EXECUTIVES
REBEKAH SINDORIS – Editor In Chief, Producer/Line-Producer
Rebekah has worked in the film and television business for 15 years. After graduating Mount Holyoke College, she began her career at the NBC News Affiliate in Washington, in the budget office. She moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and worked as an assistant to Academy Award winning Writer/Director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, 8 Mile). Rebekah went on to crew on many films, working her way up the production ladder. In addition to film, Rebekah has worked in television, commercials, music videos, and documentaries. Projects include the 13 part series, Beyond the Felt (Sky – UK), the feature doc Paper Chasers (IFC), VTwin Motorcycle TV (SPEED) and the AIDS Awareness TV special Odicie (BET). She has also worked in literary management, development, and post-production. Presently, Rebekah is the Production Supervisor on a new documentary series for Showtime directed by Academy Award winner Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, Fog of War). She is also developing features and is a principal in the production companies Skylife Pictures and Cornukopia Entertainment. Additionally, Rebekah writing a book on her experiences documenting the poker tour. She is the co-creator of Film and Music Forum, writes the Blog Film Hor Diaries and produces the FMF News segments.
To contact Rebekah email: editor@filmandmusicforum.com
To view Rebekah’s website click here: www.cornukopia.com
REED RANDOY – Creative Director, Writer/Director/Actor
Reed grew up both Seattle, Washington and Tucson, Arizona performing and studying acting since the 5th grade. After a collegiate baseball career, Reed moved to Los Angeles to follow his passions in Hollywood. In 1997, he and Rebekah met where so many Hollywood celebs began their careers – waiting tables! Recognizing each others’ entrepreneurial spirits, they joined forces on numerous projects. In 2000, after launching a successful modeling career in addition to acting, Reed formed Cowboy Pictures, with partner, Goa, of Liquid Buddah Studios. Soon after, he was chosen to represent Arizona on Fox’s “Sexiest Bachelors in America” Competition, bringing him national recognition. He and Rebekah gathered a small team of undercover filmmakers and went, covert-ops style, to film a feature documentary about the experience (clips from the doc coming soon at Film and Music Forum). Reed also has a passion for writing, and directing. He has written several feature scripts, starred and directed in festival shorts, and is currently working on numerous music videos. Reed is the co-creator of Film and Music Forum where he directs and hosts the Main Page show Randoy Wraps.
To contact Reed email: reed@cowboypictures.biz
To view Reed’s website click here: www.cowboypictures.biz
NATE BARLOW – Director of Marketing & Publicity, Director/Actor/Writer/Producer
Nate graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. As a student he helped develop a wearable computer for use by the Marines and personally designed a demo of that system that was shown to the U.S. Cabinet. After graduation he worked as a design engineer for Symbol Technologies before packing his bags and moving to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in filmmaking and acting. The change in careers did not come totally out of the blue. Nate had acted throughout his life and took filmmaking coursesin College. Two of his earliest memories are of acting in a church Christmas pageant and in a production of the Trojan War at School while living in East Africa. Nate co-directed, co-wrote and co-starred in Tales From Beyond, an anthology feature film starring Adam West that won Best Picture Awards at the 2004 ShockerFest and 2004 ShriekFest Film Festivals and which is currently being distributed on DVD. Nate also directed and produced the documentary series Film Trix, produced the feature Hollywood, Pennsylvania (which had a live documentary broadcast from the set onto www.hollywoodpa.com) and the short Take It Easy (iFilm.com and ReplayTV). He has also worked as a script doctor. Acting work includes the L.A. Twister and Chance. He was most recently seen in a national commercial for Sour Skittles. Nate is currently the VP of New Media and a Creative Executive at Automatic Pictures (company of There’s Something About Mary producer Frank Beddor). He just signed a deal with Kerouac Films to adapt a children’s fantasy novel and runs his own sports site, DeepIntoSports.com.
