About Us
Board of Directors
Paul Kemp
President and Treasurer
Paul was born and raised in Hollywood during the early heydays of movie making in the 30s and 40s and developed a strong interest in, and affection for, movies and their making. Paul is a graduate of Hollywood High School and the University of Southern California. He retired as a Corporate Officer in 1993 from a 38 year career in world wide marketing and sales of high-tech electronic and computer systems. He has served as a Director on the Boards of several corporations and until recently was Treasurer of the local Habitat for Humanity Affiliate. He lives on the coastal bluffs south of Fort Bragg with his wife, Nancy.
Michael Fox
Executive Director, Vice President, Operations
Betsy
Ford
Co-Vice President, Programming
Betsy Ford comes to the Mendocino Film Festival with a background
in non-profit management, deaf education, TV production, theatre and
writing. Two things stand out as the most enjoyable work of her career—co-creating & producing
a national PBS series for deaf and hearing children for which she won
an Emmy® Award, and working on “Big River,” the Tony®-nominated
Broadway musical created in ASL. As a consultant and contractor, she
has worked with Ray Stark, Andrew Fogelson, Nova, KRON News, WGBH, and
many others. In recent years, she has been working with screenwriters
and producers doing editing and project development. She is currently
writing a book about health and healing and outlining a screenplay in
the fantasy genre. Honors include two regional Emmy® Awards, an Ovation® Award
nomination and a special award from Gallaudet University.
Ann
Walker
Co-Vice President, Programming
Ann manages projects for a computer company that brings moviemaking
power to everyone. She is eager to showcase great independent films at
our festival. Ann served as the Volunteer Coordinator and Assistant Production
Manager for the Inaugural Mendocino Film Festival and then VP of Operations
in 2007. As Location Manager for the 2004 independent film "Life
at Bay" she discovered the rich history of films made on the Northern
California coast. She lives in Mendocino near a street James Dean walked
in “East of Eden."
Bob
Woelfel
Vice President, Marketing
Currently, Bob is the radio broadcast general manager and broadcast
consultant for the Mendocino Coast’s KMFB-FM 92.7/96.7. Bob appeared
in the movie “Racing With the Moon” which was filmed on the
Mendocino Coast. He is a past board member on the Ukiah Chamber of Commerce
and the Mendocino Coast Educational Television Association boards. He
teaches Advertising and Marketing at College of the Redwoods, is a biographee
in Marquis “Who’s Who in America” and “Who’s
Who in the World” and is a former Fort Bragg mayor.
Laviva Dakers
Board Member
Christine Kenton
Board Member
Arlene
Moorehead
Board Member
A lifelong Californian, Arlene has
nevertheless enjoyed world travel, sometimes on business, usually for
pleasure. After graduating from college she held budget and finance
positions in the Federal Government before joining Bechtel, the global
engineering firm. In 1989 Arlene and her husband Jim moved to
Mendocino where they owned and operated the Joshua Grindle Inn until
it’s sale in 2001. Subsequently, her main focus has been been
two book clubs and travel; the couple has visited such diverse
places as Morocco, Antarctica, Patagonia, Europe, South Africa and
recently completed a round-the-world trip to New Zealand, Macau and
Hong Kong, England and Scotland. Arlene is a past board
member of the Kelley House Museum and the Mendocino Music Festival.
Matt Perelstein
Board Member
Chloe Reed
Board Secretary
Randy Setlock
Festival Coordinator
Jennifer Linley Taylor
Festival Events Coordinator
Jennifer, a long time resident of Mendocino and internationally acclaimed mixed media artist, has been coordinating events for the Mendocino Film Festival since its inception. Two of Jennifer's most notable exhibitions were at the United Nations and the Vittoriano Museum in Rome. She lived many years in France were she worked as a professional model, singer/songwriter and in film and video production. Jennifer was an associate producer of the New York City production of "Love Janis" and continues to work in concert and event production around the US. She is also a member of the benefit committee for the "Astaire Awards", and currently is working on upcoming exhibitions for France and a new music project.
Our Generous Donors
SPONSORS
Festival Friends
In Kind Sponsors
Contact Us:
Mendocino Film Festival
P.O. Box 1843
Mendocino, CA 95460
707-937-0171
info@mendocinofilmfestival.org
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Advisory Board
ZoË Elton
Advisor to
the Board of Directors
Director of Programming for the Mill Valley Film Festival, Zoe Elton
oversees the content and production of this annual festival of international,
independent film and video. Annually, the festival shows films from
over 40 countries, and hosts around 200 guests.
She frequently conducts interviews with guests such as Helen Mirren,
Forest Whitaker, Laura Linney, and Ram Dass. She has served on numerous
panels and juries, including the national nominating committees for
the Rockefeller Foundation, the Haas Foundation’s Creative Works
Fund and the IFP/Someone to Watch Award.
Born and raised in Hereford, England, she wrote and directed work
at the Bay Area Playwrights’ Festival, West Coast Playwrights, Intersection
for the Arts, KQED-TV, as well as in her native London.
