AFS Board of Directors
Chris Adams
Treasurer
Chris Adams is a partner in the firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP, Austin's largest locally owned and managed accounting and consulting firm. Prior to joining Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP, he was a shareholder in the public accounting firm of Adams, Gorence & Company, P.C. and has more than twenty years experience as a Certified Public Accountant. Chris is a native Austinite and received his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970. Before beginning his public accounting
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Chris Adams is a partner in the firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP, Austin's largest locally owned and managed accounting and consulting firm. Prior to joining Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP, he was a shareholder in the public accounting firm of Adams, Gorence & Company, P.C. and has more than twenty years experience as a Certified Public Accountant. Chris is a native Austinite and received his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1970. Before beginning his public accounting
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Matt Dentler
Secretary
Matt Dentler is the Producer of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, TX. He oversees the daily operations of programming and coordination for the annual film festival and panels. Dentler has participated on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cannes Market, the AFI Film Festival, the IFP Market, the Britdoc Festival, and more. He's a curator for American distributor Film Movement and Canadian distributor Films We Like. Dentler sits on the Board
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Matt Dentler is the Producer of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, TX. He oversees the daily operations of programming and coordination for the annual film festival and panels. Dentler has participated on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cannes Market, the AFI Film Festival, the IFP Market, the Britdoc Festival, and more. He's a curator for American distributor Film Movement and Canadian distributor Films We Like. Dentler sits on the Board
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Evy Ledesma Galán
Board Member
Evy Ledesma Galán is vice-president of Galán Inc., an award-winning Austin, Texas, based tv/film production company specializing in documentary film production. Past productions include CHICANO! HISTORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, SONGS OF THE HOMELAND, THE FORGOTTEN AMERICANS, ACCORDIAN DREAMS, and most recently the PBS six episode series VISIONES: LATINO ART & CULTURE and LOS LONELY BOYS COTTONFIELDS AND CROSSROADS. Ledesma Galán also founded the thirteen-year-old CineSol Latino Film Festival, ... » read more
Evy Ledesma Galán is vice-president of Galán Inc., an award-winning Austin, Texas, based tv/film production company specializing in documentary film production. Past productions include CHICANO! HISTORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, SONGS OF THE HOMELAND, THE FORGOTTEN AMERICANS, ACCORDIAN DREAMS, and most recently the PBS six episode series VISIONES: LATINO ART & CULTURE and LOS LONELY BOYS COTTONFIELDS AND CROSSROADS. Ledesma Galán also founded the thirteen-year-old CineSol Latino Film Festival, ... » read more
Deborah Green
Board Member
Deborah Green is a leading philanthropist in Austin, serving on the boards of the Austin Museum of Art, Arthouse and Planned Parenthood as well as the Austin Film Society. She co-chaired the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards in 2005, has chaired the Austin Museum of Art's annual gala twice, chaired Planned Parenthood's gala, and hosted numerous fundraising events both in Austin and Park City, Utah. Deborah has an extensive contemporary art collection and recently started an art consulting business.
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Deborah Green is a leading philanthropist in Austin, serving on the boards of the Austin Museum of Art, Arthouse and Planned Parenthood as well as the Austin Film Society. She co-chaired the Texas Film Hall of Fame awards in 2005, has chaired the Austin Museum of Art's annual gala twice, chaired Planned Parenthood's gala, and hosted numerous fundraising events both in Austin and Park City, Utah. Deborah has an extensive contemporary art collection and recently started an art consulting business.
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Deborah Hill
Board Member
Deborah Hill earned her BS from Southwest Texas State University and her MS from Texas Southern University. Deborah also attended film school in London, England. She now serves as the department chair for the Radio, Television & Film program at Austin Community College.
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Deborah Hill earned her BS from Southwest Texas State University and her MS from Texas Southern University. Deborah also attended film school in London, England. She now serves as the department chair for the Radio, Television & Film program at Austin Community College.
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Jordan Levin
Board Member
At age 33, Jordan Levin became the youngest CEO in broadcast television history when he became President, Entertainment of The WB. He joined the network before its January 1995 launch and helped develop such shows as "Dawson's Creek," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Smallville," "Gilmore Girls," "Everwood" and "One Tree Hill." Today, Levin has set off to explore new opportunities and write the next chapter in his already successful career.
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At age 33, Jordan Levin became the youngest CEO in broadcast television history when he became President, Entertainment of The WB. He joined the network before its January 1995 launch and helped develop such shows as "Dawson's Creek," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Smallville," "Gilmore Girls," "Everwood" and "One Tree Hill." Today, Levin has set off to explore new opportunities and write the next chapter in his already successful career.
