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Monique DuBois Inzinna

Narrative Feature Films, Women In Cinema, LGBTQ

BIO
Recipient of the prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in recognition for her contribution to the arts in her home country. Monique was in the limelight for many years and is affectionately known as the french Shirley Temple. A star among the bombings of WWII, at the age of 6 she was selected from 3,000 candidates to play Jeanette in the movie « La Loi du Printemps » (1942) with Pierre Renoir as main character. After this, she played in two more movies: again Jeannette in « La femme perdue » (1942) and Joëlle in « Retour de flamme » (1943). As a young teenager she played Yvette in the movie « Retour de flamme » (1948). She would go on to marry and move to New York where she modeled for a time before starting her family.

Christian Keiber

Narrative Feature Films

BIO
Christian Keiber was cast opposite Russell Crowe in the Sony Pictures film ‘No Way Back’ and was the star, screenwriter, and executive producer for the nominated Tribeca Film Festival comedy film ‘Trust Me, I’m a Lifeguard’. Keiber’s television highlights include, a recurring role on ‘Charmed’, starring opposite Steve Buscemi on ‘E.R.’, being featured on the Emmy Awards for his role in ‘Orange Is the New Black’ directed by Jodie Foster, and guest starring roles on ’Gotham’, ‘Homeland’ and ‘Blue Bloods’. Keiber is also active in theater starring in Patrick Sheane Duncan ‘Soul’s On Fire’, produced by Danny Glover and is co-founder, alongside Bill Sorvino, of the, ‘Brazen Giant Ensemble’, in NYC. Keiber has written more than a dozen screenplays/television pilots and his production company, Creative Alley Productions, was featured on National Public Radio (N.P.R.) multiple times as one of the ‘Young Mavericks of Hollywood’. Keiber is a longtime member of legendary actors club ‘The Players’ of NYC and was featured in ‘Origin Magazine’ as one of ‘The Nation’s Top Creatives’. Currently, Keiber is starring alongside, Diane Lane and Timothy Hutton, in the new FX television series, ‘Y’, based on the highly acclaimed graphic novel, ‘Y: The Last Man’ and is also in pre-production for his next feature film project, ‘Iron Terry Malone’, which Keiber wrote, will executive produce, and star in, alongside an all-star cast, set to shoot in Hoboken, N.J.

Kerry McGann

Short Films, Women In Cinema

BIO
Kerry has starred in cult classic movies such as: Banshee!!!, Dark Haul, Assault of the Sasquatch, Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Bloodrunners opposite Ice-T. Her most recent starring role was in The Wrong Son, which premiered on Lifetime. Along with her successful film career, Kerry, is also an active member of the Renegade Theatre Company founded by Maureen Van Zandt and Vincent Pastore. Aside for her busy acting career, Kerry McGann, has now stepped into the role of producer for several upcoming feature films, including the much-anticipated Iron Terry Malone. You can reach Kerry at kerrymcgann1@gmail.com.

Maureen Van Zandt

Short Films, Women In Cinema

BIO
Maureen Van Zandt played Gabriella Dante on HBO’s acclaimed series The Sopranos for six seasons , and appeared as Angelina on the Netfix hit Lilyhammer. She has worked on and off Broadway as an actor, dancer, choreographer , director and producer. She is co-founder and artistic director of Renegade Theatre NYC, and currently teaches acting at the American Ballet Theatre School. She is the recipient of the Count Basie Theatre Vanguard Award for contribution to the arts, and serves on their Board of Directors.

