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.

 

Crissy Tonsi – Festival Director
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 – Festival Director
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.

 

Dick 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.

 

Jane Delson – Festival Advisor
Jane Delson has over 30 years of experience in the public relations industry, encompassing executive-level work in the manufacturing, retail, healthcare and insurance sectors. A graduate of Bates College , she is a published writer who is also highly experienced in video production, publications design, major event planning and media management.

 Prior to joining her husband's agency in 2004, Jane served for seven years as Director of Corporate Communications for Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine, northern New England's leading medical professional liability insurer of physicians, surgeons, hospitals, medical centers and ancillary health care facilities throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

 

Tom Holland – Festival Advisor
Tom Holland is an Award Winning Filmmaker, Writer, and Director who is known for such works as PSYCHO II, THE BEAST WITHIN, CLASS OF 1984, FRIGHT NIGHT, CHILD'S PLAY, as well as Stephen King's THINNER and THE LANGOLIERS. Tom has also directed several episodes of HBO's TALES FROM THE CRYPT and The Masters Of Horror. Tom is currently involved with the new internet exclusive series TOM HOLLAND'S DRIVEN.

 

FESTIVAL COMMITEE:

Madeline Claire Franklin (intern/volunteer )
Festival Contact: MadelineF@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
Madeline Claire is a writer and multimedia artists currently attending SUNY-UB for Media Studies and Anthropology, with a concentrating in production. She co-operates The Buffalo Writer’s Group, a writing group that meets Monday evenings at Spot Coffee http://www.avalonshoppe.com/bwg/ and is an active participant in AWK of Buffalo, a small visual and performance art group that has had its work displayed/performed during events such as Hallwall's Artists & Models, the 48 Hour Film Project, and many student films.

Madeline Claire has been keeping busy trying to coordinate the volunteers for this year’s film festival, as well as help with other assorted administrative tasks. 

 

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.

 

Rob Imbs (location coordinator/technical advisor)
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.

 

Gregory Lamberson (publicity)
Contact:  glamberson@roadrunner.com
Gregory Lamberson is an author and filmmaker.  His second novel, JOHNNY GRUESOME, was just published as a Limited Edition hardcover by Bad Moon Books, and will be published as a paperback worldwide by Medallion Press in October.  His first novel, PERSONAL DEMONS, won the Anubis Award for Horror, judged by acclaimed horror author T.M. Wright.  Prior to his career as a novelist, he wrote and directed the cult classic, SLIME CITY, which played as a midnight movie in New York City; SLIME CITY was released on VHS twice and gained a new audience when Shock-O-Rama Cinema released it on DVD two years ago.  In January of 2008, the Beloit International Film Festival flew Lamberson and his SLIME cast to Wisconsin for two 20th anniversary screenings of the film.
Lamberson also wrote and directed the features UNDYING LOVE (released on VHS by E.I. Cinema as NEW YORK VAMPIRE) and NAKED FEAR (available as a second feature on the SLIME CITY DVD).  He worked as the Production Manager on I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE, the Assistant Director on PLUTONIUM BABY and Frank Henenlotter’s BRAIN DAMAGE, and as the Assistant Director and Associate Producer on the crime drama West New York.  For JOHNNY GRUESOME, he produced a rock CD, GRUESOME, for which he directed a music video starring sexploitation scream queen “Misty Mundae.”  He created and edits the horror entertainment website FEAR ZONE (www.fearzone.com), which draws over 10,000 hits a day, and just completed the instructional book, CHEAP SCARES! HOW TO MAKE A LOW BUDGET HORROR FILM, which McFarland and Company will publish next year.  His websites are www.slimeguy.com and www.johnnygruesome.com.

 

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.

 

Amelie McKendry (volunteer)
Festival Contact: AmelieM@buffaloniagarfilmfestival.com
Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Amelie always had a passion for the arts.  She took dance lessons at the age of three and that led to an interest in being on the stage – and acting.  Amelie graduated from CSU-Los Angeles with a BA in Theatre and Dance and began the pursuit of her acting career, while working at CBS-TV C in Los Angeles.  Working her way up she became a production Assistant and worked on shows such as Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, Tyra Banks Show, The Bold and the Beautiful, Bill Maher, The Price is Right and the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  Working at CBS kept her grounded as she pursued her first love, acting, and she began to get parts, including on television shows such Cold Case, the OC, The Guardian, Las Vegas, Missmatch, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, and the daytime drama, The Bold and the Beautiful, and several pilot shows that never aired.  Her film credits include the movie X’s and O’s, and Red man and Method Man Take Over.  She recently has been working on the film, The Other Me, as Sherry Shaffer, a semi-biopic of her time as a TV Anchorwoman.  Amelie has been involved in several movies shot in Buffalo and the Toronto area.  She splits her time between those two cities, as well as New York City and Los Angeles.   When in Buffalo she works as a TV Account Executive at WIVB, Channel 4 .

