productions. Most recently, Mr. Anderson spearheaded production for the high-school sports drama, "Near Fall", which is currently in post-production. Also an accomplished actor, his film credits include supporting roles in "Live Free or Die Hard", "Disturbia" and "Joe Somebody". On Television, Mr. Anderson is best known as Tator Junior on Comedy Central's cult favorite, "Reno 911", as well as roles on "Castle", "Big Love", "Sons of Anarchy", "Ugly Betty", "Veronica Mars" and "Gilmore Girls". He is also the series-host for Buzz Hunters on ABC
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Eliza Bayne
Eliza is an actor, television host and voice-over performer for cartoons and television. She has produced and written several television shows and is also a recurring character in the cult-hit podcast, Tiki Bar TV. Eliza is thrilled to be a a judge in The Doorpost Film Project.
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Sharon Y. Cobb
Sharon Cobb is a published author and has lectured on writing in the U.S. and abroad. She has sold a dozen projects to Hollywood including Return of the Sweet Birds to Fox 2000 (producers: Danny Glover and Babyface Edmonds). Her British romantic comedy "Lighthouse Hill" was released on DVD in the U.S. in March 2009 after premiering at film festivals and being broadcast by SkyTV worldwide.
Sharon is also a writer/director of the comedy web shows, Thurapy and Mayor of Panther County, which have attracted an international fan base. She is creator of the comedy video website FunnyFixx.com. |
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David DeGiovanni
David DeGiovanni is an award-winning producer/director with over twenty years in television and multiple Emmy nominations. Most recently serving as Executive in Charge of Production at Spike TV, David oversaw all production elements and standards for Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), Unleashed, NFL Specials and This Week in Major League Baseball. Previously, as Executive in Charge of Studios / Orlando, FL., for Nickelodeon, David successfully streamlined, enhanced, and re-created the programming and operations of the network's Sports and Games studio productions. His vast experience also includes Producer and Director credits at NBC, ABC, FOX, MTV and Nickelodeon.
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Diego Del Pino
Diego was born and raised in Buenos Aires, and has been working in film production for over ten years. He studied film at NYU and acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute and while in New York, developed his production skills working in commercials. Relocating to Los Angeles, he continues to produce commercials, music videos and short films, including the Sundance Film Festival Official Selection "Common Practice".
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Julie Jo Fehrle
Julie Jo Fehrle is a New York based Production Designer for television, film, commercials and music videos. She has designed for over 30 television shows including Runs House and Making the Band, as well as, scores of music videos including award winning work for Moby, The Vines and Alicia Keys.
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John Gallagher
John Gallagher is a director, writer, and producer. He is the author of Film Directors on Directing, an upcoming book on William Wellman, and has written for Rolling Stone, American Cinematographer, and Fangoria. John teaches directing at The School of Visual Arts in NYC and film acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse. His last four features as writer-director � Blue Moon, The Deli, Men Lie, and Cupidity � earned a dozen awards in international film festivals.
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Dana Griffin
Dana Griffin is a costumer / stylist born and raised in Hollywood, CA. She had an eye for style, even early on... cutting out clothes she liked from magazines that her father brought home. She has been active in the fashion and music scenes that created fads nationwide from punk to disco, and everything between. She has worked with clothing designer Monah Li learning contemporary design, as an assistant to celebrity stylist Phillip Block, and also has designed her own clothing line, Dana Nicole.
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Laura Hill
Laura Hill is an Emmy nominated freelance supervising producer with more than 14 years of experience in television production. She has worked in a wide variety of genres including documentary, reality, live event, variety, sports, and music programming. A few of her many credits include: True Life; Cribs; My Super Sweet 16; America Undercover; The Chris Rock Show; Hard Rock Live; and the 2004 & 2008 Choose or Lose campaigns. She is known for being able to successfully manage large teams and work under challenging conditions. Laura is a graduate of Emerson College and lives in New York.
