SBIFF / staff and board

ROGER DURLING executive director

Roger Durling has been at the helm of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for the past four years. He was born and raised in Panama and has a graduate degree from Columbia University. He teaches Film Studies at Santa Barbara City College and at University of California Santa Barbara. He writes a column about film entitled Roger Durling’s THE BIG PICTURE in Santa Barbara’s Independent and serves on the Board of Directors of Santa Barbara's Downtown Organization and Doctors Without Walls. He was chosen Santa Barbara’s Citizen of the Year in 2004.

STEVE BLAIN managing director

JOSH MURRAY general manager

MARY LYNN HARMS development manager

MIKE TAKEUCHI production manager

CHRIS JOHNSTON operations coordinator

MIKE ECHTERNACHT marketing manager

CAROL MARSHALL director of publicity

Carol Marshall has overseen publicity for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for 16 years now.  In 2005, she took her 27+ years of experience, knowledge, skills and a little chutzpah and opened up her own shop, having worked with powerhouse PR firm PMK/HBH for 24 years.  She, along with a crack team including Alanna Kordell, Stephenie Hope and Beth Binker, handles a variety of clients, ranging from actors and directors, to musicians and events…including film festivals, which are near and dear to her heart!  

DANA MORROW technical director

Dana Morrow, an  award-winning producer/director for the past 20 years , is a native of Washington State.  Living in Santa Barbara since 2000, his production company, RoadShow Media, has produced for clients such as Turner Broadcasting, ABC News, MTV, Microsoft and Amazon.com. He and his wife, Sharon, moved to Santa Barbara in 2000 and currently live on the Riviera. Dana has acted as the Festival’s Technical Director since 2000.

PAUL FAGEN tribute director

Paul Fagen lives in Los Angeles and specializes in creating celebrity events and clip packages. Over the past 20 years, he has honored many of Hollywood's most legendary talent. With his company P. Fagen Productions, Paul writes, directs and produces multi-media events and industrial / documentary films. For the second year, he will produce the In-Memoriam segment for the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards. He has directed the celebrity tributes at SBIFF for the past 11 years.

JEFFREY BARBAKOW president

Jeff Barbakow, a Los Angeles native, has lived in Santa Barbara since 1991. He began his career going directly from graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania to investment banking for Merrill Lynch.  He worked 20 years for the firm, both on Wall Street and in Los Angeles. He left Merrill to become Chairman, President and CEO of MGM/UA until the company was sold in 1991. Upon moving to Santa Barbara, Jeff returned to investment banking with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for two years before entering the health care field, where he worked for 10 years as Chairman and CEO of Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

Mr. Barbakow is a member of the CEO Board of Advisors of the USC Marshall School of Business, the Chancellor’s Council at UC Santa Barbara, and the UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees. Additionally, he also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the Board of Trustees of Thacher School, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences.

KYLE BRACE vice president / fundraising & events

L. LEE PHILLIPS vice president / industry relations

L. Lee Phillips began his career as a tax trial attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He started in private practice in California in 1963 and steadily developed his entertainment clientele. In 1977, he joined the firm that was eventually named Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. A leader in the music industry for over 30 years, Phillips has earned a reputation for intelligence, creativity and integrity in representing major musicians, recording artists, composers, record companies and publishing companies. Phillips focuses primarily on contract negotiations within the music industry and acts as the general legal advisor to a multitude of artists and companies in this field.

LINDA HATCH vice president / board & staff relations

Linda was born and raised in New York City. She attended Cornell University where she earned a BA in Philosophy and did graduate work as a U.S.P.H.S. fellow in Child Development. Linda moved to California where she earned an MA and PhD in social Psychology at U.C. Riverside. After two years of research and teaching at U.C.L.A. she left academia for Clinical Psychology and took a staff psychologist position at Camarillo State Hospital.
Linda took a 4 year hiatus (1980-1984) and worked as a Visual Effects Coordinator on feature films including: “One from the Heart” (Francis Ford Coppola), “Bladerunner” (Ridley Scott) and “War Games (John Badham). Linda also developed several screenplays which were never produced including developing a script for a feature film with Tamara Asseyev and Alex Rose (producers of “Norma Rae”). During the same period she worked as a freelance script reader for Showtime Television.
Linda presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association of Santa Barbara County and is a governor’s appointee to the Napa State Hospital Advisory Board. Linda is a private pilot, scuba diver and vacationista. She is widowed and lives in Montecito.

