Advisory Board
Joan Bressler is the Director of Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers and joined the Philadelphia Film Office staff in 1992. When the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers was officially launched, Joan was a natural choice to helm this program. Under her direction, Filmmakers has pursued innovative partnerships with various companies/individuals in the region and implemented programs such as The Tripod Initiative, where student filmmakers are paired with professionals to produce videos; Presentation of the “Set In Philadelphia” Screenwriting Competition, at the Philadelphia Film Festival; On going workshops in Business Training, Legal Perspectives, Script to Screen, Packaging and Financing, Grant information and more. She also serves as a Film Office liaison, visiting schools and community groups, helping students navigate the Greater Philadelphia film industry and talking with the public about the process of making movies. Joan’s objective in this role is to find out what filmmakers need and work to provide it.
The Greater Philadelphia Film Office website
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Curtis Chin is a member of the Writers Guild of America. He’s written for ABC, NBC, FOX, Disney Channel among others. Currently, he is working on an independent documentary.
Jeffrey D. Erb is the CEO of Feverpitch Pictures. Prior to founding Feverpitch, Erb was the President of Kindred Media Group. While at Kindred, he was involved with distributing a number of films including “Game 6″ with Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr., Griffin Dunne and Bebe Neuwirth, “Jailbait” with Michael Pitt and Stephen Adly Guirgis, “On the Outs” with Judy Marte, and “Waltzing Anna” starring Emmanuelle Chiriqui and Artie Lange. At Kindred, Erb also executive produced the upcoming “One Part Sugar,” starring Danny DeVito, Dylan Walsh and Justin Long, “Southern Gothic” starring William Forsythe and Yul Vasquez, and “Superheroes,” produced by Greg O’Connor and Ira Deutchman.
Feverpitch Pictures website
Diane Heery, C.S.A. is a casting director with over 15 years’ experience and also a member of the prestigious Casting Society of America. Diane has cast principal actors in many independent feature films , in addition to major studio films including: “Jersey Girl” (K. Smith), “Signs” , “Unbreakable”, “The Sixth Sense” (N. Shyamalan), “Lucky Numbers” (N. Ephron), “Jesus’ Son” (A. MacLean), “National Treasure” (J. Turtletaub), “Invincible” (E. Core), “Rocky Balboa” (S. Stallone) and M. Night Shyamalan’s, “The Happening” , and Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones”. Currently, Diane is working on “Transformers 2.” Recent indie films include: “The Woodsman”, “The 4th Dimension” , “Shadowboxer”, “Our Lady of Victory”, “Universal Signs”, “Shelter” , “Dream of the Romans”, “Tenure”, and “Happy Tears”. Diane also works as a production consultant to independent filmmakers and donates her services to student filmmakers in the Philadelphia area. Before life as a casting director, Diane was an actor and director herself, appearing in over 25 regional and touring shows for the stage and has performed in films such as “Dead Poets Society” and “Two Plus One”. Diane has also served on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors’ Guild and is an active member of PIFVA and MCA. Diane is a graduate of Temple University’s Dept of Theatre.
Heery Casting website
Gayle Isa is the founder and Executive Director of the Asian Arts Initiative. Gayle has been an active participant in Philadelphia’s arts and culture community for the past 14 years, beginning as an intern and evolving as a staff member at the Painted Bride Art Center. She also spent three years working with the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, learning about human services and advocacy within the Asian American community in Philadelphia. She has been a National Finalist in the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World program. She has served on the boards of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and is currently on the Executive Committee of the National Performance Network and the Steering Committee of the nascent National Asian American Theater Project. Gayle was once an aspiring taiko (drum) player and is now learning to be a theater dramaturg.
