Conference VI - Speakers

Conference VI Speakers

Chris Albrecht
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Home Box Office

Chris Albrecht is chairman and chief executive officer for Home Box Office, responsible for the overall management of the world's largest premium television company, which operates multiple premium networks in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America, as well as HBO's many other lines of business. He was named to his current position in July 2002.

Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming since 1995, also continues to direct all day-to-day operations of both West and East Coast original programming for HBO, Cinemax and HBO Independent Productions. With the addition of HBO Sports and HBO Film Programming, Albrecht oversees all programming for HBO and Cinemax services.

Serving from 1990-1995 as president of HBO Independent Productions, a business unit dedicated to developing and producing comedy series for distribution on HBO and the broadcast networks, Albrecht was responsible for "Martin," as well as "Everybody Loves Raymond," the critically acclaimed series currently on CBS.

Albrecht joined HBO in June 1985 as senior vice president, original programming, West Coast. He was responsible for overseeing all HBO West Coast original programming functions for HBO and Cinemax.

Before joining HBO, Albrecht worked for five years for International Creative Management (ICM), where he was instrumental in signing such talent as Jim Carrey, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg.

From l975 to l980, he was co-owner of The Improvisation nightclub in New York City. During those years, he also served as a new talent management consultant for ABC in New York City.

In June 2003 Albrecht was honored with the prestigious National Cable Television Association Vanguard Award for programming. As of April 2003, Albrecht serves on the Board of Trustees for the American Film Institute. He also serves on the Board of Governors for the Museum of Television and Radio.

Albrecht holds a BA degree in dramatic literature from Hofstra University in New York.

Vanessa Arteaga
Senior Programming & Production Executive

As Senior Programming & Production Executive for Wellspring, Vanessa Arteaga heads the companies’ co-production projects, thereby securing programming for distribution through all of Wellspring’s major channels.

Ms. Arteaga has been involved in spearheading and managing various co-productions, including as of late, the groundbreaking feature-length documentary film Tarnation. The film has received worldwide acclaim, picking up several awards in the past year including Best Documentary by the National Society of Film Critics; Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival; the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and the Emerging Filmmaker Award by the International Documentary Association. It was also nominated for Best Documentary of the year for both the IFP Gotham Awards and the IFP Spirit Awards.

Prior projects have included Devil’s Playground and Fashion Victim: The Killing of Gianni Versace for Cinemax, Mama Africa for PBS, Muddy Waters: Can’t Be Satisfied for American Masters, Who is Alan Smithee? for AMC, and several pledge programs for PBS.

WELLSPRING licenses, distributes, and co-produces programming worldwide for the television, home video, theatrical, online, and consumer markets. Ms. Arteaga has been with Wellspring for seven years in various production and programming capacities. Prior to joining Wellspring, she was positioned at CBS News Productions working on the acclaimed A&E Biography series, and 20th Century with Mike Wallace.

Marilyn Atlas

Marilyn R. Atlas is an award-winning producer and personal manager, in the worlds of film, television, and live theater. She produced Real Women Have Curves, West Coast theater premiers of God Bless You Mr. Rosewater and To Gillian on her 37th Birthday and was casting director of The Wiz. She is a founding member of Women in Films Luminas Committee, which supports the portrayal of women in non-stereotypical roles in film and television. Along with Dorothy Lyman, Marilyn founded ADT, a directors theatre.

Luca Bentivoglio
Executive Director of Latino Public Broadcasting

As Executive Director of Latino Public Broadcasting, Mr. Bentivoglio is responsible for the development and production of Latino Programs that provide diversity to the PBS line-up. He implements outreach and international distribution strategies to offer Latino independent producers with additional opportunities in the global market.

Mr. Bentivoglio has been a television network and production executive for over two decades and is regarded as a pioneer of U.S. Spanish-language television having worked for Univision Network, Telemundo Network and Warner Brothers International. In 1996, Mr. Bentivoglio launched the new Warner Bros. Channel in Latin America and directed the programming, marketing, and distribution efforts that made WB the #1 family channel in Latin America and Brazil.

Through his own company, Luca Bentivoglio Productions, Inc., he has produced, written and hosted more than 1,000 half-hours of network television broadcasts. As an independent producer, Mr. Bentivoglio created, wrote and produced prime-time shows for Univision and Telemundo, including the award-winning special Viva La Raza, a celebration of the richness of Latino culture in the United States. He also hosted Desde Hollywood and Cine Millonario, both long-running prime time hit series. In addition, he produced and directed several movies of the week for Telemundo, which achieved the highest ratings during the 1994 television season.

Justin Bergeron

Justin Bergeron is the Chief Technical Officer for HD Stuidos LLC. Justin attended UCLA's School of Film and Television and was an editor, director, and producer of standard definition broadcast television prior to his entrance into high definition over five years ago.

Since his entrance into HD, Justin has become one of the premiere Digital Imaging Technicians. He has taught the prestigious Santa Fe HD Workshops and performed as the topside camera operator, digital imaging technician, and online editor for a multi-million dollar documentary television series for National Geographic called The Blue Realm. Over the coarse of several years, this series took him to some of the most exotic locales on the planet, where he shot and pushed the limitations of the HDW F900 HD camera both climatically and with its menu settings.

Justin has also offlined and onlined countless HD projects on both low-end and high-end systems from the Cinewave to the Avid DS. His first-hand knowledge and experience with the entire HD production process is rare.

Allen Blackwell

Allen Blackwell is an entertainment industry veteran who began his career at SBK Records in 1990. At SBK he oversaw the launch of mega-group Wilson Phillips and Vanilla Ice. His success prompted a promotion to Capitol Records where he supervised marketing for their Urban product line. Blackwell utilized his marketing expertise in launching the careers of MC Hammer, Freddie Jackson, Tracie Spencer, Najee and Arrested Development.

In 1993, Allen was recruited by Pepsi-Cola to manage their Los Angeles territory and market their growing product lines. At Pepsi he effectively created regional theme campaigns that became the basis for numerous national campaigns. He was subsequently chosen to spearhead the launch of several new brands for the company, including Lipton flavored iced teas. Under Blackwell’s leadership, the Los Angeles market grew to exceed $20 million annually.

He joined Helene Curtis in 1996 to further develop his managerial skills with an emphasis on financial analysis and forecasting. Subsequent entrepreneurial enterprises saw Blackwell exercising his creative talents, designing and marketing an international clothing line branded Herbn Sportswear. As an entrepreneur, Blackwell’s visionary marketing acumen merged hip-hop and fashion, gaining the recognition of Maverick Records founder Madonna who hired him to oversee artist development and design retail and promotional campaigns her label’s artists.

As the music industry began to change, Blackwell made the transition to home video by helping to build Urban Works Entertainment. The success of this launch led to his recruitment by leading independent video/audio distributor, Image Entertainment. As Senior Director of Urban Programming, Blackwell uses his vast entertainment experience to build a powerful division that will rival the major entertainment companies by bringing high quality audio and video entertainment to the marketplace.

Jeff Blauvelt

Jeff Blauvelt is the founder of HD Cinema, a company that provides high def production and post services to independent feature filmmakers and television documentary program producers.

Two recent projects that involved these services include Me and You and Everyone We Know directed by Miranda July (Sundance 2005 Feature Competition) and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room directed by Alex Gibney Sundance 2005 Documentary Competition).

In 2004 Jeff collaborated with film/video artist Eve Sussman in a re-creation that brings Velásquez' 1658 painting Las Meninas to life in High Definition digital video. Jeff was the Director of Photography and a co-producer for the project. The installation, titled 89 Seconds at Alcazar premiered in the United States at the Whitney Biennial in March 2004 and was purchased for the Whitney's permanent collection, and was also purchased for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Jeff began his career while a student at Duke University as chairman of the Freewater Film Society, coordinating film screenings and 16mm film production. His next five years were spent at CBS, NBC and ABC affiliate stations where he won four SE Region Emmy Awards in cinematography, editing, lighting and producing categories. He founded Threshold Productions and Peachtree Post in Atlanta and ran those companies until 1999 when they were sold and he started up HD Cinema as a new HD specific operation in Los Angeles. In 2003 HD Cinema established high def post services with joint venture partner Final Frame in New York City.

Salvador Bolivar

Salvador Bolivar, is a New York-based Latino cinematographer (DP), of Dominican and Costa Rican ancestry. Ever since his childhood, Salvador dreamed of being in the film industry. As a teenager he was an aspiring model and actor. After appearing in a few magazines and in Kelly Klein's book "Under World," Salvador began to explore life behind the camera, working as an assistant to still life photographer and later in film as a grip and gaffer.

In 1991 Salvador landed an acting job with for NYU's "Creative Arts Team" performing conflict resolution workshops within the School of Visual Arts, where he also studied Cinematography for four years. Salvador began working in the industry during his second year and has been a lighting technician on several music videos and over two-dozen indie films. These include, Eric Schaeffer’s Never Again (2001) ; David Daniel's 'Paper Soldiers' and _Shottas (2001) starring Ky-Mani Marley, Wyclef Jean, and Lennox Lewis.

