Gina Rugolo

Gina Rugolo runs her own successful talent management and production company in Los Angeles, Rugolo Entertainment. Previously, she was a Partner at Rigberg Rugolo Entertainment and worked at Relevant Entertainment. Rugolo began her management and producing career at More Medavoy Management. Prior to talent management, Rugolo was a leading entertainment publicist at Geller and Associates. She worked with Susan Geller with her clients including Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid and Geena Davis and established the careers of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madeleine Stowe, Dermot Mulroney and Marisa Tomei as well as representing various award winning clients on iconic television series such as "Twin Peaks," "Melrose Place," "thirtysomething," "LA Law" and "Friends." She designed the Academy Award campaign for client Marisa Tomei for "My Cousin Vinny." Rugolo's current management clients include Laura San Giacomo, Lara Flynn Boyle, Amy Irving, Elizabeth Pena, Barry Shabaka Henley, Lin Shaye, famed psychic medium John Edward and exciting newcomers including actress April Hernandez-Castillo ("Dexter," "Freedom Writers"), Toni Trucks ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn," "Barbershop," "Music and Lyrics") and Nickelodeon stars Jon Beavers ("Fresh Beat Band") and host Jeff Sutphen ("Family BrainSurge"). Rugolo has also been a successful producer for many years. She served as a Co-Executive Producer on the hit comedy series "Just Shoot Me" on NBC. She was an Executive Producer on "Getting Personal" with Jon Cryer for Fox Television. In features, she produced "Ringmaster" for Artisan Films and co-produced the critically acclaimed independent feature "Twist" (Nick Stahl), which premiered at the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. For Lifetime Television, she executive produced the television movie "What If God Were the Sun?" based on the book by John Edward, which starred Gena Rowlands who received an Emmy and SAG nomination for her role. She also served as a Co-Producer on the reality series "John Edward Cross Country" and, most recently, the pilot for Lara Flynn Boyle's reality series on E! Networks. »

Barry Haldeman, Esq.

E. Barry Haldeman is Of Counsel to Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP and has been an entertainment lawyer for over 30 years. He grew up in the business and worked in various industry jobs prior to and during law school. While he was Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the Motion Picture Group at Paramount Pictures, his duties included not only supervising the motion picture business affairs and legal departments relating to feature films, but he was also instrumental in the establishment of the specialty film division, Paramount Classics (which later became Paramount Vantage), for which he structured their deal templates and supervised their business affairs and legal matters. With many years of industry experience, he is one of a handful of lawyers who has worked both inside a studio and negotiated against studios and distributors on behalf of his clients. Barry's current practice focuses on representing actors, directors, writers, producers, authors, independent films and production companies in all areas of the entertainment industry, including all types of talent agreements and agreements relating to the production, financing, distribution, sale and acquisition of motion pictures and literary rights. Recently he has also worked with clients in the internet area. He has represented Academy Award winners and nominees at the highest level, including gross participant actors and directors, prominent Writers Guild members, and newcomers to the business. »