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Richard Linklater
Artistic Director
Before writer/director Richard Linklater made SLACKER, an experimental narrative revolving around 24 hours in the lives of 100 characters that garnered acclaim in 1991, he made many shorts and completed a Super 8 feature, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988).
Linklater's additional credits include the 70's cult hit DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993); BEFORE SUNRISE (1995); SUBURBIA (1997); THE NEWTON BOYS (1998), a western/gangster film set in the 1920s; the animated feature
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Before writer/director Richard Linklater made SLACKER, an experimental narrative revolving around 24 hours in the lives of 100 characters that garnered acclaim in 1991, he made many shorts and completed a Super 8 feature, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988).
Linklater's additional credits include the 70's cult hit DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993); BEFORE SUNRISE (1995); SUBURBIA (1997); THE NEWTON BOYS (1998), a western/gangster film set in the 1920s; the animated feature
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Tim McCanlies
Board Member
Texas-based writer/director Tim McCanlies is perhaps best known for writing the BAFTA and Annie Award-winning film THE IRON GIANT, which was Warner Brothers' best-reviewed film of 1999. He also directed Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Joel Osment in SECONDHAND LIONS for New Line Cinema, based on his original screenplay. Previously, McCanlies wrote and directed 1998's critically acclaimed DANCER, TEXAS POP. 81, which was an independent film until Sony Pictures purchased it one week
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Texas-based writer/director Tim McCanlies is perhaps best known for writing the BAFTA and Annie Award-winning film THE IRON GIANT, which was Warner Brothers' best-reviewed film of 1999. He also directed Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Joel Osment in SECONDHAND LIONS for New Line Cinema, based on his original screenplay. Previously, McCanlies wrote and directed 1998's critically acclaimed DANCER, TEXAS POP. 81, which was an independent film until Sony Pictures purchased it one week
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Kip McClanahan
Board Member
Kip McClanahan’s career spans nearly twenty years across the security, networking, communications and software industries. Kip has served as both CEO and board member to public and private companies leading all functional areas including strategy, operations, product, sales and marketing, as well as M&A deal structuring.
Working in the networking, security and software industries, he has demonstrated a consistent pattern of creating shareholder value: each of the past three Austin-based
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Chale Nafus
Director of Programming & Founder's Circle
Chale Nafus was reputedly conceived in the top balcony of the Majestic Theater in Dallas, TX, two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His first profound movie memories were THE RED SHOES and some Abbott and Costello horror movie, both of which explain something about his life. His father was particularly fond of British comedies, so young Chale was often called upon in junior high to "speak British." At the same time he was learning lots of interesting things, including Texas-Spanish,
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Janet Pierson
Vice President
Janet Pierson has partnered with John Pierson professionally since the mid-1980s. She was co-creator, executive producer and occasional segment director of their magazine-format cable television series "Split Screen." Earlier projects included staging the Cold Spring Film Workshop and serving as producer reps and/or investors in over two dozen original American independent features like SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, ROGER & ME, SLACKER, and CLERKS. From 1981 to 1986 she served as assistant
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Janet Pierson has partnered with John Pierson professionally since the mid-1980s. She was co-creator, executive producer and occasional segment director of their magazine-format cable television series "Split Screen." Earlier projects included staging the Cold Spring Film Workshop and serving as producer reps and/or investors in over two dozen original American independent features like SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, ROGER & ME, SLACKER, and CLERKS. From 1981 to 1986 she served as assistant
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Charles Ramírez Berg
Founder's Circle
Charles Ramírez Berg is the author of Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, Subversion, and Resistance , Cinema of Solitude: A Critical Study of Mexican Film, 1967-1983, and Posters from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, reprinted as Cine Mexicano: Posters from the Golden Age, 1936-1956. In addition, he has written many journal articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on Latinos in U.S. film and on Mexican and world cinema He writes screenplays,
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Charles Ramírez Berg is the author of Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, Subversion, and Resistance , Cinema of Solitude: A Critical Study of Mexican Film, 1967-1983, and Posters from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, reprinted as Cine Mexicano: Posters from the Golden Age, 1936-1956. In addition, he has written many journal articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on Latinos in U.S. film and on Mexican and world cinema He writes screenplays,
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Catherine Robb
Board Member
Ms. Robb is a lawyer with the firm of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP and represents clients in the broadcast industry. Her practice is focused on commercial and business litigation, First Amendment litigation, copyright and trademark litigation, open government issues and privacy concerns.
