ANTHONY PEDONE

Executive Director / Feature Program Director

Anthony Pedone was born in Dallas, TX, but spent the formational years of his life on a ranch in Clayton, New Mexico. At 16 he moved back to Texas and played in multiple musical projects while studying music at Southwest Texas State University.

In 2005, Pedone received his certificate in Writing Social Commentary from Penn State University and began experimenting with digital media and filmmaking. In 2008 he co-fouded Robotic Indifference and directed his first feature film “The Why”.  The Why screened in 6 countries and received Best Avant Garde and Best Experimental Feature awards at The Great Lake Film Festival, Heart of England Film Festival and Manhattan Film Festival in 2010. The Why screened at Anthology Film Archives, Winter 2012 Film Series organized by New Filmmakers New York.

Since Robotic Indifferences conception, Anthony has had the unique opportunity to collaborate with an innovative and diverse group of artists. Anthony co-produced Steve Balderson’s “The Casserole Club”, and joined Balderson in London to shoot “Culture Shock” during the fall of 2011.  The Casserole Club was the recipient of 5 Independent Vision Awards including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Production Design and Best Director. While on the set of the The Casserole Club, Pedone shot “Camp Casserole”, a behind the scenes look at the process of indie filmmaking, which had its world premiere at Raindance in 2011. This year Robotic Indifference has produced Jane Wiedlin’s directorial debut, “The Pyrex Glitch”, and was the executive producer for “Roundball”, which was shot in Victoria in the Summer of 2011.

Anthony  has served on the board of directors at Theatre Victoria since 2008.  volunteered for the Victoria Preservation Society, Downtown 71 Productions’ Dia De Los Muertos Festival in DeLeon Plaza, and in 2012 will begin a filmmaking workshop with students at Trinity private school. Anthony is a freelance writer for the German art magazine, READ.

Pedone is the Executive Director of Film ExChange, and founded the Self Medicated Film Expo (RxSM).

CHRISTINE ELISE McCARTHY

Shorts Program Director

Christine Elise McCarthy, originally from Boston, has been acting professionally for 23 years. She has been seen on many televisions shows, most notably “ER,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” HBO’s “Tell Me You Love Me,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “China Beach” and “In the Heat of the Night.” Her film credits include many indie projects, including Route 30 and Mojave Phone Booth, as well as Boiling Point andVanishing Point (both with Viggo Mortenson). As a writer, Christine has three episodes of “Beverly Hills 90210″ to her credit and had a pilot optioned by Aaron Spelling. She has also appeared at the Los Angeles comedy theaters Upright Citizens Brigade and Naked Angels, reading comical true-life essays. She has been on the selection committee of Michigan’s Waterfront Film Festival for all of its 13 years.  2011 saw her directorial debut, Bathing & the Single Girl,screen at over 65 film festivals & win 15 awards.  She is now in the final stages of editing her first novel, also entitled Bathing and the Single Girl.

 XAVIER RASHID

Documentary Program Director

Xavier Rashid started his career as a photographer and freelance journalist, publishing in major film trades, magazines and websites including Esquire, The Academy (BAFTA), Screen, Variety, BBC Films and Yahoo Movies. He acted as Executive Director of the Raindance Film Festival uplifting its programme and sponsorship to record levels, before setting up his own consultancy working with a number of international film festivals including Sheffield Doc/Fest, NZ International Film Festival and the East End Film Festival (one of Europe’s largest festivals), film commissions including the NZFC and sales agencies in London, Austria, NZ and North America. He has regularly edited and co-written filmmaking publications, released across Europe and the US by Focal Press and Phaidon.

DARKO LUNGULOV

Foreign Cinema Programmer

Darko Lungulov,  is award wining filmmaker ( Tribeca Best NY Narrative Award and 20 other international awards). His feature film “Here&There” received critical acclaim from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, LA Times, LA Weekly, Village Voice and from the most distinguish film critics in Germany ( Schnitt, Film-zeit, Critic) and Europe. It was screened at more than 50 International festivals and picked up for theatrical distribution in the USA, Germany, Switzerland , Hungary, Greece, Bosnia and 13 other countries. Here & There is curently showing on SHOWTIME.

