JURISTS

JAMES BELZER was born and raised in the Panama Canal Zone. His family moved there from Philadelphia when his father (formerly a ship Captain with Texaco), accepted a position as a Panama Canal Pilot. Until his retirement after 27 years of service, his father was responsible for navigating ships through the Panama Canal for the Panama Canal Company, a subsidiary of the U.S. Government.

Growing up in the deep tropics of Panama was a unique experience. James, like many of his peers, was not widely exposed to traditional U.S. media, due to limited availability of TV, as well as the delay in the delivery of film, music and the absence of other forms of pop cultural experiences, like the mall?! The Panama Canal Zone, as it was called, was pretty much like a company town, with all housing and services owned and operated by the Panama Canal Company.

Upon graduation from Balboa High School, where he was the Senior Class President, he set off for New York City to attend NYU. After an initial cultural and weather crisis – having never experienced winter – James successfully adjusted to NYU and life in greater New York. He

accomplished his academic endeavors, attending the Tisch School of the Arts as a Drama Major in the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting, ultimately earning his B.A in Journalism from NYU. He made up for the lack of access to the established pop culture references in childhood by deciding to create some new artistic projects of his own.

Upon realizing that the life of a painter, singer, actor, basically a “starving artist,“ in New York had serious limitations, James joined Fairchild Publications and began his career in ad sales in the world of fashion magazines. After 7 years at Fairchild working at M Magazine, he went on to work for other national magazines such as Esquire, Spa Finder and most recently, for the past five years as the Business Development Director at Harper’s Bazaar.

Having never given up his creative ambitions, the artistic activities have lived as entrepreneurial efforts right along side his magazine career. From producing parties at a host of NYC nightclubs, to the advent of his music alter ego (Jimmy Beats), to the more recent live theater productions – off Broadway at The Lucille Lortel and at the Cherry Grove theater in Fire Island – James has produced and directed numerous creative projects over the years.

MONICA ELIAS At the helm of Elias World Media is founder Monica Elias, a top media strategist and content production expert guiding the way to help companies in their effort to raise brand visibility and engage key audiences and influencers in the marketplace. She has advised brands and their agency partners in how to effectively connect with their consumers and promote their products using branded content across television, radio, and the Internet

Elias has built a reputation for her astute multimedia planning and strategic approach and her knack for utilizing the most precise vehicles and channels to raise brand awareness, create consumer engagement, generate meaningful media placement, and increase profitability. Clients have relied on her combined media and production skills to define strategy and to create content. Her success and know-how has earned her the respect and trust of peers and clients who see her as the “go-to” source for guidance. She has worked with top-tier brands and agencies such as Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, DeVries Global, L’Oréal Paris, Mercedes Benz, MSL Group, DeBeers, Ketchum Public Relations, Bank of America, Weber Shandwick, LVMH, and

Sunshine Sachs.

Elias founded EWM fueled by her passion to deliver a higher standard of work product and client service experience to the multimedia industry; she has built her reputation on advocacy for and delivery of this kind of commitment to excellence. She incorporates a fresh, partner-minded approach that is proactive, innovative, and discerning while continuing to excel at the tried-and-true techniques of the past. Elias has an emphatic, hands-on mentality and, along with her team, is personally involved in every project, from start to finish.

Elias utilizes her diverse network to forge strategic alliances among public relations agencies, industry experts, media outlets, and brands in a way that boosts both their profiles and their profits. These relationships have created new promotional opportunities for brands, while providing experts a platform by which to raise their presence with media and continue to influence their communities.

A global professional and world citizen, she is well traveled, fluent in English and Arabic, and a connoisseur of global trends, events, and markets.

JENNY HE is a curator who has organized numerous film programs and gallery exhibitions for institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the 92Y Tribeca Gallery, and the Museum of the Moving Image in New York; the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and La Cinémathèque Française in Paris.

Her exhibitions include Crafting Genre: Kathryn Bigelow (2011), named one of the best art shows of 2011 by the Village Voice, and Tim Burton (2009–2010), the third-highest attended exhibition in MoMA’s history. Her other exhibitions for MoMA include ContemporAsian (2012), Tracey Moffatt (2012), Filmmaker in Focus: Philip Kaufman (2012), Lillian Gish (2010), Tim Burton and the Lurid Beauty of Monsters (2009–2010), Batiste Madalena and the Cinema of the 1920s (2008–2009), Collaborations in the Collection: The Coen Brothers (2008), New Acquisitions: Robert Altman (2007), and Pixar: 20 Years of Animation (2005–2006).

She has co-authored and edited exhibition catalogues; and contributed essays to MoMA Highlights (The Museum of Modern Art, 2013), a collection of the museum’s most notable

works, Colour in Time (ArtEZ Press, 2011), a study of color in design, architecture and film, and Modern Woman (MoMA, 2010), an anthology on women artists. She has also executive-produced several documentaries including Richard Serra, Sculpture: Forty Years (2007) and Elizabeth Murray (2006).

In addition, she has served as the Programming Director for the South Asian International Film Festival; on juries including the Black Maria Film + Video Festival and the Student Academy Awards; and as a graduate of Wesleyan University, she has also served on the Wesleyan Film Board.

Her current exhibition, The World of Tim Burton (2014–ongoing), is on a worldwide tour with venues that include the City Gallery Prague: The Stone Bell in the Czech Republic and the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo, Japan.

CARMELA SPINELLI is an international fashion and design professional with over 20 years of experience in both industry and education. She is currently the School of Fashion Liaison for the Savannah College of Art and Design, lecturing on fashion history and recruiting students and faculty for SCAD. She has contributed to and appears in the SCAD documentary, “Ovation for Oscar,” highlighting the Oscar de la Renta exhibition curated by Andre Leon Talley at the SCAD Museum of Art. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, 2015 and is set to tour film festivals worldwide.