Ms. Robb earned her J.D., 1998, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law. She received her B.A., 1992 from The University of Virginia. After completing law ... » read more
Ms. Robb is a lawyer with the firm of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP and represents clients in the broadcast industry. Her practice is focused on commercial and business litigation, First Amendment litigation, copyright and trademark litigation, open government issues and privacy concerns.Ms. Robb earned her J.D., 1998, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law. She received her B.A., 1992 from The University of Virginia. After completing law ... » read more
Phil Schriber
Board Member
Phil Schriber’s adventure in the Texas film business began in 1980 when the production BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS approached him with the opportunity to provide rental equipment. He soon parted ways with his rental business and worked as a driver on his first feature length film, RED HEADED STRANGER. Within a few short years, Phil worked his was to becoming a Transportation Coordinator for some of the area’s largest productions, including MISS CONGENIALITY, SECONDHAND LIONS, THE ALAMO,
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Phil Schriber’s adventure in the Texas film business began in 1980 when the production BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS approached him with the opportunity to provide rental equipment. He soon parted ways with his rental business and worked as a driver on his first feature length film, RED HEADED STRANGER. Within a few short years, Phil worked his was to becoming a Transportation Coordinator for some of the area’s largest productions, including MISS CONGENIALITY, SECONDHAND LIONS, THE ALAMO,
... » read more
Jeanette Scott
Board Member
Jeanette Scott has worked in film as a set decorator and art director for the past twenty years. The first movie she remembers seeing is The Killer Shrews, on a double bill with The Curse of Frankenstein, in which german shepherds were costumed as giant rodents. She was enraptured by the rash of post-atomic films in which things and people became either very large, very small or very strange as a result of exposure to mysterious atmospheric elements. Her love of film, and all things strange,
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Evan Smith
President
Evan Smith joined the staff of TEXAS MONTHLY as a senior editor in January 1992. In February 1993, he was promoted to deputy editor, and in July 2000 he was promoted to editor. In May 2002, he added the title of executive vice president. Since Smith took over as editor, TEXAS MONTHLY has been nominated for thirteen National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. In April 2003, TEXAS MONTHLY was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence for
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Evan Smith joined the staff of TEXAS MONTHLY as a senior editor in January 1992. In February 1993, he was promoted to deputy editor, and in July 2000 he was promoted to editor. In May 2002, he added the title of executive vice president. Since Smith took over as editor, TEXAS MONTHLY has been nominated for thirteen National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. In April 2003, TEXAS MONTHLY was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence for
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Stephen Straus
Board Member
Stephen Straus joined Austin Ventures in 1996 as a Kauffman Fellow and recently left to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. Prior to joining Austin Ventures, Stephen was Founder and CEO of The Solutions Group, a software and services firm in Washington, DC, from 1987 until its acquisition in 1993. Stephen graduated cum laude from Colgate University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
... » read moreRobert Walker
Board Member
Robert Walker is the Chief Executive Officer of Matinee Media Corporation, an integrated media company that specializes in the acquisition and development of broadcast stations. Matinee Media currently operates 25 radio stations in nine U.S. states. The company also invests in television, film and other media-focused projects. Robert’s background also includes a consulting role at several national television networks, including the WB and Telemundo, in the areas of station acquisition and affiliate
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Robert Walker is the Chief Executive Officer of Matinee Media Corporation, an integrated media company that specializes in the acquisition and development of broadcast stations. Matinee Media currently operates 25 radio stations in nine U.S. states. The company also invests in television, film and other media-focused projects. Robert’s background also includes a consulting role at several national television networks, including the WB and Telemundo, in the areas of station acquisition and affiliate
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Alexa Wesner
Board Member
Alexa was born in Washington DC and grew up in Reston, Virginia. The daughter of immigrant parents, a German mother and Latvian father, she was the first in her family to attend a US high school and University. Alexa was a high school all American in track and cross country, ranked second in the nation in her sophomore year in the 1600 and 3200. She was also a varsity swimmer. Her early passions included student government and community service. Alexa graduated from Stanford University in 1994 ... » read more
Alexa was born in Washington DC and grew up in Reston, Virginia. The daughter of immigrant parents, a German mother and Latvian father, she was the first in her family to attend a US high school and University. Alexa was a high school all American in track and cross country, ranked second in the nation in her sophomore year in the 1600 and 3200. She was also a varsity swimmer. Her early passions included student government and community service. Alexa graduated from Stanford University in 1994 ... » read more
