IAFT Faculty - Film and Acting School: International Academy of Film and Television

MENTORS

IAFT faculty mentors consist of accomplished industry professionals from film capitals all over the world. The faculty is carefully chosen based on their experience in the industry, teaching skills, and the ability to influence and nurture students into future filmmakers.

Aside from the top industry professionals that make up our faculty, we also bring to Cebu top lecturers from abroad to guest speak and teach at the IAFT, ensuring that our students get the best of all possible worlds.

RICK ROBINSON

Rick Robinson has worked in the motion picture industry in Hollywood for over 18 years. He received an Emmy for Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Miniseries or a Special and has numerous credits including those for over 20 television shows, 30 feature films, countless commercials, music videos and documentaries. Over the years, he has worked on such TV shows as Star Trek—The Next Generation and Doogie Howser, M.D. Additionally, he has worked with artists including Madonna, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Alan Jackson, Paula Abdul, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. Robinson is currently an active member of the Society of Camera Operators (S.O.C.).

Along with his industry experience, Robinson has taught introductory and advanced courses in cinematography, electronic cinematography, camera operation and the principles of high definition video. He was a faculty member at Columbia College Hollywood, UCLA Extension and has taught at the Los Angeles Film School. Robinson attended the University of Southern California School of Film and Television.

GREG CURDA

Greg is a Hollywood veteran sound mixer with over 75 feature films to his credit. He has 12 Golden Reel nominations, 3 Academy Award nominations, and one team Oscar for Sound Effects on Hunt For Red October. Greg maintains strategic alliances with award winning Hollywood craftspeople, producers, and consultants. In 2000, Greg traveled to Saipan to co-found Pacific Rim Academy where he taught production and postproduction sound. In 2004, he pioneered an intern program that placed island students on the set of network shows. Concurrently, he instructed in the Department of Film and Television Arts at Northern Marianas College on Saipan. In 2005, Greg co-founded and is Vice President of GEFH Entertainment Group, Inc., a Saipan based media consulting firm that, through strategic global partnerships, specializes in bridging the gap between Hollywood and Asia. Greg is currently on assignment with Bigfoot Studios and the International Academy of Film and Television in Cebu, Philippines.

TIMM DOOLEN

Timm Doolen started his production career 10 years ago making low-budget documentaries, including the award-winning "Explaining from the Inside" which analyzed the media coverage of the 1999 Texas A&M University bonfire tragedy that killed 12 students.

In 2003, he assisted producer Bob Cooper at the newly formed Landscape Entertainment and helped work on "Sleepover" and "Mr. Woodcock." Timm then assumed casting director and production coordinator duties on the low-budget feature "Think Tank". In his spare time he has directed, produced, written and cast several short films, including "The Man With No Eyes" which premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel.

JEFF BACON

While studying screenwriting at UCLA, the school awarded Jeff “best screenplay” for his feature length script Gridiron, also featured in The Hollywood Reporter & The Daily Variety. Jeff’s success crossed over into selling, optioning and pitching films to Hollywood production companies. Some of these projects include A-Hole Camp (romantic comedy), My Name is Jerry and I am a Sex Addict (romantic comedy), The Waiting (drama), Uncensored News (comedy) and Mascot (sports comedy).

A number of short films written and directed by Jeff have played in festivals around the world; some of these are Birth of a Salesman (1999), My Life is a Movie (2002) and Distorted (2006). One of his comedy shorts, Arrowhead Beer, has been well received virally, gaining significant popularity on youtube.com and ifilm.com. Currently, Jeff is the senior mentor at IAFT; he has taught Introductory and Advanced Screenwriting, but now is the main advisor for students working on their thesis films.

MARTIN PITTS

Martin Pitts is a Director of documentary and live network television. His has been nominated for a National Sports Emmy and several other awards. Pitts is a member of both the Directors Guild of America, the Cinematographers Guild and the Writers and Directors Unit of the Actors studio. His teaching background includes courses at UCLA, the University of Miami (Florida) and workshops for USC and the American Film Institute. Pitts has also served as a judge for the Student Academy Awards and for the Cable Ace Awards.

