Bill
Cowell (Founder/President/Chairman)
Bill Cowell is the Founder
and President of the BNFF. He is also
the CEO and Creative Executive of Captures
Entertainment. Bill is a writer, producer,
director, and actor that has developed
several award winning projects and deals
with top industry talent and executives.
Bill continues to flourish his knowledge
and love for the entertainment business
with original and lucrative ideas, and
will continue to build a strong and reputable
company working with top executives and
industry professionals for years to come.
Michael
Marszalkowski (Festival Director/Co-Chairman)
Special Counsel at Damon & Morey
LLP, Michael provides services in Entertainment
Law, and represents such clients as Emmy
Award Winning Director/Producer Jon Cassar
(“24”, and “La Femme
Nikita”) and award winning Director/Producer
Milan Cheylou (Las Vegas, The Chris Rock
Show, and Monk). Michael works closely
with the development deals and day-to-day
operations of Captures Entertainment and
The Buffalo Niagara Film Festival.
Joshua
Pollack (Festival
Director/Co-Chairman)
Joshua Pollack is currently
the Chief Executive Officer of NXT a
company, which he founded to capitalize
on his proprietary relationships and
experience. Over
the past 15 years, Mr. Pollack has acquired
a broad array of media, sports and entertainment
experience, which includes working in
the arenas of production, distribution,
marketing, public relations, event management,
talent representation and finance with
a focus on fundraising, mergers and acquisitions. Mr.
Pollack has previously held positions
with Creative Artists Agency, the William
Morris Agency and the Endeavor Talent
Agency focusing primarily on their high
profile, motion picture talent clients
and corporate advisory relationships. To
date, NXT has delivered expertise
and decision making assistance to over
150 clients including many of the worlds
leading investment banks, hedge funds,
advertising conglomerates, studios and
networks.
Rob Imbs (operations director)
Contact: RobI@buffaloniagarfilmfestival.com
Robert
Imbs is a Buffalo New York native,
who has been dabbling in film and video
since he was a young boy. He
continued his creative pursuits at
SUNY-Buffalo where he graduated with
a B.A. degree in Media Studies. While
a student, Rob successfully produced
and directed several campus television
shows, most notably a news journal
titled "ACTION NEWS",
which helped shape the landscape for
students to come. Rob took a
job with Captures Entertainment and
applied his various creative abilities
to business and media tasks involved
in the production of their many feature
films, and is credited as Video Editor,
Editor, Sound Effects Composer, and
Visual Effects Supervisor. With
a working knowledge of filmmaking,
Robert wrote, directed, edited and
produced the feature length film, Couch,
which recently premiered in February
2007 at the Market Arcade Theatre in
Buffalo, NY and he won an Honorable
Mention Award for Best WNY Filmmaker
that same year. Robert has been
involved with the Buffalo Niagara Film
Festival since it was in the development
stages and looks forward to another
successful Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. Though
now employed as a computer technician
for Apple Products USA, Robert remains
actively involved in filmmaking and
other creative pursuits.
Maria Hollander (Executive to Chairman)
Maria Hollander, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, attended E.N.E.R.C. film school there, graduating as a film producer. She has worked for many different international audio-visual projects, including music videos, commercial film festivals, sports, photography, stunts and action videos. She is applying her talent for organization, leadership, and creativity to work for the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, in order to share her passion and appreciation for independent movies.
Dick
& Jane Delson (Festival
Advisor)
Dick Delson has extensive public relations,
advertising, promotional and marketing
experience and expertise. He has written
for film, television, radio and the
press. In 2003, he was one of only
three recipients of the prestigious
Golden Satellite Award from the International
Press Academy for Outstanding Service
to the Entertainment Industry.
Delson has been involved in high level
policy and project planning and execution
for entities such as Walt Disney Productions,
Filmways Pictures, MCA, Inc./Universal
Pictures and the Executive Branch of
the Federal Government, Puerto Rico's
Industrial and Tourism program "Operation
Bootstrap," and the Jamaica,
West Indies Industrial Development
Corporation.
In addition, Delson has provided publicity
for the People's Choice Awards and
strategized numerous Oscar & Golden
Globe campaigns. And represented such
films as “American Graffiti”, “Jaws
1 & 2”, “Chicago”, “Goodfellas”, “Kill
Bill 1 & 2”, “The Lord
of the Rings”, and dozens more.
Delson has been a major part of the
Academy Award campaign PR team for
Miramax Films from 1998 through 2003.
