People
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeffrey Barbakow • President
Jeffrey Barbakow began his career in 1969 as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch. During his 20-year tenure with the company, he focused on the health care, media and entertainment industries. From October 1988 to November 1990, Barbakow served as chairman, chief executive officer and President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists Communications Co. (MGM/UA). Under his leadership, the company re-asserted itself as a major force in the worldwide entertainment industry. Barbakow then returned briefly to investment banking from September 1991 to June 1993 as managing director of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation before joining Tenet Health Care. Under Barbakow’s direction, Tenet became the largest operator of academic medical centers in the U.S. Barbakow was recognized as one of the Top 25 Managers of the Year for 2001 by Business Week magazine and Tenet was included in Business Week’s roster of the Top 50 best-performing large public corporations, also in 2001. Barbakow holds a bachelor’s of science degree in industrial design from San Jose State University and a master’s of business administration from the University of Southern California. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania where he undertook advanced studies in economics. Additionally, Mr. Barbakow was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from Pepperdine University. He is a member of the CEO Board of Advisors of the USC Marshall School of Business and the Chancellor’s Council at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and a member of The UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees. Additionally, he is a member of The Conference Board Inc., a member of the Board of Directors of H Group Holding Inc., and a member of the Board of Trustees of The Thacher School in Ojai, Calif.
James R. Bechtel • Assistant Treasurer/Secretary/Governance & Nominating Chair 
Jim Bechtel is the Senior Investment Manager in the Santa Barbara Private Banking office for Wells Fargo. He manages and designs customized portfolios for wealthy individuals, families, endowments and foundations
Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Jim managed taxable and non-taxable portfolios at Northern Trust Bank and Roxbury Capital Management. Additionally, Jim supervised the portfolio management team in Beverly Hills for Northern Trust. Jim has significant experience in the management of fixed income securities, particularly California municipal bonds. He began his 20+ year financial services career as an investment banker with the Capital Markets group at Security Pacific, and has served as managing director and principal of tax-free municipal bond firms.
Jim graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a BA in Economics and received an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA. Jim currently serves on the Executive Board of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, as chair of the Investment Committee for Girls Inc, on the Endowment Committee of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and is the former Treasurer of the UCLA Alumni Association. His not-for-profit activities have included five years as a director of The Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, seven years on the Decorative Arts Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, ten years in a number of positions with the Music Center of Los Angeles County, and a co-founder of Global Neuro Rescue (the international children’s neurological mission led by Dr. Jorge Lazareff of the Mattel Children’s Hospital).
Robert Brada • Vice President – CFO 
Mr. Brada received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature (with honors) in 1987 from the University of Kansas and received a Juris Doctorate in 1990 from the University of Southern California. Mr. Brada started his professional career as an associate in the corporate practice group at White & Case in 1990. Mr. Brada then joined the executive management team of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc where he played a key role in the $1.3 billion management-backed buyout of the studio in 1996. In 1996 he was named one of the top 3 young Hollywood executives in Hollywood Reporter magazine. Mr. Brada left MGM in 2000 to become a founder of Broadlane, Inc., a leading provider of outsourced services to healthcare providers, which he helped grow from 35 employees and no revenue into a 400-person company with $135 million in annual revenue. Since 2004, Mr. Brada has been a founder and principal of San Ysidro Capital Partners, LLC., and Blue Sky Homes, LLC. a firm that is developing a new paradigm for homebuilding that incorporates environmentally friendly and time saving building practices.
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.
Since becoming a licensed psychologist 35 years ago, Linda has had very broad experience in her field, including principally Community Psychology, contract teaching, student counseling, forensic assessment, expert testimony and private practice. Most recently she served as Training Coordinator for Santa Barbara County Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services.
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.
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.
William Rosen • Chair of Audit Committee 
William Rosen, Chief Financial Officer of SBIFF, is a New York attorney New York. 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.
Mark Sylvester • Vice President – Cinema Society 
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,
Kathy Janega-Dykes 
Kathy Janega-Dykes is a leader in one of Santa Barbara County’s biggest industries: tourism. She has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission since 2005. She is the driving force of the non-profit tourism marketing organization that works to enhance the economies of the city and county of Santa Barbara. The CVB & FC markets to sustain growth in visitor spending, to increase earnings for the hospitality industry, and to increase tax revenue and jobs for the community.
Janega-Dykes was formerly Executive Director of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau for six years. Prior to this she headed both the sales and then the marketing efforts at the Santa Barbara CVB & FC during her first tenure there from 1988 to 1998. Preceding this position, she served as a sales manager with Hyatt and Red Lion Hotels.
