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Tom Adams is Principal Analyst & Director, US Media at IHS Screen Digest, a division of IHS. Tom oversees the company's research on US media markets, which is made available through online subscription databases. He began his career in media research in 1987 as an analyst and later senior analyst at Paul Kagan Associates in Carmel, CA. In 1993 he founded Adams Media Research. In 2007 he sold AMR to Screen Digest Ltd., which in turn agreed to be acquired by iSuppli Corp. in June, 2010. iSuppli was acquired by IHS in November, 2010.

Scilla Andreen co-founded IndieFlix in 2004 where she served as Manager until being appointed as CEO in March of 2007.  Additionally, she is a producer, director and Emmy- nominated costume designer. She started her career in film while attending NYU as a political science major and working part time as a photographer covering the United Nations for the Wall Street Diplomatic World Bulletin.  In order to pay for school Scilla started a small catering company, called R.S.V.P.  Her first party was for 800 people with Mayor Koch presiding on the floor of the American Stock Exchange to commemorate the crash.  This led to Broadway openings, private parties for the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Bianca Jaeger, and Senator Javits and eventually a film industry party.  It was there Scilla discovered the film industry.  She left NYU and started writing screenplays and working on commercials and industrials which brought her to Hollywood to pursue film.  She has since worked on shows from the trunk of her car to major high-end studio projects, at times shooting multiple projects while managing several teams in NY, Tokyo, San Francisco and LA simultaneously.  Scilla had a reputation in Hollywood for being the best at handling difficult personalities and always coming in on or under budget.

Scilla has deep roots in the entertainment industry; producing several award winning films including festival favorites, “Outpatient”, “The Flats” and Sundance hit, “Bit Players.”  Her first film, “Mutual Love Life,” received Oscar Consideration for Best Live Action Short.  In addition, Scilla is well known for her Emmy-nominated work on “The Wonder Years” and setting well documented fashion trends through her designing on, “The Wonder Years,” “Party of Five,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Jack & Jill.”

Splitting her time between NY, LA & Seattle, Scilla is a tireless champion of independent film, driven by her belief that cinema should be utilized to entertain, enlighten and educate.  Recognizing that standard distribution is not a viable option for independent film to reach its audience, Scilla and producing partner Carlo Scandiuzzi decided to create IndieFlix – a free and trusted source for independent filmmakers to reach the broadest on-line audience, while maintaining the filmmaker’s rights and lion’s share of the profits.  Scilla has participated in numerous marketing and distribution panels at events such as South by Southwest, Sundance, Dubai, London, Cannes and Women in Film, and she is immersed in various film-related organizations.  Her favorite past times are thinking up tag lines, reading, sailing, cooking, and dreaming of napping on a beach someday. Scilla is best known for her contagious loud laughter, competitive game playing, ball gown skirts and marathon dinner parties.  When she can’t sleep, she blogs and buys domain names. 

Tobin Armbrust is President of Worldwide Productions and Acquisitions of Exclusive Media, one of the industry’s leading independent production and distribution companies.  Most recently Armbrust Executive Produced the company’s box office hit End of Watch starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña and the action romantic comedy Hit and Run starring Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell and Bradley Cooper.

Armbrust also produced The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe and is currently Executive Producing Academy Award®winner, Ron Howard’s epic action thriller Rush, set in the spectacular world of Formula 1, written by two time Academy Award®nominee, Peter Morgan, and starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl.   Universal Pictures is releasing the high octane Rush in September 2013. 

Upcoming films from Exclusive Media produced by Armbrust are the fast paced thriller Snitch starring action superstar Dwayne Johnson and Academy Award®winner Susan Sarandon, the action comedy So Undercover starring teen sensation Miley Cyrus,the romantic music comedy Can a Song Save Your Life? starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Hailee Steinfeld from writer/director John Carney, the action/comedy Agent: Century 21, starring Cameron Diaz and Benicio del Toro, A Walk Among the Tombstones starring Liam Neeson, Hammer’s The Quiet Ones, starring Jared Harris and Sam Claflin and the follow up to The Woman in Black, The Woman in Black: Angels of Death.

Other films Armbrust has produced include Matt Reeves’ Let Me In, The Resident starring Hilary Swank and Peter Weir’s The Way Back.  For Exclusive Media’s documentary feature label, Spitfire Pictures, Armbrust produced Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who, Last Play at Shea and Guys and Divas: Battle of the High School Musicals.

Prior to joining Exclusive Media, Armbrust served as a producer at Thunder Road, a production company with a first look deal at Warner Bros.  Armbrust oversaw over thirty projects in various stages of development, and Co-Produced Firewall starring Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany.

Before joining Thunder Road, Armbrust spent seven years at Intermedia serving under Co-Founders Nigel Sinclair and Guy East. At Intermedia he held positions as both a VP of Business Development as well as a VP of Production. During his tenure, he helped oversee several feature films including K-19 starring Harrison Ford, Basic starring John Travolta, The Wedding Planner starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, Adaptation starring Nicolas Cage, National Security starring Martin Lawrence, and Welcome to Mooseport starring Gene Hackman and Ray Romano and K-PAX starring Kevin Spacey.

Armbrust began his career in the film industry as Head of Acquisitions at The Steel Company, a Los Angeles based agency which represented some of the largest film distributors in the world, including Canal Plus, Samsung, and Pony Canyon.

Armbrust received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at UCSB and a Rotary Scholarship to study Business at the University of Munich, Germany.

The Board of Directors of FilmL.A., after a national search, selected Paul to become the third president of the organization in October, 2008. Since arriving at FilmL.A., Paul has negotiated new long-term contracts from client municipalities and school districts, initiated a public education campaign; “Film Works,” and has overseen improvements in the organization’s online permit system, “OPS.”  In 2012 a new long term Strategic Plan was developed under his direction and adopted by the Board in June.  Paul has been recognized for raising the public image and reputation of FilmL.A. and for greatly improving the internal management of the company.

A native of Connecticut, Paul was a police officer while completing his undergraduate degree in sociology and attaining his law degree.  His career path to FilmL.A. included time as an attorney, chief of staff and counsel to a Congressman, Deputy Secretary of the State of Connecticut and Mayor of Fairfield, Connecticut, Public Affairs Director for the City of Scottsdale and in July, 2007, Paul was recruited to become The Trust for Public Land’s first Arizona State Director.

Paul is also known for his work with arts, education and other nonprofit organizations having served on the boards of the Connecticut Zoological Society, two scholarship organizations, a municipal arts council (founder), a support organization for high school performing arts (founding member), the Regional Youth/Adult Substance Abuse Project, Fairfield County Children’s Choir (founding president), a children’s museum, Creative Leaps International (a performing arts education group), Regional Economic Development Commission (chair), Metropolitan Planning Organization, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Open Space, National League of Cities and the United States Conference of Mayors.

Robert Beaumont is the President of Lightning Entertainment, an independent production and distribution company based in Santa Monica, California. Robert  oversees all aspects of company operations, including development, production, acquisitions and sales for both international and US releases. Lightning Entertainment has domestic output deals with multiple studios, is one of the leading independent VOD programmers in North American, Latin American and Western European markets, and is a major content provider to international buyers and distributors around the world.

Robert came to Lightning Entertainment from New Frontier Media, a publicly traded broadcasting company based in Boulder, Colorado.  Robert served as the company’s Executive Vice President of Entertainment, after being promoted from Senior Vice President of Programming & New Media, Vice President of Programming & Promotions, and Creative Director.  Prior to that, Robert worked at Warren Miller Entertainment as a Producer and Segment Director for feature length adventure sports films and television series.  Early collaborations with Derek Cianfrance and Joey Curtis resulted in the acclaimed Sundance hit feature film Quattro Noza. During that time Robert also started Medius, a multi-discipline creative boutique, from which he produced and directed commercials, shot films, staged live music events, and helmed branding campaigns for an eclectic client list.

Robert attended the University of Colorado at Boulder’s BFA Film Studies program where he was mentored by legendary filmmakers Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon.

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Damian O. Benders is a leading digital marketing and strategy professional who has spent a career building and growing media brands..  He is currently the Senior Vice President of VOD Marketing & Programming for SnagFilms / Indiewire where he is responsible fore driving revenue and audience awareness for a large library of independent films.

Prior to SnagFilms, Damian was the Head of Marketing for Cinetic Rights Management (FilmBuff) where he oversaw marketing for the digital release of such films as Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Way, Nice Guy Johnny and PressPausePlay.

In 2008, Damian founded a digital marketing consultancy focused on web strategy, digital product innovation and brand development.  In 2009, he co-founded the film production company, Saboteur Media, whose first award-winning short film was licensed by HBO.

Damian has designed and launched digital media products on a national and international level in the print, music and film industries.  As a successful technology and marketing executive for over 15 years, Damian has held senior digital leadership positions in a number of Fortune 500 companies including Knight Ridder, Inc., American Express and Metro International. 

