Atlanta Film Festival 365

Past and Current ATL365 Instructors

TRACEY BAKER-SIMMONS is currently co-owner and President of B2 Entertainment LLC, a mini film and television studio based in Atlanta, Georgia. She oversees all aspects of the company and its divisions and serves as executive producer on all projects. Tracey is a seasoned film and television producer with more than 10 years of experience in production. She recently served as Executive Producer for the reality series Being Bobby Brown, which aired on the Bravo Television Network the Summer of 2005. Tracey graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Marketing and Finance and began her career at Warner Brothers Music in the marketing and promotions department. She made her transition into film production producing regional commercials for LeRoux Motion Pictures in Atlanta, Georgia. Tracey then moved to Westside Stories and began producing for directors Keith Ward and Julie Dash. From 1992 onward, she produced hundreds of music videos and television commercials, working with popular Hip Hop R&B artists such as Brandy, Immature, Montell Jordan, Arrested Development, and NAS. Her award-winning television commercials ranged from Coca-Cola and Sprite to McDonald’s and MCI.

JAMES BEATTIEis a broadcast system engineer. James has built and supports hundreds editting systems in the southeast. In addition to be a certified support techncian, James is also a certified instructor on various editing systems. From broadcast to film post, and everything in between, James has supported and enhanced production environments over the past 10 years to make them more efficient and productive. James currently works fulltime at Comprehensive Technical Group as a supervisor on all computer based broadcast equipment.

STEPHEN BERGER, MFA (WGAW Member since 1993) worked successfully as a screenwriter in Los Angeles for fifteen years. He’s sold, developed, and had his scripts produced by Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, MiraMax Films and others, with producers such as Nancy Tennenbaum (Meet the Parents), Denise Di Novi (Batman Returns), and Gary Lucchesi (Million Dollar Baby), and actors such as Naomi Watts and Kevin Spacey. He was a writer/producer on the hit national TV show Blind Date, and taught screenwriting at the prestigious UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. Through UCLA Extension, both in-person and online, Stephen has taught screenwriting to students from St. Louis to Singapore.

ROBIN BERNAT is an experimental filmmaker and poet whose work explores beauty and feeling and their provisional qualities. Images tinged with nostalgia collectively create evocative narratives with both personal and universal meaning. Her work appeared in the 2000 Whitney Biennial of the Whitney Museum of American Art; she has exhibited her work nationally at the Kemper Museum of Art, The Cheekwood Museum, and MOCA-GA. Her work is represented in several museum, corporate and private collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kemper Museum of Art, The Weatherspoon Museum and the High Museum. With degrees in political philosophy and printmaking, she was also a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2001. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the 20th Century Art Society of the High Museum of Art and Art Papers magazine where, upon occasion, she has written critical reviews. Robin has been teaching private art classes for ten+ years. Classes include instruction in painting, drawing, sculpture and new media. Her students have even written and produced their own video shorts that have been screened during the Atlanta Film Festival. Additionally, she was a regular instructor in the IMAGE Film and Video MEDIA program introducing the techniques and language of film production to under-served Atlanta teens.

JOE BINFORD, JR. Joe Binford, Jr. runs a motion picture development company in Atlanta and Los Angeles called ChickenFilters™ (www.ChickenFilters.com). His background in the film industry started at the tender age of 3 when his Dad found Joe shooting some ‘hand-held’ with his dad’s Bolex Camera in their hometown of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Binford feels very fortunate to have worked with some of the industry’s best Directors, Editors and Writers while focusing on his own storytelling skills as a Director. His editorial credits include: The Fugitive, The Chronicles of Narnia- the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Ransom, Blast from the Past, Double Team,Dudley Do Right, Steal Big Steal Little, From Hell, My First Mister, Hideaway, ATL, We Are Marshall and others.

LY BOLIA (M.F.A., New York University, 1994) is an associate Professor of Film/Video production at Georgia State University, with creative specializations as a cinematographer, writer, director and editor. He has worked on over 15 features countless shorts, documentaries and commercials. Bolia's films have been screened on the Learning Channel, PBS, Comedy Central Network, RDF Media, National Geographic Channel, and at Lincoln Center. More than thirty film festivals have screened his work, including Atlanta, Santa Fe, Bronx, Birmingham Ala., Sarasota, Chicago, and Sedona Az..

