The Think Tank

Michael Barlow
Creative Consultant, Motion Pictures

For the past six years, Michael Barlow worked in an increasingly active role in evaluating, acquiring, developing and supervising feature films for Paramount’s specialty division. Key projects included Black Snake Moan, Mad Hot Ballroom, Enduring Love, Mostly Martha, The Reckoning and American Rhapsody.

Mr. Barlow served as Executive Producer of Asylum, directed by David Mackenzie, starring Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellen, and released by Paramount Classics; shared writing credit on four-hour miniseries, Kidnapped, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Halmi; wrote feature screenplay for Bright Danger for American Zoetrope; wrote feature screenplay for The Fair American for National Geographic Films and Castle Rock.

He was Vice President of Production of Orion Pictures for five years, acting as studio executive on more than thirty feature films, including Platoon, No Way Out, Silence of the Lambs, House of Games, Back to School, Blue Sky and Bull Durham.

Mr. Barlow was Production Executive at Robert Shapiro Productions for two years, involved in the acquisition and development of feature film projects including Empire of the Sun and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure for Warner Brothers.

Additional credits include Associate Producer for The Postman Always Rings Twice and writer for the ABC dramatic series, Family.

Harold Bronson
Co-founder Rhino Records and Rhino Films; Producer

While an undergraduate at UCLA, Los Angeles native Harold Bronson took pleasure in writing about popular music for the "Daily Bruin," back in the days when non-staffers didn’t even receive peanuts for their contributions. He soon discovered that his writing was good enough to get paid by "Rolling Stone," "The Los Angeles Times" and others. Upon graduation, he had no better offer than to become clerk--then manager--of the Rhino Records store. He convinced owner Richard Foos that they should partner in a new record label, named after the store, which they started in the store’s back room.

Although they soon outgrew the back room, success wasn’t instant. Through the years the label grew, building to over $ 100 million in sales. Rhino’s secret? Let the music inspire you to new heights in quality and creativity, and treat your employees well. For some time, Rhino has been considered the best reissue label in the world. For the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, Rhino was awarded label of the year--among all the labels in the music industry--by the record retailers organization NARM. During the Clinton administration they received a special, corporate citizenship award from the Dept. of Labor as a reflection of how well they treated their employees. Bronson and Foos recently left the Rhino label, which is now part of the Warner Music Group.

Bronson’s and Foos’ interests have always been more than music, and initial projects of a new film division came to fruition in 1998 with the release of three features: "Plump Fiction,""Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas." Bronson’s personal passion to combine the music he loves with his interest in film is best exemplified in "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," the story of the first teen rock ‘n’ roll star, Frankie Lymon, and "Daydream Believers," Rhino’s 2000 docudrama on the Monkees produced for VH-1. Within the last year, Bronson completed production on "My Dinner With Jimi," which depicts the 1960’s rock scene.

Kimberly Brooks
President, Lightray Productions; Renaissance Woman/ New Media Artist

Kimberly Brooks is a painter (kimberlybrooks.com), new media wizard (lightray.com) and a founding advisor to Film Your Issue. As a juried artist, her work has been acclaimed and selected by curators from MOMA to Cal Arts to Chris Burden. Since founding Lightray in 1996 - a new media think tank and development company whose clients include NASA, Warner Music, David Bowie and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - Ms. Brooks has also been hailed an "interactive visionary" and earned a place on Variety's "50 People to Watch" and New York’s Silicon Ally Reporter’s Top Internet Movers and Shakers. Lightray’s work has a spawned television show, books and been featured in a variety of media from Vogue, to Fortune Magazine to Oprah (tv). In 2006, Lightray will launch its most ambitious project yet, a much anticipated, groundbreaking website for the LAPD.