MARK SYLVESTER vice president / cinema society liaison

Mark Sylvester is the CEO and Co-Founder of introNetworks, Inc., a Santa Barbara software firm focused on the field of Social and Business Networking. Mark was the co-founder of Wavefront Technologies in 1984, one of the first commercial animation software developers. Mark served as Ambassador for Alias|Wavefront, in this role, he worked closely with the development organization and the product teams as a liaison between customers and the company ensuring a close relationship between artists and developers. Mark initially helped to develop the Advanced Visualizer, a 3D animation system first used at Universal Pictures. The software was used by Industrial Light and Magic to create the landmark effects for the Star Wars movies and all three Lord of the Rings films. In 2003 the 3D animation software called Maya was awarded an Oscar for Scientific and Technical Achievement. Mark is a frequent speaker at industry events. He is a sought after judge for Digital Media contests and has published articles on computer animation, digital compositing and the future of digital production techniques. His work is also featured in the book, Return on Innovation. The history of Wavefront, as written by Mark is included in the authoritative text, CG101, the History of Computer Graphics. Mark has been a committed member of the Santa Barbara community on many levels for the past 30 years.

JAMES R. BECHTEL vice president / nominating & governance

James R. Bechtel is a senior portfolio manager for Wells Fargo Bank in Santa Barbara, where he specializes in design and management of customized portfolios. He moved to Santa Barbara earlier this year. In his more than 20 years in financial services, he has worked as a portfolio manager at Northern Trust and with Roxbury Capital Management in Beverly Hills. He has been actively involved with a number of nonprofit boards, including the UCLA Foundation and alumni association and the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Mr. Bechtel is a co-founder of Global Neuro Rescue, an international children's mission.

WILLIAM ROSEN chief financial officer

William Rosen, Chief Financial Officer of SBIFF, is a New York attorney. He graduated from Union College, Columbia University Law School and New York University School of Law. He holds a Master of Law degree in Corporation Law. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Union College. Bill has extensive experience in municipal law holding principal legal positions in New York local governments and agencies. Bill was President of the New York State Association of County Attorneys. He was also engaged in the private practice of law with his parents and brother. Bill was a member of the Board of Trustees of Sullivan County Community College, a director of a local bank. After moving to California, Bill held positions in Santa Barbara Newcomers Club, served on the Santa Barbara Civil Grand Jury and has been appointed as a member of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee and is a Board member of SBIFF.

ARNOLD KASSOY chair

Arnold D. Kassoy is an entertainment and tax/estate attorney with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. He has also served as a board member of The Fund for Santa Barbara and the Beverly Hills Bar Association Board of Governors. In addition, Mr. Kassoy is founder of the UCLA Entertainment Tax Institute, AIDS Reserach Alliance and Public Counsel. He is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Business, UCLA Law School and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a lover of film and English Springer Spaniels and is excited about shepherding the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to even greater acclaim and prestige. He has lived in Santa Barbara for 15 years.

JELINDA DEVORZON honorary chair

PAULA ACKERMAN director

Paula Ackerman has been a motion picture post-production manager, a producer for the Public Broadcasting System, a video producer and assistant director, and civic activist. A member of the SBIFF Board of Directors for years, she was named 2001 Board Member of the Year. She has co-chaired SBIFF's Summer auction/fundraiser and is creator of the festival's Young Filmmakers Mentor Program.