 
BRIAN BREMER Brian Bremer is an actor/producer working in Atlanta. He is the national voice of Time Warner Cable and REI, and is a producer for Picture Window Productions, producing HGTV's "Ground Breakers" television series. Brian has appeared as an actor in several feature film and television productions in Atlanta and Los Angeles and is a producing member of Sketchworks, LLC. He also serves as casting producer for in house feature film casting for The People Store.

KEVIN COLLINS is a Cornell MBA, and a WGA member who began his entertainment career in a large music publishing company.  During this time, Collins began writing a screenplay as hobby.  As the writing bug caught him, he began honing his craft while working for several large movie studios including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks Studios.  Later, Collins transitioned into production as a writers’ assistant on Showtime’s Soul Food: the series.  After writing scenes for various episodes, he was hired as a freelance writer and was then put on staff in the show’s final season.  He recently completed a television pilot as well as a feature length screenplay.  Collins has also written, produced and directed a short film entitled “Headliners,” and is the recipient of Dr. Bill Cosby’s “Guy Hanks & Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellowship Program.”

STEVE COULTER is an Atlanta-based actor, writer and director. His film and television work include HBO’s “Warm Springs”, “I’ll Fly Away”, “One Tree Hill”, “Prison Break”, and “Mr. Brooks” with Kevin Costner. Steve wrote and directed the award-winning short film “The Etiquette Man”, which was selected by the Sundance Channel and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He currently writes for Tyler Perry’s new television series, “House of Payne”. Creative Loafing named Coulter “Best Actor in Atlanta” in 2004.

DR. HERBERT L. EICHELBERGER, Ph.D, has been an Associate Professor of Film at Clark Atlanta University from July 1, 1975 to present. During this period, he has taught such well-known film practitioners as Spike Lee, Bryan Barber, Randy Marshall, Monty Ross, and TV personalities such as Amanda Davis, FOX 5 news anchor. His professional career began in the Fall of 1965 with employment at Eastman Kodak Company and enrollment at Rochester Institute Of Technology in Photographic Illustration where he received his BFA degree in 1970. At Kodak, he was a tester/quality evaluator and later became an Industrial photographer. He left Kodak after 7 years to become the supervisor of a graphic arts department in Wisconsin. While Director of the Photographic Department at MATC (Madison Area Technical College), He completed his Masters Of Arts Degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975. The summer of 1975 brought him to Clark college (which become Clark Atlanta University in 1988). He became a film Instructor and two years later was given the additional responsibilities as coordinator of Instructional Media. He continued as Coordinator and as full-time faculty as Assistant Professor for ten years. After receiving his Doctor Of Philosophy degree in 1990 at Emory University, he assumed the position of Department chair for a period of 4 years. He continues today as Associate Professor of film in the division of Communication Arts, Mass Media Arts department at Clark Atlanta University. He has produced many documentary films and special projects, including the most recent 90 minute special hosted and produced by Robert Townsend, which broadcasted on the Black Family channel.

ALLEN FACEMIRE is a director and cameraman of over 30 years, having worked freely among commercial, corporate, television, and feature film projects. Praise for his lighting techniques have won recognition at high levels from two major networks. The producers of ABC’s PRIME TIME and GOOD MORNING AMERICA, and NBC’s DATELINE frequently request his services as both cameraman and lighting director to put their news celebrities in the best light. Other television credits include ABC’s 20/20, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, MATLOCK, COPS, and MIAMI VICE, to name a few. He is the current vice president of Saltrun Productions, inc. (formerly Facemire/Satterfield film&tape). Together, with Suzan Satterfield, they just finished a 3 year run of producing an environmental adventure show for Turner South, which will soon be in re-runs. Along with a new partner they have formed a second production company called Picture Windows Productions.

