Hommage to Pioneer Women Filmmakers at GSFF Film Festival, April 2, 2011

AGB GSFF Panel
ABOUT THE EVENT
The Fort Lee Film Commission (FLFC) will sponsor with the 2011 Garden State Film
Festival (GSFF) a symposium dedicated to the first woman filmmaker in cinema
history, Alice Guy Blache. A panel discussion will take place on Saturday, April 2 at 3
p.m. at the Parlor Gallery, 717 Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park followed by a Q&A.
The FLFC will also screen the Alice Guy Blache directed A House Divided (1913)
produced at Solax Studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Among the panelists will be Diane Raver, Executive Director and co Founder of GSFF,
Joan Simon, curator of The Whitney Museum (NYC) retrospective of the films of Alice
Guy Blache, Terry Lawler (Moderator) Executive Director, NYWIFT; Steve Gorelick,
Executive Director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission;
Kimberly Skyrme, Producer, Casting Director and WIFTI Board Member; Hisani
DuBose, Director; Christina Kotlar Turchyn, Fort Lee Film Commission, Film Festival
reViews podcast producer, WIFTI Board Member.

Panel discussion begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 2, 2011 at the Parlor Gallery, 717
Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. For tickets, go to Garden State Film
Festival www.gsff.org

ABOUT THE PANEL
Garden State of Affairs: the Business of Filmmaking Then and Now
As the first woman filmmaker in cinema history, Alice Guy Blache built and owned
Solax Studio contributing to the economic growth and development of Fort Lee, New
Jersey. Emerging at the end of the nineteenth century, it wasn’t immediately clear
whether cinema would become a viable industry beyond sideshow attractions.
New Jersey is the birthplace of the American film industry and today looks ahead to
create jobs and boost its economy. Analysts are watching entertainment imaging
revenue and expect to see an increase in number of movies being financed which will
send more films into production. Predicting the potential and opportunity for women in
the filmmaking business or simply gazing at illusions? This panel discussion reflects on
Alice Guy’s innovations and achievements as it fits in present day, followed by a Q&A
and film screening.

Panelists:
Diane Raver, Founder and Executive Director of Garden State Film Festival
Joan Simon, Curator of the Whitney Museum’s retrospective of Alice Guy Blache films
Steve Gorelick, Executive Director, New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission
Kimberly Skyrme, Producer, Casting Director, President of Board of WiFTI
Hisani DuBose, Director
Christina Kotlar Turchyn, Fort Lee Film Commission, NYWiFT/WiFTI
Terry Lawler, Moderator, Executive Director of New York Women in Film & Television

Terry Lawler is Executive Director of New York Women in
Film & Television (NYWiFT) since 1997. She is a Vice
President of the Board of Directors of the New York
Production Alliance and serves on the Boards of the
Manhattan Neighborhood Network and the Katahdin
Foundation. Previously, Lawler served as Director of
Development and Production at Women Make Movies and
National Director of Film and Videomakers Services at the
American Film Institute. She also worked as a media
consultant for foundations and non-profit groups including
the MacArthur Foundation, the Astraea Foundation, the
National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Goethe
Institute among others. Lawler received the New York
Women in Film & Television Muse Award for Vision and Achievement in 2007.

Diane Raver is Executive Director of the Garden
State Film Festival which she co-founded with Robert
Pastorelli in 2002. From her beginnings as sales
representative for Eye View Films and Knightsbridge
Productions, she went on to become the first woman
president of a commercial production when she
founded The Madison Group in New York City in 1987.
She was a founding member of the Board of Directors
of the Arts Coalition of Asbury Park and was awarded
the New jersey Moviemakers Network Award for
excellence in 2003.

Joan Simon is a writer, curator, and arts administrator
based in Paris who works independently for museums
and publishers in the U.S. and Europe. As curator-atlarge
for the Whitney Museum, New York, she
organized Alice Guy Blaché: Cinema Pioneer, the first
large-scale exhibition of both her French and American
films, showing 90 films from her earliest of a few
minutes duration to her feature length films. A former
managing editor of Art in America, Simon has published
extensively on contemporary art for magazines,
exhibition catalogues and books.

Steve Gorelick, Executive Director of the New Jersey
Motion Picture and Television Commission is also a writer
and documentary filmmaker and serves on the advisory
board of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He is an advisor to
the Rutgers Film CoOp; a member of the advisory board
of the Fairleigh Dickinson undergraduate film program; a
member of the Newark Public Schools Audio, Video and
Broadcasting Advisory Committee. He has been a trustee
of the Cape May New Jersey Film Festival; an officer and
trustee of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival and the
New Jersey Young Filmmakers Festival.

