Film Talk | Interviews with the brightest minds in the film industry.

Kent Speakman is a producer and entrepreneur at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Examiner.com has called him “one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry.” He has won the iMedia Entertainment Marketing Award for “Best Digital Campaign” and “Best Mobile Entertainment Startup,” and he was awarded Evan Carmichael’s “Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow” in 2013 preceded by the “iMedia Top Ten Digital Marketers” in 2009. Kent founded KONNECT – a digital, mobile and experiential agency that works with startups, brands and entertainment properties – before he co-founded FAMEUS, a new social network that connects members of the entertainment industry in innovative ways with a unique technology and that was listed on the Huffington Post’s “Top 10 Startups in LA” in 2015. Kent has an international network of professionals and influencers, having orchestrated a variety of film and technology projects in Canada, the US, the United Kingdom, Asia and India. He has produced hundreds of events across Canada and the US, whilst working with clientele ranging from A-List celebrities, to tech mobile startups.

Scilla Andreen is an Emmy nominated filmmaker, and the CEO and co-founder of IndieFlix, an online platform touted as the Netflix of independent film.     Scilla has spoken at the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and SXSW. She has also been the award-winning costume designer of Golden Globe winning television shows “Party of Five”, and “The Wonder Years”, as well as  “Dawson’s Creek”, “What I Like About You”, and “Jack & Jill”.

Lynnwood Bibbens is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold multiple technology and e-commerce companies including American Discount Warehouse, a company he founded in 1996 and sold just 3 years later for over 10 times EBITDA. Lynnwood has formed long-term relationships with corporations such as Samsung, Toshiba, Vizio, Amazon, CBS, and Comcast to name a few. From 2007, Lynnwood has focused on the media and entertainment industry by integrating multiple dynamic content platforms which use proprietary technology that enable top brands to better understand their clients. He has teamed up with syndication partners Dailymotion, Google, Roku, Opera, XBox, Dish, Comcast, Verizon, and Amazon. Lynnwood also sits on the board of several companies: Adelman Enterprises, New England Technology, Moblty, GI Film Festival, and The Invictus Firm.

Lynnwood is a co-founder at The Invictus Firm, a private equity and strategic consulting organization. Based on his extensive background in technology, entertainment content, distribution and syndication Lynnwood’s investment focus is on existing and new technology companies that are dynamic and disruptive. His focus is specifically on companies that can capture and monetize content across multiple platforms whilst being able to capture critical data in real time.

Rich Hull is Executive Chairman of Latin Everywhere, a Latino digital media company which owns the Pongalo OTT platform, the largest Latino film and TV network on YouTube, and one of the largest IP assets of Latino film and TV digital rights in the world. Rich has worked on media deals and turnarounds totaling well over a billion dollars with major media companies such as Disney, Universal, MGM, Warner Bros, Microsoft, and many others. Based on these experiences, he co-authored the multi-award-winning book “Dancing With Digital Natives: Staying in Step With the Generation That's Transforming the Way Business Is Done." Rich’s ability to create simple solutions for complicated problems was developed in his former role as an award-winning film and TV financier and producer. His 20+ projects have generated hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, and range from one of the most successful teen movies in history, “She’s All That,” to thought-provoking documentaries such as his collaboration with Halle Berry, “For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots,” winner of the NAACP Image Award. Rich serves on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Board of Directors at Vanderbilt University, and is Co-Founder of Vanderbilt-in-Hollywood, which places about 30 college students each summer into life-changing entertainment internships in Los Angeles. Rich is a well known angel investor, board member, and mentor.

Rob Morgenroth is an Emmy winning visual effects producer and supervisor, as well as a studio management, business development, and marketing executive. He’s a frequent speaker and panelist on the subject of virtual and augmented reality, and VFX. Past projects that he’s worked on include Oscar nominated “Catch Me If You Can”, Oscar nominated “Wag The Dog”, and “Grosse Point Blank”.

Greg Reitman is the founder and CEO of Blue Water Entertainment, an independent production company focusing on environmentally consciousness-based entertainment. Greg produced the 2008 Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary “Fuel”. He wrote, produced, and directed the documentary “Hollywood’s Magical Island – Catalina” and his new documentary film “Rooted in Peace.” Greg was written up in Movie Maker Magazine as one of the top ten film producers creating content that makes a difference in the world.

Ramon Govea is a crowdfunding expert whose strategies and tactics have helped filmmakers, comic book artists, and inventors successfully raise over $1 million on rewards-based crowdfunding platforms. His past roles include positions at Crowdfundmastery.com and Krowdster. Ramon is also an experienced Line Producer and Director who has created branded web content for companies like Lion Forge Comics, Jansport, Doritos, and Warner Bros. Ramon primarily works with entertainment companies wishing to make a global impact by expanding innovative brands and IP's into branded web content, comic books, animation, film, and television.

Melanie Aitkenhead is the director of the upcoming reboot of "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?", Oscar nominated James Franco's retelling of the 1996 classic film of the same name. The film stars Tori Spelling, with a cameo by Franco and premiered on Lifetime. She’s also the director of the film adaption of James Franco's popular novel Actors Anonymous, which explores the lives of young actors in Hollywood and stars Franco alongside Oscar nominated Eric Roberts, Keegan Allen, and Scott Haze.

Doug Hodges is an expert in film production insurance with a long tenure at Truman Van Dyke. Today Doug is Vice President at Front Row Insurance, an entertainment insurance firm specializing in the film industry, the music industry, theatre companies, and photography with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Nashville.  Past productions that Doug has brokered insurance for include “The Boy Next Door” starring Golden Globe nominated Jennifer Lopez, and “Insidious: Chapter 2” starring Golden Globe nominated Rose Byrne.

Rusty Citron has had a lengthy and multi-faceted career in the film industry. As a senior studio executive he was responsible for innovative feature film and television distribution and marketing communications campaigns covering over 300 productions, including Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe winners. He has worked for and with talented teams at 20th Century Fox, LucasFilm, Marvel, Walt Disney, MGM, Sony Pictures, and Universal Studios, amongst others. He led the team that revitalized Marvel Comics and the franchise of classic characters developed by Stan Lee. And as a personal manager he represented amongst others Oscar winner Mel Brooks and Oscar winner Anne Bancroft. 
His work integrating technology with entertainment marketing communications includes deployment of one of the first HD-VOD channels on Comcast. He also led the team that integrated online content with Google, and a national retail and content partnership with Panasonic. Rusty also created and founded The Actors Hall of Fame, a non-profit foundation that is dedicated to restoring dramatic arts education in schools.