He has photographed several feature length films including Blazin' (2001) (V), an action drama starring Angie Martinez and rapper Fat Joe; Mambo Cafe (1999) starring Danny Aiello, Paul Rodriguez, and Latin star Thalia, and Vote For Me (2002) -- a Hi-Definition feature length, political comedy starring Malik Yoba, Angel Salazzar and Gloria Irizarry. Salvador is constantly looking for greater challenges, and thrives on collaborating with directors in materializing their visions. In the last few years Salvador has lensed dozens of music videos as a DP. This is his second year participating in the Hi-Def workshop as an instructor for NALIP.

Eddie Borges

Edward Borges is a writer and independent producer based in Los Angeles.

Previously, he was a literary agent at International Creative Management, the preeminent talent and literary agency.

Earlier, Eddie was a contributing writer at LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE, where he covered the entertainment industry. He first started writing about the film business in the Spring of 2000, as a staff writer at THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Before relocating to Los Angeles in 2000, Eddie was the legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York State. Eddie joined the staff of the ACLU after writing the civil rights group’s 1998 investigative report about the police rape of a Haitian immigrant in a Brooklyn precinct house. Several of his recommendations on how to improve the New York Police Department’s relations with New York City’s ethnic minorities were later adopted by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s Task Force on Police/Community Relations, the New York City Council, then, finally, the NYPD.

Eddie’s spent most of the 1990s working as a journalist, mostly in New York. For The Village Voice and The New York Observer, he wrote numerous investigative and political articles. As a staff writer for The Miami Herald, Eddie wrote feature stories and analyses of news trends in South Florida. As a staff reporter at The New York Daily News, then the largest circulation newspaper in the New York metropolitan area, he covered politics and government. In 1992, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for News for STAMPEDE AT CITY COLLEGE, about nine people who were crushed to death at a rap celebrity basketball game; his story won the Associated Press Managing Editors’ Award for News and the Society of Professional Journalists Award for News.

Before becoming a journalist, Eddie served on the staff of a member of the United States House of Representatives. He studied political science at Queens College of the City University of New York.

Adriana Bosch

Adriana Bosch is currently working as a producer for Univision’s magazine show “Aqui y Ahora.” A twenty-year veteran of WGBH, she has just completed a 2 hour documentary biography of Fidel Castro for American Experience which premiered on January 31, 2005. She was producer, writer and director of Jimmy Carter, a three-hour documentary biography for American Experience that aired on PBS in November of 2002. She produced, wrote, and directed Ulysses S. Grant, Part I, "Warrior,” broadcast in May of 2002, and part II of The Rockefellers, both for American Experience. She was series editor and producer/writer for American Experience’s presidential biographies Reagan (1998) and Ike (1993). Bosch is the author of Reagan: An American Story, the companion book for the Reagan documentary, published by TV Books. She was series producer for The Churchills (1996), and producer, director, and writer for the third episode. Her other credits include: series editor for Americas (1993) and Mexico (1988), associate producer for two programs in the series War and Peace in the Nuclear Age (1989), and associate editor for Frontline Special Report: Crisis in Central America (1985).

Bosch earned a prime time Emmy Award for her work on Reagan. She also received the Christopher Award for Ike, Part 1, “Soldier” and Peabody Awards for Reagan and Ike. She was nominated for the Writer’s Guild Award for her work as producer and writer on “Soldier,” and “Lifeguard”, part one of Reagan.

Bosch received a BA in political science from Rutgers University and holds a PhD in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She was born in Cuba and arrived in the United States in 1970.

David Buelow

David Buelow is currently Executive In Charge of Production for First Family Entertainment which has a finance and distribution deal with MGM to make family programming for the Home Entertainment market. Mr. Buelow had previously been The Don Johnson Companys Executive Vice-President of Creative Affairs for the past 6 -1/2 years. His responsibilities include being in charge of developing series, television movies and feature films to be produced by the Company. Feature film projects that Mr. Buelow has most recently set up include: The Mysterious Tadpole for Disney, based on the childrens book by Steven Kellogg (Writers are Holly Goldberg Sloan The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course and Gary Rosen Major Payne), Top of the World for Producer David Hoberman (Bringing Down The House) and MGM (Writer is Ted Humphrey). Recent television projects include: The Education of Ron Morris for HBO and Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks (Writer is Tim Sexton Boycott, Director is Justin Lin Better Luck Tomorrow) and Love in the End Zone for CBS (Writer is Duane Poole Surviving Gilligans Island). Mr. Buelow has just recently sold his original family comedy pitch, Super Size to Disney.

Prior to joining The Don Johnson Company, Mr. Buelow was an Independent Producer, setting up several television movies. He was also the Executive Producer of a one-hour documentary, The Voices of Appalachia, for PBS.

After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in Radio/TV/Film, Mr. Buelow began his career as a story editor for Burt Lancaster. He was named Director of Development for The Arthur Company, an independent production company with a limited partnership with MCA/Universal. There, he held various posts including Production Executive on a series for both MCA Syndication and MCA-TV Films, ultimately supervising over 150 half-hour filmed and taped episodes. On a $1,000 option on a pitch, Mr. Buelow was able to develop and sell a successful prime-time series, FBI: The Untold Stories for ABC. He produced the pilot and an additional 44 episodes. He also sold a half-hour comedy created by Steve Martin to CBS. Throughout his career, Mr. Buelow has developed and sold pilots to ABC, CBS and NBC as well as movies-of-the-week for ABC, NBC, HBO, Showtime and USA Network.

Mr. Buelows years of experience give him a thorough understanding of television and film production and post production, as well as an excellent working knowledge of the business side of the industry. He maintains excellent relationships with many talented writers and directors, as well as their influential representatives in the management and agency field. Mr. Buelow is well suited to succeed in todays highly competitive marketplace.

Mauricio Buendia
Spanish Market Specialist for Studio Latino
Ventura Distribution.Inc.

Mauricio Buendía is a veteran video distributor, new market developer, and acquisitions professional with over two decades of experience in the domestic Spanish and Latin American home entertainment markets.

In his current role as Spanish Market Specialist at Studio Latino, Mr. Buendía is responsible for the execution of sales and marketing strategies, new customer development, and the identification of key library acquisitions from Spanish speaking territories. With notable success, Mr. Buendía has led the development of the Puerto Rican market on behalf of Studio Latino.

Prior to joining Studio Latino, Mr. Buendía served as a consultant to CIC Video International, the Paramount/Universal video partnership outside of the United States. At CIC, Mr. Buendia personally planned and managed the launch of CIC’s presence in Mexico. One of his most notable achievements at CIC Mexico was his early stage work pioneering the first major (film) sell-through releases for that territory including: ET, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, and Jurassic Park among others.

Previously, Mr. Buendía held the position of Director of Domestic Spanish Music and Video Markets and Latin America for The Handleman Company. During his time there, he helped Handleman launch subsidiaries in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, while also creating both the video and music item master in these subsidiaries. Mr. Buendía additionally facilitated presided over the explosive growth of Handleman’s Spanish Division, which climbed substantially from 12 million at his entrance to over 80 million during his tenure.

Before joining the Handleman Company, Mr. Buendía formed Latin Vision in 1994, which acquired American produced films for distribution in Latin America. Latin Vision also acquired the video rights to important Latin American films like Tiempo de Morir and Gabo, both penned by Noble laureate Gabriel García Marquéz, and distributed them in the United States.

Mr. Buendía was also the founder of Vestron Video Español, one of the entertainment industry’s first Spanish video divisions to acquire original Spanish language films in the U.S. During his tenure at Vestron, Mr. Buendía was among the first entertainment executives to create a new business from the licensing video rights to foreign buyers and formed foreign subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to leverage this strategy. While at Vestron he piloted the launch of National Geographic Video en Español.

Mr. Buendía has an undergraduate and graduate degree from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. Mr. Buendía is also a member of Orinda's Spanish Honor Society, advisor to the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena and Board member to Inravision, the Colombian Institute of Radio and Television.

Corey P. Carbonara, Ph.D.

Carbonara is a Professor of Telecommunication in the Communication Studies Department at Baylor University. In addition, Dr.Carbonara currently serves as the Director of the Digital Communication Technologies Project at Baylor. He recently served as Chief Technology Officer for the Texas State Technical College System (TSTC) as well as the Director of New Technology and Community Networks for the Cross Border Institute for Regional Development (CBIRD) Project, led by the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. Dr.Carbonara is a Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute and has served as a Visiting Adjunct Professor/Lecturer in the Management Department of the Graduate School of Business at UT Austin where he has taught for the new Executive Master’s Degree Program in Science and Technology Commercialization.

Professor Carbonara also served as the Associate Vice-President for Technology Management and Executive Director of the Institute for Technology Innovation Management at Baylor University. Prior to his positions at Baylor, Carbonara held was the product manager of high-definition systems at Sony Broadcast Products Co. He has held several management and executive posts ranging from sales and marketing to jobs in television engineering and production at Columbia Pictures, Inc., Motorola, Inc., Caterpillar Tractor Co., and Columbia College.