REGAN WYNNE

Regan is a producer with a wide variety of experience in commercial, theatrical, and television production. He has produced the feature HOLLYWOOD KILLS as well the television pilot FOXXY NEWS and has worked on projects for the Walt Disney Company, the Mindful Living Network, Nintendo, Lexus/Toyota, Live Nation, Hasbro, and a long list of others. From producing new media for Fortune 500 companies to ultra low budget independent features, Regan has in one way or another worked on them all.

ALEX MURPHY

Alex Murphy’s professional acting career in film, television and theater has spanned both the United States and Europe. After graduating from the University of South Florida, Murphy went on to be involved in productions such as “Lou Gehrig Did Not Die Of Cancer”, “Dopes” and “Fresh Meat” at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York; “Things that Should Have Been Said” at the West Bank Theatre; and “Buck Fever” and “White Boys” at the Wesbeth Theatre Center. Murphy’s repertoire also includes solo performances such as “Drinking in America”, which he performed at the Studio Butto Theatre in Warsaw, and “Essential… America,” which he performed at BMOCA in Boulder, Colorado.

Murphy’s work in the U.S. in film and television includes “One Life To Live,” “All My Children,” Madman and Guts; his European movies and shows include Kiler, Mlode Wilki, Success and Awkwarium.

AXEL MELZENER

Axel was born in Solingen, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany and studied screenwriting at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Ludwigsburg under some of the country’s most successful producers and writers. In 2001, he accepted his first position as a screenwriting teacher at the Stuttgart Screenwriting School. In 2004, Axel received his first credit on a major motion picture, “Abgefahren.” In the same year he was invited to teach screenwriting at the Mallorca Film Academy in Palma de Mallorca, Spain where he remained for the following three years. His next move took him to the University of Zurich in Switzerland to continue his teaching career. In total, Axel has written fifteen feature length screenplays, many of which have been optioned, subsidized or sold.

JAMES SIECZKA

James Sieczka studied at Columbia College and now joins the faculty of IAFT after several years as a production sound mixer. He has worked on a number of projects including College Hill Interns and College Hill Season 5 for BET Entertainment, a Boost Mobil Commercial for KDJ Productions, Fear Factor Home Invasion for Tri Crown Productions, Fox's Celebrity Sports and the highest-rated premiere of an original program ever on a Fox Cable Networks: the reality show Wrecked.

James's career also crossed over into film festivals. He served as the sound mixer on Last Cup: Road To The World Series of Beer Pong, which screened at the 10 th Annual CineVegas Film Festival. In addition, James co-produced Memoirs of Don Walker, a 16mm film, which won best thriller at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival in Los Angeles and runner up for Best Short Film at the East Lansing Film Festival.

ASHLEY JORDAN

An alumna of the University of Southern California's prestigious School of Cinema-Television, Ashley Jordan has succeeded in producing and developing award-winning films. Most notably, Ashley produced West Bank Story, a film that won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short during the 79th Annual Oscar Awards Ceremony. The film has screened at 112 festivals in 21 countries and has won 25 film festivals to date. She also produced My Lunch With Larry staring Lisa Edelstein and Greg Germann (San Diego Film Festival), Miracle Mile (Heartland Film Festival) and The Gamers (M.P.S.E. Golden Reel Awards). Ashley worked as production coordinator on The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing for Stars Encore, a documentary that features Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese.

She offers five years of development experience working for Red Wagon Entertainment under Lucy Fisher and Doug Wick, Live Planet under Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Tollin Robbins Productions under Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin, and most recently, as an executive at Varsity Pictures. During her film career she has contributed in the development and production of films such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Bewitched, Jarhead, Gone Baby Gone, Wild Hogs, Norbit, and the upcoming Meet Dave starring Eddie Murphy.

