Best in Fest

Katie Stone is Executive Director and Producer of The Children’s Hour
radio show and podcast and has been described as the “Mr. Rogers of
public radio.” She began producing The Children’s Hour 22 years ago as
a volunteer at her local NPR affiliate, KUNM-fm. In 2018 Katie started a
nonprofit, The Children’s Hour Inc. and has taken the radio show to
international syndication. Katie and her husband live and work in
Albuquerque, New Mexico in a handmade adobe home on a solar
powered organic farm near the Rio Grande.

Nikki Hevesy is an award-winning director and producer who has worked on documentaries, shorts, multi-camera presentations, promotional and music videos. She began her career in theatre, and as the founding artistic director of the City of Performing Arts company in San Francisco, has directed more than 50 stage productions,  including writing and directing two critically-acclaimed musicals that premiered in San Francisco, as well as a small musical for the National Theatre of Uganda, Africa.

As a writer, director and producer,  Hevesy has won a slew of awards, including multiple TELLY, Aurora and CINE Golden Eagle Awards. She also nabbed recognition for her work on “Joined Together,” an award-winning, one-hour special on interfaith marriages, which aired on PAX TV. 

Hevesy has a Master’s of Fine Arts in directing from the University of Southern California  (USC) and a degree in theology from Simpson University. She has taught directing, acting and sit-com production both privately and as a faculty member at various colleges and universities, including Pepperdine University, Los Angeles Valley College and Azusa Pacific University – just to name a few. 

A year to life - social impact short

Hevesy’s scripted series, based on her gang intervention documentary was one of four TV projects selected for the highly-competitive Producers Guild of America’s (PGA) diversity development program. During the pandemic, Hevesy wrote (and attached to direct) the feature film,  LIFE LIKE THAT, for producer Anne Marie Gillen (FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, UNDER SUSPICION and INTO TEMPTATION) under the shingle, Gillen Group LLC.  Currently, Hevesy is working on her true crime journal docu-series, titled  “Inside Justice: Getting Out,” which examines a current wrongful conviction, as well as developing TV and film projects under her production company, Through the Glass Productions. 

Genna Rosenberg  is CEO of GennComm, a global PR & Marketing agency representing many of the most powerful classic and new brands of our time, Chief Ideator at ImaGENNation, a Think Tank focused on licensing and connections in the consumer product space, and Executive Producer at Upbeat Entertainment Group, bringing music and content focused on empowerment, diversity and inclusion to life through powerhouse partnerships with giants.

John Shableski is a nationally recognized expert in the development of the graphic
novel/manga/comics category for the publishing industry including trade, library and
educational markets. Along with editorial development, design and strategic planning,
his scope of expertise includes the study of industry trends and market development for the educational, public library and retail categories for book publishing along with
classroom application of graphic novels.
 
John currently serves as president for Reading With Pictures, a global literacy
organization focused on improving the learning experience for students of all ages and
abilities.

Rob Feldman is a Ringo-Award nominated comic book creator, animation producer and NFT artist best known for his print and online comic, Cyko KO and web animated series, Dr. Shroud. Having produced content for the likes of Warner Brothers, Fangoria, Starlog, Top Cow and Mystery Science Theater, Rob's recent work of NFT drops and streaming through the blockchain-based partner Theta Network have
proven to be the most innovative and utility-driven to date. In addition to producing, Rob serves as CTO of the publishing powerhouse Rocketship Entertainment where he helps brainstorm, source product and manage content. When he's not exploring the emerging blockchain landscape of digital collectibles,

Linda Malik is a writer/screenwriter/storyteller living in Los Angeles, CA. Originally from Denmark, she worked as a professional ballet dancer for 12 years before an injury put a stop to her career. She went back to school in the U.S., where she earned a B.A and M.A in Radio and Television (Screenwriting) from San Francisco State University. She has written several screenplays, mostly dramas - she placed as a semi-finalist at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships Screenwriting competition - children's animated series pitch bibles, short stories. Presently, she has one optioned script for a dark animated feature film, self-published children's picture books in the series of "Willow's Tale" that are inspired by her real-life rescue cat, Willow. She has written/ produced 2 short animations based on the Willow books that premiered in October at CatCon 2022, Pasadena. Established in 2002, The Center for Learning Unlimited (CLU) reconnects complex learners with their academic, social, and emotional potential. CLU serves kindergarten - 12th grade students with learning challenges. CLU also is home to a swiftly growing animation career training program for adults on the autism spectrum. As CLU sister studio, Brainstorm Productions offers paid workplace experience for CLU animation alumni.