Diana Fuller
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Will
Geiger
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Writer-Director Will Geiger was
born in New York and lived in various parts of the U.S. as the son
of an F.B.I. agent. Ocean Tribe, his first feature film, premiered
at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and won Geiger the award
for Best Director in 1998. Ocean Tribe went on to win the Grand Prize
award at the Charleston International Film Festival and Best Drama
at the Houston International Film Festival. In 1999, as part of the
Seattle International Film Festival’s innovative Fly Filmmaking
program, Geiger produced the narrative short Red Man in two days with
two rolls of 16mm film. Red Man is currently playing on the Independent
Film Channel. Geiger recently finished writing and directing the feature
film Elvis and Anabelle. which tells the story of a young mortician
and a rebellious beauty queen. The film stars Max Minghella (Art School
Confidential), Blake Lively (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Joe
Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen and Keith Carradine and will be released
in the early spring of 2008.
Richard Heinberg
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Carl Lumbly
Advisor to the Board of Directors
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Carl Lumbly started
his career as a journalist but soon moved into acting and improvisational
comedy.
A veteran of the stage, Lumbly has also appeared in numerous feature
films including Escape from Alcatraz, The Adventures
of Buckaroo Banzai, The Bedroom Window, Everybody's All American,
To Sleep with Anger, PacificHeights, How
Stella Got Her Groove Back and Men of Honor.
On television, Lumbly starred in Cagney & Lacey, ABC's Going
to Extremes and M.A.N.T.I.S. He played recurring roles
on ER and EZ Streets, and guest starred on series
including The West Wing and The X-Files. He received
critical acclaim for his role as Father in the ABC remake of Sounder,
and earned a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor
for his work in Buffalo Soldiers.
Lumbly recently completed filming the lead role in the independent
feature, Namibia: The Struggle for LIberation, co-starring
Danny Glover.
Albert Maysles
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Jim
McCullough
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Jim is a Market Research Practitioner,
Marketing Consultant, and Media Adviser. Since 1978 he has been extensively
involved in Consumer, Political, Advertising and Entertainment Research.
He has completed well over a hundred feature film studies (including
Star Wars, Return of The Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Terminator
2) and hundreds of television pilot studies (including 24, Ally McBeal
and Dharma and Greg) for major studios, networks and production companies.
Currently he is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Onadime®,
a real-time animation and voice recognition lip-sync software company
which is presently involved in television and animated features development
and production. In the world of music, he was Executive Producer for
the legendary “Rockabilly King” Carl Perkins (Blue Suede
Shoes) on his last CD "Go Cat Go!”. From 1984 to 1986 McCullough
served as Vice President of the San Francisco Rock 'n' Roll Museum.
From 1996 to the present he has served as a San Francisco Film Commissioner.
For more information go to: jwmccullough.com
Toney Merritt
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Toney W. Merritt, (MFA Film - San Francisco Art Institute, 1979, BA Russian
Studies - Syracuse University 1971) Writer/Director.
His films have screened at various venues such as the Paris Cinematheque,
The London Coop, Pacific Film Archives, San Francisco Cinematheque, The
Oakland and DeYoung Museums to name a few. He teaches Film Production
and Digital Editing at City College San Francisco; Screenwriting for San
Francisco State University’s Digital Video Intensive Program.
Toney has served on the Board of Directors of Film Arts Foundation; one year
as its Chairman. He has been a panelist for the S.F. International and the
Mendocino Film Festivals; and for Grant organizations, Independent
Television Service, (ITVS) and the Rockefeller and Jerome Foundations. He
served as a screenwriting mentor at the 2008 Squaw Valley Community of
Writers Conference and will be giving a screenwriting presentation at the July
2011 Mendocino Coast Writers Conference.
He is co-director on Kathleen Hanna’s documentary, Wood smith: The Life
and Times of Arthur Espenet Carpenter, and is adapting A Dreadful Day, a
short story by award winning writer, Dan Warthman, for the screen.
Bill Nichols
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Sydney
Pollack (1934-2008)
Advisor to the Board of Directors
The Mendocino Film Festival was honored to have Sydney as our inaugural year special guest and advisor for two years.
Acclaimed film director Sydney Pollack, whose distinguished career included an Academy Award as best director for Out of Africa (1985), and two best director nominations, for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, and Tootsie, began his career as an actor. Pollack became one of the worlds most versatile and fascinating film directors, producers, and actors, whose oeuvre includes The Way We Were (1973) director, The Electric Horseman (1979) director/actor, Three Days of the Condor (1975) director, Absence of Malice (1981) director/producer, and The Firm (1993) director, producer. He collaborated with director Anthony Minghella on well-received projects like The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) executive producer, and Cold Mountain (2003) producer. As a character actor, Mr. Pollack worked with a variety of directors, including Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut (1999), and Woody Allen, Husbands and Wives (1992). In his own film, The Interpreter (2005), he was executive producer, director, and actor, managing to reinvent the intelligent suspense thriller 30 years after Three Days of the Condor, to critical accolades in all categories. Pollack was never an artist to rest on his laurels. He realized that as movies were targeted to a narrower audience, there was a greater importance in encouraging film directors, actors, and producers to make independent films—a precious necessity for creative artists who must constantly reinvent the art form every time they make a movie. His first documentary, a study of his friend and famed architect, Sketches of Frank Gehry, was completed in 2005. We were honored to have him as our Special Guest for our inaugural festival in 2006 and as an Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Mendocino Film Festival.