During that 5-year period Miramax has
been represented with 11 successive
Best Picture Academy Award nominations,
winning three Best Picture Oscars for "Chicago," "Shakespeare
in Love" and "The English
Patient."
Delson has supervised the press activities
of hundreds of major motion pictures,
independent films, television series
and specials involving campaigns for
Oscars & Golden Globes in the Academy
Award competitions of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
In addition, he has handled corporate
financial publicity, public relations
for MCA, sports marketing, public relations
and publicity for health issues, book
authors and professional athletes as
well as motion picture personalities
such as Sylvester Stallone, James Coburn,
Michael Constantine and numerous others.
He has been involved in hundreds of
campaigns of the Directors Guild of
America Awards, the Writers Guild of
America Awards, Producers Guild Awards,
Casting Society Awards, Screen Actors
Guild Awards, Art Directors Guild Awards,
British Academy of Film & Television
Awards and Independent Film Awards.
To date, Delson has been
credited with the success of over 200
Academy Award Nominations and over
60 Wins.
Charles Quinniey (Website
and Design)
Contact: CharlesQ@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
Charles
Quinniey is a Graphic Artist/3D Animator
and Studio Camera Operator for WKBW,
Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate. He
graduated from the International Academy
of Design in Toronto, with a Certification
in 3D Animation, and holds a BA degree
from Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia. Charles
has worked with several media organizations,
including Buffalo Nickel City Productions,
Fear Not Films, and The Voice Squad
Voice Acting Club. He also was a founding
member of Reel Buffalo, a short-film
production company that includes other
committee members Emil Novak and DonnaMarie
Vaughan. Charles volunteers with Western
New York Media Professionals where
he mentors and trains students interested
in a career in television production.
Chris
Laski (Graphic Design)
Chris Laski is a 3D Animator and Graphic
Artist. He graduated from Edinboro University
of Pennsylvania with a BA in Applied
Media Arts specializing in computer animation.
Working by day as an average warehouse
jockey, he moonlights as a freelance
artist. Chris loves movies of all kinds
and dreams of one day working for an
animation studio making feature films.
David Gray (security/special
events)
Contact: grayeffects@yahoo.com
Special effects maestro Dave Gray is
Buffalo’s answer to Tom Savini
and Dick Smith. An actor by day
and a stagehand by night, Dave has
somehow found time to design costumes,
fabricate sets and props, and create
special make-up effects for such locally
produced horror films as Emil Novak’s Banshee, Bill
Cowell’s The Maize 2,
and Greg Lamberson’s Gruesome. One
of the key committee members for the
Buffalo Niagara Film Festival’s “Science
Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Day,” Dave
has conducted numerous special effects
workshops. You can view some
of his work at www.grayeffects.com.
Katie & Jake Schneider (Advisory Board)
Bio coming soon.
Crissy Tonsi (Advisory Board)
Crissy Tonsi, Festival Director, and
COO and Business Development Executive
of Captures Entertainment, also the
COO and Vice President of Cermortin
Enterprises, an entertainment and consulting
firm based in Los Angeles, has over
20+ years of executive management consulting
and operations experience, and specializes
in providing strategic planning, restructuring,
M & A, and organizational development
advisory services across a diverse
set of industry segments.
Daniele
Suissa (Advisory Board)
Daniele Suissa, Festival
Director, started her career in Paris,
working in film and theatre with Major
European Director’s. Bridging
her Paris and US affiliations, Daniele
is a pioneer in the development of
co-production and co-venture. A celebrated
actors-director, Daniele J. Suissa
has directed for the theatre over 30
plays from both the classical and contemporary
repertoire and has substantial credits
on the large and small screen for which
she has received many nominations and
awards. Daniele is also the director
of hundreds of television commercials
and has served as president, chair,
or Board Member of most Canadian Associations
including the Academy of Canadian Cinema
and Television, The Producer’s
Guild, the DGC and The Toronto and
Banff International Festival for many
years. Her constant quest for new artistic
challenges makes her a highly respected
force in her field. Since 1993 Daniele
has dedicated most of her time and
passion to education, teaching, directing,
acting and producing at UCLA Extension,
at USC School of Cinema, at AFI, at
the Los Angeles Film School, and at
her DIRECTOR’S
STUDIO at CBS. She is also a private
coach to Writers, Producers and Directors.
Daniele works and coaches in French,
English and Spanish. She is a citizen
of France, CEE and Canada, and a permanent
resident in the US.
