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ALUMNI BOARD:
Sarah Feeley, MFA, Stark '01, Co-Chair
Sarah Feeley is a producer whose recent work includes producing the highly acclaimed feature documentaries: Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Currently, she is producing The Freedom Files, a documentary television series produced in collaboration with the ACLU and Brave New Films, which focuses on everyday Americans standing up for their civil liberties. Sarah worked as a producer and the Vice President of Production at Brave New Films, where she helped establish the company as the leading innovator in independent documentary distribution. Sarah also pioneered the Brave New Foundation Open Door Training Program to cultivate a new, diverse generation of documentary filmmakers. While at Vinton Studios (now Laika Entertainment), she spent four years as a development executive and worked on the animated television series and pilots: The PJ’s (Eddie Murphy, Steve Tompkins and Larry Gilmore), Gary and Mike (Eric Abrams and Will Gluck), Slacker Cats (Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley) and Boyer Brothers (Mark Hentemann). Sarah was an integral part of the story team on the Academy Award Nominated animated feature film Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. Sarah’s entertainment career began at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she worked on the licensing and merchandising programs of tent pole feature releases like: Godzilla, Men in Black, and Stuart Little, as well as hit television properties like: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Dawson’s Creek, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. Sarah regularly speaks on industry panels where she shares her expertise in the areas of micro-budget feature film and television producing and independent and self-distribution strategies. Sarah holds a Master in Fine Arts in motion picture and television producing from the Peter Stark Producing Program at University of Southern California. Sarah is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, where she majored in History and was admitted to the Phi Alpha Theta national honor society.
Shonali Kulkarni, MFA, Production '06, Event Coordinator
Shonal Kulkarni received her MFA in Production from USC in 2006 and her undergraduate degree from NYU. She is a writer and director who has also produced thesis films, award-winning shorts, music videos and web shorts, including a series of shorts for Mental Floss Magazine and a music video for The Chapin Sisters. She has previously worked in development at Radiant Productions (Wolfgang Peterson's production company at Warner Brothers) and spends far too much time reminiscing about her days in boarding school
Felicia Dickerson, MFA, Screenwriting, Event Coordinator
Felicia Dickerson received her MFA in Screenwriting from USC. She served as a story analyst for Andrew Lauren Productions and the William Morris Agency before turning her attention to festival programming. Ms. Dickerson served for three years as Director of Programming for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. She has also served on the programming committes of the AFI International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. In 2005, she curated the Keep In Touch short film program for the New Space Gallery in Hollywood, CA.
Jade Branion, BA, Critical Studies '06, Web Master
Jade Branion received her BA in Critical Studies from USC in 2006. While trying to write her first feature length script, and pursue a career in producing, she currently is a page at NBC Universal. She has also previously worked at Warner Brothers, Focus Features, and Urban Entertainment.
Phoebe Shackeroff, MFA Production '05, Yahoo Groups Moderator
Phoebe was raised in Seal Beach, CA. Her production credits prior to USC include interning for Ted Hope at Good Machine in New York; serving as APOC on the 2000 Sundance winner, Girlfight; coordinating the Locations Department on the 1-hour drama "Now and Again;" and producing commercial shoots in 4 states with Heavybag Media. She is currently producing and directing a documentary on Hawaii's last native fishing village, where community members are fighting to protect the ocean and pass on their knowledge to a new generation of leaders. She is also completing a short documentary on "Rupert the Swan" - an iconic bird who drew hundreds to his funeral. Phoebe has a BA in Literature from Yale, and studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Websites: www.lastfishingvillage.com & www.RupertTheSwan.com
Cynthia Fox, BAFA, Fine Arts '00, Conference Coordinator
Cynthia Fox is a photographer, artist, and filmmaker with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the USC School of Fine Arts. Some of her favorite photographers are Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus and William Eggleston. She has also studied animation and music, and is concentrating on alternattive and GLBT themed work. She recently shot all the publicity stills for the NAACP award winning play Bluebonnet Court and her work has appeared in Variety, LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. She is very interested in working to improve opportunities for women in the film industry. In her spare time she plays the drums and experiments with a vintage Canon 1014XLS Super 8 camera that she bought on Ebay in excellent condition at a great price.
Iram Parveen Bilal, MFA, Stark '07, Conference Coordinator
Bio available soon.
Caitlin Millay Krapf, MFA, Production '06, Treasurer
Caitlin Millay Krapf recently graduated from USC's Graduate School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in film production. During her time at USC she DP'ed "Last Exit" and the documentary thesis, "Adventures in Geocoaching". Krapf took the role of producer on three additional thesis films. Since graduating, Krapf has enjoyed her role as associate producer on two feature documentaries, one investigating current ethnic tensions in Kosovo and another chronicling the history of the 30-year struggle to free Soviet Jewry. She is currently co-producing her first feature documentary.
STUDENT BOARD:
Tess Ortbals, MFA Production '08, Co-Chair
Tess Ortbals began her career in the arts at the age of 10 as a child actress.
She continued her study of theater in ancient storytelling and mythology by
obtaining her BA from UC Berkeley with a degree in Near Eastern Archaeology.
She has produced and directed ethnographic documentaries, delivered award
winning public speeches, and shot and developed photographic installations
for community awareness. A recipient of the Rodolpho Montes Memorial Scholarship
and the National Hispanic Foundation of the Arts, she is currently acquiring
her M.F.A. at USC with an emphasis in Producing.
Ronisa Wilkins Shoate, MFA Production '09, Outreach/Big Sibs
Bio available soon.
Heather Regnier, BA Screenwriting '08, Event Coordinator
Heather Regnier is currently an undergraduate at USC majoring in screenwriting with a minor in neuroscience. While screenwriting is her primary focus, she has also produced and directed both undergraduate and high budget shorts as well as had a variety of internships for literary, film and television companies; including Liquid Theory and Marvel Studios. This past summer, she studied abroad in London through Boston University where she interned at an independent production company and helped shoot local projects.