 

Emil Novak (local arts community liaison)
Festival Contact:  EmilN@buffaloniagarfilmfestival.com
Emil J. Novak is the CEO of Buffalo Nickel Productions LLC. Since 2004 BNP has produced six feature length films. Originally a comic book artist, Emil veered into other creative realms, including filmmaking where he has worn the hats of screenwriter, director, development, producer and executive producer. His background in art enables him to provide rich design and composition in his films. Since 2004 BNP has been involved with the production of six feature length films.
Presently, Buffalo Nickel Productions is the only production company actively making feature movies in the WNY area. His motto is, "The best movie set in the world is Buffalo!"  For more information, see: http://www.myspace.com/bansheethemovie

 

 

Evan Pease (webmaster)
Festival Contact:  EvanP@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
Evan Pease has spent the last ten years involved in the local motion picture and commercial video scene.  His involvement includes commercial pictures, music videos and independent films.  Some of his projects have included work as a graphic designer and Behind-the-Scenes Videographer for Troma Films’  Poultrygeist,  graphic designer for The Dissection of Thanksgiving,  cinematographer for Buffalo Nickel Productions’ Banshee, gaffer on The Cuckold, and multiple dutieson Of Dreams and Glory. Evan’s most recent commercial project was as a producer, editor, and cinematographer on a locally made television pilot titled  "Discs" which premiered to Buffalo audiences in 2007. His hands-on work at 3C Mutlimedia includes dozens of projects, including music videos, acting workshop DVD’s, website work and development and he is also a film editor, sound engineer and production designer.  Evan is the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival’s website guru and designer.

 

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. 

 

 

Nikki M. Radice  (intern/volunteer)
Festival Contact:  NikkiR@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
Nikki currently studies Media Production at SUNY-UB in their undergraduate program.  A newcomer to media studies she has always had a passion for films and is very excited to be a part of the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival team.  She has undertaken several projects with great flair and has proven herself a dedicated and dependable addition to the committee. In her free time she likes to stay active by biking, playing tennis and basketball. An avid pro sports fan, she loves to cheer on her beloved Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills.

 

 

Scottpatrick Sellitto  (special events advisor)
Festival Contact:  Scottpatrick@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
Scottpatrick has been a musician since the age of 5 and music remains his first love and passion.  After being a musician for many years, Scottpatrick turned his love of music into booking bands for concerts and festivals, as well as for scoring movies and providing soundtracks.  He has traveled the country and parts of the world.  His background as a research scientist in biochemistry remains his profession, but Scottpatrick remains devoted to  music and occasionally still plays when he has the time. 

 

DonnaMarie Vaughan (sponsorships/promotions)
Festival Contact:  DonnaMarie@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com
A native WNY’er, DonnaMarie has been involved in theater for over 20 years.  A few of her successes include winning the Area Playwrights Performance Series in 1988 for her full-length play, SECOND TUESDAYS, and winning the 1995 National Comedy Compact Award for her short play, STUCK, which was adapted into a short film and won First Prize from the Buffalo Video and Movie Maker Club in 1998.  As a screenwriter, she has won several awards, including the Grand Prize in 2003 from the Direct to the Agents Screenwriting Competition for her romantic comedy, A DATE FOR THE WEDDING. Her murder-mystery crime-drama, GUARDIAN ANGEL, is on option with a German production company.  As an actress, DonnaMarie has appeared in independent films, corporate videos and commercials; you might recognize her in the Catholic Health Systems Partner in Rehab commercials on Channel 4.  As a reader and script evaluator, she currently works for the Hollywood Outreach Program (HOP), Carl Sautter TV Writing Competition, Buffalo Niagara Film Festival and as a dramaturg for the Alleyway Theater’s annual Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. Among her many creative endeavors, DonnaMarie is currently developing a dramatic TV series and considering producing her first feature film based on one of her scripts later this year or in early 2009.

 

Suzanne Zorich-Feathers (hospitality)
Festival Contact:  SuzanneZ@buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com 
Duties:   Hospitality, Gifting & Donations, Sponsorships
Suzanne began her career as a forensic anthropologist, but seeing how those situations weren't that funny, she moved to Los Angeles and is now an alumni of The Second City Conservatory and Improv Olympic West. While in LA, she performed regularly with her sketch comedy group "The McGillicuddys" and was last on stage in the 2006 LA Sketch Comedy Festival. She brought her characters to Universal Studios where she wrote and acted with fellow comedian Kristen Wiig from SNL. A few of her films include' "The Store", "Boxes" and "The Maize II" and has portrayed a doctor many times for different Lifetime Television shows such as "Strong Medicine". She has also shot and did voice-overs for many commercials over the years such as Time Warner Cable, Hallmark and Mastercard ™. 

In the meantime, Suzanne learned the ropes of the business working as an assistant to Judi Brown, senior producer of the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and manager for comedians such as Eugene Levy. She also was an assistant for Martin Landau's production company Miracle Entertainment. Suzanne currently works with video production and does editing through her videography business, SZF Productions.