TAD ERMITANO

A video artist who incorporates sound design, algorithmic editing and computer technology in his works, Tad Ermitano has participated in such international film festivals and conferences as the Image Forum and Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center Videogramme Single Screen Video Art from Asia, Antimatter Festival of Short Film and Video, Asian Videoart Conference and at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Ermitano has also participated in such group exhibitions as Dime A Dozen (Lopez Museum), Cinema Purgatorio (NCCA), Katawan (National Institute of Education, Singapore) and Interruption (Big Sky Mind Gallery). He is also a Gawad CCP winner and has received the Award for Excellence at the Southeast Asian Festival, Tokyo, Japan.

DECHEN RODER

Dechen Roder started at Lovett Productions in New York as an assistant editor. After producing, directing, filming and editing a documentary for SNV-Bhutan, she then worked with UNICEF-Bhutan and the Youth Development Fund of Bhutan, producing, editing and doing more documentary and video work. She edited the behind-scenes footage of the feature film Love, and also became part of the teaching staff of New School University focusing on Final Cut Pro Video Editing.

Roder also shot, produced and edited several specialized video reports for Die Zeit, the online version of a national German newspaper, and was an editor for Elan Artists in New York.

ERIC ALEXANDRE

After working in fashion photography for six years in Paris, Eric Alexandre moved to New York and worked with such agencies as Elite, Wilhemina, Karin and IMG, and won such accolades as the TIMMY Award for best photographer in New York. Alexandre broke into the fashion video world and worked with such names as the Fashion Association, BCBG, Amer Kamal and Epperson. Since then his video credits increased and included projects with the New York Times, Frederique Van der Wahl and Anet Meyer. Having based himself in Singapore since then, he shot television commercials and stills within Asia including the Phillips cellphone Southeast Asia print campaign, and commercials like Olympus, L'Oreal, The Singapore Fashion Festival, the Honda "New Jazz" campaign and MediCorp Radio.

DAN SHOR

As an actor, Dan Shor boasts an impressive list of projects that he has been part of. In the last three decades, he has been involved in such movies as Air Force One (Harrison Ford), Black Moon Rising (Tommy Lee Jones), Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Keanu Reeves), Red Rock West (Nicholas Cage) and Mesmerized (Jodie Foster). He has also been part of such TV shows as Cagney and Lacey, Star Trek Voyager, Beauty and the Beast and Dark Justice, and has appeared in episodes of The X-Files, Judging Amy, Murder She Wrote, Knotts Landing and Star Trek: Next Generation. His work in theater includes A Comedy of Errors (Old Globe), Equus (National Company), Mooncalf (Culver Studios) and Spec (New Met Theater) among others. He has won Dramalogue Awards for Twelfth Night (Old Globe), Orphans (Old Globe), High Tide (Powerhouse Theater) and The Sport of my Mad Mother (Cast Theater), and a L.A. Weekly Award for Plato's Symposium (Powerhouse Theater/Court Theater).

Shor's work as a video writer and director is also quite extensive having worked in such videos and shows as Life On Film: Rock, Ecomaniacs, State of Liberty, Fish Out of Water and over 30 short videos for the Saipan and Guam Visitors Channels. His recent work includes Bigfoot Entertainment and Fashion TV's reality show Screen Test.

TED MADAMBA, JR.

Over the past two decades, Ted Madamba Jr. has successfully made the transition from photography hobbyist to professional photographer, reaping prestigious awards from various photo competitions.

His continuous search for new and captivating images has brought him to many exotic locations throughout Asia and North America. Ted conducts seminars and workshops on digital photography sponsored by Kodak and Canon, by local universities and summer workshops on photography for various organizations in Cebu.

IVAN KINTANAR

Ivan C. Kintanar has worked in the VFX and Post Production Industry for over eight years as a VFX Supervisor, Post Production Supervisor, Creature TD, CGI and VFX TD and Senior Compositor. He has over 30 film and TV VFX credits and has been a key contributor in the development of VFX workflows and pipelines for the companies he has served. These include the areas of creature pipelines, matchmoving, dynamics and simulations, digital painting-sculpting, mentalray rendering, previs, roto-paint, VFX data/filme management, color management/color pipelines and onset VFX supervision.