Damian earned a BBA in Information Technology Management from The College of William & Mary and an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Eamonn Bowles is President of Magnolia Pictures, the distribution arm of Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban’s 2929 Entertainment. Bowles started Magnolia in September 2001, with partner Bill Banowsky, concentrating on independent and foreign films acquired and released on a modest scale and amassing specialized theatres strategically around the country. Early film successes included the Israeli film, Late Marriage, the French thriller Read My Lips, and the controversial documentary Capturing the Friedmans. In 2004, Cuban and Wagner, formerly investors in the company, bought the company outright, merging its theatres with the Landmark Theatre chain. Magnolia has since been a pioneer in developing alternative distribution strategies, such as the pre-theatrical vod window, to create efficient economies for the increasingly challenging theatrical marketplace. Some of Magnolia’s more prominent releases include Melancholia, Man On Wire, Let the Right One In, Food, Inc., I Am Love, Hobo With a Shotgun, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, Control Room, Woman, Thou Art Loosed, The World’s Fastest Indian, Jesus Camp, The Host, End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, Bubble andThe Girlfriend Experience among others.

Prior to his work at Magnolia, he was president of Shooting Gallery Pictures, the distribution arm of Shooting Gallery, where he oversaw the Shooting Gallery Film Series, acquiring and distributing Croupier, A Time For Drunken Horses, and Eureka, among numerous others. Before joining Shooting Gallery in 1998, he was Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Marketing at Miramax and also served as Chief Operating Officer of Shining Excalibur Pictures, the entity formed by the Weinstein brothers to distribute Larry Clark’s controversial Kids. At the Samuel Goldwyn Company, Bowles served as Head of Distribution, where he was responsible for the release of The Wedding Banquet, Much Ado About Nothing, Eat Drink Man Woman, The Madness of King George, and Go Fish. He has also served as main programmer for the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival and New York’s famed repertory theatre, the Thalia.

P. John Burke focuses on media finance, with an emphasis on motion picture transactions. He heads the firm’s entertainment practice.

Mr. Burke advises financial institutions, investment banks, studios, equity and hedge funds, independent production companies, distributors and high-net-worth individuals on various aspects of financing film, television and other projects involving intellectual properties. He has extensive experience advising clients with respect to film slate financings, distribution agreements, tax-advantaged financing, subsidies and co-production arrangements in various countries throughout the world. He has also represented major studios and others in the creation, acquisition and development of various themed attractions, including related retail entertainment complexes.

Mr. Burke serves as an officer of and corporate counsel to the American Film Institute and as co-chair of the advisory committee of the UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium. He has served as a member of the advisory board of the AFI International Film Festival and the board of directors of the Japan America Society. He is a member of the Commercial Law & Bankruptcy and Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law Sections of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Entertainment Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. He has been a speaker at many industry events, including the UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium, the American Film Market and the Cannes Film Festival.

Mr. Burke received his B.A. in 1973 from the University of Southern California, his J.D. in 1976 from the Southwestern University School of Law and his LL.M. in taxation in 1977 from the New York University School of Law. He is a member of the California Bar.

Mr. Burke is listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2004-2011) and The Hollywood Reporter's “Top 100 Power Lawyers” (2007-2011). The Hollywood Reporter also listed him as one of the “20 movers and shakers you've got to meet at AFM” (2009). He is listed in Daily Variety's “Hollywood Law Impact List” (2007), The Best Lawyers in America (2006-2012), named as one of “America's Top 25 Pre-Eminent Practitioners” in the Best of the Best 2011 Expert Guides, listed in Los Angeles Business Journal “Who's Who in Law” (2010) and included as one of Marquis Who’s Who leading legal professionals in the “Who's Who in American Law 2011-2012 (17th Edition)”. In November 2010, he was named a finalist for The M&A Advisor's 9th Annual M&A Advisor Awards.

Philippe Caland has written, directed, produced, and executive produced independent films for the past twenty years. Over the last 10 years, Philippe studied the changing industry of filmmaking and created a patent for the methodology upon which JuntoBox Films is based. Philippe has directed several films, Hollywood Buddha which won 'Official Selection' at the SXSW Film Festival and The Paris Film Festival and Ripple Effect which won both the Boston International and Sedona Film Festival and stars Academy Award winning actor Forest Whitaker. Philippe recently directed the thriller Vipaka that stars Anthony Mackie and Forest Whitaker and is scheduled for release in 2012.

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Joseph D. Chianese is the Executive Vice President at EP Financial Solutions. He provides administrative, financial, tax and other consulting services for domestic and international film, television, and commercial productions. Mr. Chianese has almost 30 years of accounting, tax, and production experience, and has held positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, The American Broadcasting Company, Paramount Pictures, and Ernst & Young.

Throughout his career, Mr. Chianese has been responsible for the tax, finance, and production structures for film and television productions in excess of $5 billion. He is also regarded as one of the leading experts in worldwide production incentives and other government subsidies.

Mr. Chianese is a CPA with a BBA in Accounting, a Masters in Tax, and an MBA.

Yvonne Chuang - Former Celestial Pictures and Fortune Star executive joined Tomson Group in August 2010. Yvonne Chuang managesthe company Tomson International Entertainment Distribution Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tomson Group Ltd, a property developer conglomerate established in Hong Kong for over 20 years. The publicly listed Group has a net asset value of over US$1.3 billion. Tomson International Entertainment Distribution Ltd is the brand new label for the film and entertainment business of the Group, aiming to become an integrated entertainment company on Films aggregation and Film financing, Films distribution, Talent management and Concert promotion.

Yvonne Chuang has almost 20 years of media experience specialized in film and content acquisitions, aggregation, distribution and international sales and licensing. Develop content strategies and determine sound content deals. Experienced in setting up new business divisions/units, reviewing business and content issues and strong in managing and achieving bottom line margin for the business.

Yvonne Chuang has alsobeen serving various renowned entertainment companiesand a copyright society, namely Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd.; Golden HarvestEntertainment Co. Ltd.; The Composers and Authors Society of HK Ltd. (CASH); FirstDistributors (HK) Ltd. From which the scope include Film financing and aggregation, setting up a film library system andfilm library content management of more than 700 titles; content sales and distributioninto the Asia Region; copyright licensing and protection.

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The saga of independent filmmaker Roger Corman ranks as one of the most amazing motion picture success stories. Having produced more than 450 films and directed fifty others, his influence on American film goes far beyond his own energetic, creative low-budget movies. He is arguably one of Hollywood's most gifted and masterful film makers.

Noted for his keen ability to spot young talents, his most lasting legacy will undoubtedly be the legion of producers, directors, writers, and actors he has fostered, among them: Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, Peter Fonda, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, Gale Ann Hurd and Charles Bronson.

Born in Detroit in 1926, Corman graduated from Beverly Hills High School. In 1947, he received a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Stanford University. After a stint in the Navy, he took a job at 20th Century Fox and by 1949 was a story analyst at the studio. Disenchanted with a studio protocol, he left Fox for England, where he did post-graduate work in modern English literature at Oxford's Balliol College. Upon his return to Hollywood, Corman worked briefly as a literary agent.

In 1953, Roger Corman sold his first screenplay, entitled HIGHWAY DRAGNET, to Allied Artists and served as associate producer on the film. With the proceeds of the sale he made THE MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR the following year, his first film as an independent producer, on the remarkable budget of $18,000.

The triumph of his initial endeavor proved that a high quality film can be made with very little money. As a result, Corman began producing a wide array of low-budget features for American International Pictures; all were extremely successful. He tackled a variety of genres, from Westerns and gangster films to sci-fi, teen-age hot rod and rock'n'roll movies. In 1957 alone Corman turned out nine films - some of which were completed in two or three days.

With this string of box office hits to his credit, Corman began to procure larger budgets. Throughout the 1960s, Corman's cycle of Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe horror films earned him international acclaim. When the French Film Institute honored him with a retrospective in 1964, Roger Corman became the youngest producer/director ever to receive such an accolade.

Always a trendsetter, Corman made the first "biker" movie with WILD ANGELS. Starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra, the film opned the 1966 Venice Film Festival to great acclaim. Corman also began the late 60’s “psychedelic” film craze in 1967 with THE TRIP, written by and starring Jack Nicholson.

As American International Pictures' primary director, Corman's success built the company into a major force in Hollywood. Appalled by the intrinsic waste of time and money, as well as executive interference, Corman opted out of the major studio system. In 1970s, he founded his own production and distribution company, New World Pictures. New World's first year in operation astonished even Corman, as all eleven pictures distributed showed substantial profits.

New World rapidly grew into the largest independent motion picture distribution company in the United States. In addition to providing the public with such fastpaced entertainment as BIG BAD MAMA and EAT MY DUST, or cult films such as ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, New World soon became the independent leader in presenting high-quality foreign films to the American public. New World releases included Academy Award-winning films by Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut,
Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, and Werner Herzog.

