Ryan is a film and digital media producer and a recent graduate of New York University’s M.B.A./M.F.A. dual degree.  Ryan’s producing credits include music videos for Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) and Trevor Giuliani (Dovecote Records), film-based content for global brands such as Cisco, Vita Coco and I LOVE New York and narrative films, including Nightlife which had it’s world premier at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.   Maintaining a strong interest in digital media, Ryan has led projects for Focus Features and HBO and currently works as Senior Manager of Digital Media at Starz Media where he creates content and businesses across a variety of digital platforms.  In a previous life Ryan was a founding member of the critically acclaimed rock band Aberdeen City.  He holds a B.A from Boston College and currently lives in New York City.

I have developed a comprehensive economic snapshot of independent film available by accruing production costs, box office, home video, digital revenues, marketing/P&A, agency fees and festival spends.  The goal of the project is to create a comprehensive, updatable document and to bring transparency to the economics surrounding independent film.

Claire is a New York City born, raised, and based producer and a member of the inaugural class of NYU Tisch and Stern’s MBA/MFA producing program. Claire has produced award-winning short films, commercials, and web content. Claire’s work has screened at SXSW, the Sarasota Film Festival, the Anthology Film Archives, and other festivals and institutions around the country. As a current Cinema Research Institute fellow, Claire is studying online communities in order to understand how tools for film funding, distribution, and discovery should support them. Claire has worked at Killer Films, was selected for Stern’s Industry Mentorship Initiative program at Time Warner, and was awarded the IFP/Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film. Before graduate school, Claire was an honors student at Brown University where she studied art-semiotics and was awarded a Weston Award in Fine Arts for her filmmaking.  Claire is a big proponent of spare time and spends most of hers playing music and high-fiving her mutt puppy, Otis.

I have studied the role that community plays in new online tools for filmmakers and fans from behavioral and economic perspectives. I have researched how and why online communities form and endure in order to understand how tools for film funding, distribution, and discovery should support them. The underlying question of my research was how tools are currently helping or could better help filmmakers find and engage their fans, and, in turn, help fans find the films they want to see but don't realize exist. To address this question, I developed an evolving online resource to help filmmakers and fans navigate this online space.

Edward holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Before entering the Graduate Film Program at Tisch, he served as an Air Defense Artillery Officer in the US Army, as an internal auditor at the CBS Corporation and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC. His goal is to make films that not only entertain, but also open dialogue and break down stereotypes and prejudices. The films he has produced or directed have screened at festivals all over the world including: 38th Annual Student Academy Awards, Slamdace, Palm Springs, Woodstock, Cinequest, Clermont-Ferrand, and Gen Art.

I have developed a new model of independent filmmaking focused on the production of feature films produced within the walls of the university system that will hopefully make dollars and sense.