Currently, Kintanar is the VFX technical director for Bigfoot Entertainment, supervising projects and pipelines in VFX/CGI Design, 3D Animation and FX, Motion Graphics and Compositing.

FREDERICK BAILEY

Frederick Bailey made his debut as a feature director in 1999 with a story about a sword-wielding superhero in ‘Shogun Cop' (Bushido Pictures). He also wrote "Quick", the highly successful action thriller which premiered worldwide on HBO in 1993. He co-wrote "Terminal Justice" a science-fiction thriller for Spectacor/Promark starring Lorenzo Lamas, Peter Coyote and Chris Sarandon premiering on HBO in 1996. He also collaborated on the film "Goodbye America" for Quantum Entertainment in 1997 starring James Brolin and Michael York. Frederick has a long list of credits to his name and his experience as a director, screenwriter and actor allows him to share his real-world Hollywood experience with students at IAFT.

MARK GARY

Mark Gary's first feature film as a director, Sandalang Bahay (The Leaning House) had its European premiere in Fribourg, Switzerland in March 2006, and will be having its U.S. premier on April 27 at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California.

Mark Gary currently works as a director and DOP for television commercials for clients such as Sprite, Wrigley, Sarah Lee, and Unilever, and has shot in a variety of studio and location situations as well as in many formats including Super 8, 16mm, 35mm, DVCAM, and high definition 24P video. He has also worked as DOP for a number of feature films, and made several award winning music videos and short films over the past years.

VASILIOS BLIOUMIS

Blioumis boasts of experience that goes beyond his specializations of directing and producing. Having worked in most of Europe, he has been actively involved in all areas of filmmaking, acting included.

His experimental feature film 13th God received several awards in the 5th Thessaloniki Independent Festival, while Omega won the Best Greek Feature Film Award in the 8th International Panorama of Independent Film and Videomakers in December 2006. He is currently pursuing further studies in film directing and producing.

ZACHARY KAPLAN

Zachary Kaplan graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from The George Washington University, where he focused in directing and received a cash grant for playwriting. Fueled by an ongoing interest in film, he attended a one-year advanced directing program at the New York Film Academy, where he directed a 30-minute short film. After working in the entertainment industry as a certified assistant editor, voice-over talent agent's assistant, literary agent's assistant, a script reader, as well as three development internships, he attended UCLA's professional screenwriting program. He continued to USC, where he received a Master's degree in Screenwriting.

Since then, Kaplan has been signed by the Barry Perelman Agency, and shopped his two screenplays, Eclipse and The Hills, to some of the biggest production companies in Hollywood. Eclipse is currently being packaged by CAA. Zack began his teaching career at LA's inner city Manual Arts High School, where he taught film production and writing.

DIEGO ROMERO

From Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Diego Romero has had considerable experience as Director of Photography in several countries, counting his home country, Belgium, London and Los Angeles. Containing film and television, to music videos and documentaries, he holds a long catalog of credits that include many short and feature length films that have made the rounds in renowned film festivals.

Romero was Director of Photography of the 2005 short film Africains Poids Moyens, which was recognized by the 2005 Sithengi Cape Town World Cinema in South Africa with the Best Short Film Award. As, As In (2003), of which he was also Director of Photography, won the Ken Russell Short Film Award at the 2004 Clerkenwell Film and Video Festival.

JOHN-MARK SLADE

Since graduating from Laban, London in 2005 with a first class honors degree in Dance Theater and the Marion North Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance, John-Mark Slade has worked with a diverse and varied range of dance and theater companies as a performer, choreographer and teacher. His work in theater includes All For One a site-specific dance piece for London Design Festival, 'Burning' for Sparetyre Theater Co. and a residency with Inc.Theater Company. He has also danced for Tania Soubry (Luxembourg), Athina Vahla (Greece) and Merete Dam (Denmark) and has modelled for The Camera Club, London.