Asian Arts Initiative website
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Sam Katz a lifelong and passionate Philadelphian, is well known in the region for his civic and political activism, numerous business activities and extensive community initiatives. As a candidate for Mayor (1991, 1999 and 2003), Sam articulated a strong message for political reform, fiscal constraint, economic growth, school choice and public safety. A Republican, he came within 1% of victory in 1999 and was highly competitive in the 2003 race. Sam Katz has been engaged throughout his career in urban affairs. He graduated from Johns Hopkins (BA, 1971) having majored in urban studies. His Masters Degree from the New School University was in urban affairs and policy analysis. For two decades, he built a highly successful municipal finance business that provided financial advisory services to cities and states on infrastructure finance and directly helped raise billions in capital for airports, urban transit, water, sewer and utility systems as well as for numerous general purpose, school and transportation projects. Currently Sam is working on a documentary about the history of Philadelphia. Sam lives in West Mt. Airy with his wife of 35 years, Connie.
The Remaking of America’s First City: Philadelphia website
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Philip Lam is an independent film producer based in the New York Metro area. He established himself among the Asian-American film community as executive producer for UNDOING (2006), a film-noir feature film by director Chris Chan Lee starring Sung Kang, Kelly Hu, and Russell Wong. In addition, he was an associate producer for SANTA MESA (2007), co-winner of the Narrative Feature Special Jury Prize at the 2008 San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival. Philip is currently an associate producer for The Chinatown Film Project being developed for the Museum of Chinese in America, and is developing a feature film project to be announced later this year. In addition to his work in film, Philip is a 20-year veteran of the technology industry. He currently serves as Executive Vice President at Mixr Media, an online media and social networking company. He began his career as a top-performing analyst and manager for global consulting firms Accenture and Booz Allen & Hamilton, providing technology strategy and systems implementation for Fortune 100 companies. He later became an early-startup member of three successful high growth technology ventures during the 1990s, and subsequently continued to work as an independent consultant for early stage business ventures. Philip is currently a Board Member of dGenerate Films, a digital distribution company bringing independent films from China to North America.
Mixr Media, Ningin
Louis Massiah is the founder and executive director of Scribe Video Center, a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that gives community members the tools, training and support to tell their own stories through video. As a student at Cornell University, Massiah studied cosmology and started doing a science news spot on the college radio station. He studied documentary film at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and while in graduate school, he made a film about Cuban and Haitian immigrants coming to America. He also produced and directed the documentary works “Louise Thompson Patterson - In Her Own Words,” and “W.E.B. Du Bois - A Biography in Four Voices.” Other selected works include Power! (from the Eyes on the Prize II series) (1990), “A Nation of Law” (from the Eyes on the Prize II series) (1990), and “The Bombing of Osage Avenue” (1986).
Scribe Video Center website
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David Oh was born and raised in Philadelphia. He’s lived on the same block in Southwest Philly since 1963. That is where his father started a community center and established his church. David, his wife Heesun and baby Hannah live right next to his mom and sisters (his father passed away a couple years ago). He attended public school and graduated from Central High School (class 237). He received his B.A. from Dickinson College and my J.D. from Rutgers University-Camden. He served as an Assistant District Attorney right after law school. Later, he joined the U.S. Army and served as an Officer in the 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He’s had his own law practice since 1990, located in Center City at 1700 Race Street. He’s a trial lawyer and handles all sorts of cases in state and federal court, as well as, administrative matters such as workers compensation. He ran for City Council At-Large in 2007 and 2003.
David Oh’s website
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Andrew Toy is now the Director of the Retail Resource Network at The Enterprise Center after a strong, but unsuccessful run for Philadelphia City Council in 2007. Andrew works to assist minority and other retailers to find the resources they require to be successful. As these entrepreneurs find success Andrew will help them to build and strengthen Philadelphia’s neighborhood commercial corridors. Andrew is no stranger to the power of video and film. Years ago, he helped lead a successful fight against a prison planned at an affordable housing site in Chinatown. Andrew worked with others to produce a video advocating against the prison. Andy is now trying to turn his teenage children on to many of the great films he has appreciated over the years. Andrew currently Chairs the Boards of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation and Free Schuylkill River Park and serves on the Boards of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. He also serves on the Governor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs. In August, 2007 he was appointed to the Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission. Andrew holds a B.A. in Economics and a Master’s Degree in Public and Urban Policy, both from the University of Pennsylvania.
Andy Toy’s website
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