The Festival Staff at the last meeting before BIFF 2019 Photo by Randy Malone. Thanks Randy!
| Robin Beeck Executive Director |
Robin is a critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose films have won awards in over a dozen major film festivals including Banff and Telluride Mountainfilm. Her films,”Grandpa’s In The Tuffshed” and “Dead Last: A Tale of Triumph” went on world tours, traveling from Athens to Antigua. Robin traveled to festivals all over the country and overseas prior to founding the Boulder International Film Festival. Robin has also been a top salesperson for a wide range of high-technology firms. | |
| Kathy Beeck Director |
Kathy was a regional marketing director at Wild Oats Markets for seven years. At Wild Oats, she handled community relations and PR in addition to her marketing responsibilities, and managed a staff of 25 people. Prior to Wild Oats, Kathy worked for four years for the World Trade Center Alaska, opening new offices in the Russian Far East, and moving to Moscow and starting her own business in 1992. As a producer for her sister Robin’s films, Kathy traveled to film festivals all over the country and overseas before partnering with Robin to found the Boulder International Film Festival. | |
| Kevin Smith Executive Producer |
In a career spanning more than 30 years in the event industry, Kevin has created and produced hundreds of events for Fortune 500 companies including firms like Fidelity Investments, Boston Scientific, and Price Waterhouse Coopers. His unusually diverse background also includes in-depth research on corporate innovation for Polaroid, the creation of custom team programs for companies like Ocean Spray, Fidelity, and ITT, and years of writing, performing, and producing improvisational comedy with ImprovBoston and Midnight Snacks. He has served on the programming board of the International Special Events Society, and brings a wealth of creativity and event production experience to the BIFF family. | |
| Shawna Sprowls Program Manager |
Shawna Sprowls joined the BIFF team in 2015 as a member of the volunteer support committee and was hired as Program Manager in August. Shawna brings over fifteen years of nonprofit and programming experience, having spent nearly two decades working in community broadcasting for Colorado radio stations in Crested Butte, the Roaring Fork Valley and, most recently, at KGNU Boulder/Denver. She is passionate about the arts, community engagement and social impact and is thrilled to be a part of the BIFF team. |
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| Christine Northrup Sponsorship Director |
A Boulder native and BHS grad, Chris was thrilled to return to her hometown to find a vibrant and thriving local film festival. As film geek of long standing, Chris brings many years of advertising, promotions, marketing and sponsorship experience to her role at BIFF. In her past life, she was Manager of Youth and Family Marketing for Burger King Corporation, making millions of Star Wars, Spiderman, Shrek, Simpsons, Powerpuff Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants toys. Other highlights included catering The Kids Choice Awards afterparty, creating a futuristic BK for the film Men in Black 2, and managing Burger King’s title sponsorship of the 2001 Backstreet Boys Tour. Her ears have just recently stopped ringing from all the high-pitched screaming. | |
| Glenn Reese Director, Marketing & Communications |
Glenn Reese is a community-oriented outdoorsman with a passion for adapting innovative technologies to real world problems. After working as a GeoSpacial engineer for 14 years, Glenn has moved to the realm of entertainment as the Marketing Director for the Boulder International Film Festival, where he is bringing the world of technology and art together. Glenn is excited to be a part of the festival in helping to launch BIFF’s new Virtual Reality Program. | |
| Beverly Silva Development Manager |
After 33 years in the hospitality industry, Beverly branched into a new phase of life. Her latest endeavors are fueled by her passion for supporting the economic vitality of Boulder and specifically the vibrancy of Downtown. Over the past decade, Beverly took great pride in her supporting role of a BIFF sponsorship while she served as the Director of Sales and Marketing for the historic Hotel Boulderado. Hence, she seemed to be a natural fit for the new position of Development Manager that was created at BIFF in the fall of 2016. Beverly thrives on meeting new people and building relationships, so she’s really enjoying her focus on growing BIFF through new and existing sponsorships. | |
| Dave Riepe Technical Director |