To contact Nate, click here
ANTHONY ARTIS – Producer
Anthony is the creator of Down and Dirty DV. He originally hails from the city of Baltimore, Maryland, but has made his home in New York City for most of the last 15 years. Anthony is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Since then, he has worked on a variety of documentary and narrative films and toughed through more low-budget projects than he cares to admit. He’s a straight up digital guerrilla having worked as a producer, gaffer, cinematographer, special-fx make up, sound mixer and location manager. His feature films and tv shows have screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the IFP Market, Slamdance, as well as on MTV and The Education Channel. Anthony can be seen in action in the feature documentary, Paper Chasers, which chronicles the hip-hop music business and the behind-the-scenes making of a digital guerrilla doc. Through the years he has organized numerous student film festivals and trained hundreds of aspiring filmmakers for major institutions including N.Y.U, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts and Baltimore County Public Schools. Anthony is presently the manager of the Film and TV Production Center at N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts where he coordinates the technical training and production equipment for all film and tv students. He remains an active guerrilla filmmaker, educator and “artrepreneur.” Listen to Anthony’s radio show, “Double Down Film Show” right here at the Film and Music Forum.
To contact Anthony email: anthony@downanddirtydv.com
To view Anthony’s website click here: www.downanddirtydv.com
HILLARY BARRAFORD – Actress/Model
In 2000, Hilary Barraford reluctantly joined a Boston model & talent agency as a favor to a friend. In that first year, she was cast as a bride in a flash of a scene in Moonlight Mile. During those three days on set Hilary fell in love with production and reveled in watching director Brad Silberling and his team work. Serendipitously, she won a spot on an online casting site through a raffle at the film’s casting call. She went on to book independent films and commercials, and began to take her hobby seriously. With no formal training, personal challenges served as seminars: notably, evolving from supporting comedic roles to dramatic lead roles. Hilary has appeared in a dozen feature films and many shorts, commercials, industrials, and even a live sports broadcast for the Single A affiliate of the World Champion Boston Red Sox (go Sox!). As a model, Hilary has recently appeared in a national print campaign and stock photography collection. Her passion for creative pursuit literally sprouted out of the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, where embracing arts and literature at Williams College sparked a lifelong curiosity. A renaissance woman, she moonlights as writer, editor and producer – and has worked as much behind, as in front of, the camera.
To contact Hilary email: hilary@hilarybarraford.com
To view Hilary’s website click here: www.hilarybarraford.com
JASON BORITZ – Documentary Filmmaker
Jason is a filmmaker originally from Seattle and presently based in Los Angeles. He’s directed and shot numerous short documentaries ranging in subject matter from Autism to Human Animal Bond. He has moved onto feature length and has two docs in post-production, Making Your Mark (about entrepreneur Mark Husmann) and Vibes (about the origin of dance music culture and its evolution). Jason is also currently developing a feature length narrative film to go into production early 2010.
To contact Jason email: jason@ultradigitalfilms.com
To view Jason’s website click here: www.ultradigitalfilms.com
For Dana, Los Angeles was supposed to be a vacation, but after 4 months of performing stand up comedy and winning enough money on the Hollywood Squares, it was time to officially leave the Big Apple. A graduate of Villanova University, and an avid fan of Lucille Ball, Dana enjoyed her life in New York City performing stand up comedy nightly and acting in off off Broadway plays. Naturally she thought the big break was coming when she performed a sketch on show Late Night with Conan O’Brien. In LA, she has worked in the commercial industry, both in front and behind the camera, and has worked with many renowned directors. Dana continues her comedy and is currently wrapping all of her talents into one, pursuing a spokesperson career.
Benjamin got his first crack at the stage at the age of 10 at the Little Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC, working with the incomparable Ian Mckellan. This planted the seed that would find him nearly 10 years later at the University of New Mexico majoring in theatre. Then, it was on to Los Angeles where Ben and some colleagues from UNM started their own improv style and group called Theatre Extempore. This, along with bit parts in films, much training, work as an extra work, PA, locations manager, acting coach, and stage director kept him on the entertainment train. In 2005, Benjamin’s first son was born, bringing back East. Currently, Benjamin is making plans to return to NM to teach again, and looks forward to writing more of his experiences and reviews for the Film and Music Forum.