In January of 1983, Roger Corman decided to sell New World Pictures. The sale allowed him to continue producing films without simultaneously managing a gigantic distribution company. It also enabled him to produce more movies with larger budgets. The day after he sold New World, Corman announced the formation of his new company, Concorde-New Horizons. In the year that followed, he released five new films: the teen comedy SCREWBALLS, the sci-fi adventure SPACE RAIDERS,
the sword and sorcery epic DEATHSTALKER, the punk teen drama SUBURBIA, directed by Penelope Spheeris, and LOVE LETTERS starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Concorde's releases include the critically acclaimed REFLECTIONS IN THE DARK, starring Mimi Rogers and Billy Zane and Paul Anderson's SHOPPING. For Showtime's "Roger Corman Presents", he showcased such films as ALIEN AVENGERS starring George Wendt, BLACK SCORPION II starring Joan Severence, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP starring Robert Carradine and VAMPIRELLA starring
Roger Daltry.

In 1990, Roger Corman wrote (with Jim Jerome) his autobiography "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime", published by Random House.

More than 50 years after his first foray into filmmaking, Roger Corman shows no signs of stopping. He continues to produce films and gain recognition for his vast array of accomplishments. In 2009, Corman received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers.”

Bonnie Curtis was born in Texas and graduated as Valedictorian from Abilene Christian University with a BA in journalism.   She moved to Los Angeles with her first love in mind: film.

Curtis immediately found production work on the films Dead Poets Society and Arachnophobia before being hired as Steven Spielberg’s assistant in 1990—embarking on what would become a fifteen-year professional relationship with the acclaimed director.

After the films Hook and Jurassic Park, Curtis became a Production Associate on Schindler’s List and served as Associate Producer on The Lost World:  Jurassic Park, and Amistad.  In 1998 she Co-Produced the epic blockbuster Saving Private Ryan, for which she received the “Producer of the Year” award from the Producers Guild of America. Next came A.I. Artificial Intelligence followed in 2002 by Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise.  

Fulfilling a longtime desire to work with a first-time filmmaker, Curtis produced The Chumscrubber with Lawrence Bender (Good Will Hunting, An Inconvenient Truth) for first-time director Arie Posin in 2005. The film starred Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes and Jamie Bell and was an official selection for both the Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest Film Festival as well as winning the “Audience Award for Best Film” at the Moscow Film Festival.

Next up was Albert Nobbs, starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Brendan Gleeson, which Rodrigo Garcia (Mother and Child) directed in Dublin, Ireland.  She produced Nobbs with Close, Garcia’s longtime producer Julie Lynn and Alan Moloney (Breakfast on Pluto). The film received three Academy Award nominations.

She is currently in post production on Look of Love, which her Chumscrubber director Posin co-wrote and directed starring Annette Bening, Ed Harris and Robin Williams.  Curtis is producing with fellow Albert Nobbs producer, Julie Lynn—and the two producers have partnered under Lynn’s production company label:  Mockingbird Pictures.  Mockingbird Pictures upcoming slate includes projects in film, television and animation.  Next up:  5 to 7, starring Diane Kruger and Anton Yelchin, which was written and will be directed by Victor Levin.

In 2002 Ms. Curtis was featured as one of thirty “Great Women of Film” in Helena Lumee’s best selling book from Watson Guptill Press.  In 2004 she was the recipient of the Women in Film Topaz Award from the Dallas chapter.  She has co-chaired GLSEN’s (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) Respect Awards for the past five years and has served as an Honor Society Member for the organization since 2005 and currently serves on the organization’s National Leadership Council.

Ms. Curtis lives in Los Angeles with her partner of 13 years, graphic artist Kim Lincoln, their daughter Maggie, and their dog Boo.

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Economist graduated from the Universidad de los Andes with a Masters in Economic Law.

She spent 10 years working with the Fund for Film Promotion “Proimagenes”, and was the organization’s assistant director, actively participating in the diagnosis, design and conception of the Film Law.  Since 2008 she is the director of the Colombian Film Commission.

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Wikipedia calls Cassian Elwes one of the most important figures in independent cinema.

Elwes began his producing career with 1983's "Oxford Blues" starring Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy and quickly went on to make another 29 films, including "Men At Work", with Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, and "The Chase" with Sheen.

In 1995, Elwes joined William Morris and headed William Morris Independent for 14 years. His first effort was the long stalled project "The English Patient" which won best picture that year. He quickly followed up with such indie hits as "Slingblade" and "The Apostle,” both of which were nominated for multiple Oscars.  "Monster's Ball" was their follow up which won the Oscar for Halle Berry.

Elwes is considered an expert in the field of arranging financing and distribution for independent films having done so for 283 films during his tenure at William Morris Independent.  Additional titles during that time include "Thank You For Smoking," "Half Nelson," and "Frozen River.”

Since leaving William Morris Independent a year and a half ago, Elwes has been involved in arranging financing and distribution for multiple films including “Lawless,” directed by John Hillcoat (“The Road”), starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy and the upcoming thriller “The Paperboy,” directed by Lee Daniels (“Precious”), starring Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron. Elwes is currently producing period drama “The Butler,” also to be directed by Lee Daniels, which features an ensemble cast including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Jane Fonda, David Oyelowo, Aml Ameen and Robin Williams.

Liza Foreman is a Film Reporter for TheWrap. She is a former staff reporter for Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and has been covering the entertainment business since 1996.  She served as Variety’s German Bureau Chief in Berlin and as the paper’s Senior Film Reporter in London before moving to Los Angeles as U.S. Editor of Moving Pictures International. She then worked as a Film Reporter at The Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles. She has also  reported worldwide on a variety of subjects (Great Homes and Destinations, Style, Travel) for The New York Times and the paper’s global edition, The International Herald Tribune, and has contributed to The Financial Times, The Times, The Observer and Reuters. She oversees breaking film news for TheWrap, an entertainment news website, launched by a former New York Times correspondent, Sharon Waxman.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing, Mr. Hans Fraikin has occupied several key positions within the film and television industry with Twentieth Century Fox in Asia and Europe. He was also involved in the start-up of two IT companies in France and Spain, and he served as Director of Telefilm Canada’s European office until 2006.

Mr. Fraikin brings a wealth of global industry knowledge to the Quebec Film Industry, in addition to his proven expertise in international business development. Indeed, since 2006, his role as the Quebec Film and Television Commissioner allows him to tirelessly promote Quebec as a production center of international caliber.

Furthermore, in his role as managing director of the Metropolitan Film and Television Cluster, he works at marshaling the business community around common goals and projects to ensure growth, competitiveness, innovation and profitability for all sectors in the industry

Patrick Frater has over 20 years of experience writing about and analysing the international film industry, with publications including Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, where he was its Asia editor. In 2010, he co-founded Film Business Asia.

Based in Hong Kong, FBA is a next-generation film trade publication -- less a magazine and more a market intelligence platform -- for and about the Asian film industry.

The company operates a busy trade news and reviews service online and has recently launched its first data services sold on a subscription basis. In just over a year the company has published 2,000 news and film review stories and its weekly newsletter has just reached its millionth reader.

Film Business Asia has also successfully branched into print, with special issues published at the Cannes, Busan and Tokyo festivals, at Hong Kong’s FilMart and market dailies at ScreenSingapore.

Film Business Asia recently published its first dedicated issue at the American Film Market.

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Amy Friedlander Hoffman currently runs Priority Digital Media, a strategic consulting practice focused on content and distribution strategy across TV, broadband and mobile. Engagements include digital media strategy, entitlement of content across multiple platforms, broadband and cable content distribution, IPTV, VOD, rich media on-line advertising and software solutions for multiplatform content delivery and management.

Prior to starting her own business, Amy was the Senior Vice President, Programming for AT&T Operations. As AT&T entered the video market to compete with cable and satellite, Amy oversaw the interactive programming and convergence for Project Lightspeed, the initiative to expand the fiber-optics network deeper into neighborhoods to deliver AT&T U-verse TV, AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet, U-verse Enabled and voice over IP services. Amy was ultimately responsible for AT&T’s broadband programming, which included overseeing all online content negotiation and licensing, and execution of AT&T's broadband and three screen content plans for AT&T’s online services. Such services included Blue Room, Homezone, Broadband TV, U-

Previously, Amy served as General Counsel and SVP of Business Development for Intertainer, the first VOD service delivered over both broadband and cable and helped the company raise over $100 Million from companies such as Microsoft, Comcast, Intel, Qwest, Sony, NBC and Thomson Consumer Electronics. She was responsible for negotiating content agreements with the major studios and programmers, distribution agreements with cable companies and telcos, and general technology ventures. In the Business Development role, Amy was responsible for international development and led her team to implement Intertainer’s strategy related to content distribution and software services.

Prior to her tenure with Intertainer, Amy practiced corporate law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles. She holds a JD from the University of Chicago, and a BA with honors from the University of Michigan.