Slade has since expanded his knowledge in dance to the world of fashion, coaching and training models in how to move for the catwalk. This includes work as choreographer and artistic director for fashion shows such as East Meets West, Sex Sells, Fairytales and Fantasies, and The Collection, a showcase of some of London's hottest new design talent held at some of London's biggest nightspots.

YVETTE GARCIA DAVILA

A writer/producer from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Yvette García Dávila obtained a Master of Fine Arts at the Film School Conservatory at Florida State University. She has produced and collaborated on numerous short films including “Zeke” which screened at Cannes in 2003 and won both a Student Emmy and Student Academy Award. Another film, “3 a.m.”, earned her the ASC Heritage Award, a second Student Emmy, a Kodak Enhancement Grant and a first prize at the Screamfest Film Festival. She also produced ‘Misfortune’, a Triggerstreet Film Festival winner that screened during Sundance 2003.

Davila has worked in many TV and Film productions such as Weeds, The West Wing, The Hoax, Midnight Meat Train, Freedom Writers, Just Friends and Wild Hogs in both production and development. Her experience and knowledge in filmmaking has made her an expert in the areas of editing, cinematography, sound and production design. Furthermore, she worked as a correspondent at the Herald Standard and was co-winner in the annual Robert Frost Essay competition.

BARBARA POLITSCH

An award winning Director and Producer, Politsch is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Film and TV program and was a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute. Her undergraduate film 'The 28th Instance of June, 1914,10:15 a.m', was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Her films have received honors in competition in international film festivals including the grand first prize in San Francisco and St. Petersburg, Russia. Her work was also acquired into the permanent collection of the Hirschhorn Museum (Washington) and shown in several museums around the world.

Politsch is also the recipient of the Robert A. Daly Award (Warner Brothers) for exceptional talent and of numerous other academic honors. In the production field, she has worked for Good Machine, New York and the History Channel. She has directed various short films, documentaries, music videos and commercials.

ALAN LYDDIARD

Alan Lyddiard is an award winning theater writer, director and producer. His work has been seen in London, Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Jerusalem and New York as well as many other cities throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. Among some of the theater productions and world-class directors he has worked in and with are A Clockwork Orange (adaptation), Twelfth Night, Black Eyed Roses, The Tempest, Dracula, Lev Dodin, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Calixto Bieito and Alain Platel.

Lyddiard was artistic director and chief executive for Northern Stage (Newcastle), artistic director for the Tag Theatre Company (Scotland) and associate director for the Dundee Repertory Theatre. A member of the Scottish Arts Council, Lydiard is currently on a two-year bursary from Arts Council England to develop a range of creative international collaborations and develop new working methods.

FIORELLA GLAVE

A young editor, Fiorella finished her Bachelor of Arts, major in Visual Arts at the Ramapo College of New Jersey with her name on the Dean’s List.

She is proficient in Final Cut, Photoshop, Illustrator, DVD Studio Pro, Dreamweaver, Mac, AfterEffects and Avid. She has worked for Fox Searchlight Feature film “The Savages” in 2006.

TIM CRUZ

Tim Cruz's fierce passion for film has driven him to produce and direct a wide spectrum of projects, including a short film based on the book A Child Called It, which was included and honored along with his other short films at such festivals as Woodstock, Angelus, Sarasota and New York Underground. While honing his skills at both the SVA and NYU film programs, he continued to work on outside projects like Spiderman 2, War of the Worlds and Cinderella Man, where he worked as Assistant Camera, in addition to doing grip and gaffer work which eventually led to co producing low budget independent pictures. He has also been privileged to work as a segment producer for The Apprentice 5 and The Amazing Race as well as doing coverage and story analysis for Miramax and The Weinstein Company.

Cruz is currently involved in music videos, producing for 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Nas, Jessica Simpson, P DIDDY, Bjork, My Chemical Romance and other pop stars. He is currently in development for City Nights with Hell's Kitchen Entertainment and City Pictures for his directorial feature debut.