Professor Carbonara currently serves in a variety of capacities (as a co-chair, vice-chair, or member) on numerous state, national and international engineering committees, working groups, subcommittees and panels for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R). He also serves as an U.S. Delegate appointed by the US Department of State and the White House to the ITU-R on topics ranging from High Definition Television to Digital Cinema. He is a member of numerous professional societies and organizations in broadcasting, telecommunications, consumer electronics, motion picture management and engineering. In the March 2000 issue, Texas Monthly distinguished Dr. Carbonara as one of the “…Most Powerful Texans in High Tech.” Recently, he was selected to be a member of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers for his contributions to the development of high definition television. He also was elected to serve on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society.

In addition, Dr. Carbonara has been associated with numerous film, video, and high definition television (HDTV) productions as a producer/director/editor and director of photography. He is also the author of a variety of journal articles, book contributions, encyclopedia chapters, magazines publications, and national and international presentations on a variety of subjects such as HDTV and digital television (DTV), satellite communications, digital video disk (DVD), digital cinema, video game technology, distance learning, multimedia, digital communications networks, opto-electronics, photonics, wireless media communications, managing international strategic alliances, technology commercialization, knowledge management, zero time management strategies and the creative and innovative management of technology.

Professor Carbonara is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned a B.A. in Radio/Television and a M.A. in Mass Communication Theory. He is also a Phi Kappa Phi graduate of the University of Texas at Austin where he received a Ph.D. in Radio/Television/Film.

Carlos Carreras

Carlos Carreras is an agent in UTA’s Alternative Department. He covers various areas of the Spanish-language and international marketplaces. Clients he represents range from talent in television, music and film to executive producers and production companies from Spain, the UK and the U.S. including: Plural Entertainment (Subsid of Spain's Grupo Prisa; producers of Univision's "Al Filo de La Ley"); Miami based, Latin World Entertainment; UK's Wall To Wall (FX Networks"Smallpox"), Simon Andreae (UK’s Ch. 4, "Live Autopsy"), So TV (UK's Ch. 4 and Comedy Central's "The Graham Norton Effect"), Michael Davies/Diplomatic (co-executive producer of ABC’s "Wife Swap", executive producer of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"); Graham Norton, Comedian/Host (UK's Ch. 4 and Comedy Central’s "The Graham Norton Effect") Univision-Broadcast Journalist/Host, Myrka Dellanos; Wilmer Valderrama (FOX’s "That 70’s Show"), Roselyn Sanchez (Miramax’s"Underclassmen", "Edison", "Rush Hour 2"), Beto Cuevas y La Ley (Warner Bros. Recording Artists), Julietta Venegas and Paulina Rubio, to name a few.

Maria Agui Carter

Maria Agui Carter is an independent filmmaker, founder of Iguana Films, and member of the Boston-based Filmmaker’s Collaborative. Over a dozen of Carter’s long-form documentaries have aired on PBS. A native of Ecuador and a 1987 graduate of Harvard where she studied filmmaking and anthropology, Carter started in television producing for the WGBH Latino documentary series La Plaza. She moved to the National Productions department of WGBH to produce for the prime-time PBS series CULTURE SHOCK, a historical four hour mini-series on the relationship between art, morality, and society, nominated for best series by the International Documentary Association. She has since produced other documentaries for PBS, including Rumble Over West Side Story, and Tango: Duel and Dance.

Carter has extensive experience shooting in Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. She has completed several dozen shorts in Spanish for the educational market distributed by Heinle and Heinle and Prentiss Hall. She has been a Harvard University Warren Fellow in American Studies, and a Rockefeller Fellow at Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies. She is currently in production on REBEL, a film about a woman, a myth, and the politics of national memory. REBEL is supported by grants from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and Latino Public Broadcasting.

Sonya Childress

As Director of Campaign Strategies, Sonya Childress develops and manages community engagement campaigns, forms local and national partnerships, and produces new media content and framing materials for social issue documentaries.

In her four years with the company, Sonya has been instrumental in helping individuals and organizations use film in innovative ways to address issues ranging from immigration and changing demographics, globalization, domestic racism, cultural identity and religious tolerance. She works closely with public television, independent producers, educators, policymakers, grant makers, advocates, and local service providers on film campaigns. She has represented the organization at numerous festivals and conferences including Sundance Film Festival, Film Arts Foundation Independent Film Festival, Social Venture Network, UN World Conference Against Racism and the National Conference of State Legislators.

George Cisneros

George Cisneros, electronic media artist, is exploring an artistic language combining performance, interactive technology and community work. His works range from music pieces to sound sculptures and media installations that employ electronic devices, video and computer imagery. Throughout his career, he has used the technology arts as building blocks for community expressions. He lives in San Antonio, Texas where he owns a multimedia production studio, VuTURE ART and is a partner in DCCI, an internet service provider. He performs with Carnaval de San Anto, a dance and drum ensemble and serves as Digital Media Arts Chair for the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative.

Alejandro P. Clancy

Alejandro P. Clancy has Fifteen years of experience in the film industry including four years as Executive Producer, two as Production Coordinator and Postproduction Manager and three as Location Manager. Some of his film credits include Cisco Kid, Nicotina and El Crimen del Padre Amaro, just to name a few.

Marjorie Cohn
Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Development, Nickelodeon

Marjorie Cohn is Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Development for Nickelodeon, reporting to Cyma Zarghami, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Nickelodeon.

A 18-year veteran at Nickelodeon, Cohn supervises the development, creative direction and production of all live-action and animated programming on Nickelodeon. Cohn also oversees Nickelodeon’s Executives in Charge of Production, managing the creative direction and coordination efforts between series production, on-air promotions, marketing and consumer products. She is also a member of the network strategy team.

Most recently, Cohn oversaw the development and launch of several live-action hits including Romeo, Drake and Josh, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Unfabulous and Zoey 101. As a result of the launch of these new shows, more Kids 9-14 watch TEENick than any other programming block on cable or broadcast including broadcast primetime.

Previously, Cohn held the position of Senior Vice President, Production and Development. In that capacity she managed the production of all animation and live-action series for Nickelodeon including such hits as Spongebob Squarepants, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, The Fairly Odd Parents, Drake and Josh, All Grown Up, Chalkzone, As Told By Ginger, All That, The Amanda Show, The Nick Canon Show and Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. She was also responsible for the special Rugrats, All Growed Up which garnered record breaking ratings and is the Executive Producer of The Kids’ Choice Awards.

As Vice-President, Executive Producer, Current Series, Cohn oversaw the production of Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Kenan and Kel, Cousin Skeeter and The Secret World of Alex Mack. She began her career at Nickelodeon as a Unit Manager and shortly after became a Producer working on all Nickelodeon productions including Double Dare and Don’t Just Sit There. In addition, she created and produced Nickelodeon's Get The Picture, and was Executive In Charge of Production for Roundhouse and Clarissa Explains It All, both hit shows for Nickelodeon.

Prior to joining Nickelodeon, Cohn worked as a freelance producer for various companies including WNET/Thirteen and Reeves Corporate services.

Born in New York, Cohn graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a BA degree in Fine Art and English. She resides in New York City with her husband, Peter Tarshis, and their two sons Jack and Will.

Lucia Cottone

Born and raised in Latin America Lucia Cottone had the opportunity to attend and graduate from Emerson College in Boston, MA. Her first executive position in Los Angeles was at Rysher Entertainment where she was promoted to Director of Creative Affairs. During her tenure at Rysher she was responsible for the development and current programming of HBO's "OZ", CBS's "Nash Bridges" and numerous network pilots. She then went on to UPN and served as Director of Drama Development. Some of the projects she developed included "The Beat" with Tom Fontana, "Secret Agent Man" with Barry Sonnenfeld and "The Strip" with Joel Silver. Lucia's desire to educate herself with the US Hispanic market lead her to her next position as VP of Development at Telemundo Network based in Miami. While at Telemundo she was not only involved in the development and scheduling of the "telenovelas" but also supervised the original programming slate, inclusive of scripted sitcoms, games shows and reality programs. Lucia left Telemundo to take a sabbatical and ended up in Spain researching and learning development and programming attitudes in that territory. She made her way back to Miami to explore a whole new professional world in radio. During her tenure as a consultant at Prisa she was responsible for the creation of programming content and a national scheduling grid for the acquisition of a major Hispanic radio network in the United States. She also produced a live weekly 4-hour radio talk show that still airs in Miami and Latin America. Getting back into programming permitted her to further educate herself with the Hispanic community not only in the United States but also in Latin America. In early 2004 Lucia was presented with the opportunity to move back to Los Angeles where she accepted the position of Director of Cable Programming at Universal Television now NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION STUDIO. She currently oversees day-to-day creative on MONK and has a development slate of over 30 projects with both USA Network and the SCI FI channel.

René Simon Cruz Jr.

Born & bred in Hoboken, New Jersey, René Simon Cruz Jr., has been traveling the globe creating award-winning films for over a decade. René is now focused on bringing his passionate vision for cutting edge films to the big screen.

After attending NYC’s School of Visual Art, René got his start in the industry by assisting directors Adrian Lyne & Bob Zemekis by day. By night, he was known in the burgeoning New York art scene as “SEZ,” a prolific member of the legendary graffiti crew, DownTown Artists.