J.A. TED BAER director

J.A. Ted Baer began his law practice in New York as a judge advocate for the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. Upon leaving the Navy, Ted wrote and produced an album of songs, before joining the law department of Columbia Pictures in New York City. A year later he joined the law firm of Arrow, Silverman and Parcher s an associate, specializing in music law. In 1976, he left the firm to join the business affairs department of CBS Entertainment in New York, where he eventually ran the New York branch of the department. In 1981, CBS promoted Ted to Vice President, Business Affairs and transferred him to Los Angeles. In 1983, he became Vice President in charge of all business affairs for MGM/UA Television, leaving in 1984 to start his own production company, where he wrote and developed a number of film and television projects. He returned to United Artists in 1985 to help run its new television business affairs office, and finally started his own law firm in 1987, specializing in film and television negotiations. Currently, Ted is "Of Counsel" to LaPolt Law where he specializes in matters relating to film and television. In addition to practicing law, Ted has written and is producing two screenplays, publishing a collection of poetry, and nurturing an acting career with his first feature role in Ken Laoch's "Bread and Roses."

DIANDRA DOUGLAS director

Diandra Douglas is chairperson of Wildwolf, a production company that produces feature films and documentaries. She is co-owner of Heatherette, a New York based clothing firm. She produced documentary films for the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1985 and 1990. A trustee of the American Red Cross of Greater New York, she has received its Special Achievement Award and Humanitarian Award. She has one son, Cameron. A 1982 graduate of UCSB in liberal studies, she is a member of the Chancellor's Council, the Lancaster Society and a trustee of the UCSB Foundation. She joined the SBIFF board in 1998.

KAREN EARP director

Karen Earp, general manager of the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort, her career, now in its 22nd year, has taken Earp around Europe and the United States, involving her in the management of some of the most prestigious hotels in the world. Earp first joined Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in 1983 at Four Seasons Hotel London and has also held hotel-management positions in New York, Paris and Istanbul. Earp is a graduate of the University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom, where she studied hotel, catering and tourism management. She later earned a master's in business from City University, London, with an emphasis in marketing.

DAVID EDELMAN director

David Edelman has been director of public affairs for Cox Communications in Santa Barbara for the past ten years. Previously, he spent 20 years in the nonprofit field in Santa Barbara County. For 15 years, he was with Klein Bottle Youth Program, and, as its executive director, helped build the organization. He has received numerous local, state and national honors and awards for his service and commitment to youth. He has been involved with several boards, including the Carpinteria Chamber of Commerce and the Channel Islands YMCA. He has been an adviser to the Junior League and chairman of the Fighting Back Public Awareness Committee.

JUDY EGENOLF director

Judy Egenolf created Amherst Exchange in Santa Barbara 15 years ago. Educated as a teacher, she owned and operated Sunrise Montessori School for six years, then worked with her husband, Rob, coordinating his national lecture tour that educated fellow lawyers, CPAs, title and escrow officers and clients about tax-deferred exchanges. She has been a member of the Junior League of Santa Barbara's board and has chaired numerous fund-rising events, including those for Child Abuse Listening Mediation, Santa Barbara Zoo and Muscular Dystrophy Association. Judy and her husband Rob Egenolf were awarded with the ADL Distinguished Community Service Awards for 2002.

LUCIE GREER director

Lucie Greer joined the SBIFF board in 2001. She has a masters in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University at Malibu and had worked in TV talk show production, including an intern stint on the Oprah Winfrey show. A native of Washington, DC, she is a newcomer to Santa Barbara and feels the festival is a fun and enriching celebration of both film and community. She is involved in the Museum of Natural History, with particlar emphasis on its Sea Center.