ANGELO RIVERA

Having been trained in a variety of dance and movement styles, Angelo Rivera has continued to grow and surge as an artist. His resume transcends every medium available - from Broadway to film and TV shows to commercials. Aside from this, Rivera is also knowledgeable in acting, competitive gymnastics, aerial acrobatics and stunt work.

He has been involved in a long list of theater performances, films, TV shows and commercials including Cats, Westside Story, Starlight Express, The Lion King, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and even the World Cup Ceremonies.

FRITZ KOHLE

As an award-winning freelance producer and production manager, Kohle produced episodes for Marienhof, one of Germany's most popular soaps with a daily viewership exceeding the six million mark. In collaboration with the Ludwigsburg Film Academy in Germany, he published the media handbook Medienmacher Heute. His passion in teaching includes working with young offenders as well as aspiring filmmakers.

His recent projects include post-production management on feature film for Studio Babelsberg, Berlin for productions such as Wim Wender's Soul of a Man and Jackie Chan's Around the World in 80 Days in addition to various German sopas such as Notruf 110 and Tatort.

ROBERT MILAZZO

In addition to filmmaking, Robert Milazzo teaches acting, directing and screenwriting for various film programs including Columbia University, Parsons School of Design, Rutgers University, Stanford University, and the Lee Strasberg Institute for Film and Theater. He also served as writer/director David Mamet's project associate for two years, in addition to having worked with William H. Macy, Mike Nichols and Sidney Lumet in a similar capacity. He also served as the assistant to executive producer for NBC's Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Most recently, he produced the music video "Almost Always" marking the directing debut for actor Mike Myers (Austin Powers).

Milazzo also produced and directed The Guru Pitka's Four Laws of Happiness starring Mike Myers at various venues in New York City. He recently wrapped his feature-film War Eagle starring Brian Dennehy, Mare Winningham and Mary Kay Place.

MALCOLM CROMIE

With more than 30 years of experience under his belt, Malcolm Cromie has built an impressive body of work in all areas of production and post production sound for film and television. Most notably, he was involved in various units throughout Peter Jackson's acclaimed and widely successful movie series -- The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was also involved with such international hits as Peter Jackson's King Kong (as main unit pick up shoot mixer), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (relieving main unit mixer) and Bridge to Terabithia (relieving main unit mixer).

Cromie's extensive résumé also includes such television shows and movies as Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, P.E.T. Detectives, Spin Doctors, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Deceit and Street Legal 2, documentaries for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and National Geographic, and hundreds of national and international TVCs. He is also involved with the soon-to-be-released movie 10,000 B.C. as splinter unit mixer.

FRANCISCO DIAZ

Fracisco Diaz has worked on several award-winning films and in a variety of roles. He worked as an editor on “Meg’s Song”, an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007 followed by a role as Prodcuer and Director of Photography for “Las Luciernagas” (Fireflies 2005). “Las Luciernagas” became an official selection at three international film fests; The Latin American Film Festival in Rotterdam, Holland, the 7th International Izmir Short Film Festival in Turkey and the San Diego Latino Film Festival. For, “Are You Feeling Lonely?”, Francisco was the Second Camera Operator and the film went on to be an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Best Film Award in the Molodist International Film Fest and the Gold Award at the New York Expo of Short Films. To top it off, the film also won the Reel Frontier Special Jury Award at the Arizona International Film Festival in 2004.

Proving his far-ranging capacities in filmmaking, Diaz is a writer, director, cinemaphotographer and editor of independent films such as “Pia”, and “Ruby” which were both named the Official Selection at the 2004 New School Invitational Film Festival and New York’s Rooftop Film Festival in 2002.

MALCOLM YOUNG

Malcolm Young is a senior film and television executive, having been in the film and television business since 1975. He spent his first years in the industry producing, directing, writing, shooting and editing television commercials, lifestyle program segments and documentaries.