Spinelli served as an executive with Celine, an LVMH company, merchandising the collection for the US market and directing the flagship store in New York City. As Chief Creative Officer for Three Wildcats. LLC. a retail development firm. She led the creative vision for two new retail concepts with the architectural firm Gensler that garnered two international design awards in 2008 from the Association for Retail Environments: Outstanding Merit in Store Design and Store Fixtures.

Prior to this role she served as Associate Chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Parson’s The New School of Design, under renowned chair Tim Gunn. Spinelli oversaw academic

curricular and faculty development, international special projects and internships programs at the renowned fashion design school. She coordinated the department’s History of French Decorative Arts and Fashion study abroad program in conjunction with the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the Museé des Art Décoratifs in Paris. Spinelli also developed special projects for Parsons, partnering with the world’s finest luxury brands, retailers and trade associations including LVMH, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Italian Trade Commission, Ducatti, SAGA Furs and Van Clef and Arpels.

Spinelli lectures extensively on design, fashion history and the fashion business. She has spoken at Fashion Forward, Dubai, The National Institute of Fashion, Mumbai, The Beijing Institute of Fashion and The China Academy of Art, The Centro de Arte y Cultura, Honduras, The Detroit Design Festival, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in conjunction with the Mayor of London’s culture diversity team.

She holds a Masters Degree in the History of Decorative Art from The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Parsons The New School for Design. Spinelli received the Lisa Taylor Fellowship from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum for academic achievement. She is a member of the United States Global Leadership Council.

DENNITA SEWELL has been Curator of Fashion Design at Phoenix Art Museum since January 2000. She received her MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama and BA in Textile and Apparel Management from the University of Missouri. Prior to Phoenix, Sewell worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. At Phoenix Art Museum she has organized over 35 exhibitions on topics ranging from motorcycle jackets to contemporary designers drawn from the Museum’s comprehensive collection, international fashion houses and private collections. Her publications include Way Haute West, Garden of Eden, Extending the Runway: Tatiana Sorokko Style and Fashion Independent: The Original Style of Ann Bonfoey Taylor.

LIZ JANNEMAN As Executive Vice President, Network Strategy, Liz Janneman serves as Ovation TV’s guiding strategic force, focused on business strategies that deliver incremental viewership, ad sales revenue and overall brand momentum. Toward these goals, Janneman oversees both the network’s advertising sales and marketing divisions.

Janneman has been a critical driver of Ovation TV’s success, tripling Ovation TV’s Ad Sales revenue since arriving at the company in 2009. Before joining Ovation TV, Janneman was President of Ad Sales for Current TV, where she oversaw ad sales efforts for both the channel and currentv.com. Prior to Current TV, Janneman was Senior Vice President of Ad Sales for Weather Channel for two years. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Ad Sales for AOL/Time Warner where she was responsible for ad sales efforts for TNT and TBS, during which time revenues doubled to exceed $1 billion annually.

Janneman began her sales career with Turner at CNN in 1989 as an account executive and was

promoted to Vice President, Ad Sales both in New York and in Los Angeles in 1992 and 1993 respectively. She was named SVP of Ad Sales for Turner Sports in 1994 and then SVP of Ad Sales for Turner Entertainment Networks in 1995. Before working on the network side, Janneman worked as VP/Associate Buying Director for Saatchi & Saatchi.

Janneman graduated from Hofstra University with a BA in Business Administration. Fluent in 3 languages, she resides in Los Angeles with Case and their two Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

YELENA DEYNEKO studied classical arts, theater and fashion design in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and graphic design at School of Visual Arts in New York. Combining her talents and passions, she collaborates with agencies and private clients on creating their visual, branding and marketing content. In 2012 she co-founded Spirit & Flesh magazine, where she is a principal and Creative Director. The publication aligns the art of fashion with film, painting, dance, photography and other media, underscoring its powerful cultural influence.

Yelena is responsible for shaping each issue’s visual and narrative identity; she reviews the latest collections and trends, conceptualizes editorial stories and produces photo and video shoots.

ELIZABETH (ELLIE) CLAROS is Content Manager of North & South America, Europe, Africa for Fashion One. Elizabeth oversee all content being produced in the following territories North America, South America, Europe and Africa for the channel. She was a previously a model agent at some of the top modeling agencies in New York and Miami to have having a successful photo production company. The photo production company catered to South American clients shooting in exotic locations in Colombia, Mexico and the Caribbean. Her passion is creation, telling a story, sharing a vision of a designer, photographer, and artist through the beautiful of film to the viewers.

FASHION ONE is a global lifestyle and entertainment TV network for viewers focused on glamorous and inspirational fashion in all aspect of life. With the latest updates and in-depth interviews with designers and celebrities, our audiences will be entertained with Fashion One’s original programs including reality shows, documentary, travelogue, entertainment news and lifestyle magazine. Fashion One broadcasted in 4k and HD reaches over 120 million homes all over the world in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Europe, Middle East and South America through 12 feeds and 6 languages.

Thinking fashion as it pertains to television, our viewers can find fashion, trends and style everywhere. From photography, street style and beauty tips, to designer retrospectives and the latest celebrity trends, Fashion One reveals fashion in all aspects of life. Adding to the core programming of the latest in fashion, entertainment, lifestyle news, profiles of A-list celebrities, luxury brands, holiday destinations and red carpet events, Fashion One will also deliver a strong lineup of original programming. By producing all content with 100% rights, Fashion One have already prepared our mobile, online and VOD Channels accessing our library of unique programs about fashion, entertainment and lifestyle. The Fashion One Network is a subsidiary of Bigfoot Entertainment launched in 2010. For more information, visit www.fashionone.com.