KIPLING HAGOPIAN director

B. Kipling Hagopian co-founded Brentwood Associates, a high-technology venture capital and private equities firm in 1972, and for several years headed its high technology investment group. In 1991, Mr. Hagopian formed Segue Productions, Inc., a theatrical movie production company to which he has devoted part of his time. Segue has produced two films: Restoration which won two Academy Awards, and Ransom, starring Mel Gibson. Mr. Hagopian co-founded Apple Oaks Partners, LLC a private investment company formed to manage the assets of its two founders. In 1980, he was a member of presidential-candidate Ronald Reagan’s “Business Advisory Panel” In 1983 and 1984, Mr. Hagopian served on President Reagan’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, which was comprised of 30 persons from business, labor, government and academia. Mr. Hagopian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Design and a Master of Business Administration, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

PAUL HALL director

Paul Hall, President and Owner of Hallway Pictures, is a feature film and television producer whose credits include "Higher Learning," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," the 2000 remake of "Shaft," His career began in local news for the San Francisco market, which led to news positions at ABC and NBC network. While in the Los Angeles market, he created documentary programming for KCET, as well as network-affiliated programming for KABC, for which he received an Emmy nomination. Paul founded The Berkeley Group in 1991, a television production company.

SANDRA HAY director

Sandra Hay has been an internationally-renowned dancer and choreograhper and performed with the Alvin Ailey and Eric Hawkins Dance Companies in New York. Her interest in combining multi media and film technologies with dance brought Sandra to California where she was hired by Disney.In transitioning from dance to film and video, Sandra became partners with Alan Kozlowski in 1983 and formed Visualize, a Santa Monica production company whose purpose was to create high-end film and video projects with substantive content. They produced and directed music videos, exercise videos, music specials, documentaries and industrials which were produced or directed by Sandra Hay. Sandra is now at the helm of Unseen Pictures in Santa Monica, CA. She filmed concert tours of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby and Shawn Colvin, and produced PBS specials of Andrew Weill, Carolyn Myss, and Deepak Chopra.

HALL HUTCHINSON director

Hall Hutchison graduated from of Cornell with a BA in archaeology. He moved to California in 1981 to work on one of the first interactive laser discs for MCA and has spent much of his professional career specializing in remote sensing applications. He has worked in both feature film and television, as well as on commercials and industrials, and has credits as producer and technical supervisor on a number of films and TV series including PeeWee's Playhouse," "Halloween III" and "Superman IV." He is currently head of production of Modern Cartoons. He has also been a working archaeologist, heading field operations for the search of a ferry King Charles I lost off the coast of Scotland in 1633. Closer to home he's been involved with the production of this year's successful SBIFF feature, Digital Days.

EMMANUEL ITIER director

Emmanuel Itier, a native of France, is a versatile filmmaker and songwriter who has produced, directed and distributed American Films in France. He joined by SBIFF board in the summer of 2002, but served in various volunteer capacities before then. His credits include more than half a dozen films, ranging from "The Baptist" to "Love in Paris" (also known as "9 1/2 Weeks, II" and "Another 9 l/2 Weeks"). He now resides in Santa Barbara and joined the festival board in 2002. He is currently U.S. acquisition executive of President Films, division of the France Television Distribution Group. His song writing includes music featured in "Midnight Hours," which was also his directorial debut. In addition he has served as a journalist for French TV and magazines.

NORA MCNEELY HURLEY director

Nora McNeely Hurley was born in Minneapolis and raised between Manitou Island, White Bear Lake, Minnesota and Pebble Beach, California. She attended elementary and high school at Santa Catalina School in Monterey with a notable senior project spent studying photography with Ansel Adams. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCSB in Film Studies, Communications and Art History and spent a Junior year studying Italian and Art History at Franklin College in Lugano,Switzerland.
She has worked in television advertising, owned and operated a floral design business, an antique and vintage wholesale operation as well as co-founded both a greeting card company and a home and garden furnishings store called Rooms and Gardens in Santa Barbara. She has written numerous style and travel columns for Santa Barbara Magazine. In 1998 she created a decorating and party decor business called La Vie Boheme which evolved into a present day unique gift and home decor retail shop located at 1150 Coast Village Road in Montecito.
Nora's company of talented artists have been responsible for the decor, ambiance and entertainment of the SBIFF's "Viva la Fiesta" fundraiser, Modern Master Peter Jackson's Tribute Gala" and the "Finding Neverland" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" Premiere Galas. She has served as an active board member of the SBIFF since 2002 and has been the two time recipient of "Board Member of the Year". Her company was a major co-sponsor of the Modern Master Tribute to George Clooney in 2006.
Nora is proud to be a board member of the Santa Barbara Zoo and participates on the Capital Campaign Cabinet for the Santa Barbara Bowl. She is an active supporter of many other local non-profit organizations such as the Granada Theater, the Dream Foundation and Sarah House to name a few.
Nora is one of five children living from coast to coast raised by extraordinary parents who ignited in her a zest and passion for life, nature, sport and the humanities. She is the stepmother of Coral and Ned Hurley and the godmother of two wonderful girls and lives happily in Montecito with husband Michael and her two beloved dogs, Luigi and Wembley and fish, Prince Herbert.