Jeff is a native from Los Angeles but has lived and acted around the country. A graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Jeff is an actor and sound designer. His sound design includes work for Charles Nelson Reilly’s ‘The Wives’ and several radio dramas with Odyssey Radio Theatre on KCLA 99.3 FM. His acting work includes credits at The Kennedy Center, The Shakespeare Theatre, DC and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Jeff is also a film fanatic who boasts a collection of over 2,000 DVD’s. His reviews are based on the idea that all films are not created equal and should only be reviewed based on their strength within it’s genre. For example, Gone In Sixty Seconds (2 1/2 Stars) is in a different genre then the sweepingly epic Gone With The Wind (4 Stars) so is rated only for it’s excellence as an action thriller. Jeff has previously written reviews with Glendale News Press.
Karen spent 15 years in luxury real estate in Washington, DC, where she focused primarily on marketing multi-million dollar homes. As a side project, she managed her teenage son Brett Fleisher who performed at the Shakespeare Theatre and acted in 3 movies (Hearts in Atlantis, Shot in the Heart, A Haunting in Connecticut). Since her long-overdue arrival in Los Angeles this year, she has been conducting promotions for Musician Christopher Hawley. In her free time, Karen volunteers as part of her exploration of all aspects of LA life.JOE LEONARD – Writer/Director/Editor
Joe left his hometown of St. Louis to go to film school at NYU in 1998. There he started the Blatantly Subtle Film Collective with Sam Mestman: a group focused on producing and screening short films in Manhattan. He began writing the feature film How I Got Lost in 2003 after the blackout in New York City. Soonafter, he won a grant that started the ball rolling. The completed film premiered at Palm Beach Film Festival this year (2009) and is presently in talks for distribution. Joe lives in Los Angeles, where he works as an editor on Glee an upcoming Fox comedy.
To contact Joe email: howigotlost@gmail.com
To view Joe’s website click here: www.howigotlost.com
SAM MESTMAN – Writer/Director/Producer/Editor
Sam Mestman does a little bit of everything. Most notably, he was a producer, editor, and colorist for the indie feature How I Got Lost, which is currently playing festivals around the country. He was also a director and editor on the boxing documentary, The Gloves, for Mochary Films, and is a two time on-site editor for ESPN’s coverage of the NBA finals. He currently resides in Los Angeles, and runs the “Something To Do On A Wednesday Til You Get Really Famous” workshop night for WE MAKE MOVIES.
To contact Sam email: samfilm777@mac.com
To view Sam’s website click here: www.howigotlost.com
ROBERT MARIE MONROE – Filmmaker/Writer/Festival Programmer
Roberta Marie Munroe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, entrepreneur, international short film festival programmer, consultant and now published author. Her first book How NOT To Make A Short Film: Secrets From A Sundance Programmer (Hyperion Books, January 2009) is a provocative and practical insider’s guide to making a great short film. From 2001-2006 Roberta Munroe programmed short films at The Sundance Film Festival. During her tenure at Sundance, The Sundance Online Film Festival (2003-2006) was acknowledged with several highly acclaimed Webby Awards. After five very successful years at Sundance, Roberta was instrumental in launching The Blackhouse Foundation, which supports African American filmmakers, and served as their founding Artistic Director. Now Roberta continues to work with short form filmmakers as the president and senior consultant of her Los Angeles based independent filmmaker company, RMM Film Consulting.
To contact Roberta email: filmconsulting@robertamonroe.com
To view Roberta’s website click here: www.robertamonroe.com
MARK STOLAROFF – Producer
Mark Stolaroff is an independent producer based in Los Angeles. He is currently in post production on the feature film, Pig, written and directed by Henry Barrial. Stolaroff also produced Barrial’s True Love, which was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab project. He was formerly a principal at Next Wave Films, a company of the Independent Film Channel that provided finishing funds to outstanding low-budget features, including the first films of directors Christopher Nolan and Joe Carnahan. Stolaroff is the founder of No Budget Film School, a unique series of classes specifically designed for no-budget filmmakers.