After working with Lee Grant on her Academy Award winning HBO documentary, “Down & Out in America,” René began making socially relevant documentaries and won awards for “They Speak of Hope,” a film about the Church’s role in El Salvador’s civil war. He was later honored for his documentary work with a prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.

René soon founded Esperanza Films Inc. in New York City. Under his leadership the company has successfully produced projects for clients like: Johnson & Johnson, Sony America, Salt N Pepa, Bill Blass, Sony Picture Classics, Independent Film Channel, Malpaso Productions and HBO.

Since moving to Los Angeles to pursue theatrical film and television production, René has been in demand as both a producer and writer, working on projects at the Independent Film Channel, BET and Fox. He has produced a feature film, developed a pilot with Mark Canton at Warner Bros. and has a number of feature scripts in development.

Recently, his screenplay, “The Salted Earth” a mystical drama that asks “What will happen in Cuba after Castro?” was selected for participation in the inaugural Tribeca Films All Access Program to foster production of minority films by Robert Deniro. The project also participated in the highly competitive NALIP Producer’s Academy & the Sundance Producers Conference. The film is slated to go into production in late 2005. The Salted Earth will be Rene’s feature directorial debut.

Other projects include:

Executive Producer “The Treatment” an interview show for Starz Entertainment hosted by former NY Times film critic, Elvis Mitchell. The show is patterned after a successful NPR series that surveys popular culture by featuring in depth conversations with those who shape it.
Producer/Additional Editing by: “Cross the Line” a $1.5 million feature film starring Taye Diggs, Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn, and Hill Harper.
Writer/ Producer “Beyond Borders: John Sayles in Mexico,” an hour long documentary about John Sayles, “Casa De Los Babys”
Producer/Director on “DriveTime” a 30 min. sitcom pilot for IFC Originals starring Jack Black, Jane Adams and Laura Kightlinger.

In other lives, René has worked as a smuggler, a war correspondent and as a missionary.

Tania Cuevas Martinez

Mexican-born Tania Cuevas Martinez began to study film while growing up in San Francisco. By sixteen, she worked nights and weekends for her mentor and acclaimed music video director, the late Michael Lucero. Being on the set of many early Hip Hop and R&B music videos influenced her style in filmmaking and guided her vision to create something different. Now an independent filmmaker, Cuevas-Martinez makes interesting and captivating films by using mixed media to take intricate stories and create a deeper understanding of the human struggle. While living in New York, her work behind the scenes for esteemed directors such as Nora Ephron, Spike Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Chris Robinson, and Bill Duke has given her the experience to materialize her own productions.

She has produced films such as Voice of the Voiceless - the life, the words, the movement – an edgy documentary about one man’s struggle for freedom while on Death Row and the international community inspired by his will to live. Winning awards including an honorable mention at the Hollywood Black Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Denver Pan African Film Festival, and the Kodak People’s Choice Award, the film received numerous accolades and was featured on a national tour sponsored by Ford Motors, Vibe Magazine, and Black Enterprise while also being selected as Blockbuster Video’s special nightly screening at the 2003 NAACP National Convention. Her second short doc entitled Haters was a post-9/11 piece that analyzed the virus of hate and the demonization of ethnic groups in the United States. It was executive produced by Warrington Hudlin and generously supported by the Ford Foundation.

Extending beyond the boundaries of film production, Tania co-founded the H20 International Film Festival in 2002 to create a platform for filmmakers to exhibit Hip Hop works. Last year, she launched 11th Parallel Worldwide, a media and marketing company dedicated to marketing artists, filmmakers and entertainment-based brands through the execution of film and music events in the international marketplace.

Melissa de Leon

Melissa has developed her professional career in Spanish language mediums as diverse as publishing, cable television and free television. For over nine years, she has held positions in editorial and business development roles and has been producing television for the last four.

Born in Connecticut and raised in both Mexico and the United States, Melissa developed an early awareness of the power of media in the lives of first and second generation Latinos. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, she decided to pursue a career in journalism, majoring in History and minoring in Latin American Studies. Motivated by the desire to recapture living in a Spanish speaking country, she found an opportunity to work abroad in Spain after graduation.

Melissa moved to Madrid and held her first job position as an editorial assistant for a magazine and began her television career as programming assistant for the HISTORY CHANNEL.

Her first incursion into television content targeting the US-Latino marketplace was in New York, in 2001. She produced segments for bicultural Latino, youth-oriented programming that aired on Galavision. In 2002, Melissa joined Plural Entertainment, the film and television production subsidiary of Spain's Grupo Prisa, as a producer. She associate produced on AL FILO DE LA LEY, the first one-hour weekly prime-time drama series to air on Univision. The legal drama was produced entirely in the United States. The story portrays the lives of first and second generation Latinos living in Los Angeles and dramatizes real life cases.

She currently lives in Miami continues to develop fiction and non-fiction content for the Latino film and television audience.

Deborah Del Prete

Deborah Del Prete is co-owner with partner Gigi Pritzker of Odd Lot Entertainment. Odd Lot is a full service entertainment production company dealing in film, television and theatre. Among its holdings is one of LA’s landmark cultural institutions, The Coronet Theatre.

Together with partner Gigi Pritzker she has produced the recently completed feature film, “Hooligans,” starring Elijah Wood; “The Wedding Planner” with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey for Sony Pictures; “Ricochet River” (Porchlight Entertainment), Kate Hudson’s feature film debut; and “Simple Justice” starring Cesar Romero, the Emmy award-winning, Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) and John Spencer (West Wing). The team executive produced the HBO film “Hostile Intent” starring Rob Lowe and the Humanitas Award winning “Mean Creek” (Paramount Classics) with Rory Culkin and Scott Mechlowicz, which was a 2004 Director’s Fortnight selection at Cannes.

Deborah and Gigi also own the legit theater company, Dee Gee Theatricals, whose first production was “Kiss at City Hall” by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), which had a successful run at the Pasadena Playhouse in February of 2000. Their “One Red Flower,” the Vietnam musical written by Paris Barclay has enjoyed runs at Seattle’s Village Theatre, North Shore Theatre outside of Boston and Washington D.C.’s Signature Theatre under the direction of Eric Schaeffer. Their original drama, “Symmetry,” written by Dave Fields, will premiere at the Tony award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago this summer.

As a director, Deborah’s first feature film assignment was the independent film “Simple Justice.” She then directed “Ricochet River,” which also starred John Cullum (Northern Exposure) and Jason James Richter (Free Willy I, II, III) alongside Kate Hudson. She has produced and/or directed numerous television programs, music videos, commercials, industrials and documentaries. Some of these other credits include “The People Versus,” a five-part dramatic series starring Meg Ryan for Viacom; the musicals, “Something’s Afoot” starring Jean Stapleton for Showtime and Barry Manilow’s “The Drunkard” starring Tom Bosley for the Arts & Entertainment Channel; “Journey To Adventure,” a long-running syndicated travel series; “Maintenance Men’s Lounge” (comedy pilot-ABC); “Gifts From The Fire” (CBC series - “Adrienne Clarkson Presents”); and “The Architect and the City” (Host - Edwin Newman for WTTW Chicago).

Odd Lot Entertainment has a full slate of films in various stages of development, including “The Lavender Hill Mob,” an action comedy remake of the Alec Guinness starrer, to be directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Sussman; “Trap for Cinderella,” an erotic thriller to be directed by Iain Softley and written by Chris Gerolmo; “The Reckoning,” a supernatural thriller written by Irving Belateche, being produced in partnership with Lawrence Bender Productions; and an adaptation of the best-selling Melissa Banks’ novel, “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing,” written by and to be directed by Marc Klein for Warner Independent.

Deborah resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband and son.

Tatiana Derovanessian

Tatiana Derovanessian over 9 years of experience in post-production.

She started her career in post-production in 1995 working on music videos and commercials. She has been working with advertising agencies around the world on various national and international campaigns.

After 10 years in the business, Tatiana decided to put legs on her dreams and open a post-production company that focused on high-end creative talent and work.

Tatiana launched Cake on October 1st, 2004. Cake provides editorial, visual effects and design services for commercials, features, TV and documentaries.

Martha Diaz

Martha Diaz is an Educator, Filmmaker, Entrepreneur and Visionary with a decade of production experience and a knack for being involved in cutting edge projects. Her intuition for success can be traced back to her teenaged days in New York as a young and aspiring production assistant for the late Ted Demme, the innovative producer and director behind Yo! MTV Raps, Hangin’ With MTV, Yo!, and Denis Leary’s MTV commercials. Due to Martha’s poise and creative ideas, she progressed from intern, to production assistant, to segment producer within a year of her apprenticeship under Demme.

Martha’s aptitude for discovering talent and fresh ideas would later land her the role of co-casting director in Demme’s 1993 debut film, Who’s the Man? Martha flourished in the role, casting some 52 rappers in their first starring and cameo parts, into what many die-hard rap fans now consider a cult favorite. Martha’s close ties to the Hip-Hop community resulted in a natural transition to music videos where she began assisting Demme on videos for the likes of House Of Pain, Cypress Hill, and the Henry Rollins Band. Not long thereafter, Martha was introduced to casting director Tracy Moore-Marable and film director Lionel C. Martin, both of whom hired her to work on separate music videos for Boyz II Men, Keith Sweat, Bobby Brown, SWV, and Jodeci.