BOB HARTER Bob Harter is one of Atlanta's most respected actors, working frequently on-camera. He is also in demand as a voice-over artist, known for his many celebrity impressions and character voices. Bob's feature films include the soon to be released feature, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, directed by David Fincher, Death Sentence, starring Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, John Goodman, and Aisha Tyler, directed by James Wan, Simpatico with Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte, and Sharon Stone, Stroke of Genius with James Caviezel. Bob also worked with director Michael Mann on The Insider, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. He has appeared on TV in "I'll Fly Away", "Savannah", the USA Network movie, Web of Deceit, and in a recurring role on TNN's "I-40 Paradise." Bob is a familiar face on many regional and national commercials, including an ad for Miller Genuine Draft lensed by Ridley Scott. Being an expert on ear prompter and teleprompter has also kept Bob busy as a corporate spokesperson, and he does voice-over work as well. Speaking of voices, Bob does over 50 impressions & character voices, including Bill Clinton and personal appearances as a Jack Nicholson look alike. Bob began coaching actors privately, then teamed with Della to do intensive weekend workshops. Demand from their students led to the creation of yourACT. The husband and wife team also continue to work together as co-producers and performers in Sketchworks, Atlanta's premiere sketch comedy troupe.

JIM KANTER made his first film when he was seven years old and was hooked. He graduated from the film school at the University of Southern California and as a graduate student helped get the Digital Arts and Entertainment Laboratory at Georgia State University started. Jim is an award-winning feature filmmaker with 30 years of professional experience as a cinematographer, 25 years as an editor, 21 years working with computer graphics, and 12 years with digital video. He is an internationally renowned expert, author and vendor-certified instructor on many popular digital video applications, and presents regularly at conferences and special events around the country. He is also an enthusiastic SCUBA diving instructor and underwater filmmaker and loves sharing his passion for learning with others.

GEORGE KING is a writer/producer/director of nonfiction film, television and radio projects. His work has consistently won national and international acclaim (Peabody, Cine Golden Eagles, Golden Reels, etc.) and garnered reviews in the U.S. national and regional press. Projects range in approach from journalistic (Aging, the Myths), parody and satire (Ten Thousand Points of Light, Bananaland), and historical (Goin' to Chicago, Will the Circle be Unbroken?), to the experimental (Word of Mouth). King's projects have received funding from among other sources: National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Rockefeller & Ford Foundations to local support here in Atlanta. In addition to his filmmaking work, King has taught writing and documentary film and radio production in industry workshops, art schools, and universities, including Emory's Film and Visual Arts Departments. For more information, go to www.georgeking-assoc.com

DAN KROVICH spent his academic career in science, receiving a B.S. in chemistry from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and molecular sciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His passion for film led him to pursue a career in that arena leading to the position of programming administrator at The Maryland Film Festival where he served for six years. During his time there, he also worked on several film productions including SWIMMERS and SYRIANA. Additionally, he has served as a reader for the Maryland Filmmaker's Fellowship in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, been on the programming committee for the underground film festival MicroCineFest, and participated in the Maryland Humanities Council's Youth Film Jam.

LOUISE LEVISON is President of Business Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in writing business plans for films and film companies. She is the author of Filmmakers & Financing: Business Plans for Independents and publisher/editor of The Film Entrepreneur: A Newsletter for the Independent Filmmaker and Investors. Levison's clients have raised money for low-budget films, such as The Blair Witch Project, the most profitable independent film in history, and for companies raising as much as $300 million. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Extension Program at UCLA and has been a Visiting Professor at the Taipei (Taiwan) National University of the Arts and conducted workshops at film festivals around the U.S. and overseas.