Mike
Schuh
Advisor to the Board of Directors
Mike’s current board of director
roles at DVD rental market leader Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and The Sonoma
Film Society provide a strong indication of his love of independent
movies. Mike has more than 35 years of experience in the software industry,
including four technology start-ups. Twice in his career, Mike has
created market-leading enterprise software companies: Computervision
in the CAD/CAM market and Cadence in EDA (Electronic Design Automation).
There are very few operational challenges Mike hasn't faced and tackled
successfully somewhere along the line. Before joining Foundation Capital
in 1998, Mike was CEO, co-founder, and chairman of the board of Intrinsa
Corporation, a software applications company that was acquired by Microsoft.
Mike currently serves on the boards of Netflix (NFLX), Responsys, Boardvantage,
ONStor, Jasper Design Automation, VaST and Vivecon. Mike has been a
passionate runner for more than 30 years, and has successfully completed
20 marathons. Mike has an affinity for California wines. Mike received
a BSEE from the University of Maryland.
Gail Silva
Advisor to the
Board of Directors
Gail Silva was the primary force
behind Film Arts Foundation for over twenty-five years, first as co-director,
then executive director and finally president. In 2002, her years of
dedication to artistic excellence and advocacy were recognized by the
presentation of the California Arts Council’s “Directors Award.”
Gail has assisted hundreds of independent filmmakers develop and complete
their projects, by advising them on conceptual project development,
effective fundraising strategies and connecting them with potential
donors, institutions and foundations. She continues this work by consulting
on financial strategies and on the marketing and distribution side:
analysis of target markets, including selecting the most appropriate
festivals and recommending effective distributors. Gail also advises
arts organizations on financial management, organizational effectiveness,
and donor and board development.
Programming
Pat
Ferrero
Program Director, Curator
Pat Ferrero is an award winning filmmaker, curator and teacher. She taught film production, screenwriting and other production courses in the Cinema department at San Francisco State University for over thirty years until her full time move to Mendocino this year. In recent years she has taught classes on Bay Area Filmmakers and International Contemporary filmmakers at the SF International Film Festival. As a filmmaker her documentary films have screened nationally on PBS, been invited to screen at film festivals all over the world including Sundance, New York, San Francisco, Hawaii and the London International Film Festivals. Honors have included funding for her films from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Humanities (NEH) as well as Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships. She is an active member of the independent social issue documentary film distribution collective New Day Films.
She has been commissioned to make films for exhibits by the Oakland Museum, the African Museum at the Smithsonian Museum, the SFMOMA and most recently for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh where she has nine films on American Indian culture and environment issues on permanent display.
She was the Program Director of the 2007 Mendocino Film Festival, curated the Films on Art category and was an advisor in 2008 and has put on the Program Director’s hat again for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Betsy
Ford
Co-Vice President, Programming, Curator
Betsy Ford comes to the Mendocino Film Festival with a background
in non-profit management, deaf education, TV production, theatre and
writing. Two things stand out as the most enjoyable work of her career—co-creating & producing
a national PBS series for deaf and hearing children for which she won
an Emmy® Award, and working on “Big River,” the Tony®-nominated
Broadway musical created in ASL. As a consultant and contractor, she
has worked with Ray Stark, Andrew Fogelson, Nova, KRON News, WGBH, and
many others. In recent years, she has been working with screenwriters
and producers doing editing and project development. She is currently
writing a book about health and healing and outlining a screenplay in
the fantasy genre. Honors include two regional Emmy® Awards, an Ovation® Award
nomination and a special award from Gallaudet University.
Ann
Walker
Co-Vice President, Programming, Curator
Ann manages projects for a computer company that brings moviemaking
power to everyone. She is eager to showcase great independent films at
our festival. Ann served as the Volunteer Coordinator and Assistant Production
Manager for the Inaugural Mendocino Film Festival and then VP of Operations
in 2007. As Location Manager for the 2004 independent film "Life
at Bay" she discovered the rich history of films made on the Northern
California coast. She lives in Mendocino near a street James Dean walked
in “East of Eden."
Program Advisors
Diana Fuller
Advisor, FIlms on the Arts
Richard Heinberg
Advisor, Films for Our Future
George Russell
Advisor
Program Directors
2006
Keith Brandman- FOUNDER
Judith Brandman- FOUNDER
George Russell
2007
Pat Ferrero
2008
George Russell
2009-2010-2011
Pat Ferrero
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