Panelists

EVA DAVIS
Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Business Development
Warner Premiere

As SVP of Acquisitions and Business Development at Warner Premiere, Eva is responsible for global acquisitions of DVD and digital content. She also manages strategic and business planning for Warner's made-for-home-entertainment division, Warner Premiere, where she contributes to the development and release of made-for-video films such as Batman: Gotham Knight, and Lost Boys: The Tribe, and digital short-form projects such as The Watchmen Motion Comic. Eva also complements Warner Premiere's slate with acquisitions of 3rd party produced films and other content. She orchestrated the ”American Black Film Festival DVD Series” which showcases quality urban independent cinema. She also manages ”non-theatrical” acquisitions, where she has recently completed deals for Peanuts, The Wiggles.

CONSTANCE CRIBBS KNIGHT
Vice President, Home Entertainment & Content Acquisitions
BET Networks

Constance Cribbs Knight serves as VP of Home Entertainment and Content Acquisitions at BET Networks. Her responsibilities include identifying content, negotiating acquired product deals, developing product release strategies and managing the creative and promotional execution of all BET Home Entertainment marketing campaigns. Mrs. Knight is also responsible for managing the production of value added content across platforms including DVD, VOD, online and mobile. She has held similar positions at Buena Vista Home Entertainment and New Line Home Entertainment.

TOM QUINN
Senior Vice President
Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing

Tom Quinn began his film career in Los Angeles doing domestic publicity at Dennis Davidson Associates working for Senior VP of West Coast publicity, Nancy Willen. He later moved on to work for Samuel Goldwyn Jr. eventually becoming the VP of Acquisitions where he was responsbible for acquiring RAISING VICTOR VARGAS, and SUPERSIZEME. He is currently Senior VP of Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing where he reports to President Eamonn Bowles. Some of his acquisitions include: MAN ON WIRE, BIGGER STRONGER FASTER, GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK AND SEXY, ONG BAK, FLAWLESS, WOMAN THOU ART LOOSED, PULSE, THE HOST, WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN, JESUS CAMP, DISTRICT B13, TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER, COCAINE COWBOYS, DIARY OF A TIRED BLACK MAN.

HILL HARPER
Author & Actor

Hill Harper is author of the New York Times bestsellers Letters to a Young Brother, which won two NAACP awards and was named Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association in 2007, and Letters to a Young Sister, which was released in June 2008. Currently starring in CSI: NY playing Dr. Hawkes, a role for which he won the 2008 Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a drama series, Hill has appeared in numerous prime-time television shows and feature films, including The Sopranos, ER, Lackawanna Blues, He Got Game, The Skulls, In Too Deep, The Nephew, and The Visit. Hill graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brown University and cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He also holds a master’s degree with honors from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

FRIDA TORRESBLANCO
Producer

At Lolafilms for 5 years, Frida was responsible for all international productions, including THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, directed by John Malkovich. In 2001, Frida moved to New York to head filmmaker Alfonso Cuaro´n’s newly established production company. She served as Executive Producer and creative on-set Producer for the film THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON, directed by Niels Mueller and starring Sean Penn. In 2005, as Head of Esperanto, she produced PAN'S LABYRINTH, directed by Guillermo del Toro, which won three Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards. Her latest project, RUDO Y CURSI, directed by Carlos Cuarón and starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, will be released by Focus Features in 2008. In 2007 The Hollywood Reporter named Frida one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood, and she was number 13 in the same magazine's Hispanic Women Power 25 List.

DAWN THOMAS
Development Executive
Overbrook Entertainment

Dawn Thomas is currently a development executive at Overbrook Entertainment, a Sony-based production shingle run by partners Will Smith and James Lassiter. Recent Overbrook productions include “Pursuit of Happyness”, “I Am Legend”, and “Hancock,” as well as the upcoming feature “The Secret Life Of Bees”. With a background in securities law, finance, and global consulting on Wall Street, Thomas entered the entertainment business as an assistant at a top tier agency (CAA) working in various departments including Feature Talent, TV Packaging, and Film Finance. Dawn is currently producing and developing several films and television projects with Jada Pinkett Smith’s company, 100% Womon. Most recently, she produced THE HUMAN CONTRACT, written and directed by Jada Pinkett Smith, which is currently in post-production.