Steve Conte

Music Videos

BIO

“Steve Conte is one of the best kept secrets of the music business – but hopefully his new record will fix that.” — Steve Lillywhite, Producer (Rolling Stones, XTC, Johnny Thunders, U2) You’ve probably heard “triple-threat” (guitarist/singer/songwriter) Steve Conte many times without even realizing it; as a solo artist and with his bands; Company Of Wolves, Crown Jewels, The Contes & The Crazy Truth. His songs, voice & guitar riffs have been in the public’s consciousness since 1990 on radio, video, film & television soundtracks and anime series. His original albums burn with raw, passionate rock and roll and his live shows blend soulful-singing, story-telling songs and blinding guitar playing. Besides a rich solo career, Conte made 4 albums as member of the legendary New York Dolls and has also recorded/toured with artists like Paul Simon, Willy DeVille, Robert Gordon, Billy Squier, Peter Wolf & Wille Nile. He currently works with Hanoi Rocks front-man Michael Monroe as songwriter/producer as well as guitarist/singer. His latest single, “Gimme Gimme Rockaway” on Little Steven Van Zandt’s label, Wicked Cool Records, featuring Andy Rourke (The Smiths) on bass and Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums, was voted #2 Coolest Song Of The Year on Sirius/XM Radio’s The Underground Garage radio program. (See the video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uhjhhtpvnqg)His prior release, International Cover-Up is a collection of songs written by some of his favorites; Tom Waits, John Lennon, Willy DeVille, Jagger/Richards and more. The album has been described as “High energy and tough” by Elmore Magazine and has spawned for Conte, his second Coolest Song Of The Year on Underground Garage Radio, the punky, “Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight”. His first “Coolest Song” came in 2014 when Van Zandt picked up on his solo debut, Steve Conte NYC  and named the track “OK DJ” the #2 Song Of The Year, just behind Springsteen’s #1. See Steve play live with his band and witness real Rock ‘n Roll…New York style! To get on the email list or for more info, visit:  www.steveconte.com

“Without a doubt, one of the best records of the year!”   

— Little Steven Van Zandt (The Steve Conte NYC Album review)

“5 out of 5 stars!”

— Classic Rock Magazine  (Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth album review)

“What Would I Do If I Were Me” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW65Q7BoIlI

“Gypsy Cab” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6-x7f514IE

Yvonne Maria Schäfer

Narrative Feature Films, LGBTQ, Women In Cinema

BIO
Yvonne Maria Schaefer is an actress (SAG/ AFTRA), a producer and executive advisor, based in New York and Frankfurt, Germany. After studying acting, she worked internationally in films, TV series and stage productions. Through her passion and participation in extreme sports, the Maxim Lifestyle Magazine voted Yvonne as the “Action Girl”. In 2008 she founded the film production company YMC Films in NY. In the States Yvonne has been successfully working as, an actress, producer and consultant. In 2012 she founded a second company in Frankfurt, Germany, YMC Entertainment and has produced and co-produced films including, “Forget Me Not” (2009), directed by Federico Castelluccio, “The Child” (2012), an adaption of a bestselling novel, “Checkmate Keep your Enemies Closer” (2013) with William Sadler and Peter Greene, which premiered at the AFME supported by Robert Redford. Her latest films include “Home Stay” (2018), “The Cuban Herd” (2016) “Glory Peru (2018)” and “Berlin, I Love You” (2018) with Keira Knightley and Hellen Mirren. As an actress Yvonne can be seen in “Cobra11”, “The Child”, “Little West 12th”, “Pizza Joint” “Berlin, I Love you”, and more. In addition to her entertainment business, Yvonne is a business consultant and executive advisor for various companies. She develops strategic action plans, assists in raising capital and is using her broad international network for companies that want to grow. Since August 2017 Yvonne is Chairman of the Executive Advisory Board of Mercaptor Discoveries Pharmaceuticals. Mercaptor develops brain-protective therapeutic molecules that have the potential to treat acute and chronic brain diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and TBI.

