Expo Presenters
The list is in alphabetical order according to the presenter's last name.Jeff Arch
Jeff Arch was a high school English teacher and martial arts school owner when his spec script for “Sleepless in Seattle” sold in 1990. Nominated for two Oscars and two Golden Globes, the screenplay also received nominations from the Writers Guild and BAFTA, among others. Since then Jeff has been working nonstop, for major producers and studios. He’s had four other movies made, including Disney’s “Iron Will” and Humanitas Prize nominee “Saving Milly,” for CBS. In 2005 Jeff wrote and directed the indie comedy “Dave Barry’s Complete Guide To Guys,” and in 2009 he completed his first novel, “The Bell Tower,” a boarding school story spanning twenty years in the lives of seven characters. Currently Jeff is writing "Sleepless in Seattle - The Musical" for Broadway, with Joel Zwick ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") directing, and Jeff's longtime business partner David Shor producing. Jeff is also at work on “Colour My World,” a Broadway musical based on songs from the rock band Chicago.
Jeff has two grown children, who call and write often. He and his fiancé recently moved to the Bay Area from Santa Barbara.
Barbara Bitela
Barbara Bitela is the CEO at Silver-Bitela Agency and the uber-agent who goes the extra mile for her clients. Barbara represents many talented new writers and pitches to the international stage. Currently, Barbara is looking for the following scripts: smart thrillers, family films, and broad comedies - similar to "Hangover."
James Dalessandro
James Dalessandro’s 1906, an epic novel of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, has fulfilled the prediction of the San Francisco Chronicle and become “a publishing sensation,” appearing on Northern California Best Seller Lists for more than a year and reaching the top 100 on Amazon.com. Mr. Dalessandro has appeared on NPR, CNN, Fox, NBC, Clear Channel Radio. Warner Brother’s Films is in pre-production on a $150 million film version of 1906, from a script also written by James Dalessandro.
He is writer and director of the documentary, The Damndest, Finest Ruins, which has won four film festival awards, including the Gold Medal at the Aurora Film Competition out of 6,000 entries.
Mr. Dalessandro has been a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, west, since 1983 and has worked or been hired on more than 30 films and television movies.
Brad Evans
Brad Evans is the producer and host of the internet talk show, "Hollywood Today" on WCANRadio.com. "Hollywood Today" features fun, casual discussions with Hollywood celebrities, actors, directors, and producers. The show, which has built up a large international following, airs Saturdays from 12-12:30pm EST (9-9:30am PST). Brad is also an actor who loves working in this exciting industry and has volunteered to be the emcee for the NCS Expo.
Howard Fine
Howard Fine is the founder of the world-famous, Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, CA; and a very successful theatre director. His students read like a "Who's Who" list of Hollywood and include: Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Michael Chiklis, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Connelly, Heather Locklear, Chris Meloni, among many, many others.
Daedalus Howell
Daedalus Howell is the executive producer and founder of DHowell Media Group, where he produces feature films, music videos, and branded entertainment for a variety of national clients. His recent work has been seen on: Showtime Next, MTV2, MTVItalia, HBOCesk Republika, Bite TV, IFC, and Canal+. DHowell.TV launched in December, 2009
Michael D. Jones
Michael D. Jones has been in the business for over 20 years as a Producer and Line Producer for feature films, TV, music videos and industrials. He has acquired the experience and skills to make an Indie budget film look like a major studio production. Working on locations from Alaska to New Mexico, Detroit to Florida, and Hollywood or at home in the Pacific North West, Michael has earned the reputation for bringing projects in on time, on budget, and no drama. He manages the fine line between creative vision and business numbers without compromising the art of making movie magic.
Marc and Brenda Lhormer
Marc and Brenda are the powerhouse couple who live in Sonoma where they co-directed the Sonoma Valley Film Festival from 2001 through 2008, successfully raising the quality of the film programming, increasing the audience tenfold, and attracting national-level sponsors such as Mercedes, Food & Wine Magazine, Starbucks, LG Electronics, MBT Footwear and Entertainment Weekly.
Marc and Brenda also produced the Indie hit, "Bottle Shock", and are currently identifying new film projects as well as co-founding the new Napa Valley Film Festival.