Suzanne Lyons

Suzanne Lyons has over 25 years experience in television and film. She has received numerous awards for her work. After 10 years as VP of Marketing and Promotions for a Canadian TV network and CTV affiliate, Suzanne relocated to Philadelphia where she worked in domestic and international distribution for film and television. She moved to Los Angeles in the mid 90s and co-founded the Flash Forward Institute, leading entertainment industry seminars for well over 15,000 people in the US and Canada. In the late 90s Suzanne co-founded Snowfall Films to produce high-quality movies and TV series that entertain, delight, inspire and inform. In 2005 she co-founded WindChill Films, a genre division (e.g., "Candy Stripers"). To date, she has produced or executive produced 9 movies. Suzanne has worked with wonderful talent including Brenda Blethyn, Christopher Walken, Naomi Watts, Alfred Molina, James Caan, Dean Cain, Jennifer Tilly, Jon Lovitz, Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda, Asia Argento, Adrian Paul, Ariel Winter, Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) and more. Her budgets have ranged from $200,000 to $10 million. Suzanne's films have won a gamut of awards and festivals, including the prestigious BAFTA award (for "Undertaking Betty"), a premiere at the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival (with Asia Argento's "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things"), Best Picture at Shockerfest and acceptance into the Toronto, Berlin, Hollywood and Montreal Film Festivals. Her films have been distributed by Miramax, Screengems, Lionsgate and Samuel Goldwyn. On Suzanne's slate for 2011 and 2012 is an animated Christmas feature, "Omarr the Camel" with interest from Randy Travis and Amy Grant; a historic family drama, "Scouts Honor," in partnership with Producer Michel Shane at Hand Picked Films ("Catch Me If You Can," "I, Robot"); a courtroom thriller, "Hardcourt", by writer Mark L. Smith ("Vacancy"); an action suspense project by UK writer Leslie Rogers titled "Gethsemane" with Roger Spottiswoode ("Tomorrow Never Dies," "Turner and Hooch") attached to direct. She is producing a film based on a Canadian best-selling novel, "The Calling." Suzanne has just won the Toronto Women in Film competition to develop a Canadian film based on a manuscript, "Misty's Misadventures." She has signed a book deal with Focal Press and just completed writing her first book on independent film producing. Focal Press will release the book in February 2012. »

Natalya Petrosova

Natalya Petrosova is the Senior Vice President of Finance at Gigi Pritzker's development-oriented film production company Odd Lot Entertainment. The company produces and arranges distribution for quality commercial film properties for the domestic and international markets. Prior to joining the Odd Lot team in 2006, Natalya was a Consultant with financial consulting firm DLC, serving Fortune 1000 clients, and worked as Manager of Finance & Operations at THQ, where she played an instrumental role in the startup of its wireless division. Prior to THQ, Natalya worked at Activision and Artisan Entertainment (currently known as Lionsgate). She received her MBA from the University of Southern California. »

Robin Rowe

Robin Rowe is a partner at Gosh!Films, a production and management company on the lot at Raleigh Studios Hollywood, which specializes in adapting best-selling novels and developing action films. He is also a Co-Founder of ScreenPlayLab, a 4,500-member association of writers, producers, actors, executives, directors, agents, managers and composers. Moreover, he serves as Managing Editor and Head of Technology for Hollywood Today, a daily news magazine with a celebrity twist; as Contributing Editor at the Motion Picture Editors Guild, writing stories about major motion pictures; as Project Leader for CinePaint, a free open-source software application used to make many films including "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings"; and as President and Creative Technologist at MovieEditor.com, a web site about movie and TV editing. Robin's experience spans management, production, entertainment technology, journalism and finance. He has managed multi-million dollar budgets and has worked for DreamWorks Animation, the BBC and NBC. As a public speaker, he has spoken at hundreds of conferences and live events in the US and abroad. Recently, he led panels at Hollywood Xpo ("Heroes TV Series" and "Comic Book Feature Animation"), Digital Hollywood ("Monetizing Digital") and AFM ("Studio Film Finance and Distribution"), featuring top executives from DreamWorks, Fox, Sony Pictures and Summit Entertainment. As a journalist, Robin has written for such magazines as Popular Photography, Videomaker, MovieMaker, Linux+, Linux Journal and the Motion Picture Editors Guild Magazine. As a technologist, he prefers C++ and Linux, although he has designed software using many languages and deployed software on many operating systems. He admins Linux CentOS servers and Ubuntu, Windows 7 and Mac OS X workstations. Robin was Chief Technologist at Fortune 500 defense company SAIC, where his primary client was DARPA. He worked as a Navy Research Scientist and taught computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School and the University of Washington. He built the robotic studios at NBC-TV Chicago. As a producer, Robin produced the live stage show "Comedy Walk," which presented two dozen comedians on six stages performing in six simultaneous 90-minute shows, and which the LA Times called "a best bet." He shoots video segments for Gosh!TV and edits in Adobe CS5 and Final Cut Pro. He was a technical director for broadcast news at mid-market NBC station WICD-TV. He produced and hosted a radio show at WEFT-FM. »

