Tavarius “Torch” Eberhart is an inspired and highly motivated filmmaker eager to create
reflective films that impose a sense of urban culture. His goals are to first become one of the influential filmmakers and second, to use his standings to create a Fine Arts High School for the inner city youth in his local neighborhood in Miami, Florida. The themes of separation and loss are prevalent in his stories due to his inspirations in Japanese arts and tales. The rhythms and melodies of urban hip-hop music also plays a major role in the feel of his films.
Russell Hess, Producer/Distributor
Born and raised in Northwest Indiana, Russell Hess has been deeply involved in
entertainment since childhood. He has appeared in 12 movies of all budget levels. Hess has also performed on various theater stages across the country and appeared in many commercials and industrial training videos. An accomplished voice actor, he has also voiced animation projects, on-hold messaging services and for two years, was the voice for Toys R Us, performing the voice of The ToyFinder.
In recent years, Russell Hess has made himself known in the areas of script packaging and motion picture distribution. Some of his producing credits include a stage play/bio-drama about Wyatt Earp, nine feature films, the documentary, “inGREEDients” which takes a frightening look at what the FDA is allowing to be in the Nation’s food supply, and a Sci-Fi/Time Travel feature called “very_little_time” which has only one performer. These projects have given Russell the opportunity to build a heavy rolodex of production personnel with whom he can muster to develop virtually any type of project.
The shift from performer to producer was a natural one. A few years ago, Russell was asked if he could assemble talent and crew for the National television show Designing Spaces, which was to shoot the following day. He immediately went to work and in less than four hours from the call, he secured and contracted the talent and makeup personnel. When Russell arrived on the set to make sure his people were ready, the producers were so impressed with his abilities, they put him in the episode. Designing Spaces appeared on HGTV and Bravo.
Since then, Russell has logged nine films as a producer and was instrumental in the distribution of nearly a dozen films in 2009. The same year, the Gulf Coast Business Review honored Russell with the “40 Under 40” award. He is consistently sought after for speaking engagements and panel discussions, and recently, Hess’ efforts have been acknowledged at the Crystal Reel Awards. The movie “Maltese Murder Mystery” took home four Crystals and one Silver Reel Award. Russell and the team received the CRA for best production under one million dollars. In the spring of 2010, Russell was included in the Stanford Who’s Who. Realizing that most indie filmmakers do not have the luxury of even modest budgets, Russell spends a portion of this time helping the small films that have a difficult time finding a place in the market. “The big films are easy. It’s the little ones that deserve a real shot” he says.
Making the final leap from broker to distributor was inevitable, but tricky. Filling most of the gaps in traditional distribution was the first and foremost goal. Next was working to develop a model of digital distribution and still maintain as much tradition as possible. “I’ve heard so many horror stories about distribution and how the filmmaker ends up getting little or nothing, I decided to change all that.” Russell currently has films released in all platforms from theatrical to cable and from DVD to digital license.
Outside the show business arena, Russell and his wife Kristy, engage in various philanthropic endeavors and give their time to various charitable organizations such as, The Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, The Red Cross and Paint Your Heart Out, Tampa Bay. Hess also has a seat on the Executive Board of the Gasparilla International Film Festival and the University Film and Video Association founded by the University of South Florida.
Scott M. Goldberg, Esq., a member of the Florida Bar, has been practicing law for over
10 years. Mr. Goldberg is a partner with the Entertainment Law Firm of Hetz, Jones & Goldberg, LLC, with offices located on the back lot of Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and in West Palm Beach, Florida. His practice includes Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property Law, Business Law, Multimedia Law, Music Law and Internet Law. In addition to his Juris Doctor degree, Mr. Goldberg also has a Master of Laws degree in Intellectual Property from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Goldberg’s legal experience in the entertainment industry includes: assisting with delivery legal requirements for the independent films “The First of May” (starring Julie Harris, Mickey Rooney and Joe DiMaggio, and winner of 10 film festival awards including Best Picture and Award of Excellence) and the highly successful “The Blair Witch Project”; providing production legal and delivery services for the film “Small Town Conspiracy” (starring Zen Gesner); and providing production legal services for the films “The Way Back Home” (starring Julie Harris and Ruby Dee) and “Missing in America” (starring Danny Glover, Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman), and for the documentary film “Silver Wings and Civil Rights: The Fight to Fly” (a film about the Tuskegee Airmen). Mr. Goldberg is currently working as production legal counsel on the independent films: “The Tenant” (a horror film starring Bill Cobbs and Michael Berryman) distributed by Indican Pictures, the independent documentary film “Boys of Summer” distributed by Tribeca Films, “A Beautiful Belly” and “The Whisper Home” both currently in seeking distribution, and a couple of independent films in production and active development. For more information on Mr. Goldberg please go to www.HetzandJones.com.
