Marcia Basichis was Senior Vice President of Aaron Spelling Television, during which time she headed development for series, movies and miniseries. She worked with key players in the entertainment industry, selling, developing and putting into production feature films and television series, including “Beverly Hills 90210”, “Melrose Place”, and the Emmy Award winning HBO movie “And the Band Played On”.
Marcia took Spelling Television from zero to seven primetime on-air series. And in 1995 Marcia was named one of Hollywood Reporters "Power 50 Women in Entertainment."
Early in her career, Marcia gained network television experience as a dramatic series executive at ABC Entertainment, where she was the original executive on “Dynasty” and “Battlestar Galactica”, among others. Today she is the managing partner at Brentwood Search, a boutique executive search firm.
Marcia has served on the Executive Committee and Awards Committee of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has been a member of the American Film Institute.
J. Todd Harris has produced 40 films, including five Sundance Film Festival entries, two films that have appeared in the Toronto Film Festival, one that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, and another that garnered a Special Mention for the Camera D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His most recent productions include “Bottle Shock” starring Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman and Chris Pine, “The Kids Are Alright” starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore, Oscar nominated Annette Bening and Oscar nominated Mark Ruffalo, and “Piranha 3D” from The Weinstein Company. In theatre, he produced “Heathers the Musical” off Broadway and Broadway productions “Doctor Zhivago” and Tony-nominated “American Psycho”. Additionally, Todd is a founding member of the board of the newly created Napa Valley Film Festival. He has been a member of the Producers Branch of the Motion Picture Academy since 1999, the Broadway League since 2015, and the Producers Guild since 2016.
Leanne Pooley is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished documentary filmmakers, having directed over 20 films. Leanne has made documentaries for major broadcasters including the BBC and PBS, and her documentaries have screened in more than 100 countries. Her work includes “Beyond the Edge” a 3D feature film that was a runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, and “Topp Twins – Untouchable Girls” which won 21 International Awards including Audience Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Gothenburg International Film Festival, amongst others. It also won Best Feature at the New Zealand Film & TV Awards, and reached nearly $2 million at the New Zealand box office, making it the most successful New Zealand documentary of all time. In 2011 Leanne’s work was recognized by the New Zealand Arts Foundation, and she was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate. She now serves as a judge for the International Emmy Awards.
Robb Skyler is an actor best known for his work on “Along Came Polly”, "Romy & Michele's High School Reunion", Oscar winning "Forrest Gump" and “Arrested Development”. He will shortly be starring in “Hands of Stone” alongside Oscar winner Robert DeNiro and Golden Globe nominated Edgar Ramirez.
Wendy Blackstone has composed scores for over 130 film and television projects, nine of which have been nominated for or won Oscars. She also holds the distinction of being the first ever female film composer signed by CAA.
Mark Stasenko is the co-founder of WeScreenplay and Coverfly, a script coverage and competition submission service that uses cutting edge proprietary software. As a writer last year he won the ScreenCraft fellowship and Francis Ford Coppola's ZoeTrope Competition, and has been a quarter finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship.
Emmy Award winning cinematographer Sam Henriques is known for his work on “The Farm” which won both the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and an Oscar nomination, and “Riding the Rails” which won the Peabody Award. His camera work includes “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “The Michael J. Fox Show”, as well as work for National Geographic, Viacom, HBO, Showtime, Disney, and Martha Stewart.
Award-winning sound designer Nick Palladino has developed an international reputation for excellence, innovation and hard work. During his 25 years as the owner and creative force behind NPALL Audio Nick has worked on faith-based box office successes including “Courageous”, “Fireproof”, and “Facing The Giants”, and the number 1 box office hit “War Room”. His wide-ranging client list includes: HBO, A&E, Sony Pictures, Provident Films, NASCAR, The Walt Disney Company and CBS.
Patrick De Caumette is an Emmy Award winning composer and instrumentalist. His past work includes “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment”, “Navy Seals vs. Zombies”, and “Fever: 1793”. He has also been the house composer for Walt Disney France, and has taught at Temple University and The University of the Arts.
Warren Drummond is a veteran storyboard artist. He has worked for film directors such as Oscar winner Ron Howard, Oscar winner Denzel Washington, and Oscar nominated John Singleton, on shows such as “Agent Carter” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, and on films such as Oscar nominated “Straight Outta Compton”, “X Men: First Class”, “Evan Almighty”, “2 Fast 2 Furious”, and “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift”.
Hummie Mann is a two-time Emmy Award winning composer and arranger. His composing credits include “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, his conducting credits include “The Grudge 2” and Oscar nominated “The Adams Family”. And his orchestrating credits include Oscar nominated “A Few Good Men”, Golden Globe nominated “Sister Act”, legendary TV series “Fame” and “The Simpsons”. He is also a professor at the Seattle Film Institute and the De Tao Masters Academy in Shanghai.
Ido Samuel is a prominent Israeli actor best known for his role as Yossi in "Fill The Void", a film that won 7 Israeli Academy Awards. The film also won Best Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, the New York Film Festival, the London Film Festival, and Best Dramatic Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Samuel was most recently seen in "Unforgivable Sin", a short film which premiered at the New York City International Film Festival. He was recently cast in the indie feature "The Spark" alongside Oscar nominated Abigail Breslin, and can currently be seen in Gavin James' music video for 'Bitter Pill'.