In 2009, SACHA GERVASI (Directed by) wrote and directed the acclaimed documentary ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, which The New Yorker critic Anthony Lane referred to as "the most stirring release of the year," while The London Times called it “the greatest movie ever made about rock ‘n’ roll.” The story traces the influential career of the band Anvil, once hailed the demigods of the Canadian heavy metal scene, and their last-ditch quest for elusive fame and fortune.  For ANVIL, THE STORY OF ANVIL, Gervasi won Best Documentary at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards and was nominated by the DGA for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. The film also won the 2010 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Arts and Culture Program” as well as being shortlisted by many critics groups around the country as one of the best documentaries of the year. As a teenager in London in 1981, Gervasi had befriended Anvil when they played at the famed Marquee Club, and eventually became a roadie for the band on three tours. After being taught how to play the drums by Anvil’s Robb Reiner, Gervasi played with several London bands, and later became one of the founding members of the rock group Bush.

After working for British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, Gervasi moved to Los Angeles in 1995 to attend the graduate screenwriting program at UCLA's film school, where he twice won the BAFTA LA scholarship. While in the program, he supported himself by working as a journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines. He was later appointed the Hunter/Zakin screenwriting chair at UCLA and taught there in the spring of 2009.

Gervasi got his start in film after penning THE BIG TEASE, which he co-wrote with Craig Ferguson, and later went on to write THE TERMINAL, made into a 2004 directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. He also wrote and executive produced the film HENRY’S CRIME, starring Keanu Reeves, James Caan and Vera Farmiga.

Gervasi is currently attached to write and direct a biopic about actor Hervé Villechaize, based on Gervasi's own interviews with the diminutive Frenchman, conducted only days before the actor committed suicide in 1993.

Benoît Ginisty was appointed Director General of FIAPF in February, 2009.

FIAPF’s members are 30 producers' organizations from 27 countries on five world continents. FIAPF is the only organisation of film and television producers with a global reach. FIAPF's mandate is to represent the economic, legal and regulatory interests common to film and TV production industries worldwide.

From 2005 to 2009, Benoît Ginisty was held the post of FIAPF Deputy Director General, in charge of the accreditation policy for international film festivals. FIAPF accreditation is a quality label granted to festivals that undertake to respect the high quality standards defined by the film and television producers’ community worldwide.

Prior to his positions with FIAPF, Benoît Ginisty was Secretary General of the Amiens International Film Festival (France) and also worked as a Senior Expert for the European Union’s MEDIA Programme (Belgium) in support of the European audiovisual industry.  In this latter position, he dealt with the film and TV distribution, promotion and festivals support schemes of the MEDIA Programme.

Benoît Ginisty is 41 and graduated from the French Business School, ESC Amiens, in 1993.

Benoit Ginisty is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Cinema, and the Chair of the Advisory Committee of the European Audiovisual Observatory.

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An M.F.A. recipient from the Peter Stark Producer’s Program at USC, Darrien was formerly the Vice President of Production for DEF Pictures.  Darrien began her career at SAGIndie as the Event Coordinator, where she traveled throughout the country to festivals, educating filmmakers on SAG’s low budget contracts and all ensuing budgetary and distribution concerns.  She visited more than 25 states, 3 foreign countries, and over 60 festivals to consult with independent filmmakers.  Yes, she has a lot of frequent flyer miles.  No, she isn’t sharing them.

As the National Director of SAGIndie, Darrien is responsible for just about everything – global warming, U.S economic chaos, and the popularity of Wii golf.  She is also responsible for the strategic planning and oversight of SAGIndie, including administration, sponsorship negotiations, national advertising campaigns, and SAGIndie.org – the organization's online resource for independent filmmakers.

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Ann Glenn has 15 years of experience in digital marketing production with a specialization in social media and community management.  She currently oversees social media for Sony Pictures Interactive, including the movie, home entertainment and television groups. She has developed best practices that have been shared amongst several divisions and verticals under the company umbrella. Ann has developed creative ideas for social media applications and streamlined internal production processes for development of these projects. She has taught social media classes,  put on lectures to a variety of Sony employees and has advised external groups on all things social.  Ann has a passion for social media, not only working in the arena but being an active participant as well.  She is an ‘early adopter’ who enjoys using social media and learning how to leverage various platforms and their API’s to build robust, creative, strategic, engaging social media campaigns. 

Back when the world was still on dial-up, Ann produced the award-winning Dawson's Desktop, which pioneered a new level of fan interaction with the digital lives of their favorite TV characters on Dawson's Creek. More recently, Ann helped organized and executed a strategic social media campaign for the 2012 Emmy Awards, working closely with Twitter, Facebook production staff and the Television Academy. 

Most importantly, Ann is from Alaska!

Eleonora heads up the Russian Film Commission in Los Angeles for Roskino, and is responsible for creating an exchange platform between Russian filmmakers and Hollywood film industry and to stimulate co-production and viable cross-over opportunities between the twocountries.

Eleonora is also the Production Executive of FilmMaster, an Italian owned Content Production Company, specialising in advertising production, events, television and cinema, with offices in Milan, Rome, Dubai and Los Angeles,

Fluent in Italian and English ,with a good understanding of French and Spanish, Eleonora as a result, has played an active part in the world’s most established film festivals. She started her career by touring international film festivals such as Venice, Cannes and Berlin, working as a PR consultant and Film Representative, later returning to act as a U.S. Representative and  member of the Selection Committees for both Venice and Locarno and a Consultant for Tribeca Doha Film Festival.

Eleonora also spent much of her career working in film and television production and was a vice-president of acquisitions at Turner Pictures, senior vice-president of production at Pandora Cinema and a production executive at RCS films.  During her career, Eleonora has been responsible for acquiring international distribution rights to independently produced films, structuring financial co-ventures for feature projects and overseeing global marketing and media plans of films.

A graduate from the Milan Institute of Higher Education in Economy and Law, Eleonora later went on to achieve aDoctorate in Political Science & International Law.

Micah Green co-heads the Film Finance and Sales group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), an entertainment and sports agency based in Los Angeles with offices in New York, London, Nashville, and Beijing.  Green works in the Los Angeles office, where he specializes in packaging and arranging financing for motion picture projects and handling the sales of finished films.

Since joining CAA in 2005, Green and his group have packaged and arranged financing and distribution for hundreds of independently produced feature films, including LOOPER, THE MASTER, ZERO DARK THIRTY, THE HURT LOCKER, BLACK SWAN, and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, as well as the forthcoming UNTITLED DAVID O. RUSSELL PROJECT, JANE GOT A GUN, UNTITLED SPIKE JONZE PROJECT, and OUT OF THE FURNACE.

Prior to joining CAA in 2005, Green managed film sales consulting firm Cinetic Media with entertainment attorney John Sloss.  Over the course of his eight years with Cinetic, Green spearheaded the domestic sales campaigns for over 100 feature films including NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, SUPERSIZE ME, and SPELLBOUND.

He received a J.D. from USC Law School, an M.A. in communications management from USC’s Annenberg School, and a B.A. from Colgate University.

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As General Manager of Tribeca Film, a new independent feature film distribution company founded by Tribeca Enterprises, Todd is responsible for building, executing and delivering a year round film festival experience across multiple platforms. In its first year of existence, Tribeca Film has secured branded distribution in over 50 million cable, telco and satellite VOD homes and multiple digital platforms including iTunes, Netflix Streaming, Amazon and Vudu.

Tribeca Film is working to redefine traditional business models by leveraging the scale and reach of consumer brands looking to connect with the indie film audience.

Prior to joining Tribeca in August 2009, Todd spent eight years at Rainbow Media (Now AMC Networks) as SVP, Multi-Platform Distribution and Marketing where he was responsible for generating revenue from new and existing media platforms for the cable networks AMC, IFC (The Independent Film Channel), Sundance Channel, WEtv and Bravo. Todd is an industry leader in the development of VOD networks having launched some of the industry’s first VOD brands in MagRack and Sportskool.

Todd began his professional career with Kraft Foods North America working in senior sales and marketing functions across multiple brands including Starbucks and Maxwell House Coffee and Post Cereal.

Todd holds an MFA degree in film from The New School University and a BS from the University of Wisconsin.

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PAUL HERTZBERG is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CineTel Films, Inc.  Under his auspices and direct involvement since its founding thirty years ago, CineTel has become one of the leading independent production and distribution companies in the entertainment industry.  In addition to theatrical features, the firm has been highly successful in the production of pay television specials for HBO, Lifetime and the SyFy Channel.  New Line, Warner Bros., Lions Gate, Miramax, MGM, Anchor Bay and Columbia/Tri-Star have distributed much of the CineTel product, 16 of which have been released theatrically.

“Seven years ago, there seemed to be a sizable number of independent film companies that on the surface appeared to be doing quite well,” noted Mr. Hertzberg, who has been duly recognized for his contribution to the entertainment industry by his inclusion in Who’s Who in America.  Mr. Hertzberg is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences-Producers Division, the Screen Actors Guild, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Independent Film and Television Alliance (I.F.T.A.).  “Then, one by one, they began to disappear.  Now there are only a handful of us left.  CineTel’s strength has always been to remain on target with a certain philosophy: to produce, acquire and distribute motion pictures that appeal to a wide variety of audiences, yet are economically feasible for continued success.”