ESSIE CHAMBERS
Vice President, Development
Nickeoldeon Original Movies

Newly appointed in this role, Essie Chambers oversees the MFT development slate for the Nickelodeon Kids and Family group channels. Chambers was formerly The VP of Development for The N, The Nighttime Network for Teens (an MTV Networks/Viacom company), where she managed all aspects of development and oversaw the network's talent and diversity agendas; yielding a slate of award-winning programming. Before she joined Noggin/The N, Chambers served as an executive for Nickelodeon's Creative Lab, where she developed and produced short films. Prior to her tenure at Viacom, Chambers worked for the television newsmagazine show American Journal, and a as freelance writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

VALLERIE WATTS
Sr. Director, Content Acquisition
Showtime Networks

Valerie Watts Meraz is currently the Senior Director of Content Acquisitions at Showtime Networks Inc. in Los Angeles where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the independent film acquisitions process. She also leads the network’s search for stand-up comedy specials, documentaries, and acquired series. Prior to joining Showtime in 2000, Valerie worked in feature film development at Disney's Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group. She began her career at 20th Century Fox in Exhibitor Services and was soon promoted to a position in International Theatrical Promotions before leaving the studio to pursue a graduate degree.

JULIE ANDERSON
Executive Producer Program Development
CNN

Julie Anderson is the Executive Producer of Program Development for all CNN channels. Previously she was the Senior Producer and co-creator of ESPN’s new Emmy nominated magazine show ”E:60”. She was also the Director of Documentary Programming at HBO. As a director/producer she has twice won Peabody Awards and has won six Emmy awards.

BEN STAMBLER
Director of Acquisitions
THINKFilm

Ben Stambler is the Director of Acquisitions at THINKFilm. The company's recent acquisitions include Taxi to The Dark Side, In The Shadow of The Moon, The Ten and The Walker. Outside of his duties at THINKFilm, Ben produced Aaron Katz’s second feature Quiet City, which had it’s world premiere at SXSW and will open theatrically at the IFC Center in the summer of ’07. After attending North Carolina School of the Arts and earning his B.A. from Emerson College, Ben assisted in Acquisitions and Development at Samuel Goldwyn Films in Los Angeles, worked in documentary production at Two Tone Productions in New York and served as Manager of Acquisitions at Magnolia Pictures for 3 years where he was instrumental in acquiring The Signal, Exiled, Severance, Jesus Camp, The Host and Crazy Love.

MICHAEL CIVINS
Producer

Michael Civins has worked in a number of capacities in the film and television industries. In addition to creating MagRack’s Best Game Ever and DirecTV’s Games Rock! miniseries, Michael has produced Character Studies, a PBS documentary series examining American theater starring with Emmy, Pulitzer, and Academy Award winners such as Phylicia Rashad, SamWaterston, Olympia Dukakis, and Ruby Dee. Additionally, Michael was responsible for designing, producing and securing international distribution for a documentary DVD magazine showcasing underground rock acts; acting as an associate producer for Discovery Channel’s series "It’s All Geek To Me” hosted by David Pogue, and founding the New York-based comedy troupe Glucose Ink. He has also coordinated the Urbanworld screenwriting competition from 2003 - 2007.

ROBERT OTEY
Director of Development
BET Films

Robert Otey is the Director of Development for BET Films in Los Angeles, where he currently oversees development of BET’s Feature Films, Telefilms and DVD Entertainment. Before coming to BET in 2005, he held the same position at Hudlin Entertainment, where he worked on the development of a slate of projects including Everybody Hates Chris and the Paramount Pictures film Serving Sara.

LISA CORTES
Producer / SVP Production
Lee Daniels Entertainment

Lisa is responsible for finding and developing new projects and directors, as well as supervising all aspects of production. Lisa began her tenure with Lee Daniels during production of the Academy Award winning feature, Monster’s Ball. Her production credits include The Woodsman, Shadowboxer, Tennessee and the forthcoming Push. Lisa also produced the 2004 Sundance selection, Prashant Bhargava’s, Sangam.

SAMANTHA VINCENT
Vice President
One Race Films

Samantha Vincent is Vice President of One Race Films and Co Founder of Tigon Studios, Vin Diesel’s Film and Video Game production companies. Since 1995, One Race Films has produced such award winning titles as Multifacial and Strays, along with blockbuster franchises, The Chronicles of Riddick, and the Fast and Furious. In the gaming space Tigon continues to break new ground by focusing on digital content that can be launched as both video games and film, including the critical hit Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and the soon to be released title The Wheelman.

JAMAL JOSEPH
Professor & Chair
Columbia University Graduate Film Division

Jamal Joseph is a professor and the chair of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division. He is Co-Founder of the Black Panther International Film Festival and the Harlemwood Film Festival. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Impact Repertory Theatre. His screenwriting credits include “Ali: An American Hero” and “Knights of the South Bronx”. Directing credits include “Drive By: A Love Story,” “Da Zone,” and “Hughes Dream Harlem” His current writing/directing project is about his personal experiences as a manchild in the Black Panther Party for Focus features.