It wasn’t long before Martha re-immersed herself in the film world to help Demme with production of Denis Leary’s Showtime Special, No Cure For Cancer and the feature film, The Ref starring Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis. While working on The Ref in Hollywood, CA, she had the privilege to learn different aspects of the business from acclaimed producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. Impressed by her charismatic nature and genuine ability to work with large groups of people while managing pressing deadlines, Bruckheimer hired Martha to work with talent on the set of the blockbuster hit Dangerous Minds. Bruckheimer became Martha’s mentor and muse, which led her to create the popular, Sabor Wear, a Latin awareness novelty clothing line.

After her time in Hollywood, Martha returned to New York to create and produce the short-lived Latin Hip-Hop show called Hip Mundo for MTV Latino. Over the next couple of years, Martha began collaborating with other Latinos in the film and television industry with the goal of diversifying programming for døíthis growing ethnic populace: In 1995, she teamed up with Director, Franc Reyes, to produce the short film, In The Deep South, starring Lauren Velez and Jon Seda; In 1996, she worked with Augusto Failde (HBO Latino, ESPN Latin America & Fox Latin America) to develop and package programs for the cable channel, LTV (Latino television); and in 1997, produced for the SONY syndicated bi-lingual magazine show, Mi Gente/My People.

As the 90’s drew to a close, Martha soon revisited her Hip-Hop roots and began shooting H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] - a digital video series that she conceived and orchestrated, which chronicles the history and multiple elements of Hip-Hop culture and its global effects. Robert “The RZA” Diggs believed in Martha’s vision and passion to educate people on this worldwide phenomenon and signed on as H2O‘s executive producer. Thus far, Martha has produced and directed a 15-minute short which has been screened from coast to coast, including LA’s Black and Brown Shorts, Brooklyn’s Short film festival, The Rock Steady Crew Anniversary Film Festival, KRS-ONE’s Hip-Hop Appreciation Week Festival, the Vista Film Festival in Dallas, and numerous schools. In March 2000, Martha was hired to produced two weekly live streaming Internet shows for the 88 Hip-Hop channel on the pioneer web station, Pseudo.com. After the dot-com crash, Martha segment produced on the African Heritage Network’s, syndicated Hip-Hop show, Source All Access.

The experience of globetrotting and meeting people who use Hip-Hop as a means of communicating with youth culture inspired Martha to seriously develop a new found talent in videography in order to capture this enigmatic phenomenon. This led to Martha being commissioned by the Hakuhodo Advertising Agency to work on a Mazda campaign that would allow for a collaboration with Producer/DJ Premier in Japan. Martha was then invited to shoot the International Hip-Hop Conference for Peace at the United Nations and also shot and produced a street marketing reel for GTM’s (street marketing company) Truth anti-tobacco campaign. Martha also volunteered to document the Black August Benefit Concert for Political Prisoners Tour in South Africa, The 4th Annual World Aids Day Ceremony for the Betances Health Center in New York, and an evening with Angela Davis, speaking with the community to collectively confront Violence Against Women of Color sponsored by the Sista II Sista Collective of Brooklyn, NY. Martha then became Associate Producer on two 30-second Public Service Announcements for Americans for the Arts, “Art Ask For More – Generation Hip-Hop” campaign with Chuck D from Public Enemy and Poet/ MC, La Bruja.

Once again, Martha embarked on another mission to celebrate and aid filmmakers with a focus on the Hip-Hop community. In 2002, she founded the H2O (Hip-Hop Odyssey) International Film Festival, a platform where filmmakers could be acknowledged and showcase their work. Incorporated into the festival are filmmaking workshops, panel discussions, and an exhibit floor, where a networking of information, products and services could be exchanged. Martha would partner up with over a dozen filmmakers, industry executives, and community activist to create the most exciting and progressive step for Hip-Hop cinema.

While Martha developed the film festival, she was also teaching in the Bronx as a NYC Teaching Fellow. As a Literacy and Journalism educator teaching at-risk youth, Martha used what she knew best – Hip Hop – to engage her students. At the New School of Arts and Sciences, she started a digital filmmaking class while using Hip Hop as the motivational tool. Once again, Martha noticed the influence that Hip-Hop had among her students.

In January 2003, H2Ed was formed to advocate on a grassroots and institutional level for educational reform by exploring how curriculum, activities and learning models using Hip-Hop culture can be a more effective way to connect, educate, and activate youth. In November 2003, H2Ed organized the first Hip-Hop Education Summit. The H2Ed Summit accomplished its first goal of connecting those educators who are currently using Hip-Hop culture as an educational tool with educators who are interested in but have not yet begun to Hip-Hop in educational curriculums. The panels and workshops were organized and facilitated by experienced educators and activists who use Hip-Hop culture as an academic source to inspire students, build inter-generational relationships, and future leaders. The summit also introduced , a home base website for TOPSY (teachers, organizers, parents, social workers, and youth) to share lessons and resources that utilize Hip-Hop culture.

Now under one umbrella, H2O and H2Ed are programs of the Hip-Hop Association, a non-profit organization that uses Hip-Hop culture as a tool for critical thinking, social change, and unity, while impacting communities through educational and cultural initiatives. Through community partnerships, the Hip-Hop Association provides programming, training, and resources to foster, facilitate and preserve Hip-Hop culture.

Martha’s latest project is producing the Hip Hop World Summit for the International Music Council, an NGO under UNESCO. This monumental event will take place at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. As a prelude to event, she produced a day of Hip-Hop activities during the Youth World Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Matias Doorn

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mr. Doorn moved to Los Angeles in March 2003 to become Motion Picture, Art and Science Attaché at the Consulate General of the Argentine Republic. As the Representative in the United States of the Argentine National Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (INCAA) he is concentrating in the promotion of Argentine cinema at festivals and among film studios and TV networks and Argentina as a versatile production center in South America. Matias is the Executive Producer and Programmer of the “Argentine New Cinema” series at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and Coordinator at film premiers and cultural events.

While in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was Advisor to the Secretary of Press and Broadcasting for the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires. Matias handled government image and communications, institutional image, direct marketing, events, production of advertising spots, public welfare campaigns, TV and radio programs for a number of organizations within the Government. He produced 30 summer recitals for live mass audiences, two of which were shown in a special program for Channel 13, ARTEAR Argentina. He also produced “Tournament of Buenos Aires Youth” for Fox Sports Latin America and he was in charge of the institutional image change campaign for Banco Provincia de Buenos Aires (the leading Buenos Aires bank and financial institution).

Matias was Executive Producer and Owner of the DM3 Film Group in Buenos Aires which produced and filmed advertising spots at Channel 13 ARTEAR Argentina for McDonald´s, Telefonica, Philips, Gillette, and others. While in university he worked as an independent producer of short films, institutional videos, advertisements, video clips and a number of TV series such as “Los Especialistas” (The Specialists), “Electric Café” and “Leyendas Urbanas” (Urban Legends) and “Bonus Track”.

Robert J. Dowling
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, The Hollywood Reporter
President, VNU Film & Performing Arts Group

During his 16-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, the entertainment industry’s premier daily trade publication, Robert J. Dowling has emerged as one of the leading authorities and spokesmen on entertainment issues and trends worldwide.

Mr. Dowling’s unique publishing background has spanned more than three decades of successful leadership and experience in publishing and entertainment, sports marketing, technology, international and other arenas. He has created and launched five profitable magazines, pioneered an advertising sales and publishing management program, produced conferences and seminars for marketing executives and developed a TV talk show.

When BPI Communications purchased The Hollywood Reporter in 1988 and placed Mr. Dowling at the helm, he began the process of transforming a small, family-owned publication into a highly respected international newspaper. Under Mr. Dowling’s leadership, The Hollywood Reporter has achieved steady and profitable growth, dramatically expanded its coverage of a now-global $100 billion entertainment industry and vaulted to leadership as the number one entertainment daily, read by more than 140,000 industry professionals worldwide.

Mr. Dowling has created and executed a successful business plan to position The Hollywood Reporter as the definitive authority on the fast-changing entertainment industry landscape of the 21st century. He has proven adept at identifying emerging growth areas early, guiding the paper to unparalleled coverage of labor, convergence, new media, international and Hollywood-Washington political issues in addition to its core reporting on the movie, television, music, cable and video businesses.

He launched The Hollywood Reporter’s Web site in 1995, the industry’s first real-time, online delivery of entertainment news, pioneered the first regular entertainment coverage devoted to the convergence of traditional entertainment and new media, and started THR-East, an electronically distributed daily edition designed to bring East Coast readers breaking news stories hours before the competition.

Mr. Dowling has also built the paper’s revitalization on a series of franchise special issues, including the groundbreaking “Women in Entertainment,” “Next Generation” and “Film 500” issues for which the publication has gained a reputation as a cutting-edge industry innovator.

The recipient of several honors over the years, Mr. Dowling became the first publisher ever to receive the Foundation of Motion Picture Pioneers’ prestigious Pioneer of the Year award in 2000. He has also earned the respected American Business Media’s Crain Award for his distinguished editorial career, the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors’ Journalism Award, and most recently, the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Entertainment Industry Award.

