Board Info

Tom Bower (President)
Actor/producer, Tom has been in countless films and television programs
including his role as "Marvin the Janitor" in Die Hard II. Recently, he
appeared in Appaloosa by Ed Harris, Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant and
Haim Bouzaglo's Session. He was executive producer of Robert M. Young's
Human Error and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez starring Edward James Olmos.
While serving on the National Board of Directors of Screen Actors' Guild, Tom
was the architect of Global Rule One and created the SAGIndie Outreach
Program.

Suzanne de Passe
Suzanne is the CEO of de Passe Entertainment. She is the first African
American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for screen writing
Lady Sings the Blues starring Diana Ross. She produced the Emmy Award
winning Motown 25, and Motown Returns. Suzanne was Executive Producer
for Lonesome Dove, Buffalo Girls, Streets of Laredo, and Dead Man's Walk
and received Emmy nominations for Lonesome Dove, Buffalo Girls, The
Jacksons: An American Dream, The Temptations, and Small Sacrifices. She
was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1990.

Robert Knott
Robert is an actor, writer, and producer. He co-wrote and co-produced Ed
Harris' Appaloosa. His acting credits include Carl Thibault's The Garage, Doug
Sadler's Swimmers, Ed Harris' Pollock, Robert M Young's Human Error,
Stephen Frears' The Hi-Lo Country, and Walter Hill's Wild Bill. Among his
many television roles Robert appeared as Garrett Kincade in The Sentinel
and in Jag, ER, 3rd Rock From the Sun, and The Young Riders.

Albert Maysles
Albert Maysles along with brother David (died in 1987) are known for their
"Direct Cinema" approach to documentary filmmaking. Among Albert's more
then 20 major films are Salesman (1968), Gimme Shelter (1970), Grey
Gardens (1974), Muhammad and Larry (1980), Christo in Paris (1990) and
Stolen (2006). Maysles Brothers films have garnered innumerable awards and
was nominated for an Oscar in 1973 for Christo's Valley Curtain. Albert
continues to be an active filmmaker.

Jim Morris
Before coming to Pixar Jim was President of Lucas Digital where he oversaw
Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. He guided dozens of films
including Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Star Wars: Episode I and II, and
Minority Report. Jim is now the General Manager for Pixar and is in charge of
the day-to-day running of the studio facilities and products overseeing all
aspects of production related to animated shorts and features. He was the
producer of WALL-E and of the upcoming film John Carter of Mars.

Rob Nilsson
Writer, director, producer, Rob Nilsson is the creator of "Direct Action"
filmmaking. He won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for Northern Lights
(co-directed with John Hanson). In 2007 he completed his 9 part feature film
series, Nine@Night, about the lives of homeless people in San Francisco's
tenderloin. Rob's other films include On the Edge starring Bruce Dern and
Pam Grier, Presque Isle starring Kieron McCartney and Robert Viharo, and
Imbued starring Stacy Keach and Liz Sklar.

Cynthia Slavens
Syracuse native, Cynthia Slavens is Post-production Supervisor at Pixar
Animation Studios. She is responsible for Pixar film distribution, making
certain that transfers from theaters to TV, DVD, BluRay and in-plane and
cruise ship entertainment are properly executed. She reviews all Pixar movies
as part of quality control. Earlier she worked on the marketing for
Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron.

Jerry Stoeffhaas
Jerry is currently the Deputy Director of the New York State Governor's Office
for Motion Picture and Television Development. He is also co-writer,
co-director, and co-producer of the feature film Cheap Shots. He is a member
of the Writers Guild of America and has taught film production and
screenwriting at Syracuse University and Rochester Institute of Technology
and Writers and Books.

Jane Tattersall
Jane is one of Canada's most accomplished sound editors and supervisors,
having worked with such award-winning directors as Istvan Szabo on Being
Julia and David Cronenberg on Naked Lunch and The Fly. Included among her
more then 100 films are Geoffrey Sax's Frankie and Alice starring Halle Berry,
Sarah Polley's Away from Her starring Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis, and
Scott Smith's Falling Angels starring Miranda Richardson. Jane was named
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000.

Peter Weller
Peter is an actor/director/lecturer most know as Buckaroo Banzai and
RoboCop. He debuted in Richard Lester's Butch and Sundance: The Early
Years. He also starred in Sidney Lumet's Just Tell Me What You Want, Alan
Parker's Shoot the Moon, David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch and Woody Allen's
Mighty Aphrodite. His most recent role is in Ash Adams' Once Fallen. He
played the role of Henderson in 24. Peter was the host on HBO's 12 part
series Engineering an Empire.

BOARD INFO

The SYRFILM Board is comprised of numerous public and private individuals
who support the development of a vibrant film community within Syracuse.
Each member brings a particular wealth of knowledge to the SYRFILM
organization.

HONORARY BOARD

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

James G. Loperfido, Chair
Leslie Kohman, Vice Chair
Christian Von Tippleskirch, Vice Chair
Douglas Biklen
Bill Brod
Dennis Brogan
Marci Erlebacher
William Haug
Courtney Rile
David Schmuckler
Carole Brzozowski
Lorraine Branham
Julie Grossman