Janega-Dykes is credited for leading the Santa Barbara Bureau’s “Sideways” marketing campaign, when that film’s popularity put the Santa Barbara area in the ranks of California’s top wine tasting destinations. She repeated that success marketing with Universal Studios to promote Santa Barbara after the release of the popular film “It’s Complicated” in 2009/2010. As CVB & FC President, Janega-Dykes has spearheaded the promotion of Santa Barbara as a wine and food mecca and as a location for great film of the past and present. In her over site of the Santa Barbara Film Commission she successfully lobbied to increase funding from the County of Santa Barbara for its operations.
She is an active member of the Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization, the Western Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus and the California Travel Industry Association.
Kathy is wife of Joseph Dykes and mother of 18 year-old son, Colton. In her off hours she enjoys traveling, reading, cooking and kayaking.
Arnold Kassoy • Honorary Chairman 
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.
Susan Eng-Denbaars 
Susan Eng-DenBaars graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. She has lived in Santa Barbara for over 18 years and is an active leader in educational and community philanthropies. She is a current board member of the The Bluffs HOA. Her community leadership and support includes past Treasurer for the Goleta Education Foundation, PTA member, Red Cross Volunteer, and volunteer at her local public schools.
Prior to raising her family, Susan worked in budget and financial analysis in the College of Letters and Science at University of California, Santa Barbara and was Worldwide Planner in the Optoelectronics Division at Hewlett Packard.
Karen Earp 
Karen Earp, general manager of the Four Seasons Biltmore Resortr 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.
Tammy Hughes 
David Edelman 
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 
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.
Hall Hutchison 
Hall holds a BA in Archaeology from Cornell University, specializing in remote sensing. Hall brings more than 20 years of technology experience in companies ranging from film/TV productions to start-up film studios, world expos and museums. He worked with Mattel to create their first interactive laser disc, designed motion control equipment for Xenon, and lead the team to develop the systems design for a real-time animation series, “JayJay The Jet Plane”. Hall has been an influential technology leader who brings a proven track record providing technology of the highest level reduced to the simplest form.
Now focused on real-time 3D graphics solutions, Hall works to create virtual studios for TV broadcast, working with NBC, CNBC, DVD on TV among others, and in feature films advancing on set visualization and camera tracking, working recently on “Speed Racer”, “X-Men Origins” and the up-coming “Alice in Wonderland”.
Emmanuel Itier
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
Nora McNeely Hurley has been an active board member of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival since 2004 and has been the proud recipient of Board Member of the Year twice. She and her company “La Vie Boheme” have produced, sponsored and provided entertainment and décor for some of the SBIFF’s major film premieres, parties and fundraisers. She is currently a board member of the Santa Barbara Zoo as well as a trustee of the Manitou Foundation which centers on philanthropic interests in Minnesota, the state from which she hails. Nora is a graduate of Santa Catalina School, Franklin College in Switzerland and UCSB where she majored in Film Studies and Communications. She has worked in the fields of television advertising, party and floral design and co created a furniture store ,”Rooms and Gardens” in Santa Barbara. Her latest venture was a French inspired boutique and event décor business on Coast Village Road in Montecito. She is an active volunteer in the community and is a member of the Santa Barbara Bowl Capital Campaign Cabinet. Nora resides in Montecito with her husband Michael.
Gene Montesano
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, then the 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 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 office 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 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 International 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, Bucantini, Joe’s, El Cazador, D’Angelo Bread) and properties in Santa Barbara including his newly opened “Peace Store” on State Street.
Ivan Reitman 
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.
Mark Scher 
Mark Scher received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Pitzer College in Claremont, California. His expertise in the real estate industry spans more than 30 years, beginning as a successful real estate broker in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1983, he formed the first of ten Bay Area commercial development partnerships. In 1985, he co-founded the Scleroderma Research Foundation which was established to build centers for basic research into this devastating disease. In 1990, Scher Investment Group was formed and began developing and acquiring what would become more than 1.25 million square feet of commercial space over the next 10 years.
In 1994, Mark and Joseph Scher acquired Gamma Photo Labs, L.L.C., the largest and oldest commercial photo lab in the Midwest. In 1998, Mr. Scher acquired four CBD block in downtown Austin, Texas in which his team designed a 750,000 square foot “Class A” office project, received entitlements and sold the project to Intel Corporation within 18 months of the land acquisition. Currently, Mark resides in Santa Barbara with his three children.