Marci Liroff
Marci Liroff’s extensive credits as a casting director span more than 50 films. Whether it's an indie or big blockbuster movie, Liroff makes a good film great and a great film a classic. While working at the renowned casting office of Fenton-Feinberg Casting she, along with Mike Fenton, cast such films as Bob Clark's A Christmas Story and Porky's; the Academy Award-nominated Poltergeist; Steven Spielberg's E.T.- The Extra Terrestrial and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. After establishing her own casting company in 1983, Marci Liroff Casting, Liroff cast the smash hits Footloose, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, The Iron Giant, The Spitfire Grill, Untamed Heart, Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, and most recently, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
In addition to her ongoing work as a Casting Director, she is coaching actors. Liroff just released her new DVD, Marci Liroff's Audition Bootcamp - Part I. Visit: www.marciliroff.com
Andrew W. Marlowe
Andrew W. Marlowe is creator and executive producer of the Monday night ABC hit, “Castle,” starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic. Before becoming a showrunner, Marlowe enjoyed early success as a screenwriter, penning such blockbusters as “Air Force One,” starring Harrison Ford, “End of Days,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and “Hollow Man,” starring Kevin Bacon. Just after earning a graduate degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California, Marlowe went on to win the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting in 1992. The same year, Marlowe met and later married fellow Nicholl winner Terri Edda Miller, who has written and produced several episodes of “Castle.” The couple also collaborated on the award-winning independent film “DysEnchanted.”
Marlowe talks about “Castle” and what makes it unique among current crime dramas.
Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of five previous novels (Mama, Disappearing Acts, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, The Interruption of Everything) and recipient of the Essence Award for Excellence in Literature. Ms. McMillan's ability to capture the dilemmas facing modern-day women with humor and verve has led to a worldwide following and has had a lasting effect on African-American literature. Two of her books, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, have also been made into films that she co-wrote. Her book Getting To Happy is scheduled for a September release. She will be co-writing the screenplay.
Terri Edda Miller
Terri Edda Miller is an award-winning writer, director and producer. In 1992, she was awarded the Nicholl Fellowship from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the world’s most esteemed screenwriting competition. She received numerous awards for her writing and directorial efforts in the independent films “My Femme Lady” (2002), and “DysEnchanted” (2004), including the Back East Picture Show Grand Prize Barbato Future Filmmaker Award. She also won the Moby Dick Award for Best Screenwriting in a Short Film presented by the Nantucket Film Festival. Miller is also a writer and producer on the Emmy-nominated ABC series, “Castle.”
Bobby Moresco
Bobby Moresco is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Crash", the co-producer of "Million Dollar Baby", and creator of television's "The Black Donnellys". Bobby is also a producer/writer/director of televison's "EZ Streets", "Millennium", "Falcone", and "Crash". Bobby's latest projects, "Charlie Lucky Luciano", "10 Jours a Cannes", and "Castro's Daughter" expected to be released in 2010.
Connie Nielsen
Born in Denmark, actress Connie Nielsen moved to the United States in 1996 and quickly became one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood, starring in such blockbuster hits as: The Devil's Advocate, Mission to Mars, Basic, One Hour Photo, The Hunted, and most famously, as Lucilla, in Gladiator.
Ms. Nielsen has also appeared in television, earning critical and popular acclaim as Det. Dani Beck in Law and Order, SUV.
Currently, Ms. Nielsen continues to have an active film career, and has her own production company which is developing a television series set within the Bay Area.
Scott Sedita
Scott Sedita is the author of the best-selling comedy book, “The Eight Characters of Comedy, A Guide to Sitcom Acting and Writing” Scott has more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry and has helped to launch the careers of many of today’s top stars, including Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Teri Polo, Christopher Meloni, Dylan Walsh, Jerry O’Connell, and Vincent D’Onofrio just to name a few. Scott has also coached and taught many hot new actors such as Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas), Jennifer Finnigan (Close To Home), Chase Crawford (Gossip Girl), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), along with many other stars of film, soaps, prime time dramas, and sitcoms.
Tony Seiniger
Tony Seiniger has been the King of Hollywood advertising for over 40 years, and is the man responsible for more than 1,500 iconic movie posters and trailers, including Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Godfather, Jaws, Field of Dreams, Dances With Wolves, Cliffhanger, and Moonstruck - among many, many others. Tony is Hollywood's go-to expert on how to sell a movie.
Angela Shelton
Angela Shelton is an acclaimed filmmaker, writer, actress, and public speaker. Her first film, Tumbleweeds, which she co-wrote with Gavin O'Connor based upon her book, won the 1999 Sundance filmmaker's trophy and garnered the lead actress, Janet McTeer, a Golden Globe win, and an Academy Award nomination. After writing for TV and film, Angela created her multi-award winning documentary, Searching for Angela Shelton. This powerful movie began a grassroots movement of healing for abuse survivors worldwide. Angela has appeared on: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, 48 Hours Investigates, NPR, Lifetime Television for Women, and the cover of the New York Times. Angela is dedicated to helping others lead joyful lives and to reach their full potential while breaking through all molds and boxes. twitter.com/angelashelton
Dave Trottier
Dave Trottier has sold or optioned ten screenplays (three produced) and helped hundreds of writers break into the writing business. He is an acclaimed script consultant and author of The Screenwriter’s Bible (which is the de facto industry spec formatting guide). As Dr. Format, he writes a column for Script Magazine.
