Advisory Board

As iFF only The Academy calls the shots

• Zach Booth

  Actor
  • Damages
  • Keep The Lights On
  —

  Zach Booth is best known for his role opposite Glenn Close on the hit TV show, Damages. Zach is a New-York-based actor with extensive credits -- both on stage and on screen. Off Broadway, Zach has premiered new works by Edward Albee (Me, Myself and I) and Craig Lucas (Prayer for My Enemy). He has appeared on Broadway in The Winslow Boy. His films include Keep The Lights On, Last Weekend, Dark Horse, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and White Irish Drinkers. Currently he is making the festival rounds with films After Louie (starring Alan Cumming) and The Revival, both which will get releases next year.

• Sharon Chantiles

  Casting Director
  • film
  • national TV
  • theater
  —

  Sharon Chantiles is a partner in Chantiles Vigneault Casting, which casts for film, TV, theatre, commercials, industrials, and real people. Recent castings include: The Metropolitan Opera NY, Nickelodeon, Bank of America, Nikon, Lowe’s, Grammy’s promo, Oreos, HP, Medicare, and for theater, In the Boom Boom Room and Sweet Bird of Youth. Sharon has been a guest speaker at acting schools in New York City as well as at SAG/AFTRA seminars and the directing program at NYU. In addition, she coaches actors and professionals in other fields for on-camera work and personal appearances.

• Julie Cohen

  Director/Producer
  • RBG
  • The Sturgeon Queens
  • I Live To Sing
  • American Veteran
  —

  Julie Cohen has directed and produced documentaries -- both features and shorts. Her films include RBG (the highly-acclaimed 2018 documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), The Sturgeon Queens (official selection, 2015 Berlinale; winner, nine Audience Choice awards); and I Live To Sing (2014 NY Emmy: Best Arts Program; Opening Night Film, American Documentary Film Festival). Her film American Veteran (Freestyle Releasing, 2017) won the Founders Award at the G.I. Film Festival and the Panavision Showcase Award at Syracuse International Film Festival. Before starting BetterThanFiction, her own production company, in 2008, Julie was a longtime staff producer at NBC News. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she is now an adjunct professor.

• Lawrence Frascella

  Film Critic/Historian
  • Live Fast Die Young
  • Entertainment Weekly
  —

  Lawrence Frascella is the co-author of Live Fast Die Young, the seminal book on the film Rebel Without a Cause. He has been a film critic, historian, and interviewer for many years for a multitude of publications including US, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Harper's Bazaar; and he served as an editor at Aperture. Lawrence has interviewed a vast array of subjects ranging from Martin Scorsese to Jim Jarmusch to Nora Ephron. He lives in Irvington, New York.

• Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine

  Producer/Director
  • The Galapagos Affair
  • Ballets Russes
  —

  Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine are Emmy-award-winning directors/producers who have jointly created critically-acclaimed, multi-character documentary narratives. The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden had a worldwide theatrical run in 2014; the award-winning Something Ventured premiered at SXSW, went on to play at festivals internationally, and was broadcast nationwide on PBS. Their work also includes Ballet Russes (2005) -- which was recognized as one of the top five documentaries of 2005 by both the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review, and appeared on a dozen critical “10 Best Films” lists including those of Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The San Francisco Chronicle and Slate.

• Naomi Geraghty

  Film Editor
  • In America
  • Hotel Rwanda
  • The Illusionist
  —

  Naomi Geraghty is a film editor who has edited Oscar nominated films such as In America, Hotel Rwanda and The Illusionist. She is also known for her work on Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. Other feature film credits include The Lucky Ones starring Rachel Mc Adams, Reservation Road starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, and the upcoming movie Pele. Naomi has recently cut dramas such as Treme created by David Simon, and Emmy nominated Bloodline. She is currently working on Billions starring Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti which is due to debut on Showtime in 2016. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Naomi now resides in Brooklyn.

• Jeff Gordinier

  Writer, Editor
  • Esquire
  • X Saves the World
  —

  Jeff Gordinier has written about pop culture, politics, poetry, and food for more than 25 years. He is the Food and Drinks Editor of Esquire magazine, and his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Details, Outside, T, Travel + Leisure, GQ, Creative Nonfiction, Entertainment Weekly, Spin, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Fortune, The New York Times Book Review, and Poetry Foundation. Jeff is the author of the 2008 book X Saves the World and co-editor (with Marc Weingarten) of the 2015 essay collection "Here She Comes Now."

• David Klagsbrun

  Award Winning Trailer Editor
  • 3 Golden Trailer Awards
  —

  David Klagsbrun is President and Senior Editor at Jump Cut Creative, a leading movie trailer house in New York City. He has worked on campaigns for a wide variety of acclaimed motion pictures that have won Oscars, Golden Globes and other top prizes at major film festivals throughout the world. He is the winner of 3 Golden Trailer Awards and was nominated for an American Cinema Editor Award for his long-form editing work.