MICHAEL LUCKER is a creative writer, director, producer and consultant with over fifteen years experience in developing film, television, animation and digital media. Driven to write stories as a child, he studied film and broadcasting at Boston University’s College of Communication. After graduation he moved to Los Angeles where luck and fate collided landing him a job as assistant to Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Always, Arachnophobia and Back To The Future II. Michael then rose to creative affairs at Hollywood Pictures where he aided in the development of Crimson Tide, Terminal Velocity and Straight Talk. Still afflicted with a passion for the page, he left the city for the beach and embarked on a career as a screenwriter, co-writing more than twenty scripts for such studios as Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, DreamWorks SKG and Universal Television. Among the projects produced were Vampire In Brooklyn, Mulan II, Home On The Range, Emperor's New Groove II, 101 Dalmatians II, Black Cat and Spirit, which was nominted for the Academy Award in 2002 as best animated feature. Always partial to the south, Michael returned home to Atlanta where he consults to acclaimed writers, award-winning producers, prominent cable companies and, most recently, the Turner Entertainment Group in launching its broadband comedy network Super Deluxe. He serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Writers Association and speaks regularly to a wide variety of media organizations. In 2008 he signed on with Atlanta-based Encyclomedia which now serves as home to the projects he writes, directs and produces. You can write to him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

APRIL LUNDY A native of Atlanta, GA, April Lundy holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Digital Filmmaking & Art, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Georgia State University. She is a Film Professor at Clark Atlanta University. With over 16 years of experience in the film and television industries, she has written, produced and directed, commercials, music videos, screenplays, reality tv and other visual projects for artist such as: Usher, Whitney Houston, Outkast, Tyrese, Brian McNight, Pink, TLC and Bobby Brown to name a few. Having founded, owned and operated Strange Fruit Films LLC and Film Noire Group Inc. (two of the Southeast's most notable and successful film production companies) solidified Ms. Lundy as an industry player and garnered her projects with the Majors. She has also produced and directed independent film projects for Bravo, Sony-Columbia, Black Entertainment Television, TV One, Warner Brothers, LaFace, Arista, and other major media companies.

JENNA MILLY was a journalist who hated telling the truth. After a decade of writing news for CNN, The Los Angeles Times and a variety of magazines, she decided r-e-e-l life was more interesting. Since completing her MFA in screenwriting at University of California Los Angeles, she has taught dramatic writing at UCLA, Emory University and the Atlanta Film Festival. This summer, she directs a short film as part of The Woman's Angle, a non-profit organization supporting female directors. Jenna also writes the column "Scene Fix" for Script Magazine and runs her own script consultant service.


EDDY VON MUELLER, Ph.D is a filmmaker, critic, and former animator whose reviews and commentary appears regularly in Creative Loafing and several other regional and national outlets. He and his accomplices have several projects in development, most recently with Dimension Films and Intermedia.

WHIT NORRIS has been a freelance location sound recordist for 20 years. Some his movie credits include AMERICAN SPLENDOR, JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, HEAD OF STATE, SCHIZOPOLIS, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, ONE MISSED CALL, CLERKS II, ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE, IN PLAIN SIGHT and DOGMA. Television credits include work for Walt Disney Entertainment, Spelling Entertainment, and HBO Productions. Norris has also done numerous corporate and commercial spots for companies such as McDonald’s, Panasonic, Saab, Diet Coke, and the Discovery Channel.

CARRIE SCHRADER Carrie Schrader is a writer/director whose short films - Boys and Dogs and Kids Are Weird and Mine - have won festival awards internationally. Her screenplays have received acclaim from Outfest L.A. and New York's IFP market. She also won the "New Voices" award at the Seattle International Film Festival. She recently finished her MFA in Directing at Columbia University and has been honored to collaborate with Kendra Hillman, Tricia Cooke and Ethan Coen on several projects including two short films, The Thorny Rose and Don't Mess With Texas, an amimated music video called Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate, and a soon-to-be-titled feature length screenplay.

WANDA SHELLEY is currently co-owner, Vice President, and Head of Production for B2 Entertainment LLC, a mini film and television studio based in Atlanta, Georgia. She oversees all aspects of the projects that are placed into production and serves as co- executive producer on all projects. Wanda has over 10 years of marketing and sales experience. She recently served as Co-Executive Producer and Producer for the reality series Being Bobby Brown, which aired on the Bravo Television Network the Summer of 2005.Wanda attended Howard University before transferring to Georgia State University where she graduated with a degree in Marketing and Business Administration.