Dave is the owner of Space Farmer Productions, a Denver based audio/video, staging and events company that specializes in film presentation. He’s also the founder of the Outdoor Cinema Network, which includes the Boulder Outdoor Cinema and two dozen other outdoor movie programs around Colorado. His company provides professional technical support and screening equipment for a variety of film festivals including the Boulder International Film Festival, Boulder Adventure Film Festival, Vail Film Festival and MountainFilm in Telluride. Adding to this a long history in the computer technology industry, he is the ultimate super geek who loves jammin’ on his drums! | |
| Lisa Bell Music Producer |
Lisa Bell is a singer/songwriter and business & marketing consultant specializing in the natural products industry. She is an avid world traveler and the consummate volunteer junkie. Lisa loves films for their emotional transformational powers and ability to transport us to a new world or new dimension. Lisa has worked with BIFF the last few years as a Filmmaker Liaison and has had the privilege of learning amazing life lessons from a variety of filmmakers and VIPs. As the Filmmaker Liaison Coordinator, Lisa matches the intricate filmmaker & guest schedules with those of the volunteer Liaisons to ensure smooth and professional transport and guidance throughout the festival. | |
| Ron Bostwick Special Event Producer and Host |
Ron brings more than 30 years of experience to his role as Special Event Producer & Host for the Boulder International Film Festival, including hosting on-stage special guest interviews since BIFF ’07 (Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, Shirley MacLaine, Oliver Stone, Blythe Danner, William H. Macy, James Franco, Rep. John Lewis & more). Among his varied past roles are: Entertainment Director/Start Line Announcer for Boulder’s annual BolderBoulder 10k road race; Morning Show Host & Promotions Director at the Festival’s radio sponsor, 105.5 The Colorado Sound; and live music booker for the nationally-syndicated radio show eTown. His background also includes film/commercial production/post production in Boston for seven years and handling national/regional/local accounts for an international advertising agency. And as a true fan of cinema, he has run his own Academy Awards Oscar Pool for 25 years. | |
| Eric Hoffman Stage Manager in Chief |
Eric is a bioentrepreneur and the co-founder of Evolve Biosciences, a local company which specializes in the commercialization and transfer of bioscience technology. He is active promoting Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) programs, volunteering with the Broomfield Public Library as a member of their Science Task Force and running their after-school tutoring program. Eric has been managing the Stage Manager team for many years now and he enjoys the opportunity to celebrate the art of film. | |
| Arlene LaMar Registration Coordinator |
Arlene is an Emergency Trauma Registrar with many years of experience. She has been volunteering for film festivals for the last four years and has several years of outdoor leadership volunteer experiences. Her twelve years of customer service experience are the key to her success as BIFF’s Registration Coordinator. | |
| Rosalie Sheffield Venue Manager |
Rosalie Sheffield brings a wealth of experience to BIFF. She started her career as a news editor for CNN and the ABC affiliates in Houston and Austin, and worked with the Texas Music Association to launch the first SXSW. Here in Colorado, she has managed high level business celebrations and awards shows for the Boulder Chamber and the Boulder County Business Report, and currently serves as the Conference Manager for the Rocky Mountain VidExpo in Denver. Now running her own company, Dynamic Special Events, Rosalie continues to bring creativity and enthusiasm to events throughout the region. And, yes, BIFF rocks! | |
| John Williams Educational Outreach Director |
After retiring and tiring of the retired life, 28 year teaching veteran John Williams has decided to jump back into the crazy world of teenagers and film making. Having desperately missed a captive audience, John is now the director of the Youth Advisory Council and has been working with film students in five schools within the Boulder Valley School District. Seriously, John is passionate about helping young people understand and appreciate film as an art form and also furthering their skills as young film makers. This is his third year working with BIFF. | |
| Sherri Fike Venue Manager Coordinator |
Mary Molloy-Rios IT Coordinator |
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| Becca Heaton Program Editor |
Ash Collins Box Office and Cinema Manager |
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