GENE MONTESANO director

Gene Montesano is the co-founder of Lucky Brand Jeans, which he founded in 1990 with longtime friend Barry Perlman.   Montesano was born in Brooklyn, New York and he moved with his family to Miami at the age of eight.  His life long passions were blue jeans and rock ‘n’ roll. After noticing the “hippie-and-counterculture” movement during the 70’s with everybody wearing jeans, the then 21 year-old Montesano teamed up with 17 year-old Barry Perlman in 1972 and together they opened up Four Way Street, a jeans shop in Coral Gables, Florida. Gene was the first to leave Miami, heading to California to make a new life for himself. In 1978, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the burgeoning LA fashion industry.  Soon after, Montesano started Bongo Jeans with partner Michael Caruso and helped run the Bongo brand for 15 years, growing it into a multi-million denim company.  In 1990, Montesano left Bongo and re-teamed with Perlman to launch Lucky Brand Jeans.

Today, Montesano commutes to Lucky Brand’s corporate offices in Vernon, California, a few days a week and spends the other days working out of his Santa Barbara office which overlooks De la Guerra Plaza.  Since 1996, Montesano has lived in Montecito with his wife Arlene and is a devoted father to his three children Teddy, Siena and Gianni.  He’s raised over $7 million for children’s charities through the Lucky Brand Foundation and has supported the Santa Barbara Film Festival for the past 10 years as a major sponsor. In addition to Lucky Brand, Montesano keeps a hectic schedule running his multiple restaurants (Lucky’s Steakhouse, Tre Lune, Bucatini, Joe’s, El Cazador, D’Angelo Bread) and properties in Santa Barbara including his newly opened “Peace Store” on State Street.  

IVAN REITMAN director

Ivan Reitman, as a producer and director, has created many of American cinema's most successful and best loved feature film comedies and has worked with Hollywood's acting elite. Reitman has produced such hits as the ground-breaking sensation "National Lampoon's Animal House", His directing credits include Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981) and Ghost Busters (1984). Reitman also produced the HBO telefilm "The Late Shift, " based on Bill Carter's non-fiction book about the late-night television wars which received seven Emmy nominations. In 1984, Reitman was honored as Director of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners and the next year received a Special Achievement Award at the Canadian Genie awards. In 1979 and again in 1989, for the films "Animal House" and "Twins, " Reitman was honored with the People's Choice Award. In November of 1994, Reitman became the third director honored by Variety magazine in a special Billion Dollar Director issue. Reitman was born in Czechoslovakia. He attended Canada's McMaster University, where he produced and directed several television shorts. Reitman currently heads The Montecito Picture Company, a film and television production company, with partner Tom Pollock.

VAN SPAULDING director

BOB VELOZ director

MARK DISPENZA chair

BETTY WEINER 2nd chair

BARBARA ALDERSON

JESSICA BRICKLEY

CATHY CLOSSON

RICK CLOSSON

CURT COUGHLIN

ERICK GOYCOCHEA

BARBARA KAPLAN

LEN KAPLAN

CHRISTINE LE BON

NORMAN LOWE

ELEANOR LYON

JULIE MINO

WENDY PALAMARA