Ms. Brooks has produced television (FOX) and radio (KQED) and spent one lifetime in Paris painting during the day and playing piano in restaurants at night. As Vice Chair of P.S. Arts, she is an active arts advocate and speaker devoted to restoring arts in the public school system. She also speaks about new media design (COMDEX, UCLA), blogs about the universe on the Huffingtonpost, and teaches "The Art of the Internet" at Otis College of Art and Design. Brooks holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley (Valedictorian Spkr, Literature), and received Fine Art and New Media training at Otis and the American Film Institute.

Dana Brunetti
President - Trigger Street Productions / TriggerStreet.com

Originally from Virginia, Dana was relocated to New York while serving in the United States Coast Guard. After completing his four years of military service, he then moved on to Wall Street as a stockbroker focusing primarily on the technology sector. From there, he was recruited by a start-up company to help launch the first digital wireless network in New York City. In 1997, Hollywood became an option when he teamed up with Kevin Spacey as his Executive Assistant. He later attended NYU Film School and participated in the development of Trigger Street Productions. Dana also launched The Image Factory, a graphics and editing firm located in Manhattan and Washington, D.C.

In November of 2002, Dana Co-Founded and launched TriggerStreet.com; a platform for undiscovered talent to showcase their work and receive feedback from their peers while gaining exposure from a global audience. Named one of the Ten Coolest Internet Video Sites (Internet Video Mag) and ranked as the top screenwriters site on the web (Alexa.com), TriggerStreet.com continues to gain ground in effort to promote undiscovered and emerging talent. In the past year, TriggerStreet.com has been part of the Tribeca, Toronto, New Orleans, and Sundance Film Festivals, taking 30 short films from the computer screen to the big screen. To date the on-line community maintains an average of 1500 short films that have been viewed more than 500,000 times, 3500 screenplays that have been downloaded over 135,000 times, and 130,000 registered members whom have written over 90,000 reviews of the submitted material.

Dana is also a producer of "Uncle Frank" (HBO), "America Rebuilds - A Year At Ground Zero" (PBS), "Timmy Olsen - The Teenage Investor" (FOX), "The Untitled Hacker Documentary - The 'Homeless' Hacker Adrian Lamo" (in production) and the much anticipated film version of the NY Times best selling novel, "Bringing Down The House - The Inside Story of Six M.I.T Students Who Took Vegas For Millions" by Ben Mezrich (MGM), as well as Ben's forth-coming book, "Ugly Americans - The True Story Of The Ivy League Cowboy Who Went To Asia In Search Of The American Dream".

Dana currently lives in both New York City and Los Angeles.

Kenneth E. Dozier
Executive Director of the Western Research Application Center (WESRAC), Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California

Mr. Dozier is the Executive Director of the Western Research Application Center (WESRAC), Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California. WESRAC manages the Engineering Technology Transfer Center (ETTC) and the Western Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (WTAAC). He is the former Executive Director of the NASA Far West Regional Technology Transfer Center (FWRTTC), Executive Director of the California Centers for Advanced Technology, Director of Research for the California State University School of Engineering Computer Science and Technology, CEO of Interactive Machines Inc. and Vice President of Operations for Digital Productions.

The ETTC is the recipient of the National Technology Transfer Society Justin Morrill Award for excellence in technology transfer. During his tenure as Director of Research for the School of Engineering and Technology at Cal State Los Angeles, the program received the University’s Award for Distinguished Research. During his tenure as President and CEO, Interactive Machines Inc. (IMI) was: recognized as a pioneer in Computer Graphics, featured in Fortune Magazine's "Companies to Watch" and the Los Angeles Times business section. During his tenure as Vice President of Operations and Executive Technology Director, Digital Productions (DP) received an Academy Award for Technical Excellence, several Clios (for excellence in advertising), and various international design awards.

Mr. Dozier is a recipient of the California Senate's Applied Competitive Technologies Excellence in Leadership Award, and currently sits on eight national, state and local boards.

Joshua S. Fouts
Director — USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Joshua S. Fouts is the director of the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, a cross-disciplinary research, teaching and training center run jointly by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and by the USC School of International Relations, a school within the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. He is director of the "Public Diplomacy in Virtual Worlds" project along with Annenberg School communication professor Douglas Thomas.