Van Spaulding 
Douglas R Stone 
Douglas Stone is the founding partner of Stone, Meyer, Genow, Smelkinson & Binder, LLP and is the firm’s managing partner. He is in his 23rd year of practicing law. His practice centers around two primary areas: the representation of talent clients (e.g., actors, writers and directors); and the representation of producers and entrepreneurial production and distribution companies, both national and international, in all aspects of the entertainment and related industries.
Some representative talent clients of Mr. Stone are Daniel Craig (“Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace”), Halle Berry, and Dean Devlin (“Independence Day,” “Godzilla,” “The Patriot”). Mr. Stone was named one of the most powerful entertainment attorneys by the Hollywood Reporter in the 2007 and 2008 “Power 100” issues.
Mr. Stone has played an active role in the packaging, financing and exploitation of independent films. Mr. Stone is a co-executive producer of the film “Buffalo Soldiers,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris and Scott Glenn. His involvement culminated in the sale of the U.S. distribution rights to Miramax at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival.
Mr. Stone was also involved in the financing and production of the film “Beyond The Sea” directed by and starring Kevin Spacey. The film was financed through a UK-German co-production coupled with equity. The film was distributed in the U.S. by Lions Gate pursuant to a deal negotiated by Mr. Stone.
In addition, Mr. Stone helped Dean Devlin put together the independently financed, $60 million feature film “Flyboys.” The unique financing structure for the film allowed the filmmakers the freedom to make the film without any distribution in place, thus allowing for true independence in the filmmaking process.
Mr. Stone is also a principal of Traction Media. Traction is a company created by Stone, Meyer, Genow, Smelkinson & Binder, LLP to further the interests of independent filmmakers. Traction represents films for the sale of distribution rights as well as produces and packages feature film projects. In addition, Traction assists equity financiers seeking film projects and works with production companies that need help packaging and/or setting up their projects. Through Traction, Mr. Stone has been involved in the sale of dozens of films, including “Hard Candy” and “Half Nelson.”
Mr. Stone received a Bachelor of Science from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University and his J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Stone began his law career with the law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, where he practiced in the firm’s Motion Picture and Television Department.
Marsha Wayne 
Marsh Wayne attended Occidental College before receiving a BA from the University of Cincinnati in 1965. Wayne then went on to receive a MBA from Harvard Business School in 1968 followed by a MACP from Antioch University in 1998. The time between her MBA and MACO she spent working as a writer where she wrote the book “Finding Your Perfect Partner: The Foolproof System for Dating, Rating and Mating” while raising her four children at the same time. Wayne has worked as a group and individual counselor and has taught “Creating the Work You Love”, “Date, Rate and Mate the Perfect Partner” and “Learning Optimism, Finding Flow and Developing Purpose” at Santa Barbara City College.Wayne has lived in Santa Barbara for over 25 years with her husband and four children and is currently on the Santa Barbara Human Rights Watch Board.
Lynda Weinman 
Lynda Weinman is the co-founder and Executive Chair of lynda.com , an online learning platform that teaches computer and design skills. Weinman is a Web graphics and design veteran, who wrote the very first industry book published in 1996 on Web design called, Designing Web Graphics . She is a prominent educator and the author of dozens of best-selling books. Weinman was a faculty member at Art Center College of Design, American Film Institute, UCLA Extension, and San Francisco State Multimedia Studies Program. Before her career teaching computer skills, she worked as an animator and motion graphics director in the film special effects industry.
Formerly, a consultant for Adobe, Macromedia, and Microsoft, Lynda has conducted workshops at Disney, Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple. She has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and lecturer at numerous design, animation, Web design, and computer-graphics conferences. Weinman and her husband Bruce Heavin co-founded lynda.com in 1995. lynda.com is the leading online video training resource for instruction in web design, print, digital photography, digital video, audio, 3D, animation and much more.
lynda.com employs 150+ people with offices in Ventura and Carpinteria. The online subscription service supports hundreds of thousands of members, and is used by individuals, schools, corporations and government. The vast library of 40k+ instructional videos allows members anytime/anywhere access to hundreds of courses on leading software programs for an affordable price, billed monthly or annually.
Lynda serves on the national board of AIGA; the professional association for design.
STAFF
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
Rodney Gould • director of operations
Candace Schermerhorn • director of programming
Michal Wiesbrock • director of development
Sean Pratt • operations manager
Mickey Duzdevich • programming coordinator
Julie Steele • special events coordinator
Amira Bailey • volunteer coordinator
Mike “Tak” Takeuchi • production supervisor
Sherry Stimatz • hospitality liaison
Pam Sanchez • vip liaison
OUTSIDE STAFF
Carol Marshall • director of publicity
Carol Marshall has overseen publicity for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for 20 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 Sheri Goldberg, 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 • tribute director/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.