• Dana Kuznetzkoff

  Producer
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • The Wire
  —

  As the Head of Television for Avex International, Inc., Dana Kuznetzkoff is on a mission is to entertain and inspire through the creation or acquisition of content across all genres and for all platforms. She has led diverse projects from HBO’s pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire to acclaimed series The Wire, and was the co-producer of NBC’s Smash. Dana was one of the producers of Invisible with Doug Liman and Julina Tatlock of the first scripted series designed specifically for 360-degree virtual reality; and she recently completed The New Yorker Presents, an episodic show for Amazon Studios visualizing the iconic magazine's unique stories. She produced the award-winning documentary Thread, which focuses on women in Afghanistan, and is developing a series about the hidden history of the women of World War II based on the book “We Band of Angels.” Dana serves on the Producers Council of the Producers Guild of America, and is a member NY Women in Film & Television and the Directors Guild of America.

• Joe Landauer

  Film Editor
  • About Ray
  • Me Him Her
  • Safety Not Guaranteed
  —

  Joe Landauer edited About Ray, Me Him Her, Gods Behaving Badly, Ceremony, Friends With Kids, and Safety Not Guaranteed, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Joe started his career working as an assistant editor on features such as Cop Land, The Boxer, and Signs, and was the visual effects editor on Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate. Joe cut Terry George’s short film, The Shore, which won the Oscar for Best Short Live Action Film in 2012. Other credits as film editor include Sherrybaby, The Cake Eaters, and Teeth for which its star Jess Weixler won the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Performance at Sundance. Joe was co-editor of Jonathan Demme's documentary, Marley.

• Dan Shefelman

  Cartoonist/Animator
  • Ice Age (1 & 2)
  • Robots
  • Epic
  —

  Dan Shefelman is a cartoonist and animator. He directs, designs, writes and storyboards for animation. Dan is a professor at Fashion Institute of Technology’s School of Art and Design, and lives in Irvington. His credits as artist/writer include: Ice Age (1&2), Robots, Epic (Blue Sky Studios/Fox Animation), Doug (Nickelodeon), Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (MTV/Paramount Pictures), Celebrity Deathmatch/The Head (MTV Animation), Red and Blue (CNN), King of the Hill (Fox TV), Venture Brothers (Adult Swim), Funny Money (comic strip) and editorial cartoons (New York Newsday).

• Marc Smerling

  Producer/Screenwriter
  • Crimetown
  • The Jinx
  • Catfish
  —

  Marc Smerling is a film producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He currently co-produces Crimetown, a series which investigates the culture of crime in a different city each season. He shot, co-wrote and produced The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, a six-part 2015 HBO Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary. He co-produced and shot Capturing the Friedmans, the 2003 Grand Jury Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival and Oscar nominee for Best Documentary. He is co-producer of the 2010 documentary film, Catfish, as well as Catfish: The TV Show (now in its sixth season). A partner in Hit The Ground Running Films, a New York City television and motion picture development/production company, Marc was founder and executive producer of Notorious Pictures -- producing and directing TV commercials, music videos, concert films, documentaries and series for broadcast.

• Sarah Wynter

  Actor
  • Bride of the Wind
  • 24
  • Goliath
  —

  SARAH WYNTER has been working in film and TV for over 15 years. Her film credits include the lead role in Bruce Beresford’s Bride of the Wind, for which she received critical praise, The 6th Day, and Lost Souls directed by Academy Award-winner Janusz Kaminski. Her independent film credits include Coastlines, Shooting Livien, and Three Dollars. Sarah played Kiefer Sutherland’s love interest, Kate Warner, on 24, for which she received a SAG nomination. In 2006, she starred in NBC’s Windfall. Other television credits include Flight of the Concords, Sex and the City, Damages, Person of Interest, Blue Bloods, and Law and Order SVU. Sarah guest-starred in a recurring role in Showtime’s Californication and starred in NBC’s 2015 drama American Odyssey. She is currently starring in Amazon's original series GOLIATH opposite Billy Bob Thornton and William Hurt. Born and raised in Australia, Sarah moved to the U.S. in 1995.

• Laurie Chock & Paula Romanow Etzel

  FESTIVAL DIRECTORS
  —

  A.A. Trabucco-Campos
  As iFF LOGO/IDENTITY,
  ART DIRECTION and DESIGN

  Greg Allen
  THEATER MANAGER

  Larry Alexander
  TECHNOLOGY/SOUND

  Ryan Frame
  LIGHTING DIRECTOR

  Beth Ryan, Jennifer Moldow,
  Miyuki Furtado, Carol Hayward,
  Alison Cooper-Mullin, Lisa Zeitz
  PRODUCTION TEAM