Prior to joining the Center on Public Diplomacy in 2003, he was co-founder and director of the USC Annenberg Online Journalism & Communication Program, a center for the study of the global impact of the Internet-based journalism on policy, journalism, ethics and society. He was also editor of the program's flagship effort, OJR, the Online Journalism Review, which he grew from a small university Web site to an internationally recognized leader in the field of online journalism, read by almost 50,000 readers monthly, rivaling the per article readership of many respectable U.S. newspapers.

Before joining USC, Joshua spent half a decade at the Voice of America where he was Deputy Chief-of-Staff. He worked on numerous public diplomacy projects throughout the world, including developing the earliest iterations of the VOA Web site, (what would become voanews.com); public affairs efforts at U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil; negotiations with the former Soviet Republics to lease transmitters formerly used to jam VOA signals; and development of the first-ever TV/radio/Internet simulcast to Asia.

Among the awards Mr. Fouts has received are the Presidential Management Fellowship in 1991, and other distinguished service awards for his work in the U.S. government. In 2001 he was recognized as one of the Digital Coast's "Top 100 Survivors" of the digital community of the Western United States.

Mr. Fouts is a member of the Public Diplomacy Council at the George Washington University. He serves on the board of the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, The UCLA Communications Board, and the Friends of Washoe Foundation. He is on the editorial board of Games and Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media (Sage).

Stephen Nemeth
President, Rhino Films

Michael Oppenheimer
Professor, Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University

Barr Potter
CEO, MediaWide Consultants

Barr Potter is the founder and CEO of MediaWide Consultants. He is an experienced CEO/COO in the film and new media industries, having established and managed both private and public companies in those sectors. MWC advises companies and individuals, particularly those based outside of Los Angeles, on the management and development of their entertainment-related business matters. Some of MWC’s current clients are located in Lithuania, Finland and India.

Prior to MWC, Barr was Chairman and CEO of Largo Entertainment, Inc., which was involved in the financing, acquisition and worldwide sales of feature films. Under Barr’s leadership, Largo was involved with 20 pictures, such as “G.I. Jane” and “White Squall” (both directed by Ridley Scott), “Grey Owl” (directed by Richard Attenborough), “Mulholland Falls” (directed by Lee Tamahori and produced by Dick Zanuck), “City of Industry” (directed by John Irvin), “John Carpenter’s Vampires”, and “Affliction” (written and directed by Paul Schrader, which earned James Coburn an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for Nick Nolte as Best Actor). Largo did business with every major domestic studio, and sold its films to key distributors in every major territory around the world.
Before Largo, Barr was President and COO of Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Inc., the North American subsidiary of a worldwide film production and distribution company based in London.

Barr was also the President and COO of GlobalMedia.com, an award-winning Nasdaq-listed Internet company based in Vancouver, that was a provider of on-line video streaming solutions for sports and entertainment companies, and a developer of next generation technology for broadband and wireless markets. He also served on the company’s board of directors.

Barr has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for over 20 years. He is also a licensed attorney in California and New York.

Sara Risher
Producer, New Line Cinema

Sara Risher joined New Line Cinema in 1975 to manage all filmmaking activities including production, development, acquisitions, physical and post production.

As President of Production, Ms. Risher supervised the development and production of over 50 films, including the House Party and Nightmare on Elm Street series, John Water's Hairspray and Polyester, Menace II Society, Pump Up the Volume, The Rapture, Wide Sargasso Sea, Poison Ivy, and Michael Apted’s Blink. She was Executive Producer of In Love and War, starring Sandra Bullock and Chris O’Donnell, directed by Lord Richard Attenborough and Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing starring Bruce Willis. She was also responsible for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As Chairman of Production from 1995, Ms. Risher was in charge of the corporate overview for the production department, and has most recently opened an independent production company ChickFlicks, which focuses on female-driven projects. Raise Your Voice, a coming of age story of a small-town, teenage girl, starred Hilary Duff and was released in October of 2004 by New Line. Also in 2004, she produced Lee Harris’s Christine Bennett Murder Series for The Hallmark Channel. Ms. Risher has just finished shooting Broken Bridges starring Toby Keith, Burt Reynolds and Kelly Preston, for MTV Films. And Bad Hair Day, a screwball comedy, starts shooting in summer 2006 for Spyglass Entertainment.