Kenneth Segura Knoll

Kenneth Segura Knoll is the Manager at New Mexico Film Fund, a private equity fund investing in New Mexico-based film and TV projects. As Managing Partner and Producer at Turquoise Trail Films, he is responsible for the day to day operation of the company and generally oversees capital raising, project selections and management, contract negotiations, foreign sales and domestic distribution. The company integrates traditional and non-traditional financing, production and distribution methods. Kenneth is also the Founder and Executive Producer at Southwest Communication Services, a media and entertainment company with vast experience in addressing the media communication needs of education, government and corporate clients. He founded the Sacremento Festival of Cinema and acted as the Director of the organization from 1995 to 2000. Additionally, Kenneth was Managing Partner at Delta Studios from 1985 to 1997, a full service motion picture and television production facility. »

Mike Tarzian

Mike Tarzian is the Executive VP of Production at West Coast Film Partners (WCFP), a California and UK based corporation that deals with the development, production, financing and distribution of entertainment based projects. WCFP was founded in Los Angeles in 2002 and started as a distributor of Home Video Entertainment as well as a producer of independent projects. In 2008, a London based sister company was born, which functions in a similar way as WCFP does in Los Angeles. Previously, Mike worked as Producer/Line Producer at Nice Day LA, a full-on film and commercial production facility. He was raised in Western Pennsylvania, and moved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design, and was immediately drawn to the vibrant filmmaking scene. He went on to study filmmaking at The Cooper Union and The New School. After moving to Los Angeles, Mike began working as a Line Producer/UPM. With 14 years production experience, he has produced and/or line produced many feature films, both domestically and abroad. His films have won numerous awards at Shocker Fest, Napa Film Festival, NY Film Festival, Temecula Film Festival and the Crested Butte Film Festival. He directed the feature film "Screech of the Decapitated," which garnered a Honorable Mention. In addition to his film work, Mike has worked in television as the Writer/Producer/Editor on the program "Free Form Furniture" for the DIY Network, as well as the web series "Private" for Alloy Entertainment. He is also an independent film producer/line producer currently attached to several movie projects. »

Brad Littlefield

Moderator

Brad Littlefield has worked with successful high technology startups in California, as well as in film production and television. In 2008, he co-founded DAP Studios, and in 2009, he produced his first feature film, "Becoming Eduardo" (Seth Adkins, A Martinez, Elizabeth Pena), which was shot in New Mexico. "Becoming Eduardo" recently won Best Latino Film 2009 at the Santa Fe Film Festival, along with the prestigious New Mexico Filmmaker Award. It was recognized as Best New Mexican Film and Audience Choice at the 2010 White Sands International Film Festival. Brad's entertainment experience includes talent and casting for MTV Networks and project management for YouTube. He is currently working with Open Range Pictures on the feature films "Traveling Salesmen" and "Desert Water," and with Remote Films on "The Devil of Appalachia." His interest in public service has led to active participation with many non-profit organizations including The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Legal Services Department, The San Mateo County Center for Domestic Violence Prevention and Performing Arts Studio West. Brad is a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Signatory Producer and member of the American Film Institute (AFI). »

Thomas Trenker

Founder

A Wall Street investment banker and Silicon Valley startup executive turned independent film financier, Thomas (LinkedIn profile | full bio) serves as Chairman of the Institute for International Film Financing (IIFF). An innovative and ambitious social-impact organization, IIFF endeavors to bridge the gap between the worlds of filmmaking and finance for the benefit of all stakeholders including the public at large. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco, IIFF has active chapters in multiple cities across the U.S. and continues to expand.

In his role as Managing Director of FilmAngels, Thomas also runs the world's first professional angel investor group for film. FilmAngels has been modeled after the way successful angel networks function in Silicon Valley and adapted to the unique characteristics of the movie industry. It focuses exclusively on funding independent films and film-related ventures. FilmAngels address the unfilled need for a structured, highly efficient and ultimately more effective environment for the vetting and financing of high-risk film projects.

Don't hesitate to connect with Thomas on LinkedIn or at an upcoming IIFF meeting near you. »