CORINNE BROSKETTE is the Executive Director of VENUE ACTORS STUDIO. An
accomplished actress, Corinne has worked with a number of familiar names: Shelley Winters, Marlo Thomas, Ben Vereen, Teri Garr, Sally Kirkland, and many others. Her 37-year Equity stage career spans numerous plays and musicals; including the Los Angeles companies of the acclaimed Broadway shows Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar.
As a member of the Screen Actors Guild, (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Corinne has also starred in numerous television commercials, films and TV shows, including the Fox television series pilot, Automatic Avenue with James Earl Jones.
Prior to founding Venue Studios, Corinne was the Executive Coordinator of the Professional Acting Program at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles. She developed the Play Production Unit, which is still in existence at the Institute’s Marilyn Monroe Theatre in Hollywood. She studied for seven years under the personal direction of famed acting coach Lee Strasberg. Under Mr. Strasberg’s watchful eye, Corinne was trained in acting, directing and teaching Strasberg Method Acting.
Corinne has been involved in many productions in the Central Florida Area since 1985. Many of her students have received acclaim with awards from the Suncoast Theatre Grapevine, and Corinne was recognized as the Best Acting Coach of Tampa Bay by the Weekly Planet in 1998. Some of her former students include Brittany Snow of American Dreams, Mark Consuelos of All My Children, Lauren Mayhew and Lydia Bell of P.Y.T., and Christoper Ford of Disney.
Corinne teaches Intro to Method Acting (Adult Beginners), Experienced Actors, and Teen Theatre. She also coaches privately, runs the Sunday Intensive Commercial Class, and oversees all of the training offered at Venue Actors Studio. She is the main director of the Studio Theatre.
Ernie Berger As an undergraduate college student (psychology major) Ernie
Berger started filming animations with paper cutouts for the fun of it. He read books on animation techniques and “graduated” to animating clay characters. Ernie wrote a jingle about reasons to buy a new car and convinced a Chevrolet dealer to pay him to make a 30-second TV commercial featuring clay animated characters singing that song. That was the start of his professional work in animation. Since that time, he has made many animated TV commercials for advertisers, flying logos for corporate clients, and CGI EFX for independent live-action movies; however making short comedies for the fun of it is what he enjoys most. Ernie’s CGI animations (comedy shorts and TV spots) have earned him 11 Telly Awards, 2 Auroras, 2 EMPixx Awards and 2Pixie Awards. In August, 2011, House Broken received 2 Gold Empixx Awards in the categories of Animation and Comedy. Ernie enjoyed a dual career as filmmaker and college teacher. He taught animation and video production at a college near Annapolis, Maryland, prior to fulfilling his lifelong desire to live in a semi-tropical paradise such as Florida’s Suncoast. Ernie and his soulmate, Ann Robinson-Berger, moved to Sarasota in early 2010. Currently he is working on two animated movies. One is a short drama with semi-realistic images and the other is a fantasy piece with vibrant very surrealistic images. In August, he launched a website at www.Memoe.biz to promote his new venture in vibrant digital art.
Nancy McBride is a Casting Director at Reel Kasting in Orlando, Florida.
She owns Reel Kasting LLC, which is a Full service Casting Company. She prides herself on bringing talent and Productions together successfully.
ReelKasting.com boasts over 1000 adult actors, models, hosts and stunt personnel along with local crew.
She began in the Industry as a parent looking for answers about the film business and found that there seemed to be a lot of people trying to take advantage of parents who didn’t know the ins and outs of the business. So she designed Kidkasting.com and watched it grow. Now the largest Parent
child actors and 600 + parents from the tip of Florida to Portland Oregon! Network of Child Talent across the East Coast, with and over 1500 Nancy teaches industry basics like how to apply to agents, build a resume and proper talent agency application processes and much more.
When productions come to Florida and in search of local talent, Nancy is the Rolodex!