The many projects currently being developed for New Line Cinema include I Love You Again, a remake of the classic William Powell/Myrna Loy romantic comedy of the 1930’s; Daddy’s Girl, about a daughter who goes off to college and her overprotective, FBI father who goes undercover to keep an eye on her; Gridiron Girls, a woman’s football movie in the spirit of A League of Their Own; and The Harder They Come, a remake of the 1973, Jimmy Cliff reggae-classic which has been updated and set in the urban hip-hop world.

Ms. Risher is also in development on This Perfect Day, based on Ira Levin’s best selling book, to be directed by Roger Donaldson; Eleanor and Colette, a drama starring Susan Sarandon and Helena Bonham Carter with Rolf Schubel (Gloomy Sunday) directing; Callas, based on the best selling book by Arianna Huffington, tells the tempestuous story of the love affair between Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassisl; and Hurricane Season, a comedy/romance/murder mystery, based on the novel by Jill McCorkle, being directed by Susanna Styron (Shadrach) and produced by Bridget Terry with Laura Linney, Matt Dillon, Steve Buscemi, and Ellen Burstyn.

Barry Rivers
Founder and Directory, Maui Film Festival

Barry Rivers is the Founder and Director of the Maui Film Festival, which is built on the belief that great filmmaking is pure alchemy and that when filmmakers challenge themselves to tell inspiring, heartfelt and life-affirming stories, they can turn darkness into light, revealing the neverending landscape of possibility.

It is this belief in the power of creativity — to enlighten, to entertain, and to empower — which is the guiding principle that gives the Maui Film Festival its character, its energy, and its soul.

Eric Roth
Executive VP, Co-Head of Business & Legal Affairs, The Weinstein Company

Robert Rosen
Dean, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

Bob Rosen has spoken at scholarly, public, and professional meetings in more than twenty nations on subjects related to film criticism, media history, and curatorship. He has published widely in the field of media preservation and has guided the growth of the UCLA Film and Television Archive from a small study collection to the world's largest university-based holding of original film and television materials.

As a preservationist and historian, he has occupied many positions of leadership in the field. These include: Founding Director of the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute, the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Film Archives, member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, and Board Member of the Stanford Theater Foundation and the Geffen Playhouse.

With Martin Scorsese, he was the organizer of the Film foundation on which he currently serves as the founding Chair of the Archivists Council. Rosen was decorated by the French Government as an Offier of Arts and Letters and was awarded the International Documentary Association's Career Achievement Award for the Scholarship and Preservation. For ten years he was the film critic for KCRW National Public Radio and he is an active member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Bruce Royer
President, Royer Studios

Michelle Satter
Founding Director, Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program

Michelle Satter is the Founding Director of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and is considered one of the chief architects of the Institute's programs. She has worked most closely with The Feature Film Program, which since its inception has provided year-round support for the early work of such leading independent filmmakers as Kimberly Peirce, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Cameron Mitchell, Tony Bui, Tamara Jenkins, Quentin Tarantino, Allison Anders, Miguel Arteta, Julie Taymor, Gregg Araki, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Rodrigo Garcia, Joshua Marston, and Miranda July, among many others.

Ms. Satter was also responsible for spearheading the Institute's international initiatives in Latin America and Europe, as well as the Sundance/ NHK International Filmmakers Award, which provides production support and resources to international filmmakers. In its first year, the Award resulted in the award winning films Smoke Signals by Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie and Central Station by Walter Salles. Additionally, Ms. Satter was involved in developing an area of Sundance devoted to promoting creativity in kids; the first CD-ROM title "Imagynasium" was published to critical acclaim in 1999.