Mr. Dowling is Chairman of the Digital Coast Roundtable and sits on the boards of the Los Angeles Board of Governors for the Museum of Television & Radio, the Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS), the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Fielding Graduate Institute. In 2000 Mr. Dowling was invited to Washington D.C. to brief members of the White House Cabinet on the entertainment industry for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has taught a course at UCLA and lectured at USC and Loyola Marymount.

Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson, named by Essence magazine as one of the 50 most inspiring African-Americans, is one of the nation's most renowned public intellectuals.The remarkable range of his cultural appeal is evident when he is celebrated in the pages of Time magazine and U.S. News and World Report, and in the rap lyrics of hip-hop legends KRS-One and Nas. Dyson has appeared across the cultural landscape, lecturing at hundreds of universities, preaching at countless churches, speaking at numerous conventions and conferences and going toe-to-toe with the titans of television, including Ted Koppel, Bill Maher, Charlie Gibson, Tavis Smiley, Bill O&Mac226;Reilly, Charlie Rose, Bryant Gumbel, Paula Zahn, Dennis Miller and many other distinguished journalists and personalities.

But this ordained Baptist preacher and best-selling author of ten books is just as likely to be found giving talks to the masses in local bookstores, public school auditoriums, and in jails and prisons. Dyson's powerful scholarship has won him legions of admirers and has made him what the Washington Post terms a "superstar professor" Dyson's fearless and fiery oratory has drawn comparisons to Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, leading the Chronicle of Higher Education to declare that with his rhetorical gifts he "can rock classroom and chapel alike."

Dyson's eloquent writing inspired Vanity Fair magazine to describe him as "one of the most graceful and lucid intellectuals writing on race and politics today." And his visible and principled defense of young people bolstered by appearances like his notable turn on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, where he declared, "I write books/like niggas write hooks" has earned him the love and affection of millions of youth around the country.

Dyson&Mac226;s literary and political efforts have been rewarded with the 1992 magazine award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the prestigious 2004 NAACP Image Award for outstanding nonfiction literary work for his national bestseller, Why I Love Black Women, and the 2005 BET/General Motors Black History Makers Award. Nearly all of Dyson's books have landed on the bestseller&Mac226;s list, including the 2004 New York Times bestseller, Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye, which was recently optioned for a major motion picture. He has also written brilliant books on the lives and legacies of some of our most important and controversial social and cultural figures: besides Gaye, they include Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Tupac Shakur. And in May, 2005, Dyson will add to his reputation with the publication of his eleventh book in 12 years, Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?

Dyson has taught at some of the nation&Mac226;s most distinguished colleges and universities, including Chicago Theological Seminary, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University and DePaul University. He is presently the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities, and Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies, at the University of Pennsylvania. His legendary rise "from welfare father to Princeton Ph.D., from
church pastor to college professor, from a factory worker who didn&Mac226;t start college until he was 21 to a figure who has become what writer Naomi Wolf terms „the ideal public intellectual of our time" may help explain why author NathanMcCall simply calls Dyson "a street fighter in suit and tie."

Leo Eaton

Born in England, Leo Eaton has produced and directed television and film in Europe and the U.S. for more than 2 decades and been honored with most of television's top awards. Eaton is currently executive producing British historian Michael Wood’s new series IN SEARCH OF MYTHS & HEROES for PBS/BBC release in 2005. His 13-part action reality series COWBOY 101 for OLN (The Outdoor Life Network), will air in October 2004. He’s in post-production on TANGO, THE SPIRIT OF ARGENTINA for PBS, sequel to his 2003 performance special MARIACHI, THE SPIRIT OF MEXICO (hosted by Plácido Domingo). Eaton executive produced Michael Wood’s previous 4-hour series THE LIFE & TIMES OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (PBS/BBC 2004) and is completing Season 2 of the 26-hour Kratt Brothers BE THE CREATURE series, now airing on the National Geographic Channel. Eaton’s 3-hour history series, IN SEARCH OF ANCIENT IRELAND — that he wrote, directed and series produced — aired on RTE (Ireland) and PBS in June 2002. Other recent PBS projects include CLASSIC AMERICAN CARS OF CUBA (August 2002). Previously Eaton executive produced and created (with Chris & Martin Kratt) PBS’s 2001 Emmy Award winning hit pre-school nature series ZOBOOMAFOO, for which he also directed, as well as executive producing many other Michael Wood PBS/BBC documentary series that include CONQUISTADORS (2001) and IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1998).

For A&E’s INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS, Eaton produced & directed SHUTTLE PILOT (2001) — a behind-the-scenes profile of a NASA shuttle mission, WOMEN WARRIORS, THE MAKING OF A MARINE (1999), the 2-hour DANGEROUS SKIES, INSIDE THE US AIRFORCE (1998), and the 3-hour DANGEROUS SEAS, INSIDE THE US COAST GUARD (1996). Between 1994 & 1996, he was Executive Producer and creator (also with Chris & Martin Kratt) of KRATTS' CREATURES, PBS's ground-breaking children’s comedy wild life adventure series.

From 1989 to 1994, Eaton was Senior Vice President of National/International Production at Maryland Public Television (MPT), responsible for overseeing MPT's growth into one of the top four producing centers for America’s public television system (PBS). As Executive Producer, Eaton developed, produced and/or executive produced numerous major primetime documentary series for PBS, including: SEAPOWER (1994), MINIDRAGONS 11 (1993), THE NEW EUROPEANS (1992), LEGACY with Michael Wood (1992), MINIDRAGONS (1991), AFTER THE WARMING with James Burke (1990) and TIMELINE (1989). He produced, directed and executive produced documentary specials for broadcasters around the world, including THE VIETNAM PEACE (1993) for ABC-TV, Australia, THE CONTRACEPTIVE REVOLUTION with Linda Ellerbee (1992) for TBS and RULING THE WAVES (1993) for ITV's VIEWPOINTS in the UK. With a special focus on co-production, Eaton has developed successful partnerships with more than 20 international broadcasters, especially in Europe & S.E. Asia.

In the 1980s, Eaton produced and directed numerous documentary and children's drama series and specials for PBS and commercial distribution, including THE REAL ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK JONES & PROCTER WATSON (1987), THE PERKINS FAMILY (1987), the Benjamin Britten opera CURLEW RIVER (1985), NEWSCASTS FROM THE PAST (1984) and MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS with Waylon Jennings (1981). He was Director of Production at KLRN/KLRU-TV (San Antonio/Austin, Texas) between 1984 and 1987 and President & CEO of West Texas-based production company, Big Bend Productions Inc.

Eaton has taught film production & scriptwriting at the University of Texas (Austin) and lived in Greece, Portugal, Canada and Mexico, where he developed and wrote feature films and drama scripts for British film and television. Before moving to the US, Eaton worked on British TV series such as THE SAINT, UFO, JOE 90, CAPTAIN SCARLET and other TV episodic drama series based in the UK. Author of a recent book on Irish history In Search of Ancient Ireland, published by Ivan R. Dee in 2002, Eaton’s awards, publications and associations are available on request.

Moctesuma Esparza

Moctesuma Esparza, award-winning filmmaker, producer, entertainment executive and entrepreneur is well known for his contribution to the movie industry and his commitment to providing access and opportunities for Latinos in Hollywood. A partner in the highly successful Esparza-Katz Productions, he has worked with stars such as Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smits, Martin Sheen and Halle Berry. Additional Production credits include: Selena, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge; Gettysburg; The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez; and The Milagro Beanfield War. He has won over 200 awards, including an Emmy for Cinco Vidas and an Academy Award nomination for Agueda Martinez - Our People, Our Country.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Esparza has not forgotten his humble beginnings and is dedicated to giving back to his community. Esparza’s father, Francisco, came to the United States in 1918 during the Mexican Revolution from Jalisco, Mexico. He worked as a farm worker and railroad hand from Texas to Utah to California where he settled in Los Angeles. Esparza grew up with a strong sense of social justice and remembers the education, principles and values he learned from his father, and incorporated them in his lessons for his own children and all American Latino youth.

As a UCLA student in the late 1960’s, Moctesuma Esparza played an active role in the student youth movement. He was a founder of MECHA, and leader in the famous Chicano Student Walkouts of 1968 for which he and 12 others were arrested. He was also present with a film crew at the August 1970 National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War. The footage he shot there eventually was incorporated into the film Requiem 29.

For more than thirty years, Esparza has maintained his commitment to the Latino Community from his first "Only Once in a Lifetime" (1979) to one of his best-known films, “Selena” (1997).
But there is another side to this remarkable Latino producer. As an entrepreneur he acquired the franchise for the first all Latino owned cable company, Buenavision Cable TV in East L.A., which he built and operated. Moctesuma learned early on the business of art, he explains “I learned that a movie has to be made for a market, and film is truly a marriage of Art and Commerce”. Today, in addition to producing films he has also established a chain of movie theatre complexes, called Maya Cinemas.

A life long entrepreneur and businessman, Mr.Esparza served as Chair of the Board of the New America Alliance Institute from 2000-2003, an organization of American Latino business leaders united to promote the economic advancement of the Latino Community in America from 2000. New America Alliance is organized on the principle that American Latino businesspersons have a special responsibility to lead the process of building the forms of capital most crucial to Latino progress – economic capital, political capital, human capital and the practice of philanthropy.