Darko, originally from Belgrade, moved to New York City in 1991 where he obtained BFA in film and video from City College of New York. From 1997 until 2003 he has worked at the production company Spiral Pictures/Ross Institute as director/producer of documentaries; most notably Sonic Convergence – documentary featuring Quincy Jones. At the same time Darko taught production courses at Long Island University and was a Media Studies faculty member at the Ross School. In 2004 his documentary “Escape” won the Audience Award at its world premiere at Hamptons International Film Festival. It was screened at numerous international festivals since, including: Amsterdam, Leipzig, Go East Film Festival, Belgrade and Santiago de Chile Film Festival.

In 2009 Darko’s film “Here and There” won Best New York Narrative Award at its world premiere at Tribeca 2009 Film Festival.Here and There won total of 20 awards at the festivals around the world, most notably: four awards at Cinema Tous Ecrans Festival, Switzerland, including Best Directing Award “Golden  Reflection”, three awards at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2009, including Best Director of Foreign film award, Best Foreign Film Award at Orlando International Festival,

Special Jury award at Skip City festival, Japan and many others.

Film Critics International Federation, Serbia, voted Darko Lungulov for Best Director of 2009.

Here and There was voted by Serbian Film Academy for foreign language Oscar candidate ( US Film Academy) from Serbia.

In 2010 Darko served as juror at Tribeca Festival.

He is a Film Consultant for RocketHub (http://www.rockethub.com/) a global crowdfunding platform based in New York City and a member on advisory board of BellDocs – International Festival of Documentary Films, Belgrade.

Currently, Darko is working on preproduction of his next film, dark comedy titled “Monument to Michael Jackson”.

ELIZABETH SPEAR

Educational Director

Elizabeth Spear is a Texas-born filmmaker, with a B.A. degree in English Literature and Studio Art from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She is working toward her Ph.D. in Communication at European Graduate School. In 2010, she completed two films, including the first feature film ever shot and edited on the iPhone4, LiTTLE GODS, and The People You Know. She also produced and edited the documentary film Champ: The Steve Mitchell Story, which so far has been selected by the Dallas Video Festival, and award winning Forward/Backward, a feature narrative currently on the film festival circuit. Both films feature heroes with traumatic brain injuries; her approach to disabilities as a subject matter is from the outside in, focusing more on society’s response to its members on the fringe than on the subject’s experience of the disability. Her background in experimental video has been the impetus for her non-traditional method of story-telling. She is also writing screenplays, freelances for national brands and edits books for Atropos Press.

Man V. Nature, her video art piece about humanity’s resistance to death and decay has been shown in the 60 Second Video Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, and is now touring internationally. Michael Moore: Friend of War, a parody of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s filmmaking screened at Iron Gate Studios, Austin, Texas, in 2004.

Spear also produced and edited the short comedy, Ted Wytliffe’s Ranch, which was included in the Texas Filmmakers’ Showcase. Spear edited the feature film, Jesse’s Closet, which won honorable mention at the Hollywood Black Film Festival. She went on to produce and direct a narrative short film, Other Side of the Hill, which was accepted into Tri Parte Ite and Red Wasp film festivals. Hanging, her debut feature-length narrative, garnered the grand prize in Chicago’s 72-hour Feature Project Film Festival.

In 2003, Spear created and served as director for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, Ltd. She is also a co-founder of Iron Gate Studios, a not-for-profit multi-media art gallery and workspace in East Austin that operated from 2003-2006. She has been a guest film teacher at The Khabele School and St. Stephen’s School, both private high schools in Austin.

STEPHANIE FERGUSON

Hospitality Director / VIP

Stephanie was born and raised in the Victoria area. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston-Victoria. She served as Elections Administrator for Calhoun County for seven years. Currently, She is a partner and a co-owner of EnerSource, Inc., a Victoria based Petroleum Land Services Company with her husband, Lee.

Stephanie is very active in her community, serving on multiple boards, committees and community outreach programs; most recently being appointed as the social chairperson for Grandparents’ raising Grandchildren, a non-profit organization. She is dedicated to the arts and community enhancement. She and her husband are investor/executive producers for the film, The Casserole Club. This involvement has heightened her own interest and encouraged her to introduce others to the art of independent film. With that in mind, she became involved with the Victoria TX Independent Film Festival.

DON AVLO

Artistic Director