To contact Mark email: nobudgetfilmschool@earthlink.net
To view Mark’s website click here: www.nobudgetfilmschool.com
RANDY STEINBERG – Professor/Writer
Randy Steinberg graduated from Boston University with a master’s degree in screenwriting in 1998. He has taught screenwriting at BU as both a part-time and full-time instructor since 1999. Currently, he is BU’s Motion Picture Industry Coordinator, a position that seeks to promote the work of Film and Television students at BU. Randy’s screenplays have placed in contests and have been optioned by companies both in Los Angeles and Boston. He is part of a writing team named The Script Sages, which keeps up a screenwriting blog.
To contact Randy email: rsteinberg@scriptsages.com
To view Randy’s website click here: www.scriptsages.blogspot.com
Demetria Alexander has been putting pen to paper and fingers to the keypad since the ripe age of 12. It all started innocently enough, as she wrote poetry infused with the spirit of Jim Morrison. Then, she later went on to include daily stories inspired by her colorful and comical upbringing in a large extended Greek immigrant family. Growing up in the Saturday Night Fever setting of Brooklyn, NY, and later spending several years living in Europe, added sparkling mineral water to the deep well from which she draws her material. After graduating with a BA in Broadcast Journalism, Demetria headed to the West Coast and delved into serious songwriting, which manifested her alter ego as a performer: Girl Without Fear. Deep Pocket Records released her debut album, “Mix Messages” which won an LA Music Award and was aired on the world famous KROQ and taste maker KCRW. Currently she is focused on writing screenplays in New York City and has completed to two comedies, coming soon to a theater near you.SEAN COSTELLO – Photographer/Musician
Sean is a professional photographer based in LA. In his spare time, he enjoys playing bass for a number of bands and seeing LOTS of live music.
To contact Sean email: sean@seanpcostello.com
To view Sean’s website click here: www.seanpcostello.com
ALANA GENTRY – Singer/Songwriter
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Alana was one of those people destined to be a performer. She started singing at age four, and at seven began dancing and performing throughout the city with a dance company which she continued for many years. She also studied into her twenties. After traveling through Europe and Greece Alana discovered it was music that she was most passionate about. Upon returning home she decided to learn to play the guitar. It was then that her life long love of singing came into the forefront and became her chosen vocation. In February 2003 Alana released her second EP, “Illuminate.” She was also voted one of the top 25 artists in the LA Idol contest on radio station, STAR 98.7. In June 2004 she moved to New York City and found much inspiration that transferred into many new songs. She then recorded “Scarletina” written by friends Erik Gamans and Keith Rishkofski that was aired on NBC’s hit show Medium. After two years in NY, Alana decided to move back to LA to continue the process. As a songwriter, Alana is honest and simple; her lyrics are infused with emotion and truth. She writes what she knows, finding the universal in the specific. As a performer, Alana Gentry is unstoppable.
To contact Alana email: alanagentry@yahoo.com
To view Alana’s website click here: www.alanagentry.com
CHRISTOPHER HAWLEY – Singer/Songwriter
Christopher Hawley makes music in ski towns, artist communities, beach pubs, and college towns all over the world. Winning over new fans and warming hearts in even the coldest of places, Hawley has a gift of making people feel good with his music. The Venice, CA-based artist and avid skier, surfer, and yogi has mastered this with a perfect combination of genuinely positive attitude, inspiring lyrics, excellent guitar work, and danceable grooves. As a seasoned guitarist, singer, and songwriter, he combines elements of Little Feat, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, and Duane Allman. His new album, “The Roots of the Tree,” showcases unique songwriting, dynamic slide guitar, and it reflects a lifestyle of being on the road at least half the time.
To contact Christopher email: christopherhawley@yahoo.com
To view Christopher’s website click here: www.christopherhawley.com
Smokie Lanark is a Canadian expatriate with an uncanny ability to memorize lyrics, and an obsession with movie soundtracks. If she were an exotic dancer, her theme song would be They Came In by the Butthole Surfers from the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack. Those who are so inclined can look for her uncanny insights on Twitter as “Smokie Lanark”.JAMES MOORS – Singer/Songwriter
James Moors is A&R Director for Access Film-Music and an Internationally touring singer-songwriter. He lives in the Midwest, but travels around the world playing music.