KEN STIGGERS began working as a broadcast engineer, announcer and host of a weekly jazz program at WDUQ, Pittsburgh-90.5 FM (Duquesne University) right out of high school. He then went on to attain an A.S. degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from a community college in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, as well as a Bachelor of Humanities and American Studies degree (Multi-Media Journalism minor) from Penn State University. As a film and video production student he co-produced "Suburban Camouflage," a 40 minute documentary which achieved semi-final status in the 1984 Sony film and Video Festival (1984). In 1986 Stiggers moved to Atlanta and worked as a community television coordinator and studio manager for People TV-Cable 12 (1986-1992). He produced, directed and edited a poetry and performance art video for a group called Ascension (1990), taught film and video production at the Fulton County Schools (1992-1995). 1986-1995, and hosted and produced 2 radio programs for WRFG, Atlanta-89.3 FM. He was well known for his controversial, Orson Wells influenced radio plays. In 1995, he was called to operate and manage a Community Television channel in Jackson, Mississippi. He also worked as a production technician, technical director and news photographer at Jackson State University's TV 23. He has also been featured on 90.1 WMPR playing comedic characters on a weekly radio show called the "Drinking Gourd". Stiggers also worked for the City of Jackson's Public, Education and Government cable television network as Multi-Media Services Coordinator and Operations Manager. Currently, he is a video engineer for Ascent Media and continues writing satire and humor for the Jackson Free Press in Jackson, Mississippi.

CLAY WALKER is an independent filmmaker who has produced, directed, photographed and edited a variety of independent short and feature films, both fiction & non-fiction, over the last twenty years. Pursuing his own projects as well as collaborating with other filmmakers' on their projects, Walker has explored a vast range of film genres from comedy to complex social issues. In 1992, Walker completed the award-winning PBS political documentary "Post No Bills," the first broadcast-hour ITVS-funded project in history. In the late 1990's, Walker's ground-breaking film and multi-media work with acclaimed North Carolina swing band "The Squirrel Nut Zippers" earned him international attention for his interactive multi-media projects. CNN endearingly praised Walker's contribution to the Zippers' "Perennial Favorites" interactive audio CD as "Clay Walker's Sistine Chapel..." Walker's most recent film "The Cole Nobody Knows," a documentary film on jazz legend Freddy Cole, has been featured in over 50 international film festivals and was officially submitted to the 79th Academy Awards in the documentary short form category. Walker has spoken to audiences regarding his projects at various colleges, museums and film festivals including South by Southwest, the Smithsonian, Sundance, the Director's Guild of America and the American Film Institute. Walker was named the "Best Local Filmmaker" in 2006 by the readers of Creative Loafing Magazine. Walker's very first film experience came when he signed up to take a camera class at Image (now Atlanta Film Festival 365) with Bill Thompson in 1987.

GABRIEL WARDELL has worked for festivals and non-profits for over a decade, programming for the AFI Silver Theatre and numerous festivals from Maryland to California, producing the inaugural edition of SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival and hosting Cinema Sundays at the Charles in Baltimore for seven years. With a B.A. in Film from Bard College, where he matriculated after graduating from Phillips Academy Andover, he has written film criticism, a sports column, and freelance articles in publications such as Film Threat, The Baltimore Sun, The Jewish Times and City Paper. He also writes an indieWIRE Blog, called “Gabe’s Declaration of Principles.” Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Gabe developed an interest in independent film at an early age—his mother can even be seen in John Waters’ Female Trouble, having her monster beehive hair-do teased silly by Dribble.

JOSH WARREN is a veteran of the improv stage. Having first trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, Josh moved down to Atlanta and joined the ensemble cast at Whole World Theatre as an actor and teacher. Josh is a founding member of the Village Theatre improv troupe and Atlanta's favorite sketch comedy team, Freeze Dried Monkey. He directs and edits and stars in web videos with WTF-TV on comedy.com. His screen credits include Army Wives, Saturday Night Live, and FarkTV. He has enjoyed sharing his improv knowledge for over two years as an instructor and coach.

BRET WOOD Bret Wood is the writer director of the narrative feature Psychopathia Sexualis (2006), the documentary feature Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films (2003), as well as several award-winning shorts. A former Film History instructor at the Atlanta College of Art, he is a DVD producer/designer for Kino International Corp.