As Head of Television for TVSN, he established a complete new broadcast studio and uplink facility in Shanghai, China and served as Executive-in-Charge of Production for the Hong Kong and Singapore based Bang Productions, whose major clients include Discovery Communications, Inc, National Geographic Channel, Celestial Pictures and CNN. Malcolm Young now runs his own production company, Firefly Films (Singapore) Pte, Ltd.

BRIAN TYREE

Brian Tyree is a prolific screenwriter who has written for the screen in various genres such as: Epic Drama, Live Action, Romantic Comedy, Adventure, Family Drama, and Comedy-Horror.

For television, the web and animation he conceptualized and wrote for Disney TV – ABC the “House of Mouse”. He studied at University of Southern California’s School of Cinema & Television and majored in Writing, Directing, Production & Animation.

ROY EISENSTEIN

Roy Eisenstein is a seasoned veteran of comedy and hidden camera reality television. Living in Los Angeles, he has collaborated and worked with many U.S. networks including Animal Planet, Comedy Central and ABC. He has made a career of developing and pioneering comedy vehicles that shape the genre.

His credits also extend to the stage, having written and directed several plays on the West Coast. Recently, Eisenstein has employed his services as an acting coach and mentor, teaching in Hollywood and abroad at The International Academy of Film and Television in The Philippines.

GILLIAN ARNOLD

Gillian Arnold is an energetic and versatile award-winning producer/director with over 25 years experience. She first started directing Prime time television drama at 23, and has successfully gone one to direct well over 150 episodes of television drama.

Her international experience includes producing/directing drama series in such countries as Singapore and Indonesia, as well as Australia. Upon returning to Australia she produced the world's first interactive/topical/reality drama series "Going Home" - written, shot and aired on the same day - 5 days per week. She later joined the directing team for the 4th series of "Big Brother" and is currently developing projects for Australian and overseas markets.

ELLIOT TONG

A graduate of New York University and Beijing Film Academy, Elliot Tong first began work as a scriptwriter on "Jackie Chan's First Strike". Under the direction of director Stanley Tong, Elliot went on to work on Walt Disney's "Mr. Magoo" and the CBS TV series "Martial Law".

In 1998, he joined Hong Kong's Emperor Multimedia Group as an Associate Producer. Four years later, Tong joined The Star Overseas Ltd. as Associate Vice President of Production taking up producing and feature film development duties for the company. That same year, Tong focused on development of his own production company, Foxy Brown Entertainment Ltd., which provided the entire Hong Kong production services to French feature film "La Moustache".

SIMON AKKERMAN

Simon Akkerman has been directing cinematography for over 35 years. He has shot 6 feature films, 7 TV series, more than 20 TV documentaries and over 2,000 TV commercials throughout the World.

During his career he has collaborated with clients such as NBC, MGM, Miramax Films, Channel 4 (U.K.) and Fox Television Australia among others. He has won several awards including 4 A.C.S. awards for best cinematography and was a 2002 finalist for a London International Advertising Award.

VOLKER LANGHOFF

Among this German Director of Photography's long list of credits are: the 1993 film Estelle, the 2001 B-52 (2001), and Uprising '89, Dresden, which won the Golden Dove award in the International Week of Documentaries and Short Films in Leipzig. His film education is just as extensive. In 1994, Langhoff graduated Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from HFF Potsdam-Babelsberg, and in 1996, he completed another MFA, this time from the California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS), Filmschool.

Langhoff acquired a special internship in photography with John Bailey, ASC and Laszlo Kovacs, ASC for the movie As Good as it Gets (Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Cuba Gooding, Jr.), and with Harold Ramis for Multiplicity, starring Michael Keaton and Andie MacDowell. Just as impressive is his scholarship with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.), the award-giving body responsible for the Oscars.

JACK MESSITT

Jack Messitt's work as a Director of Photography and Camera Operator is extremely diverse. His international experience includes everything from feature films and television series to music videos, commercials and reality TV. This includes shooting in Thailand, Hong Kong, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and throughout the United States. Jack is currently on the Board of Governors of The Society of Camera Operators.