Kimberly Skyrme began her film career as a casting
director in Washington, D.C. She is the founder of
Kimberly Skyrme Casting, formerly Capital Casting
and continues her work as a casting director as well as
producing feature films and television programming
under Wonder Wheel Entertainment. Kimberly is
currently acting board chairperson of Women in Film &
Television International (WiFTI) and on the boards of
Women in Film & Video (WiFV), National Conservatory
of Dramatic Arts (NCDA) and founding board member
of Television Internet & Video Association (TIVA).
Hisani Dubose is a writer/director/producer in New
Jersey presently working on a documentary The
Roaring Whisper and is curating an exhibit The History
of African American Filmmakers in New Jersey. She
has produced community performances and is
currently an adjunct instructor for screenwriting and
visual design at Bloomfield College. She is a member
of the Independent Film Project and Honorary
Advisory board member of the Garden State Film
Festival.

Christina Kotlar Turchyn is a writer/producer and
independent filmmaker in the New York/New Jersey
metropolitan area. She founded Film Festival reViews
www.filmfestivalreviews.com podcast show and
produces online content delving into film and music
festivals and the independent film industry worldwide.
Christina is festival director for the Jersey Filmmakers
of Tomorrow Festival and represents the Fort Lee Film
Commission in liaison with New York Women in Film
and Television (NYWiFT) and is on the board of
Women in Film and Television International (WiFTI).
FORT LEE FILM COMMISSION www.fortleefilm.org

The Fort Lee Film Commission actively raises funds to preserve films made in Fort Lee,
and works with filmmakers who support promotion of Fort Lee’s role as birthplace of
the American film industry. Funds are also used to obtain historic artifacts that are on
display at the Fort Lee Museum, home of the Fort Lee Historical Society, a key
supporter of the work of the FLFC. Items on display include an original Pathé silent film
crank camera which is fully operational (a similar camera sold at the same time is
displayed in the lobby of MGM Studios in Hollywood); original glass slides; movie
posters; and photos.

GARDEN STATE FILM FESTIVAL www.gsff.org
The festival was founded in 2002 to promote the art of filmmaking on all levels by
showcasing a wide variety of film, video and animated works as well as provide
educational programs in the creative arts to the public by industry leaders. GSFF is an
all volunteer non-profit organization. Since its premier in 2003, industry notables such
as Glenn Close, Frank Vincent, Batman producer Michael Uslan, Austin Pendleton,
Kurtwood Smith, James Gandolfini, Budd Schulberg and others have lent their support.

NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION (NYWiFT) www.nywift.org
The preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York City, New
York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) supports women calling the shots in film,
television, and digital media. NYWIFT energizes the careers of women in entertainment
by illuminating their achievements, providing training and professional development
activities and advocating for equity. Membership includes more than 2,000 women and
men working both above and below the line. NYWIFT is part of the Women in Film
(WiFTI) organizations worldwide, representing more than 10,000 members.

WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION INTERNATIONAL (WiFTI) www.wifti.org
Women In Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network comprised of
some 37 Women In Film chapters worldwide and over 10,000 members dedicated to
advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas
of film, video, and other screen-based media.

Diane Raver, GSFF Festival Director: It is a great honor to be asked to sit on this
panel. As one of the women who blazed the trail in the television/commercial/film
arena for women owned business, I know firsthand how our contribution has been
overlooked and belittled. In a tough business like ours, it takes great strength of
character to lead the way. It will be a privilege to be in the same room with the other
women on this panel and pay tribute to Alice Guy Blache who really was the trend
setter!

Tom Meyers, Executive Director, Fort Lee Film Commission: This Garden State
Film Festival/Fort Lee Film Commission sponsored symposium on the cinema's first
woman director, Alice Guy Blache, is both timely and in the right location. Alice Guy
built Solax Studio in Fort Lee in 1912 and she produced, wrote and directed hundreds
of films here in the state of New Jersey before women had the right to vote. This
symposium is the largest event to honor Alice Guy Blache to date in New Jersey and
we hope it leads to more awareness and eventual inclusion of Alice Guy into the New
Jersey Hall of Fame.

Contact: Tom Meyers, Executive Director, Fort Lee Film Commission
[email protected] 201-693-2763