Jennifer van Sijll
Jennifer van Sijll is the author of the bestselling book, Cinematic Storytelling. Her book has been adopted by film schools around the world and has been translated into Mandarin, Korean, French and Italian. Jennifer has an MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and has taught screenwriting for 15 years. She currently teaches at the Art Institute in San Francisco. A former script reader for Universal Pictures, she consults regularly on scripts for writers and producers. She is currently working on her second book for Michael Wiese publishing.
Toni Suttie
Toni is the President of Integrity Casting with studios in both California and Nevada. She feels blessed to work in the Entertainment Industry most of her life, casting Talent for major Hollywood Pictures and Independent Features alike (see credits on website). She also casts for voice-over, promotional, tv series, commercials, reality tv, music videos, video games, live events. In doing so, she has enjoyed meeting and working with both first time filmmakers and Oscar-winning Producers. Toni Suttie is a quintessential industry professional with many years of experience in a wide range of professional capacities. As president of Integrity Casting, Toni has developed a solid reputation of quality, reliability, and a positive casting experience. With 25+ years experience in the Entertainment Industry, Toni is an experienced Casting Director, instructor, and lecturer having worked with talent from ages 4 months to 104 years. She has knowledge of the selection process, placement, and career planning for up and coming actors. Toni has been responsible for locating, auditioning, hiring, and negotiating talent fees for major production companies specializing in feature films, corporate industrial films, television shows and commercials, video games, live events, and much more. For more information, visit www.tonisuttie.com
Jan Wahl
Jan Wahl has worked for many years as a producer, director, and writer for both network and local television. Since moving from her hometown of west Los Angeles to the Bay Area, she has been on KRON TV and KCBS AM/FM as a showbiz critic and reporter. In 1977, Wahl won an Emmy Award for producing and writing “They Still Say I Do,” a humorous documentary on the palimony case of Lee and Michelle Triola Marvin. That year she also became a member of the prestigious Directors Guild of America. In 1999 she won a second Emmy for a “A Filmgoer's Bill of Rights." For more information, please check out www.janwahl.com
Jeffrey Weissman
Jeffrey Weissman will be teaching "The Business of Acting" and "The Actor’s Journey" seminar. He leads an hour session for the multidisciplinary working actor. Jeffrey is a 33 year veteran of film, theater, television, environmental, industrial and commercial acting. He’s perhaps best known for taking over the role of George McFly in "Back to the Future II and III", but he also co-starred with Clint Eastwood in “Pale Rider”, with John Lithgow in “Twilight Zone: The Movie”, on TV with Dick Van Dyke in “Diagnosis Murder” and many others. He's worked with directors; George Miller, Louis Malle, Robert Zemeckis, Amy Heckerling, Catherine Harwicke, Clint Eastwood, Mark Rydell, Oz Scott and dozens of other industry greats. Jeffrey shares the reality of what it is like to be thrown into the heart of Hollywood filmmaking. Jeffrey will motivate potential Hollywood wannabes, while captivating the audience with his insider’s anecdotes.
Jeffrey Weissman teaches at the San Francisco School of Digital Film Making, Sonoma State University, and other institutions. Jeffrey got rave reviews as winemaker Jerry Hannon in the mockumentary, “Corked.” He recently completed work on several short films, and the indie features,“Two Mothers” with John Heard, “American Disciples” and "The Stranger Among Us" For more information visit: IMDB and jeffreyweissman.com.
Victoria Wisdom
Victoria Wisdom has represented the writers and directors of such Oscar winning films as "The Usual Suspects", "The Red Violin", British Oscar winner "Love And Death on Long Island" and Berlin Festival winner "Italian for Beginners."
Additionally, Victoria sold the hit CBS TV drama series "Criminal Minds", now in its fifth season, and represented the screenwriters of such hits as Hellboy, G.I. Jane, and Aliens vs. Predators.
Victoria also represented Oscar nominees Deepa Mehta (Fire, Water), Doug McGrath (Bullets Over Broadway), winners Christopher McQuarrie (Usual Suspects), Ernest Thompson (On Golden Pond), directors Bryan Singer (X-Men), Lone Scherfig (An Education), and Alan Moyle (Pump Up the Volume).
Victoria recently became a producer and manager setting up the thriller Labyrinths at Summit with Hilary Swank starring, the comedy Amateurs with Paramount Pictures, and the romantic comedy Taravella starring Amy Adams.
Victoria currently also teaches Advanced Screenwriting at UCLA.
Check back as additional presenters will be added as confirmed.