In 1989, Ms. Satter co-produced the Academy Award nominated documentary Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey. She is currently one of the producers on the film adaptation of Isabel Allende’s international best-seller "Eva Luna." Prior to Sundance, Ms. Satter lived in Boston and was Director of Public Relations/Marketing at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and a Partner and Program Director of ArtiCulture, Inc., where she produced hundreds of performing arts events.

Kathi Sharpe-Ross
President, The Sharpe Alliance

Founder and President of The Sharpe Alliance, Kathi Sharpe-Ross brings more than 20 years of industry experience to her diverse client base. The Sharpe Alliance is an integrated brand building, marketing and promotion company that specializes in strategic alliances and partnership programs. From corporate brands to entertainment properties, Sharpe-Ross has extensive expertise with consumer products, licensing, retail promotion, brand-building, public relations, corporate and entertainment marketing, and strategic and tactical campaign building.

Sharpe-Ross most recently served The Leverage Group (TLG), a global marketing consulting firm, as Executive Vice President and head of its west coast office. Under her leadership they developed campaigns for corporate and entertainment clients: Smashbox Cosmetics, LA Fashion Week, Warner Strategic Marketing, Kathy Smith, Quincy Jones’ Global “We Are The Future” concert, Broadway Video, TD Waterhouse, Sony Music, Redken, Lava Life and more.

Prior to her relationship with TLG Sharpe-Ross spent a year as Sr. Vice President of Marketing, Public Relations, and Promotions for DIC Entertainment, one of the world’s leading children’s television animation companies. Sharpe-Ross oversaw the initiatives for the daily PBS television series, Liberty Kid’s, each department, and a multitude of licensees and retail partners associated with each property. She facilitated the necessary marketing, promotion, and public relation campaigns for the re-launch of Strawberry Shortcake, working closely with corporate sponsors, all licensees, national retailers as well as DIC’s partner American Greetings.

In her early career Sharpe-Ross owned and operated SHARPE Public Relations and Marketing. For 15 years the agency, based in Beverly Hills, with affiliate offices in New York, Paris and Hong Kong, represented a diverse client base including: Coca Cola, Super Bowl XXXII, World Cup Soccer 1994, Saban/Fox Kids/Power Rangers, The Wiggles, Nelvana Entertainment, Jakks Pacific, TOMY, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Walt Disney World on Ice, Olympic Figure Skating, Variety Clubs of America, I Have Dream Foundation, and many more.

John L. Solomon
Head, Disney Television Animation’s Shorts Lab

John L. Solomon is the head of Disney Television Animation’s Shorts Lab, where he is responsible for producing 'creator driven' animated shorts which are ground-breaking and fresh in design, character, direction, and story-telling.

Prior to working at TVA, John was Vice President of Creative Development of Theme Park Productions, the media unit of Walt Disney Imagineering, where he was responsible for the creative development of all filmed entertainment in Disney Parks worldwide.   
 
In 1986 John became Senior Vice President of Witt-Thomas Films at Walt Disney, where he oversaw the development and productions of all motion picture product at the company.  There he Associate Produced the company's Tri-Star release, Mixed Nuts, starring Steve Martin and directed by Nora Ephron, and Co-Produced the Warner Brothers release Final Analysis which featured Richard Gere, Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman, and was directed by Phil Jaonou.
 
An avid contemporary art collector, John’s eclectic taste ranges from Claus Oldenberg to Christo to William Wegman.  Recently, John restored Richard Neutra’s "Taylor House," a modernist gem in the hills above Glendale, which has since been featured in the New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety, and several books on the modernist movement.  He is an active member of the Los Angeles based Progressive Jewish Alliance, a leading voice in the social-justice community, and is a founding Trustee of the new Pasadena Museum of California Art.

