Panel Event: Sages of a New Age

Sages of a New Age: How Social Media and Film Intersect

In this new age of technology, film is ever evolving. Social media plays a role in filmmaking in a way we have never seen before. A team of distinguished panelists including female filmmakers, film festival directors, film distributors and communication experts discuss the way social media and film intersect. Our esteemed moderator, Dr. Heather Addison, Chair of UNLV’s Film Department, will lead the discussion.

Saturday March 23, 2019 at 12 PM at the Eclipse Theaters

Panelists include: Danielle Jablonski (Clexacon Director), Angelica Nwandu (screenwriter, and founder of The Shade Room), Tina Ratterman (owner of BIG & Digital Distribution), Emily Skyle-Golden (filmmaker, and Executive Director of Cordillera International Film Festival), and Shahab Zargari (Communications Coordinator UNLV’s College of Fine Arts). Panel will be moderated by Dr. Heather Addison, Chair of UNLV's Department of Film.

Panel: How Social Media and Film Intersect

Confirmed Panelists

Dr. Heather Addison | Moderator

Dr. Heather Addison joined UNLV FILM in 2016 as the new Chair. She has taught a broad range of courses in film history, criticism, and theory. Her primary research area is Hollywood's relationship to American culture, and at UNLV is focusing on the materials in the Department of Film’s Howard Hughes Motion Picture Records.

Addison has published her work in a large number of scholarly journals. Her books include Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture (Routledge, 2003) and Motherhood Misconceived: Representing the Maternal in U.S. Films(SUNY, 2010), a collection of essays co-edited with Elaine Roth and Mary Kate Goodwin-Kelly.

JJ Anderson | Panelist

At the age of 21, JJ Anderson was hired on as a talk show host at an independent sports television network. During this time, she worked side by side with Mortal Kombat producer and the station’s founder Larry Kassanoff to deliver original quality programming on an international platform. Through hosting, JJ was able to discover a true passion for connecting with others and so she quickly began to take on the role of a producer in order to be more hands on with the process.

Recognizing the ample opportunity and freedom in digital media- JJ helped to establish LA based production company HRDWRKER, with the mission of creating inspirational on-demand content. Through HRDWRKER, she strives to help motivate her peers by exposing them to captivating stories of modern day trailblazers. Since the company’s establishment in 2014, JJ has had amazing opportunities to create segments and series for various world-renowned media corporations and entities such as: NYLON, Juxtapoz Magazine, The California African-American Museum, and The Center Theater Group.

Danielle Jablonski | Panelist

Danielle Jablonski is an Owner and Executive Director of ClexaCon, DASH Productions, DASH Photos and Tello Films. Danielle is responsible for coordinating the logistics and working with venues and vendors to ensure smooth operations of all companies. With experience in graphic design and web design she is also responsible for the companies’s graphics and branding. Danielle is also a founding board member of The Visibility Fund, a 501c3 non profit organization that aims to promote positive representation of underrepresented communities in media through making grants to filmmakers and media creators who are creating content for TV, online media or film distribution. She has worked as a Marketing Director at an NYC-based tech company. Prior to that role she founded and was the Executive Director of CRUX Climbing, a 501c3 non profit organization in NYC whose mission is to improve the physical and emotional well-being of members of the LGBT community through sports. She is a graduate of Yale University and studied cello in Australia. She has performed in five countries.

Angelica Nwandu | Panelist

Angelica Nwandu is the founder of The Shade Room, a site that covers celebrity news and celebrates black culture. She was named as one of Forbes "30 under 30" in 2016 and has created a media company that inspired Refinery 29 to dub Nwandu "the Oprah of our generation." Night Comes On is Angelica Nwandu’s feature film writing debut.

Tina Ratterman | Panelist

Tina Rattermanhas promoted films in Museums since 1997 as Marketing and PR Director for the Kentucky Science Center & IMAX® Theater (1997-2003). Ratterman moved to Distribution in 2003 as Director of Distribution and Marketing for Giant Screen Films (2003-2009), and started BIG & Digital in 2009. In 2010, Tina moved to Las Vegas and recently created the Cinema Learning Challenge Field Trip Program, hosted at Eclipse Theaters, for students in Nevada to experience educational films with hands-on activities for an out-of-classroom learning experience. This Program is growing and has served over 700 students since Spring of 2018 with Groups confirmed for Spring and Fall 2019.

Tina is an active member of the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) and Board of Directors (2017-2020). She was a recipient of the Big Shoe Award in 2008 and was the Emcee for GSCA’s 2009 Marketing Achievement Awards. As a consultant to the Kentucky Science Center in 2010, she was instrumental in the KSC winning the award for Best Film Launch by Theater in 2010 for Van Gogh: Brush with Genius. She was also published in “The Big Frame” in Fall 2003 with the article: How to Gain More from your Media Partnerships. She was the recipient (as Marketing Director of KSC) of the Best Film Launch by Theater for Michael Jordan to the Max for the Kentucky Science Center in 1998.

Emily Skyle-Golden | Panelist

A former News Anchor turned Television Host, Emily Skyle has decided to take a stab at a career that doesn't require a teleprompter...and allows her to eat carbs.

As a News Anchor, Emily Skyle quickly learned that although she loved reporting on what was going on in the world - she enjoyed telling the stories behind the headlines even more. She left the world of journalism and devoted the next 10 years of her life to writing. Her quick wit and animated story telling skills landed her on the Chicago stages of Second City, iO and eventually brought her back into the world of television and film, both in front of and behind the camera. Whether she’s hosting a travel show, writing and directing quirky screenplays and commercials, taking a short-lived spin as a Home Shopping Host, or tackling a creative social media campaign – you can always count on her to bring her refreshing outlook on life and high energy personality to the table.

Shahab Zargari | Panelist

Shahab Zargari is an award-winning filmmaker with a passion for art, photography, music, and creative advertising. He graduated in 2000 from the University of California at Irvine with a degree in Sociology, and a minor in Education.

He joined UNLV in November 2016 as the communications coordinator for the College of Fine Arts & Performing Arts Center. His job responsibilities include communications and social media management for the departments of art, dance, film, theatre, the School of Architecture, the School of Music, and the Performing Arts Center.