Stephen Espinoza

Stephen Espinoza is an attorney with the law firm of Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman & Cook. The firm, founded in 1978, is one of the premier entertainment and media law firms in the United States. Stephen represents a variety of writers, producers, directors, actors and independent companies in film and television.

Stephen graduated from Stanford University and attended UCLA School of Law. After graduating law school in 1996, he joined the entertainment department of Greenberg Glusker, where he eventually became responsible for servicing many of the firm’s highest level accounts, including, among others, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Joel Silver, Jonathan Demme and Playboy TV International.

Stephen joined Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman & Cook in 2002. Together with his colleagues at the firm, Stephen represents a broad range of TV and film producers, including Scott Rudin (“Closer”, “School of Rock”), Barry Sonnenfeld (“Out of Sight”) and Gavin Polone (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Secret Window”) and Joss Whedon (“Buffy”, “Angel”). Stephen also works with a diverse group of talent, including actors Keanu Reeves, Val Kilmer, Dave Chappelle and Patrick Stewart and music cross-over artists Eminem, Alicia Keys and Toni Braxton. Stephen also represents professional boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson.

Stephen also represents an impressive list of up-and-coming Latino talent. Such clients include Jacob Vargas (“Traffic”, “Flight of the Phoenix”), Cristián de la Fuente (“Driven”, “Basic”), Rick Gonzalez (“Old School”, “Coach Carter”) and Jorge Reyes (creator of “Kevin Hill”).

Stephen is a member of the American Bar Association and the National Hispanic Bar Association. He is an active community volunteer and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Echo Park.

Evy Ledesma Galán

Evy Ledesma Galán is vice-president of Galán Incorporated of Austin Texas, an award-winning television and film production company specializing in long form documentary currently producing Cottonfields, Crossroads, and Tex-Mex Blues featuring Los Lonely Boys. She is also the founder of the CineSol Latino Film Festival held in the Rio Grande Valley Border Region of South Texas.

Hector Galán

Independent filmmaker Hector Galán has been producing award-winning documentaries and television programs for over twenty-five years including eleven episodes for FRONTLINE, and programs for The American Experience. He has produced numerous specials such as the acclaimed series Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, the recent six episode series Visiones: Latino Art & Culture (PBS) and Cinco de Mayo. (The History Channel) Currently, Galán is working on Cottonfields, Crossroads, & Tex Mex Blues featuring Los Lonely Boys and is in production on a documentary on the life of Arch Bishop Patrick Flores, the first Mexican American Bishop in the United States. For a complete filmography of Galán’s work, please visit www.galaninc.com.

Alexis Garcia

Alexis Garcia is an associate in the Entertainment & Media Group in the firm Sheppard Mullin's Century City office.

Mr. Garcia primarily counsels entertainment industry clients, both at the studio and independent level, in the development, production, financing and distribution of motion picture and television content. In this capacity, he has negotiated numerous writer, director, actor and producer agreements on various film productions, both on the institutional and talent side. He is also a member of the firm's Hispanic/Latino Business Group, representing entertainment/media clients targeting U.S. Latino audiences and/or involved in film production in Latin America, whether focusing on English or Spanish content.

Mr. Garcia earned his J.D. in 2002 from UCLA School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Entertainment Law Review, Business Editor of the UCLA Law Review, and Coordinating Editor of the Chicano-Latino Law Review. He is the author of "Finding the Unobstructed Window for Internet Film Viewing," 9 UCLA ENT. L. REV. 243 (2002), "Digital Videorecorders May Not Meet 'SONY' Fair Use Test," Focus Column, The Daily Journal Feb 19, 2002, and "The Iberia Criteria: Co-Productions between Spain and Latin American Countries," which appeared in the Hispanic/Latino Business Group's inaugural newsletter, Enfoque Latino (Feb. 2005). Mr. Garcia was also recently featured in the Univision.com article "El cine en america latina: Una buena opcion para los hispanos." (available at http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=515673).

Mr. Garcia is also a board member of the East L.A. Classic Theatre, a non-profit aimed at providing comprehensive literacy training and engaging, relevant theatre experiences to disadvantaged youth and minority communities in the promotion of cultural inclusion and academic excellence.

Rafael Garcia
Creative Executive, Development & Production, Nickelodeon

A member of a bi-coastal team under the leadership of Marjorie Cohn, EVP, Development and Original Programming, Rafael is celebrating his 5th year at Nickelodeon.

As Manager of Production Rafael has worked on both live action and animated projects for Nickelodeon including Pelswick, Kid's Choice Awards and the Nick Cannon Show. He also served as Executive in Charge of Production for Nick's In Concert on TEENick music series as well as the Nick Video Picks. He is currently developing properties created by John Leguizamo and singer songwriter Jewel.

A New Yorker of Puerto Rican/Dominican decent, Rafael grew up in Washington Heights and is a graduate of Baruch College with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Creative Writing.

Mark Gill

Mark Gill was named founding president of Warner Independent Pictures in August 2003, with responsibility for development, production, acquisition, marketing and distribution of the company’s slate of films. The company has greenlit 15 pictures in its 16 year, including “Before Sunset” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, “A Very Long Engagement” from the director and star of “Amelie” (Jean Pierre Jeunet and Audrey Tautou); “A Scanner Darkly” starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder; “The Jacket,” a psychological thriller starring Adrien Brody, Kiera Knightley, and Jennifer Jason Leigh; and “The Painted Veil” based on the classic W. Somerset Maugham novel, starring Edward Norton.

He joined Warner Independent from Stratus Film Co. (a partnership with financier Bob Yari and “Saving Private Ryan” producer Mark Gordon) where he developed, packaged and produced several films, including “Laws of Attraction,” a romantic comedy starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.

Prior to Stratus, Gill spent eight years at Miramax Films, where he was President of Miramax/L.A. He was involved in the production or acquisition of more than two dozen films, among them “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Central Station,” “Next Stop Wonderland,” “Apocalypse Now Redux,” “In the Bedroom,” “Amelie,” “The Quiet American,” “Frida,” “Rabbit-Proof Fence” and “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

He joined Miramax in 1994 and served for three years as the company’s marketing chief, based in New York. Among the films he marketed: "Pulp Fiction," “Scream,” "CopLand,” “Good Will Hunting,” "Muriel's Wedding," "Flirting With Disaster," "Trainspotting,” “Slingblade,” "Emma,” "Bullets Over Broadway,” “The Postman/Il Postino,” “The English Patient,” “Life is
Beautiful” and “Shakespeare in Love.”

Prior to joining Miramax, Gill worked for six years at Columbia and TriStar Pictures, culminating in a three-year tenure as Senior Vice President in the marketing department. There, he worked on such films as "The Age of Innocence," "Awakenings," "Boyz N the Hood," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "El Mariachi," "In the Line of Fire," "A League of Their Own," "The Prince of Tides," "The Remains of the Day," "A River Runs Through It," "Terminator 2," and "Wolf."

Prior to joining Columbia, Gill worked for nearly four years at Rogers & Cowan, the publicity agency. Before that, he served as a general assignment reporter for Newsweek magazine and for the Los Angeles Times.

Jackie Glover

Jacqueline Glover is director, original programming for Home Box Office responsible for overseeing the development and production of documentaries for HBO and Cinemax. She has worked at HBO since 1992 and was named to her current position in November 1998.

During her tenure at HBO, Glover has been the supervising producer on such projects as the Emmy Award winning documentaries Life of Crime Two, The Cruise and Kids of Survival and Emmy nominated American Hollow. Glover also served as the coordinating producer for the Academy Award nominated documentary by Spike Lee, 4 Little Girls, the Academy Award winning documentary short, The Personals, and the 2004 Academy Award winning documentary short, Chernobyl Heart.

From 1999-2002, while on leave from HBO, Glover produced the Emmy Award nominated documentary Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives, which premiered on HBO in February 2003 and was supervising producer for HBO’S Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks.

Prior to working with HBO, Glover worked at The Entertainment Group in both development and production capacities, and held a variety of production jobs in television and broadcasting in New York.

Jacqueline Glover graduated with a BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Sonia Gonzalez

Ms. Gonzalez is an emerging media maker and 10-year veteran of working as a professional editor/assistant editor on such distinguished films as HORSE WHISPERER, JUNGLE FEVER, MALCOLM X, MAN ON THE MOON and THE DEVIL'S OWN. As producer/director, she helmed a short comedy, DEBUTANTE, and is completing her documentary BRAGGING RIGHTS plus developing feature screenplays. Ms. Gonzalez was the Coordinator for the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, and formed "Latinos for Positive Images" in 1996. In 2001, she co-founded Chica Luna Productions, which is dedicated to commercializing social consciousness through the development of popular media and activist initiatives that advance progressive socio-political ideas and actions.

Umberto Gonzalez

Umberto began in the film business by working production in commercials, music videos and features in the late 90s. He worked with talented directors such as Joel Schumacher, Spike Lee and Alejandro González Iñárritu.