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Lyvonne Klingler
Lyvonne is a veteran of many productions including various award-winning television programs, national commercials (for Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Mercedes-Benz), films ("Titanic" and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" DVD directors cut) music videos and assignments for ABC, CBS and NBC. My work in television further involves post-supervisory deliveries for "Grey's Anatomy", "The Shield," "Angel," "The Practice," "Witchblade" and other popular network and syndicated programs.
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Bub Kuns
Bub is a writer, producer, director and shooter of over 60 very short films and a couple of pretty long short films. He has spent much of his career inside a very creative and fun local church utilizing media to spread the Gospel all around the world. Bub is also the co-owner of The Veracity Project, a branding, film and media production company dedicated to presenting Biblical truth in media.
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Kimberly Mason
Kimberly is from Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Villanova University, after spending two years at the U.S. Naval Academy. She began her career in the Entertainment Industry six years ago. She has worked as an Assistant to Producers and Directors in the Film Industry ("Get Smart", "The Flock", etc.), to Music Executives and also as a Project Manager for two Video Game Companies. She is an aspiring writer and is currently pursuing a writing career, while going back to school.
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Matthew Merkovich
Mostly, I have done visual effects professionally since 1994 and I have always felt that my work should first and foremost help tell the story, not just exist for the sake of raw spectacle. Each shot has its own story - a beginning middle and an end - and I treat every shot like I have a great responsibility in helping the producers and director tell that story. When people ask me what I do for a living, I don't say, "I do visual effects." I say, "I make movies."
In high school, I made movies with my friends using my high school's TV production gear. In the fourth grade, I made a stop-motion clay animated dinosaur movie. In preschool, I would make animated flip book movies in the corners of my mom's discarded Danielle Steele romance novels. For as long as I can remember, it was always a dream of mine to make movies. Now I make movies for a living. Whatever you do in the filmmaking process, I suggest adopting the same philosophy. Treat whatever you do as an opportunity to help tell the story. Keep your eye on that, and you will be a valued contributor. |
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John Nyomarkay
John has been an adjunct professor teaching Art Direction and Production Design for film, at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts since 2004. John has also worked as an Art Director or Assistant Art Director on numerous larger studio films including: "Analyze This," Academy Award nominated, "The Hours," "Havana Nights," and "The Yards," "Birth," and "Trust the Man," all designed by Kevin Thompson. Originally from Los Angeles, California, graduated with a degree of Architecture from the University of Southern California in 1991. Since re-locating to New York in 1994, John has designed over twenty independent films, many accepted into prestigious film festivals around the world.
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Rebekah Parr
Rebekah Parr played an integral role in developing the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts & Sciences Tech Council for four years. After the Academy, Rebekah worked with a web software company whose primary focus was content delivery. She is currently working on a documentary film project, and still believes unicorns exist. |
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Moniqua Plante
As a founding partner and Director of Marketing for Punching Bees Productions, she recently produced her first feature film, "Near Fall" a high school sports drama currently in post production. Moniqua has an intricate knowledge of marketing, sales, lifestyle branding, public relations and events as well as experience in the development and success of small businesses. She established a lucrative independent marketing and public relations firm and was a founding member of a Los Angeles and San Francisco based artist's group, producing original theatre and film. She brings vast knowledge, experience and a true passion for the development and creative process of stage and film.
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Jonathan Shepard
I count myself among the privileged to be doing exactly what I'm meant to do on this planet, and usually in the right place at the right time. I'm fortunate to have a wife with the heart of an angel and the mouth of a sailor, who always supports me and never leaves me guessing. I have a 3-year old son Austin who is a little gentleman and an entertainment force and a beautiful 5 month old daughter Chloe, both of whom defy the karma that should have been dealt me. I smile a lot.
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Clyde Taber
Director Clyde Taber is co-founder of the Visual Story Network, a coalition of faith-based media innovators. He has produced and directed numerous media projects including the Damah Film Festival, "Magdalena: Released from Shame," "JESUS: Fact or Fiction?" "the Oracle," and the Creativity Summit. Prior to his film and new media career, Clyde spent seven years in Paris, France as a chaplain.
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