Brian Rawlings was the Vice President of Music at the Walt Disney Company, during which time he grew the revenue six fold over a ten year period, culminating with the “High School Musical”, “Cheetah Girls”, and “Hannah Montana” franchises. Disney reported $1 billion in company wide revenue from “High School Musical” alone. Today Brian is a Senior Partner at the Back Porch Group, an agency that advises media tech startups.
Bob Schultz is the president of ScriptFest America, a non-profit educational and professional development organization for screenwriters. ScriptFest is the biggest and longest-running screenwriting conference and pitching event in the world, holding 20 events in the US, Canada, and London over the last 13 years. It has also been rated the #1 pitchfest and screenwriting conference in the world by Script Magazine. When not running ScriptFest, Bob is a full-time writer, focusing on spec screenplays and work-for-hire.
At fifteen, filmmaker Peter Hyoguchi won George Lucas' youth film festival with a sci-fi short called “The Future's Future”. Since then Peter has written and directed the dramatic feature “First, Last and Deposit” which won the New York Independent Film Festival and the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and aired on IFC. His screenwriting assignments include a collaboration with sci-fi legend Ray Bradbury on a supernatural thriller called “The Waking” for legendary horror director John Carpenter, as well as an adaptation of the New York Times Best-Seller “Killing Elvis”, and an adaptation of Herman Hesse's Nobel Prize-winning novel, “The Glass Bead Game”.
Cinematographer Brad Rushing won the MTV Music Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Moby’s “We Are All Made of Stars”, and the MTV Music Award for Video of the Year for Eminem’s “Without Me”. He has also worked on videos for Britney Spears, Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, George Michael and Joss Stone, amongst others. Brad’s commercial clients include Geico, Sketchers, McDonald’s, Macy’s, and Nascar, amongst others. And his work in independent films includes “Divorce Invitation” starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler, “L.A.X.” starring Dane Cook and “Cook County” which won the Best Film Award at the Nashville Film Festival.
19 time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Nathan Thompson has filmed all walks of life, from short films, music videos, and corporate commercials, to humanitarian efforts in Africa and the war in Afghanistan. In 2012 Nathan was named National Videographer of the Year by the National Press Photographer’s Association.
Steve Hoover is the winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Award and the Sundance Audience Award for his documentary “Blood Brother”, which he directed, wrote, edited, and executive produced. His latest film “Almost Holy” opens on May 20th and is executive produced by Oscar nominated Terrence Malick and Nicolas Gonda.
Independent film producer Franco Sama has an extensive history in public speaking, public relations and a decade of independent film development, production and financing. Franco has executive produced an impressive array of over twenty independent films including "Guns, Girls and Gambling" starring Oscar nominated Gary Oldman, Golden Globe winner Christian Slater and Dane Cook. Other films Franco has produced include "Black Limousine" starring David Arquette, Vivica A. Fox and Bijou Phillips, and "Tooth and Nail" starring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones. Franco also served as executive producer on the film festival darling "Petunia" starring Golden Globe nominated Thora Birch, Brittany Snow, and Oscar winner Christine Lahti.
Peter Kurland is a 4 time Oscar nominated sound mixer best known for his work on Oscar winning “No Country For Old Men”, Oscar winning “Fargo”, and Oscar winning “Men in Black” amongst many others. He is also a BAFTA winner and Grammy Award winner.
Bobbie O’Steen is a writer and film historian, dedicated to sharing the editor’s invisible art with film students, professionals and the movie-going public. She is an Emmy-nominated editor and author of two acclaimed books about editing. Her book “Cut to the Chase” is based on interviews with her late husband and colleague, Oscar nominated editor Sam O’Steen who edited legendary Oscar winning films such as “Chinatown”, “The Graduate” and “Rosemary’s Baby”. Her second book, “The Invisible Cut”, deconstructs classic movie scenes through a cut-by-cut analysis. Bobbie has taught graduate school workshops at NYU and contributes commentary and interviews about the art of editing for The Criterion Collection releases. She has moderated numerous panels honoring master editors at EditFest as well as at Emerson College, UCLA and 92Y Tribeca. She is now partnered with Manhattan Edit Workshop to regularly host an evening event series called “Inside the Cutting Room.” And she has written for such publications as CinemaEditor Magazine, which recently named her “Film Editing’s Greatest Champion.” Bobbie’s next project is an authoritative, media-rich eBook called "Making the Cut at Pixar" about the editor's pioneering role in computer animation.
Harold Cronk is the director of box office hit “God’s Not Dead” and “God’s Not Dead 2”. Other movies of his include “Jerusalem Countdown”, “Silver Bells”, and “The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure”. Harold is also the founder of 10 West Studios, a large studio facility located in Northwest Michigan.
Robert Grant is a writer and script consultant. He sits on the jury of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Literature and is part of the team behind The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film. He’s also the author of “Writing The Science Fiction Film.”
Author and script consultant Michele Wallerstein works with writers to get their work into shape so that it sells. Michele is the author of the best selling book “Mind Your Business: A Hollywood Literary Agent’s Guide To Your Writing Career”. Michele recently taught at UCLA on “The Business of Your Writing Career”, and has also taught at USC, U.C. Davis, and the Northwest Screenwriters Guild, amongst others.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Michele was a Hollywood literary agent, during which time she sold $1 million spec scripts. She has served as the Executive Vice-President of Women In Film, on the Agents Advisory Board of Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and as a columnist for Script Magazine.