Mr. Hertzberg’s most recent theatrical productions include, A Rumor of Angels, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Ray Liotta and Catherine McCormick, was distributed by MGM/UA.  The action film KILLING MACHINE, starring and directed by Dolph Lundgren and the remake of the 1978 classic film I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.

CineTel was founded in his home state of Illinois by Mr. Hertzberg in 1980 and was originally known as Chicago Teleproductions.  During its early days, Mr. Hertzberg and Chicago Teleproductions produced comedy and musical programming for HBO, Showtime, ON-TV, and RCA/Columbia Home Video.  Among their programming was The Four Tops in Concert,  An Evening at La Cage, and Well…It Seemed Funny at the Time starring Martin Mull.  In 1982, the company was awarded a regional Emmy for the show Terminal Laughter, which starred Robert Klein, Tim Reid and Bruce Baum.

Changing the company’s name to CineTel Films, Mr. Hertzberg moved the corporate offices to Los Angeles in 1983.  After arriving on the West Coast, CineTel had continued success with television productions, which included a special starring Jayne Kennedy and two 30-minute HBO specials entitled And If I’m Elected…, hosted by the Smothers Brothers.  Other titles include The Monterey Jazz Festival, and Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul.

Kevin Iwashina is a Managing Partner of Preferred Content, a film production, sales and finance advisory company.

Founded in January 2010, Preferred Content (PC) is one of the premiere brokers of North American distribution rights for both fictional and non-fictional filmed entertainment content.  Additionally, PC is a leading supplier of independent movies with a specialization in low budget genre and documentary features. 

Recent PC productions include David Gelb’s feature documentary, JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI, distributed in North America by Magnolia Pictures, Nicholas McCarthy’s THE PACT, released in the US and Canada by IFC Films and Xavier Gen's THE DIVIDE, distributed in North America by Anchor Bay.  Other PC sales and financing projects include the 2011 Toronto Midnight Selection THE DAY, the 2012 Sundance competition films THE END OF LOVE directed by Mark Webber and Ira Sachs’ KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, and the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award winner ANY DAY NOW.

In addition to his responsibilities at PC, Iwashina is the Managing Partner of Preferred Ventures, a digital media venture fund launched with Chris Kelly, the former Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook, and Ed Ojdana, the founder of FreeCreditReport.com.  Iwashina also holds the title of Managing Director of City Room Creative, an entertainment marketing and creative editorial agency.  Lastly, he is partnered with Christine Vachon in Killer Digital, a production company focused in creating original content for digital platforms.

Prior to founding PC and his suite of affiliated companies, Iwashina spent 10 years at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he was a talent agent, specializing in film packaging, financing and distribution.  Individual projects for which he has arranged distribution and financing include Richard Kelly's DONNIE DARKO, Zach Braff's GARDEN STATE, Paul Haggis' Academy Award winning CRASH and the Peabody Award winning documentary NANKING.  Clients Iwashina has represented include Italian filmmaker Gabriele Muccino, French filmmaker Patrice Chereau, European actors Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci and Emmanuelle Seigner, independent films icons John Waters and Christine Vachon as well as Netflix and the former Vice Chairman of AOL, Ted Leonsis.

Iwashina holds a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in French Language and Culture from U.C.L.A.  He is active in the non-profit and political sectors and currently serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and is a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association (IDA).  He began his career in the mailroom at the United Talent Agency (UTA).

  
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Tatiana Kellyt ransitioned from advertising to film when she produced WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY, which starred Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Will Arnett, Leslie Bibb, John Hawkes, Shea Whigham, and Tom Waits.  It premiered at Sundance, was released by Lionsgate, earned her an IndependentSpirit Award nomination, was screened in over thirty film festivals, and was an eight-time Best Feature festival winner. She later produced HAPPINESS RUNS starring Rutger Hauer, Andie MacDowell, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jesse Plemons, SMOTHER starring Steven Bauer and Taryn Manning, and DARK YELLOW, starring Melora Walters and John Hawkes.

Tatiana most recently completed PERFECTION, based on the short film SLICE which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.  The film was a participant in IFPʼs Independent Filmmaker Lab, winner of the Adrienne Shelly female directing grant, and winner of Best Narrative/Best Actress at the Oxford Film Festival.  She also recently produced SUNSET STORIES which premiered at SXSW, starring Monique Curnen, Sung Kang, Joshua Leonard, Zosia Mamet, and Jim Parsons.

Recent theatrical releases include THE WORDS which was the Closing Night film at Sundance starring Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Zoë Saldana and Olivia Wilde and THE PROCESSION, written and directed by Academy Award-nominated writer Robert Festinger (IN THE BEDROOM), starring Lily Tomlin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, andLucy Punch.  She is currently in production on the film, LIFE OF A KING, starring Cuba Gooding Jr.  Her next project will be HOUSE OF CURL, based on the best-selling book Patty Jane’s House of Curl, starring Guy Pearce, Laura Linney, John Hawkes, and Abigail Breslin.  She is also developing several projects with Academy Award-nominated writers Tab Murphy (GORILLAS IN THE MIST) and Robert Rodat (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN), Ernesto Foronda (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), and companies such as Lynda Obst Productions and Hallmark.  She holds a Masterʼs degree from The London School of Economics.

Rich Klubeck is a Partner in the Motion Picture Literary Department and Co-Head of the Independent Film Group atUnited Talent Agency in Los Angeles where he has worked since 2003.  Rich’s clients include Joel and Ethan Coen, Wes Anderson, Angelina Jolie, Ewan McGregor, Mike White, Luca Guadagnino, Scott Z. Burns, Drake Doremus, Lynn Shelton, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Nicole Holofcener, Craig Gillespie, Miranda July, Faith Akin, David Michod, Mike Mills, Ziad Doureiri. He also represents leading video developer and publisher Electronic Arts.

In addition to representing leading filmmakers, financiers and production companies, Rich has handled the sale of worldwide distribution rights for independently financed films, most recently for films including Mike Mills’ BEGINNERS; Wes Anderson’s MOONRISE KINGDOM; SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN; Drake Doremus’ LIKE CRAZY; and Lynn Shelton’s YOUR SISTER’S SISTER.

Prior to UTA, Rich was the CEO of Danny DeVito’s Jersey Films.  He started his career as an attorney O’Melveny & Myers.

Jon Larson is Associate Western Executive Director of the Directors Guild of America, negotiating on behalf of its nearly 3,000 west coast-based Unit Production Managers and Assistant Directors and overseeing the Guild’s independent film organizing, low budget agreements and the work of its west coast field representatives.  Since 1999, he has participated in negotiations of the DGA Basic, Commercial and Low Budget Agreements, and has played an integral role in evolving the Guild’s approach to post production and creative rights for Directors. 

Mr. Larson serves as a Trustee to the DGA-Producer Training Plan; as a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; and as President of the Outfest Board of Directors.  He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College.

Victor Levin has been writing for film and television since 1990, most recently serving as Co-Executive Producer on AMC’s Mad Men.  Mr. Levin’s earlier work includes NBC’s Mad About You, where he penned some of that series’ most memorable episodes, including the groundbreaking “The Conversation,” a one-shot, one-take half-hour that aired without commercial interruption.  He became Executive Producer/Showrunner for the show’s 6^th and 7^th seasons.  Prior to Mad About You,  Mr. Levin was a Writer/Producer on HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show and Writer/Co-Producer on that network’s Dream On.   

Mr. Levin’s feature film writing includes Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004, DreamWorks SKG) and My Sassy Girl (2008).  He also co-wrote Then She Found Me (2008). 

A four-time Emmy nominee, Mr. Levin has won a Golden Globe award, a Cable Ace, two Clio awards and the Cannes Lion de Bronze.

Born in New York City and raised there and in Rockland County, New York, Mr. Levin received his B.A. from Amherst College in 1983.  In 2010, he was named the college’s Robert Frost Library Fellow.  His play, “Death in Scarsdale,” is published by the Dramatic Publishing Company.   

Mr. Levin is married to the violinist Jennifer Gordon Levin.  The couple has two daughters.            

Charlotte Mickie is the Executive Vice President of Entertainment One, a Canadian company that produces and distributes film and television.  Mickie was previously the Managing Director of Maximum Films, which sold movies in the international market and distributes in all media within Canada. Prior to Maximum Films, Mickie was Managing Director of Celluloid Dreams where she handled films such as Michael Haneke’s Funny Games USA and Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There. Mickie was previously Head of Alliance Independent. Among the movies she acquired and/or sold were Bowling for Columbine, Welcome to the Dollhouse and The Sweet Hereafter.