To contact James email: james@jamesmoors.com
To view James’ website click here: www.jamesmoors.com
JD SHULTZ – Musician / Artist
From a studio nestled in the hills behind the Hollywood Bowl comes a super solar charged fantasmagorical electro rock sound sprinkled with futuristic soul. The emotional outburst of Human Brother, tribal name for JD Schultz, is a multi-layered, multi-faceted musical soup, sent to warm the chill in humanity right down to the bone. JD first introduced Organitronic to the world through the debut album of award winning artist Girl Without Fear. After co-writing the songs, producing, and performing all musical instruments recorded on GWF’s “Mix Messages,” JD sharpened a production technique that is the “now sound” being burned into the universal pods of modern music listeners all over the world. JD’s musical resume reads like a scroll to the history of rock and funk. At 18 he played to crowds of thousands with the all star supergroup well known throughout the pacific northwest as Trulio Disgracias (the brainchild of bassist Norwood Fisher of the band Fishbone). The characters that played with this musical theateresque outfit include George Clinton, members of Fishbone, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. JD’s music skills were quickly honed by playing with some of the most talented professional musicians and composers in the world. Soon, he began creating projects of his own, co-writing and producing for up and coming artists like Bronx Style Bob, and Demetria a.k.a Girl Without Fear. JD’s own rock band Galaxy Grand Prix is fronted by vocalist Scott Haro, and a local favorite on the L.A. live music scene, They’re currently in the studio recording their debut album slated for an early 2010 release.
To release JD email: info@filmandmusicforum.com
To view JD’s website click here: www.jdshultz.com
BOBBY SYVARTH – Singer/Songwriter/Guitar
From Birdland in New York City to The Hotel Café in Hollywood, Bobby Syvarth is an a rising superstar and accomplished musician, straddling the musical worlds of Jazz, Pop, Blues and Soul effortlessly. In 2007 Bobby signed a recording deal with the newly formed label Unison Music, prompting him to relocate to LA to record his new album “Hellos and Goodbyes,” for release this Spring 2009. Showcasing his signature song, “Fire in Brooklyn,” it’s sure to top the charts. Bobby exemplifies tremendous breadth and versatility both as a live performer and in the studio. Bobby began his career in the music business program at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. In September, 1990, a song-writing master class with Paul Simon unlocked a growing passion within Bobby for the art of song-writing, and the sound of the acoustic guitar. It was then that a choice was made to dedicate his lifetime to music! Bobby has performed alongside multi-platinum, grammy award winners, notable jazz musicians, and jazz/rock/pop stars. He also spent time as a luthier, building and inspecting Martin Guitars that are acknowledged to be the finest in the world!
To contact Bobby email: bobbysyvarth@mac.com
To view Bobby’s website click here: www.bobbysyvarth.com
Brian Zeno adds a diverse background in marketing and sales from a broad range of industries. As a Product/Marketing Manager for Priority Records Brian managed distributed labels for Marilyn Manson (Post Human Records), and Ozzy and Sharon Osborne (Divine Recordings). In addition to those duties, he marketed and promoted many of Priorities award winning acts such as Snoop Dogg, Master P, Westside Connection, and Lil Zane. For Digital On-Demand, a leading distributor of broadband, on-demand entertainment content, Brian managed national accounts which included developing and aggregating content, establishing relations with major players in the internet, entertainment and sports arenas, conducting cross promotions, and national trade show stratagem. As promotions manager with Arista Records, he helped further establish such artist as Usher, Pink, and Avril Lavigne as major household names. In Addition, while at Interscope Records, Brian developed and marketed many of Interscope’s platinum selling artists (No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, Bush) across multiple lifestyles and demographics. While at Hollywood Records, he directed artist development efforts for new and established artists as well as soundtracks. In consulting roles for several professional athletes in the Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) leagues, Brian coordinated personal appearances, national product endorsements and corporate sponsorships. Brian currently resides in LA where he manages and promotes musicians/bands.