Amanda Frolich, aka Action Amanda, is an award-winning children’s entertainer, early years educator, health and fitness expert, best-selling author and Government advisor.

This year marks Amanda’s 30th year in business as the CEO of Amanda’s Action Club. From starting in a small community centre, Amanda has grown to working globally. Her impressive client list includes some well-known stars including; Brad and Angelina and The Beckhams… Peter Jones, Amanda Holden, The Beautiful South’s Alison Wheeler, Take That’s Mark Owen, Declan Donnelly, Sarah Beeny, Catherine Tate, Olympian Matthew Pincent… and many more…

In 2020, Amanda was invited to become a UK Children’s First Champion in Parliament, encouraging policymakers to put children first at the heart of all decision making. She previously worked as a children’s fitness consultant on the government’s Change4Life programme and was selected to run classes, events and training for Sure Start. Over the last 30 years Amanda has won multiple awards for her work, she is a number one best-selling author and iTunes number one chart topper — beating Baby Shark to the number one spot!

Judy Korin fuses her backgrounds in graphic design and filmmaking to contribute to visually powerful and socially impactful works. In addition to producing REBEL HEARTS (2021, max/discovery+) which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, she is a producer of the documentary series THE LINCOLN PROJECT (2022, Showtime) and the Netflix original documentary THE GREAT HACK (2019, Sundance premiere), which made the Academy Award shortlist, was BAFTA-, Grierson- and Emmy-nominated, and won a Cinema Eye Honors Award. She also co-produced BENDING THE ARC (2017), directed the International Documentary Association and Emmy Award nominee A CENTURY OF WOMEN (1994) and produced the indie scripted feature FINDING NEIGHBORS (2013, AppleTV, Amazon). Judy has directed and produced many short-form documentaries and branded content films for social justice and educational non-profits such as the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Community Action Network. In addition to her filmmaking, she teaches documentary production to the next generation of storytellers at California State University, Northridge.

A Line Producer is the unsung hero of a film production.  Full of responsibility and, of course, stress, the job of a line producer is crucial and really challenging.  In this episode Leslie breaks down the whole job from beginning to the end leaving no stone unturned.  This is a must listen!

Today Ledslie talks to Dianah Wynter. Wynter was born and raised in New York. She directed Intimate Betrayal (1999), HappySAD (2009), and Daddy's Girl (1996), for which she received an Emmy nomination. Her stage directing credits include the world premiere of The Interrogation of Nathan Hale at South Coast Rep, Mules at San Francisco's Magic Theatre and American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), the latter starring Anika Noni Rose. She was a regular director for the Mark Taper's New Work Fest, and NEA Director Fellow for The Goodman Theatre. At Princeton, she composed music for Triangle club comedy revues, collaborating with classmates such as Douglas McGrath, David E. Kelley, Eric Schlosser and John Seabrook.

A graduate of the Yale school of drama. She was asst director for Lloyd Richards on the world premieres of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Fences. She mounted the second company of Fences at Seattle Rep starring Frances Foster and Samuel L. Jackson. Dianah is an author and co-editor of Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen (Palgrave Macmillan). Her most recent book is The Post Soul Cinema of Kasi Lemmons.

In 2019, she was elected Chair of the Cinema & Television Arts department at Cal State Northridge (CSUN), which consistently ranks in the Hollywood Reporters Top 25 film schools. She is the first black woman to head a Top film school. During her term as Chair, she initiated the virtual production initiative, with the support of strategic partner, Halon Entertainment; by 2021, CSUN made it into the top 20 of The Wraps Top 50 Film Schools, breaking in at #17.