Mickie is currently handling a slate that includes, among other films, Sundance 2012 Grand Jury Prize winner  and Cannes Caméra d’or winner BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD by Benh Zeitlin; Errol Morris’ upcoming narrative feature FREEZING PEOPLE IS EASY, with Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Walken; Matt Shakman’s CUT BANK, starring Armie Hammer, Sir Ben Kingsley, John Malkovich, Michael Sheen and Teresa Palmer; KEYHOLE, the latest film by Guy Maddin, starring Jason Patric, Isabella Rossellini and Udo Kier; and Paul Andrew Williams’ upcoming SONG FOR MARION, starring Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton.

Other recent films on Mickie’s slate include ANIMAL KINGDOM, directed by David Michôd and starring Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn and Academy Award^®nominee Jacki Weaver; the Oscar^®-nominated documentary WASTE LAND directed by Lucy Walker; the Oscar^®-nominated drama INCENDIES directed by Denis Villeneuve; and Cannes competition entry SLEEPING BEAUTY by Julia Leigh.

Mickie currently serves on the Board of the AFM, and on Advisory Boards for Images Film Festival, ACE (Les Ateliers du Cinéma Européen), IFP (Independent Feature Project), REEL CANADA, and the TIFF Industry Centre.  She also sits on the Gala Committee for the Canadian Art Foundation.

Bahman Naraghi is an independent producer with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment arena. He was until April 2012 chief operating officer of GK Films.  In that role, he spearheaded the company’s financial and operational development and planning, oversaw all company productions, set up and oversaw the distribution structure of the company, and maintained and strengthened existing business relationships.

Naraghi previously ran Red Envelope Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netflix, spearheading Netflix’s foray into ownership and distribution of original content. In his capacity he supervised all acquisitions and production initiatives at REE, established the business plan and managed all key relationships, with producers, talent and their representatives, and distributors. Naraghi also coordinated and set up the financing and distribution arrangements for Terminator Salvation for The Halcyon Company, and served as an executive producer of the film.

Prior to that, he served as COO of Intermedia Film from June 2002 until October 2005, overseeing all of the company’s business operations and financial activities.  He joined Intermedia from Miramax, where he held the post of executive vice president of finance and operations, and earlier spent five years at Universal Pictures, where he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer.  He started his career in the entertainment business in 1990, supervising the rebuilding of MGM on behalf of French bank, Credit Lyonnais where he headed up the media and entertainment group.

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In June 2011, Ellis Perez was appointed as the Film Commissioner of the Dominican Republic.  Mr. Perez  isrecognizedasoneofthemainpioneersoftourismoftheDominican Republic and in the past, has been Minister of Tourism.  Ellis  Perez  is  very  well  known  as  a  radio and television personality  having  servedasABCNEWSlocalcorrespondentforaspanof25years.  Locally hebeganhistelevisioncareerin1967.   Currently he is the PresidentoftheBoardof  CERTV,the radioand  televisionentityoftheDominicangovernment.  From 2006 to 2011, he served as Vice President of  Communications and Public Relations for Cap Cana, one of the main tourism and real estate resorts in the Dominican Republic.  For  over 7 years, Ellis Perez was the hostofPresidentLeonelFernandezweeklytelevisionprogram“Agendadel Presidente”.   He is also a recipient of the Order of  the Fathers of the country,  Duarte, Sanchez y Mella, the highest honor bestowed by the Dominican Government.

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Mark Pogachefsky is president of MPRM Communications, serving the multi screen world of media and entertainment   He was founder and president of  The Pogachefsky Company, established in January 1992, which merged with Rachel McCallister & Associates and KillerAppCommunications in July 1998 to form MPRM.

Handling both production and release campaigns, the film practice of  MPRM has represented such projects as Moonrise Kingdom, The Impossible, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Soul Surfer, Jane Eyre, Fair Game, RED, Food  inc, Milk, Atonement, Brokeback Mountain, American Splendor, Elephant, In the Bedroom, Traffic, You Can Count On Me, Memento, LA Confidential and many more.

MPRM represents films at film festivals, such as Sundance, Cannes and Toronto as well as festivals and events such as Outfest, AFI Fest, LAFF and the TCM Classic Film Festival.  The agency also represents such corporate clients as: Olympus Pictures, Bunim/Murray Productions, OutFest, and Wolfe Video.

Prior to opening his firm, Pogachefsky was a senior vice president at Andrea Jaffe & Associates, and worked on Bugsy, The Grifters and Truth or Dare.  He began his publicity career in 1984 at Clein + Feldman, where he worked on Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Trip to Bountiful, Mona Lisa, She’s Gotta Have It, Heathers, Dirty Dancing, sex, lies and videotape, Drugstore Cowboy, Cinema Paradiso and Steel Magnolias.

He began his entertainment industry career in 1982 at Paramount Pictures, as assistant editor of the Paramount News, the company’s in-house magazine.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Pogachefsky is a graduate of Temple University.

Elena Romanova was born and raised in Rostov-on-Don.

After graduating from the Faculty of Finance at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow with a major in Finance and Credit in 1993, she began to build her career in the field.

Elena spent eight years at the major multinational company Coopers & Lybrand (PricewaterhouseCoopers), rising from an assistant position to the post of Manager of Taxation Department, where she handled issues of taxation of foreign legal entities, and developed methods to optimize the performance of multinational companies in Russia and abroad. During this time, she earned the CPA certificate: the leading global professional accounting and auditing qualification.

The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation recognized the great value of Elena’s experience, inviting Elena to work in The Department for Investment Policy and Development of Private/Public Partnership. In addition to developing extensive connections in the international pharmaceutical and medical industry, Elena’s involvement in attracting and monitoring foreign investments also allowed her to build connections in the film industry, which had interested her since childhood. As part of her ministry post, Elena was engaged in cinema development issues, such as state backing, private/public partnerships, and the industry’s economic recovery development strategy.

In 2010, Elena played an active part in establishing the Russian Cinema Fund and determining the main areas of the Fund’s activity, paying particularly close attention to issues relating to the international promotion of Russian films. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Elena was invited to take over as Head of the Fund’s newly established International Department in January 2011. In just a year and a half of its existence, the Department has managed to take promotion of Russian films abroad to a whole new level.

As a result of the hard work undertaken in the department, Russia has become a permanent fixture on the world’s largest film and media markets: Berlin EFM, Cannes Marché du Film, MIPCOM, and the American Film Market. These markets now include Russian Cinema Fund group stands, where Russian filmmakers have an opportunity to present their productions free of charge to content buyers from around the world. In addition, the International Department has been coordinating the launch of Red Square Screenings: Russia’s largest screening event of domestic films for international cinema industry professionals, which are scheduled to begin in October 2012.

Under Elena’s guidance, the department actively supports the participation of Russian films in major international film festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Venice, and Rome. The department also actively supports and helps develop co-production projects: in addition to providing financial backing, it organizes the Moscow Co-Production Forum – the largest forum of its kind anywhere in the countries of the former Soviet Union, which takes place as part of the Moscow Business Square at the Moscow International Film Festival. In 2012, Elena was appointed Head of the Moscow Business Square, taking the event to a new level.

Currently, Elena continues to work together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation on issues of national cinema policy.

Elena is married, and has two children: 15-year-old Anna, and 11-year-old Arseny.

David Rubin is the Executive Vice President of Physical Production for CBS Films.  He is responsible for all aspects of physical production for the division.

Rubin joined CBS films from Lakeshore Entertainment where he served as Executive Producer of such films as "Gamer," "Midnight Meat Train," "Feast of Love," "Crank," "Crank 2" and the Independent Spirit Awards Best Picture Nominee, "The Dead Girl." 

Prior to joining Lakeshore Entertainment, Rubin Produced, Co-Produced and Executive Produced a number of major studio and independent films, including: "Soul Plane," "11:14" and "I Am Sam." 

After graduating from Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film Production.  Rubin began his work in the film industry as an assistant to storied Producer Marvin Worth ("Malcom X," "The Rose").

Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks premiered in dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film, starring John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, and Rosemarie Dewitt, was co-written with Lena Dunham was developed through the Sundance Screenwriters lab and the IFP No Borders market. Nobody Walks won a special jury prize at Sundance and is currently being released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures

In 2009, Russo-Young’s feature You Wont Miss Me premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and played several other festivals around the world, including SXSW, Turin, Marfa and Sao Paulo. The film won a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature Not Coming to a Theater Near You and was released by Factory 25 on a special-edition DVD in 2011.

Ry Russo-Young studied acting at HB Studios and Lee Strasberg Institute, and she has appeared in films such as Hannah Takes the Stairs and The Color Wheel. She majored in film at Oberlin College. She has directed numerous commercials and shorts through Bunker, a production company based in New York. She is currently writing a new film and working on a pilot for cable television.

Eddie Schmidt is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and the producer of Emmy-nominated television and digital media. He produced four Sundance Film Festival premieres: THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, TWIST OF FAITH (later nominated for an Academy Award), TROUBADOURS (later nominated for an Emmy), and CHAIN CAMERA. Schmidt was also executive producer of BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING, which premiered at this year’s South by Southwest, was released theatrically, and is currently on VOD. The “Focus Forward” short he directed for Cinelan/GE, GOOD BREAD, debuted this summer at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival and is also available online.