After earning a Journalism degree from Indiana University, Jack worked on Chicago-based feature films and television series. He then moved to Los Angeles where he received an M.F.A. in Cinematography from The American Film Institute. Since then, he has shot with just about every production format available: 35mm, 16mm, 24P Hi-Def and others.

DENNIS GUBBINS

Dennis Gubbins is one of Hollywood's rising stand-up comics. He's been an actor for ten years and appeared in such outstanding shows as "Grey's Anatomy", "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn", and "The Pretender". He's also appeared in films like Baseketball, Beer Fest and Timecop.

He completed his studies at the University of Oregon and furthered his career through involvement in various theater groups including the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Groundlings Theater and Improvolympic Theater in Los Angeles, Second City in Chicago, and the Beverly Hills Theater.

FRED STRAUGHEN

Fred Straughen has worked in television production for over 20 years. Initially with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he then moved to Indonesia helping establish a joint venture production company. In Singapore, Straughen contributed to the establishment of a production entity which produced blue chip documentary products for international satellite broadcasters as well as material for a local terrestrial broadcaster.

Most Recently, Fred Straughen has managed a multi million-dollar 13 part series shot in Australia for Animal Planet.

MARIANNE PERSSON

A native of Stockholm in Sweden, Marianne Persson worked mainly as a line producer in the 80s and as an independent producer during the 90s. She has had the benefit of working with such directors as Daniel Bergman, Mai Zetterling, Gunnel Lindblom, and Christina Olofsson.

Marianne was responsible for producing many of the programs for MEDIA I and II. Since 1997, she taught film production full time at the Dramatic Institute of Stockholm. Many of the students she taught went on to produce films that achieved critical acclaim all over the world. She also lectured at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore, teaching Scriptwriting to a total of 250 students. She is involved with the production company Drakfilm.

CHRISTIAN MILLS

Christian Mills is co-producer of Hyperion Pictures forthcoming romantic musical comedy "Marigold". Prior to that he produced the feature "Three Way" starring Gina Gershon, Joy Bryant, and Dwight Yoakum, and the groundbreaking animated project "Which Way Is Up?" about a group of kids with learning differences.

A Graduate of UCLA's School of Theater, Film & TV, he began his career as an actor, guest starring on such TV shows as "Touched by an Angel", "Profiler", and "Time of Your Life."

ROBERTO MINERVINI

Italian-born filmmaker and photographer, Roberto gained international recognition in 2001, with the experimental short film 'To Be A Woman.' He then went on to write, direct, and produce five other award-winning short films, in three languages (English, Spanish, and Italian). His 2005 film 'Voodoo Doll,' for which he was interviewed on the CBS Evening News, features New York indie icon Sean Gullette ('Pi,' 'Requiem For A Dream').

Apart from working with Gullette, Roberto has directed many other prominent and experienced actors, including Nicole Vicius ('Last Days'), Jacob Reynolds ('Gummo'), and the Central American stars Perícles Mejía and Olga Bucarelli. His most recent work, 'Las Luciérnagas' (The Fireflies) is a Dominican Republic production and is being acquired by a cable television channel.

		SEAN C. COVEL & CHRIS WYATT Award-winning producers, Sean C. Covel and Chris Wyatt, have proved to be an unstoppable team since graduating from the elite Peter Stark Producing Program of the University of Southern California. The indie film, Napoleon Dynamite, which was their producing debut, took the industry by storm when it swept awards such as MTV Movie Awards, Teen Choice Awards, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and Satellite Awards. Later acknowledged as the most successful indie film of 2004, it also garnered numerous nominations, including the Sundance Film Festival. The dynamic duo was then nominated for the Producers Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Since then, major studios such as Paramount, have been seeking out the pair for more. Covel and Wyatt went on to produce The 12 Dogs of Christmas for Academy Award-winning director, Kieth Merrill; a comedy, Think Tank; and a supernatural thriller, Beneath.