John Tarnoff
Head of Show Development, Dreamworks Animation

John Tarnoff oversees three groups responsible for managing key resources and practices in Dreamworks Animation’s early production process for its animated feature films. These groups are responsible for the initial artistic designs and storyboards for films in development and pre-production, for the artistic enrichment and training of the illustrators, designers, and storyboard artists who create the look of these films, and for the studio’s ongoing relationship with art schools and other institutions that provide new ideas and talent that help shape the studio’s future.

John has been in the motion picture business for 30 years, starting in TV commercial production in New York and film distribution in Los Angeles. He was a literary agent responsible for breaking talented directors like John Landis, Michael Mann and Martha Coolidge, and an independent producer and production executive for studios including MGM, Orion, Columbia, Warner Bros, and New Line. Some of the films he has been responsible for include Diner, The Year of Living Dangerously, Pink Floyd the wall, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and The Power of One. A co-founder of Village Roadshow Pictures, he helped pioneer U.S./Australian co-productions in the late 1980s.

Prior to joining Dreamworks, John was the co-founder of Talkie, Inc. an internet technology company that developed intelligent, conversational animated characters for online marketing, brand building, lead generation, customer service and training. He grew up in New York and Paris, and is a passionate still photographer.

Marc Von Arx
Motion Picture Business Affairs Executive, Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Marc is a Motion Picture Business Affairs Executive at the Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, California, where he represents a diverse group of actors, directors, writers and producers in the motion picture industry.

He served previously as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for InnMedia, LLC. InnMedia was the leading provider of new media products and services for the hospitality industry .

From 1998 to 2001, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for WHN, a Los Angeles based licensing industry business-to-business exchange, and provider of e-commerce solutions for over 60 major media brand holders including ABC, NBC, Universal, Fox Broadcasting, Paramount, Comedy Central, MTV, Playboy, TV Guide and the 2002 Winter Olympics. From 1984 to 1998, he was a private practice attorney, first at Loeb and Loeb and subsequently at Bloom, Hergott, Diemer, Rosenthal and LaViolette, LLP.

He received his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and his JD from the UCLA School of Law, in 1984, and attended the American Film Institute as a directing fellow in 1990-91.

He is an Advisory Committee member for FYI / Film Your Issue, a national collegiate film and video competition targeting 7 million students on 1200 college campuses. He is a former Chairman of the New Technologies Committee of the American Film Institute’s Third Decade Council, and a former member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

Marc lives in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie, his daughter Aimee and his son Billy, where he is active in coaching youth athletics.

Diane Weyermann
Executive Vice President of Documentary Production

Diane Weyermann joined Participant Productions as Executive Vice President of Documentary Production in October 2005.

Prior to joining Participant, Diane was the Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program. During her 4 ½ year tenure at Sundance, Diane directed the Sundance Documentary Fund, a program supporting documentary films dealing with contemporary human rights, social justice, civil liberties, and freedom of expression from around the world. She launched two annual documentary film labs, focusing on the creative process – one dealing with editing and storytelling, and the other with film music in documentary work. Diane was also part of the Sundance Film Festival programming team, where she was instrumental in creating a platform for the exposure of international documentary work, and responsible for programming the documentary content of the Filmmaker Lodge activities.

Her work in the documentary and international fields extends many years prior to Sundance. She was the Director of the Open Society Institute New York’s Arts and Culture Program for 7 years. In addition to her work with contemporary art centers and culture programs in the Soros Foundation network, which spans over 30 countries, she launched the Soros Documentary Fund (which later became the Sundance Documentary Fund) in 1996. Since the inception of the Fund, Diane has been involved with the production of over 300 documentary films, including such projects as the 2005 Oscar winning Born Into Brothels, and award winning films such as Why We Fight, Farmingville, and Long Night’s Journey into Day.

Diane has worked as an independent documentary director, producer and editor, and holds an MFA in Film, a Juris Doctor, and a BA in Political Science an d History. Prior to her film studies and filmmaking, she practiced poverty law for Legal Services in East St. Louis and completed a post graduate fellowship in Law and Film in West Berlin.

Daphna Ziman
Founder and Chairperson, Children Uniting Nations