For television, Schmidt most recently directed NBC’s Emmy-nominated WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?  He has also written, produced and directed both documentary and comedy series and specials for HBO, NBC/Universal, IFC, A&E, Lionsgate, E!, PBS, Current and GSN, and is currently supervising producer on a new cable series. As a pundit, Schmidt has appeared on several shows including 50 DOCUMENTARIES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE, ATTACK OF THE SHOW, and the STARZ INSIDE series.

Schmidt is also the former Board President of IDA (2009-2011), a nonprofit community and resource for documentary filmmakers, and was its interim Executive Director during the latter half of 2008.

Courtney Sexton is Vice President, Documentary Films for Participant Media, where she’s responsible for managing all of Participant’s documentary projects in production and reviewing the many projects submitted to the company for consideration. Currently, she’s overseeing documentaries about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, beloved entertainer/activist Bill Cosby and drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States told from both points of view.

Sexton joined Participant in 2005.   She has been involved with such recent projects as A Place at the Table, which had its world premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and Last Call at the Oasis, which premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival and was released in the U.S. by ATO Pictures in May 2012.  Other documentaries she’s managed for Participant include The World According to Sesame Street, the Academy Award®-winning An Inconvenient Trut, Angels in the Dust, Jimmy Carter Man From Plains, Darfur Now, Chicago 10, Standard Operating Procedure, Pressure Cooker, Food, Inc., Climate of Change, Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Waiting for “Superman” and Cane Toads: The Conquest.

John Alan Simon recently completed post-production on his feature adaptation of "Radio Free Albemuth" based on the novel by science fiction master Philip K. Dick, which he directed, starring Shea Whigham and singer Alanis Morissette, slated to be released in U.S. theatres in early 2013.

Next on Discovery’s production schedule is the adaptation of Jim Thompson's classic noir “Nothing More than Murder" with Simon slated to direct in Louisiana in mid-2013. 

In partnership with Rosenbloom Entertainment, Discovery acquired film rights to several other novels by Philip K. Dick, whose works have formed the basis for such successful science-fiction films as "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall," “Minority “Report” and “A Scanner Darkly.” Simons’s script for “Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said” was most recently optioned by Halcyon Entertainment (“Terminator Salvation”) on which Simon will also be a producer. 

Simon developed and produced the Roger Donaldson-directed version of "The Getaway," starring Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, and Philip Seymour Hoffman for Largo Entertainment.  The picture was theatrically released nationally by Universal Pictures.

As president and chief executive officer of Discovery Productions, Simon has been involved with the production, financing, sales, distribution and marketing of many successful independent features including, "The Wicker Man" (starring Edward Woodward); "The Haunting of Julia" (with Mia Farrow and Tom Conti); "Basket Case," and  "Out of the Blue" (starring and directed by Dennis Hopper);

Prior to his entry in the film industry, Simon was a successful journalist and film critic, both as staff writer for the New Orleans Times Picayune and as editor-in-chief of New Orleans magazine.During this period, Simon also taught courses in film and writing at Tulane University, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois.  In 2006, he taught a course on micro-budget filmmaking at UCLA extension.

Simon graduated from Harvard College with honors in History and Literature and served as an editor of the Harvard Crimson. He is a member of WGA-West and has served as a Board member of BAFTA-LA and currently serves as co-chair of both the Archive and Film Learning Events Committees.  

Nigel is Co-Chairman and CEO of Exclusive Media, a global, film entertainment company founded in May 2008.  With the backing of the strategic investment group Cyrte Investments, Exclusive Media develops, finances, produces, markets and distributes prestige and talent-driven theatrical feature films and documentary films on a worldwide basis. Sinclair, with his business partner Guy East, previously co-founded and ran the hugely successful Intermedia Films from 1996 to 2002.

Sinclair’s recent feature film production hits include End of Watch starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, produced with John Lesher, David Ayer and Matt Jackson, The Woman in Black, produced under Exclusive Media’s  recharged Hammer production label, on which Sinclair served as executive producer; the documentary feature film  George Harrison: Living in the Material World, produced by Sinclair with Olivia Harrison and Martin Scorsese who also directed the film; the Academy Award winning documentary feature film Undefeated executive produced by Sinclair; the Grammy winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth produced by Sinclair and George Clooney’s The Ides of March produced by Smokehouse Pictures and co-produced by Exclusive Media with Cross Creek Pictures and executive produced by Sinclair.  

Exclusive Media’s current production slate includes Ron Howard’s epic Rush starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl and produced with production partners Cross Creek Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Working Title, Brian Grazer, and Revolution Films; So Undercover, starring Miley Cyrus; Snitch, starring Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon; The Quiet Ones, directed by John Pogue and starring Jared Harris and Sam Claflin; Boneshaker, to be produced with Cross Creek Pictures; the romantic music comedy Can a Song Save Your Life? starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Hailee Steinfeld from writer/director John Carney; the action/comedy Agent: Century 21, starring Cameron Diaz and Benicio del Toro and A Walk Among the Tombstones starring Liam Neeson and also produced with Cross Creek Pictures.

David Spiegelman joined Relativity Media in the fall of 2010 as President of Domestic Television & Digital Distribution. In his role, Spiegelman is responsible for the distribution of all of Relativity’s products through every form of television including Free TV, Pay TV, Syndication, Network, and all digital platforms on a national level.

Spiegelman most recently served as President of Domestic Television Distribution for The Weinstein Company where he held a similar role in overseeing the licensing of motion pictures and television series across all forms of domestic media outlets.   

Prior to The Weinstein Company, Spiegelman spent 16 years at New Line Cinema, where he was instrumental in the creation of the television department. While at New Line, he created the “multi-network shared window” concept for licensing motion pictures, which has become the standard for how the industry licenses movies today. 

In addition, his sale of The Lord of the Rings franchise is the largest in history. He also worked on projects of note including theAustin Powers franchise, Wedding Crashers and the Rush Hour franchise. Spiegelman’s distribution responsibilities at New Line also encompassed the supervision of the television marketing department.  In this capacity, his team was one of the first in the business to create marketing campaigns that cross-promoted new motion pictures on television networks prior to their theatrical release. To date, his sales have generated more than $1.8 billion in license fees.

Spiegelman began his career in the training program at The William Morris Agency and graduated from The Park School of Communications at Ithaca College where he is now an adjunct professor for the school’s “Business of Television” course.

Graham Taylor is the head of WME’s Global Finance and Distribution group. Taylor and his team create advantageous financing packages and innovative distribution deal structures for the group’s financier clients and the agency’s content creators. Functioning as a consulting group with WME, Taylor’s division navigates the shifting media landscape, forging connections to do both traditional and non-traditional sources of project financing worldwide.

Alison Thompson is Co-president of Focus Features International, one of the world’s leading international sales agents and financiers representing Focus Features and other third party films.  Combined with Focus Features, it is a full-fledged studio which generates original and bold films that challenge mainstream audiences to embrace content from around the world and deliver commercial success.

Thompson came to FFI in September 2005, directly from the U.K.-based Pathé Pictures International, which was Pathé U.K.’s international sales and marketing division. Among the many films that Pathé handled since its formation in December 2000 was Walter Salles’s THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES and GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING directed by Peter Webber.

Prior to joining Pathé, she was chief executive of The Sales Company, one of the U.K.’s top sales agencies through the 1990s. During her 14 years there, Thompson represented more than 100 films from the world’s most celebrated directors. She began her career with the Rank Organisation and Channel Four.

FFI actively cultivates a diverse range of movies from a wealth of sources, whilst having the unique ability to tailor international distribution to suit each film, whether licensing distribution rights to independent companies or distribution through Universal Pictures International.  FFI distributes up to 10 titles annually, approximately half of which are produced and financed by Focus Features and half of which come from third party partners around the globe.

Focus Features International recently premiered four titles at the Toronto International Film Festival including: Roger Michell’s HYDE PARK ON HUDSON starring Academy Award^® nominees Bill Murray and Laura Linney; the epic fantasy CLOUD ATLAS starring Academy Award^® winners Tom Hanks and Halle Berry for acclaimed filmmakers Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski; ARTHUR NEWMAN starring Academy Award^® winner Colin Firth and Emily Blunt; and Andrew Adamson’s MR. PIP starring Hugh Laurie.

Focus Features International is currently handling sales on Woody Allen’s next and currently untitled film starring Alec Baldwin, Cate Blanchett, and Louis C.K. Additional titles include: Gus Van Sant’s PROMISED LAND, written by and starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski and Frances McDormand; Paul Weitz’s ADMISSION starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd; CLOSED CIRCUIT, directed by John Crowley and starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall; Academy Award^® nominated filmmaker Ruairi Robinson’s THE LAST DAYS ON MARS starring Liev Schreiber; OCULUS, directed by Mike Flanagan; MOONRISE KINGDOM, written and directed by Wes Anderson and starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand; and TO ROME WITH LOVE starring Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, and Penélope Cruz.  