In the summer of 2000 at the first ever New York International Latino Film Festival, Umberto met up with Franc. Reyes. Franc. and Umberto developed a wonderful bond while Franc. made his directorial debut with Empire. Their friendship and mentor relationship continues to this day.

Last year, Umberto sold his first pitch entitled First Person Shooter to a producer on the Paramount lot.

He is set to make his directorial debut this year on Get Tito.

Evangeline Griego

Evangeline Griego is an independent award winning documentary producer whose credits include The New Americans (PBS) (Winner of the 2004 IDA Limited Series Award) My Journey Home (PBS), Winner of the 2004 Cine Golden Eagle Award) Calavera Highway and her documentary Border Visions. In 1996, Griego directed the award-wining documentary Paño Arte: Images from Inside. Her extensive production managing and line producing experience includes short and feature films, music videos, and PSA’s. She has worked with Esparza-Katz Productions, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Walt Disney Company, Morgan Creek Productions and MGM Studios, and is currently producing We Gotta Get Out Of this Place! for Displaced Films as well as producing and directing the independent documentary for PBS, God Willing about a bible-based nomadic cult.

She has worked with OUTFEST as the Festival Manager and is a Founder of the Silver Lake Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Ms. Griego holds three degrees from the University of Southern California.

She serves on the board of directors of The National Association of Latino Independent Producers and OUTFEST the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian film festival..

Leslie Haas

Leslie Haas is the founder and president of Desert Mountain Media. She launched this independent entertainment company in September 2001 and has amassed one of the largest libraries of award-winning Latin films, branded as the Latin Cinema Collection. DMM has played a pivotal role in launching Latin Cinema as a unique category at many major retailers in the U.S. and has established a reputation worldwide for releasing first class, award-winning DVDs.

Prior to DMM, Ms. Haas was the Vice-President and General Manager of the Sony Pictures DVD Center. She successfully led the company from its inception to a 100-member organization which achieved Sony’s goals to become the worldwide leader in DVD Home Video. She launched a second company, Sony DVD Center Europe, in 1999 to meet global DVD expansion needs with offices in Salzburg, London, and Paris. Ms. Haas was also the Vice-President, Business Development, for the Sony Pictures Digital Studios. While at Sony Pictures, she and her team won multiple awards for technical innovations, creativity and excellence including numerous Divi Awards and the Milia d’Or Award in Cannes, France. She also won the 1997 Sony CEO Award and Sony 50th Anniversary Award from Sony Headquarters in Tokyo.

Before joining Sony Pictures, Ms. Haas was with Rockwell International where she received the Rockwell International Leadership Award, the NASA Personal Achievement Award, and the Rockwell Engineer of the Year Honoree Award. Ms. Haas has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M and a MBA from Pepperdine University.

Michael Harpster
Co-founder of Sabrosa Entertainment

Sabrosa Entertainment co-founder Michael Harpster has more than twenty years of experience in marketing management, media planning, defining distribution channels, strategic planning, and directing multi-task teams.

As Senior VP for NEW LINE CINEMA, Mr. Harpster played a key senior management role in the company's development from a small distributor of non-theatrical film into the major publicly-held independent entertainment company it became prior to its sale to Turner Broadcasting. Later, Mr. Harpster co-founded Providence Entertainment and developed business plans which attracted over seven million dollars in commitments.

Mr. Harpster's extensive entertainment marketing expertise includes utilizing database and niche marketing, directing media development and placement for print, radio, television, and public relations campaigns.

Working with both in-house and outside vendors, Mr. Harpster has designed effective trailers, television spots, "one sheets", newsprint advertisements and various promotion materials for over 100 motion pictures.

Bel Hernandez

Bel Hernandez is CEO/Publisher of LATIN HEAT Entertainment, the only English-language entertainment trade magazine focused on the Latino entertainment professional. Ms. Hernandez began her career in entertainment as an actor on stage, screen and television. She made her transition into publishing in 1992 serving as Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of Latin Heat.

Ms. Hernandez has been recognized for her journalistic endeavors by the Hispanic Public Relations Association’s Premio Award and by the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival’s Integrity Award in 2003, and has participated on numerous panels dealing with Latinos in the entertainment industry. In April 2005 she will be a panelish on the Entertainment Panel at the New Generation Latinos Consortium in Miami. She has appeared on numerous national and international television shows, including a CNN special which featured Latin Heat. She is also eatured in the book Careers in Entertainment, Career Role Models for Young Adults from Mitchell Lane Publishers.

Ms. Hernandez is also one of the founders for the Latino Entertainment Media Institute (LEMI), a non-profit organization focusing on addressing the needs Latinos in the entertainment industry through education.

Ms. Hernandez currently sits on the prestigious Peabody Awards Board, which honors excellence in radio, television, and documentaries.

Sarah Hoch

Sarah Hoch was born in Kansas City, Mo. in 1963. She has lived in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México for the past 23 years. She studied International Business at the University of Nebraska, and started her film production career more than ten years ago.

Sarah is the project founder of the State of Guanajuato’s Film Commission and has been the director since its beginning in 1997.

She is the founder and director of the International Film Festival Expresión en Corto, which is held every summer in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, Mexico. The festival was created to provide an alternative and dynamic space for audiovisual expression as well as to award quality short films and documentaries.

Today, Expresión en Corto is Mexico’s largest film festival, and the most important of its kind in Latin America.

In 2004, Sarah organized the first Pitching Market in Mexico, resulting in the complete financing of five Mexican films, and partial financing of another three, an unprecedented event in the history of Mexican film industry.

Sarah is the President of the Expresión en Corto Foundation, which was created in response to the growing necessity to offer opportunities to a new generation of filmmakers in our country. Together with the State of Guanajuato, Sociedad General de Escritores de Mexico (SOGEM), Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografia (IMCINE) and Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Producción Cinematográfica, formed the screenwriting contest for short and feature film “Expresion en Corto… y Largo”, with the purpose of stimulating screenwriters to contribute to the strengthening of the national film industry.

Sarah Hoch organized the First Women in Films and Television International in Mexico, which established as an institution a few weeks later in our country, being the first one in Latin America.

Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi recently received his master's degree from New York University. In the summer of 2003, Eli's first full-length documentary, Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano, premiered in Havana, Cuba and has toured successfully across the U.S. He has also made numerous music videos, including the acclaimed, Besin. Currently, Eli is in production on his next film entitled, HomeGrown, a powerful documentary on Hip Hop in Ghana, West Africa.

Natalie D. Jáquez
Coordinator, Alternative Programming, Specials Late Night

As both department coordinator and executive assistant to Andrea Wong, executive vice president, Alternative Programming, Specials and Late Night, ABC Entertainment, Natalie D. Jáquez works closely under Andrea’s leadership to contribute to the development and management of reality and late night programming and primetime specials. Ms. Jáquez has worked on Emmy nominee “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Supernanny,” “Wife Swap” and the phenomenal franchise “The Bachelor”/”The Bachelorette”. On the specials front, she has been involved with the “Academy Awards” and the “American Music Awards” and she has worked on the late night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Prior to her two-year tenure at ABC, Ms. Jáquez assisted Mark Itkin, executive vice president and worldwide head of Cable, Syndication, and Non-fiction Programming at the William Morris Agency. Under Mark, Ms. Jáquez had the opportunity to work with such clients as Bunim Murray (“Real World”), Endemol (“Fear Factor”), FremantleMedia (“American Idol”), Granada (“I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”), Mentorn (“Paradise Hotel”), Stone Stanley—now Stone & Co. (“The Mole,” “Celebrity Mole”), and Vin Di Bona Productions (“America’s Funniest Videos”), among many others.

Born and raised in El Paso, TX, Ms. Jáquez relocated from her native Southwest bordertown to Los Angeles, CA to attend the University of Southern California. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the Annenberg School of Communication in 1999.

Loretha Jones

Loretha Jones came to MTV nearly five years ago and has been involved with a variety of projects for both the channel and the film division. Among her producing credits for the channel include Beyonce’s first film, the critically acclaimed “Carmen: A Hip Hopera,” which was one of MTV’s highest rated television films. For MTV Films she also produced the Martin Lawrence concert film, “Runteldat,” and most recently the N.A.A.C.P. Image Award and American Black Film Festival Award best film winner, “The Fighting Temptations” – starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyonce. Currently, she oversees original programming for the Direct-to-DVD division of the company and works on various motion pictures for the film division.

Loretha began her career in the entertainment industry through her legal background when she worked on Spike Lee’s 1986 romantic comedy “She’s Gotta Have It.” Two years later she was co-producing her first feature film “School Daze,” once again directed by Spike Lee. Since then, Jones has built an impressive list of producing or executive producing credits including: “The Five Heartbeats,” “The Meteor Man,” “Denial,” and “Price of Glory”.

Her love of music led her to executive produce several soundtrack albums including: “The Five Heartbeats,” “The Meteor Man,” “Carmen: A Hip Hopera, ” and Grammy nominated “The Fighting Temptations.” And for the small screen, she has also produced and directed episodes of several television programs, including the long running Warner Bros. Series, “The Parent ‘Hood.”

An active member of Directors Guild of America, where she serves as Co-Chair of the African-American steering committee, Loretha is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.