Jerry Wonda

Music Videos

BIO
 Jerry ‘Wonda’ Duplessis is one of the most successful and musically-adept producers to emerge from the hiphop era since the 1990s. With an illustrious career that spans over 30 years, he is renowned for his extensive discography that includes producing, songwriting, performing and composing. Outside of the studio, he is known for his philanthropy and charity work.  Born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, Wonda was heavily influenced by the music of Bob Marley and Quincy Jones. He picked up a bass guitar at the age of 14 and immediately knew he had found his calling. He also taught himself to play the guitar, congas, and drums. Wonda is all about the sonic – finding and perfecting the sound of the effect in a song. His passion for the sonic helped to forge his reputation for creating the right sound for every artist he works with. His strong musical foundation paved the way for his illustrious career across every facet of the music industry. Wonda’s greatest achievements include his work with The Fugees, who struck platinum in 1996 with their album The Score, which went on to become one of the best-selling hiphop albums of all time. The Score earned three Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Vocal Performance, Best Rap Album, and Album of the Year. In 1999, Wonda co-produced Supernatural, musical icon Carlos Santana’s masterpiece. The album sold over 15 million copies and was nominated for 8 Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for ‘Maria Maria’, which held the number one position in the charts for over 10 weeks.

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Jill Tirell

Music Videos

BIO
Jill Tirrell began her career in Boston radio and went on to work at major record labels in New York City, managing projects at Atlantic Records, EMI Music, and J Records for artists such as Jewel, Brandy, N.E.R.D., Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, and many more. She’s worked for music industry pioneers, Ahmet Ertegun, Arif Marden, and Clive Davis.

Derek Wayne Johnson

Documentaries

BIO
Derek Wayne Johnson is a director, writer and producer located in Hollywood, CA. Johnson began making short films at an early age winning several awards while still in high school. In his senior year of film school at Stephen F. Austin State University, Johnson wrote and directed his first feature film. After college he broke into the movie business in Texas and Louisiana by directing independent films such as “Broken Blood” and “Scrape.” In 2017, Johnson directed and produced “John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs,” a documentary about Academy Award winning director John G. Avildsen, whose credits include “Rocky” and “The Karate Kid.” Alongside his mentor John Avildsen and the cast and crew of “The Karate Kid,” Johnson and his team received a Commendation by the City of Los Angeles for their documentary and its association with “The Karate Kid” legacy. Sylvester Stallone asked Johnson to direct and produce a documentary on the making of the original “Rocky”, entitled “40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic,” due for release in 2019. Johnson is also currently in production on “STALLONE: Frank, That Is”, a documentary about Grammy and Golden Globe nominated singer, musician and actor Frank Stallone, brother of Sylvester.

Gary Donatelli

New Media

BIO
GARY DONATELLI started his career as a cameraman, and over time won 4 Emmy awards for his work on such esteemed broadcasts as ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, the 1980 and ‘84 Summer and Winter Olympics, the Kentucky Derby, the Indianapolis 500, the World Series and classic championship heavyweight boxing matches, including Ali versus Spinks and Duran versus Leonard. Gary also covered major news events for the network, such as presidential inaugurations and space shuttle launches and landings. As his career progressed, Gary rose from shooter to technical director and, finally, to director, eventually making the shift from covering live sports and news events to directing daytime drama. His first taste of the genre was directing for ABC’s Loving, then from 1994-98, he helmed Another World at NBC. Gary then returned to ABC for the next 13 years at One Life to Live, which garnered him 7 Emmy nominations, including 3 wins for Best Directing Team in Daytime Drama between 2004 and 2012. He has also directed episodes of ABC’s General Hospital and CBS’ The Bold & The Beautiful, resulting in over 1,000 cumulative hours of broadcasted work in soap operas. Gary has a strong interest in issue related projects over the years, and he has taken on the additional role of Producer. 2001, produced and directed Lean on Me, a post-9/11 informational series for the FDNY Counseling Services Unit, 23 Blast, a narrative film that can be seen on I-Tunes and Amazon Prime, and the ongoing Clearing Larry Floyd, a criminal justice documentary, (www.clearinglarryfloyd.org). Gary has served as 6th, 4th and 2nd Vice President of the Directors Guild of America, and is a Trustee of the soon to be built Barrymore Film Center & Museum in Fort Lee, NJ. He is the recipient of the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Award, the Quill Award, the Alice Guy Blache Award and the Barrymore Award.