Past successes include FFI’s all-time top-grosser, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Zhang Yimou’s HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERSand his Oscar-nominated HERO, Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film LOST IN TRANSLATION and her Golden Lion Winner of 2010 SOMEWHERE, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 GRAMS and BIUTIFUL., Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, Jim Jarmusch’s BROKEN FLOWERS and Fernando Meirelles’s THE CONSTANT GARDENER.  Also on the past slate are numerous films from celebrated filmmakers Pedro Almódovar – BAD EDUCATION, TALK TO HER, VOLVER and BROKEN EMBRACES, Ang Lee’s 2007 Golden Lion Winner LUST CAUTION and TAKING WOODSTOCK; Joel and Ethan Coen’s BURN AFTER READING and A SERIOUS MAN; and Mike Leigh’s ANOTHER YEAR.

Mr. Zhou Tiedong is currently President of China Film Promotion International (CFPI), a company directly under China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT), which is a combined and concerted force of the overall Chinese film industry, acting as the Chinese counterpart of Unifrance or MPA for promoting Chinese cinema worldwide and exchanges in film culture between China and the rest of the world.

He has been in this position for more than four years since CFPI was formally incorporated in June 2006 as a joint-stock enterprise with the staunch administrative backing of SARFT. Before this, he served as Vice President, Acquisitions, of China Film Import and Export Corporation of China Film Group, the largest film conglomerate in the country and the sole importer of foreign films authorized by the Chinese Government.

He started his career in film business in 1984, and over the past 24 years, he was appointed to Los Angeles to be business manager and later president of the China Film Import and Export (L.A.), Inc., a subsidiary of the China Film Group, for a span of ten years. With his long time hands-on experience, expertise and research in the film business and film studies, he is well renowned as one of the top film executives and scholars in China.

A graduate of Harvard University, TRACEY TRENCH has produced a range of entertainment - film, television, theater, documentary - that has grossed almost one billion dollars worldwide.  She also earned an M.B.A. in Finance from UCLA. She speaks several languages and has traveled extensively, working as a baker's apprentice in Paris and teaching English in China. She is currently consulting to Oriental Dreamworks, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s new Shanghai studio joint venture. She is also a liaison between the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hollywood studios and networks, and a guest lecturer and advisor at UCLA's Graduate Producers Program.

Before becoming a producer, Tracey was a studio executive at Twentieth Century Fox, where she developed and nurtured the idea of franchise family comedies, including “The Power Rangers.” During this time, as a personal project, she financed and produced the award-winning documentary "Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary," about a ten-year-old immigrant girl in L.A.’s poorest neighborhood. The film won a prize at the Sundance Film Festival, an Emmy nomination, and the DuPont-Columbia Award -- given out by the same committee that selects the Pulitzer Prize. 

Her skill at producing a rich story on a very limited budget impressed top executives Peter Chernin and Bill Mechanic at Fox who offered her the opportunity to produce the Cinderella-themed romance “Ever After.” The film was shot in the medieval Perigord region of France, starring Drew Barrymore.  It became a sleeper hit for Fox, grossing over $100 million worldwide. 

She has overseen and produced a total of thirteen feature films including the comedy hits “The Pink Panther”  starring Steve Martin, “Yours, Mine and Ours,” starring Dennis Quaid, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Herbie, Fully Loaded,” and “Just Married.”

Tracey also has experience making live theater, and she was on the Lead Producers team for ‘Grey Gardens‘ a Broadway musical comedy that won three Tonys.  She is work-shopping a new musical in London's West End later this year.

With company offices in Beverly Hills, California, Tracey Trench Productions develops and produces film, television and theater and Tracey is actively expanding her business in China. Tracey recently added a reality TV division to her productions -- her first show aired on Bravo in the US, with two more shows to air in 2013.  As a company manager and all-around producer, Tracey brings her story-telling skills anywhere in the world to nurture strong concepts through development and then guide projects through the various and complicated stages of production, distribution and marketing.

Sue is responsible for exploring ro*co's interests in all areas of documentary development and distribution, with special attention to adapting documentaries into feature films.

ro*co films productions was founded in 2009, and, under Sue's leadership, together with Managing Director of ro*co films, Annie Roney, have secured partnerships with OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, The OWN Documentary Club, and most recently, 1492 Pictures.

As a consultant and independent producer, Sue has contributed to the growth of ro*co films since its inception. She has a strong background in production as Producer/Executive Producer on several documentary film projects. Sue currently serves on the IFP Advisory Board.

Andy Weltman joined the Pinewood Studios Group in 2012 as Executive Vice President of Pinewood USA to head up the office in Los Angeles. He is responsible for managing Pinewood's US client base and coordinating the Studios' international sales activity. In recent years Pinewood has exported its brand overseas to studios in Canada, Germany, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic.

Previously, Andy was the Executive Vice President of US Production for the British Film Commission and the UK Film Council based in LA. Hehas been an independent film producer and oversaw Saltire Film and Television's feature film division in Scotland. He previously worked on studio films includingDead Poets Society, The Perfect Storm and Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World.

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Jonathan Wolf is Executive Vice President of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA®) and Managing Director of the American Film Market®.  Since his appointment in 1998, Mr. Wolf has guided the growth and repositioning of the American Film Market.  Now a pivotal destination for independent filmmakers and business people from all over the world, the AFM is a global marketplace where more than $800 million in motion picture and television production and distribution deals are closed each year. The AFM hosts more than 8,000 industry professionals from over 70 countries and screens more than 400 feature films.

Mr. Wolf also launched IFTA’s The Film Catalogue, acomprehensive online resource with details on more than 7,000 motion pictures. Available in nine languages, The Film Catalogue is the world’s most extensive resource for distributors and buyers.

Before joining IFTA in 1993, Mr. Wolf spent two years as President and Chief Operating Officer of Studio Three Film Corporation, a U.S. theatrical marketing and distribution company.  From 1986 to 1990, he served as Chief Financial Officer of New World International.  Prior to this, Mr. Wolf held finance positions with CBS Inc. for six years, culminating as Director, Finance, with CBS Broadcast International.

Mr Wolf is a graduate of the University of Southern California Business School.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Kay S Wolf.

Kay S. Wolf is the WGAW’s Independent Film Executive. Kay conducts outreach to emerging writers and filmmakers, encouraging them to use WGA contracts and join in the community of Guild writers.  Working with Guild members, she identifies and implements ways to increase independent narrative and documentary screenwriters' status and influence within the film industry.

Prior to 2002, Kay worked at the WGAW for eight years in a variety of positions, most recently as an Industry Alliances Representative in the independent film, new media and animation areas. During that period she also worked a year at IFTA (Independent Film and Television Alliance) as the Director of Producer Services. Before her Guild work, Kay was at ABC Productions/The Hemisphere Group in Los Angeles developing and producing international co-productions and at Saban Entertainment in development. She received a B.A. in telecommunications/broadcast journalism from Indiana University.

Throughout her life, Janet Yang has distinguished herself by serving as both a producer, and a cultural ambassador, in bringing the creative and business worlds together, as well as bridging East and West.  

Yang has worked with some of the most formidable directors and actors in the world.  She was partnered for many years with multiple Academy Award winning writer/director Oliver Stone. Her numerous award-winning film and TV credits include THE JOY LUCK CLUB; DARK MATTER with Meryl Streep, THE WEIGHT OF WATER, with Sean Penn and directed by Academy-Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow; HIGH CRIMES with Morgan Freeman; INDICTMENT: THE MCMARTIN TRIAL, which won both Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for “Best Made for Television Movie”; and THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, directed by multiple Academy Award winning director Milos Forman, and which won Golden Globe Awards for Best Director and Best Actor.

Most recently, Yang produced the film, SHANGHAI CALLING, a romantic comedy set in contemporary Shanghai.  The film has garnered numerous awards at prestigious film festivals around the world, and will be released in the U.S. in early 2013.

Prior to that, she was hired by Disney Studios to make a Chinese version of its coveted franchise, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, for Chinese audiences.

She got her start in production working in Shanghai with Steven Spielberg on the historic epic, EMPIRE OF THE SUN.

Yang began her career distributing Chinese films in North America by such now famous directors as Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.  She was then brought to Hollywood in the 80’s by several major studios to re-introduce American cinema to the Chinese marketplace, and successfully brokered the first sale of Hollywood movies to China since 1949.

Ms. Yang has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter. She has been featured in articles in the NEW YORK TIMES, WALL ST. JOURNAL, and LA TIMES, and has been interviewed by GOOD MORNING, AMERICA, shows on PBS, NPR, CCTV, and others. She holds a B.A. from Brown University in Chinese studies and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Ms. Yang is fluent in Mandarin Chinese

For more information, please visit:  www.JanetYang.com