Tom Meyers

Filmmakers of Tomorrow

BIO
Tom Meyers is the founder and Executive Director of the Fort Lee Film Commission and Executive Director of the soon to be built Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, NJ. Tom has spent his career in the film industry, working first as an archivist for NBC News and for ten years as an archivist for ABC News in Manhattan. Since 2003 he has been working for the Borough of Fort Lee. Tom’s family started in the movie industry in the days when Fort Lee was the first American film town. His grandparents and great grandparents worked for such studios as Fox and Eclair at that time. Tom continues the legacy with his work in the 21st century borough of Fort Lee via preservation of fils shot here and the archiving of this film history

Linda Velwest

Films For Raising Awareness

BIO
Linda Velwest has been an occupational therapist for the last 30 years and a movie lover her entire life. She is passionate about helping people who live with challenges to participate in life activities as much as they desire. She is thrilled to bring films that give autistic people a voice about their hopes, dreams and experiences to the screens of the Golden Door International Film Festival Her vision for the autism films also includes creating a venue for people who are living with autism in their lives to gather together and gain support from each other. She also provides a forum to share a positive and realistic portrayal of living with autism to the larger community.

John Austin Wiggins

LGBTQ

BIO

John is an actor, producer, screenwriter, cultural writer, and pastry chef. His on-camera credits include Chris Rock’s Top Five, with Gabrielle Union, Matthew Bonifacio’s Delivering the Goods (with Thomas Ian Nicholas), Black Box (ABC; directed by Simon Curtis), and the soon-to-be-released The Flowers (with Guillermo Ivan). His work is represented at the 2019 GDIFF by the web series, The Deep State (Series regular; Producer), the short film, Can You Hear Me? (Lead), and the piilot, Little Hope (Assoc. Producer). He has appeared in over 30 indie features, shorts, and student films, including Student Academy Award National Finalist, Caught. On stage, he has appeared with Movement Theater Company, Chelsea Rep, and {Your Name Here} Theatre Company. John’s producing credits include Wasserman Award winner, Uzun Bir Gun (A Long Day), Space Available Original Series (also a series regular), Empty Nesters, and The Flowers. He is an original member of Brazen Giants Ensemble, a collective of actors, writers, filmmakers, and producers. There he developed his first pilot, Cheek to Cheek, which has won awards on the festival circuit. John has a degree in Cultural Anthropology from Rutgers, where he focused on Queer Asian Studies. His thesis, “May I Talk To You? Ethno-Sexual Encounters in Taipei’s New Park – A Queer Ethnography,” was published in the academic journal, East Asia. johnaustinwiggins.com

Actor | New York | Headshot | John Wiggins

Chris DiPierro

Student Films

BIO

Chris is an Award-winning Independent, Self-funded, Guerrilla Filmmaker and his first feature,
“Miami or BUST – A Hoboken Bet”, has been recognized as a ground breaking motion picture for self-funded filmmakers. His Web-series, “Gavone’s Produce” has pushed those limits again and
has coined the term Improv-Filmmaking.
Chris has Directed, Written and Starred in Off-Bway and has been won a TELLY award
for his comedic video shorts Chris TV News.
Chris was born, raised and has lived most of his life in Hudson County, N.J. and is very proud to be a Judge in the Golden Door International Film Festival!

Stephanie Daniels

Local Films

BIO

Stephanie has spent most of her adult life in broadcast television. She produced Channel 9’s Live from Broadway… series, which gave audiences a backstage POV of opening night.  She worked with amazing talent like Nathan Lane, Rosie O’Donnell and Jerry Orbach, and received an Emmy for the series.

At USA Network, she was part of the on-air promotions team, and won a Promax award for her US Open Tennis campaign. When the SyFy channel launched, she joined a weekly half-hour documentary series, produced in coordination with NASA. She was tapped as Creative Director for the short-lived, but spirited popular arts channel, TRIO. She went on to co-produce three award-winning documentaries Talking Through Walls: How the Struggle to Build a Mosque United a Community, Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways, and Finding Amelia for PBS, the Smithsonian Channel and the Discovery Channel respectively.

Stephanie’s short films have traveled the film festival circuit, and she is scripting a short about an invisible politician. She currently does double duty as the Jersey City TV unit’s Creative Director, and director of the film-permitting division, FilmJC.