Film at Mason Advisory Board

Mr. Theodore A. Adams III is an Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. He is President of Unified Industries Incorporated, an engineering services company that was founded in 1970. He is also Founder and President of Red Zeppelin Productions LLC, a film and entertainment company based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mr. Adams has a legacy of community service. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Stan Lee Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy, arts, and education. He also founded and runs Unified Empowerment Inc., and non-profit organization dedicated to education and to finding employment opportunities for persons with severe disabilities.

Mr. Adams is a two-time Ironman Finisher and received certification as a USAT Certified Triathlon Coach.  When swimming, biking and running aren’t enough Mr. Adams  enjoys martial arts as a Black Belt in Taekwondo, dancing through the clouds as a licensed pilot, or picking up the Didgeridoo to drone the night away. He has studied multiple languages including: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Japanese. Mr. Adams embodies the Renaissance Man.  

Mr. Adams has had an interest in making movies since he was a child. Literally a rocket scientist, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and his Masters of Business Administration from UCLA. Mr. Adams also completed post graduate studies at the Yale-China Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School. 

At no point during his academic career did Mr. Adams consider a career in film, but rather focused on engineering and business.  It was his business acumen that made his dream of movie making a reality.  Othello-san was his Directorial debut.  He won Artist of the Year and Best Director for his work on that film.

Mr. Adams put pen to paper and jotted down a few notes, and started to mold the story that was the genius of the award-winning and best-selling feature film, TRI, and numerous award-winning short films including Othello-san, Sweet Distraction and The Charles Effect.  Mr. Adams is a registered member of the Writers Guild of America East and SAG-AFTRA.

It takes more than creativity to make movies; it takes a strong sense of business and connections that come with it.  Mr. Adams’s engineering company, Unified Industries Inc. (UII), has an outstanding reputation of providing high-quality engineering consultation services and products to government agencies and commercial customers. Dedicated to excellence, UII’s expertise of logistics, engineering, training, information technology, metrology, calibration, and quality assurance has allotted us the opportunity to fulfill over 650 contractual obligations. UII supports some of the most sophisticated weapons platforms for the US and UK Navies.

For his latest venture, Mr Adams is launching his own streaming network called The Laurel Channel. The Laurel Channel will provide a platform dedicated to presenting films that have won awards at vetted film festivals from around the world. Film Festivals, Filmmakers, and Actors will be able to showcase their events and work on a unique channel that allows the viewers to discover more information about the productions and artists with access to behind the scenes footage, interviews, reviews and links to filmmaker and actor show reels.

https://www.flowstatefilms.com/meet-leola

Leola Calzolai-Stewart is a co-founder of Flowstate Films and a director, editor, and producer, with over 15 years' experience in documentary film and video. The American Diplomat, her directorial debut, was awarded two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a development grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. The project was selected as part of Black Public Media’s 2019 360 Incubator+ program and Leola is one of Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab Fellows for 2019-21. She co-produced and edited the feature documentary, The Last Song Before the War and  edited the feature documentary, Dear Walmart. Calzolai-Stewart has an MA in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School and a BA in international affairs from the University of California, Davis. Calzolai-Stewart studied film at the Tshwane Institute of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa and has lived in Mali, South Africa, Belgium, Brazil, and Canada.

VFS  Sep 21, 2022

Folliard is the founder and head cinematographer of Gearshift TV. Folliard has been honing his photography and videography skills for more than 20 years. Jim is a Virginia native who has spent his entire life in the area. Jim is very well known in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for his work with local restaurants, athletes, car dealerships, night clubs, and other business owners. It is not uncommon to catch one of Jim's commercials on TV as well as large venues such as the Jumbotron at Fed Ex Field. Jim is married to Shuggie Folliard and they live in Herndon, Virginia, with their three kids Gigi, Jimmy and Fiona.

Houghton joined Women in Film & Video (WIFV) as executive director in August 2005. Since then, membership has grown to more than 1,000 media professionals and averages 70 professional development offerings per year along with the Image Makers program for high school students and the Kids World Film Festival for 5th graders. WIFV has added fiscal sponsorship of independent media projects, a web pilot mentoring initiative, management of Women in Film & Television International, and the Carolyn’s First Decade Fund to its portfolio of programs that benefit members. In 2015, WIFV launched a fundraising campaign to establish a Seed Fund for Documentary Filmmakers. She excels at putting WIFV resources, connections and advocates at the service of WIFV members.

Houghton joined WIFV after a short stint as a non-profit administration consultant with clients in the mid-Atlantic and a 14 year association with the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) where she started as an unpaid intern and left after an 18-month position as interim President. At the AAF, Houghton also managed the national Accent on Architecture initiative, including producing four one-hour PBS format television programs, a chapter grants program promoting public outreach, and coordinating the national awards program. She served in several curatorial and administrative capacities at The Octagon Museum during her time at the AAF. Houghton graduated from Beloit College with a BA in History and from the University of Virginia with a MA in Urban Planning and Certificate in Historic Preservation. Prior to graduate school, Houghton taught high school and served several years as the executive assistant for a prominent tax/estate attorney in Boston. She has served on the boards of the DC Architectural Foundation, DC Film Alliance, and Wide Angle Youth Media. She is currently a member of the WETA Community Council.

Kelly has been a member of the Film and Video Studies Advisory Board since December 2012. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Film Studies and Video Production, Minor in Business in May 2012. Kelly worked as chief staff liaison to a board director and regional manager of U.S. operations for a multinational insurance brokerage firm and department manager of its Washington, D.C. branch. She is a frequent juror for student film pitches and senior capstone films and an annual contributor to the Film at Mason scholarship fund and various projects.

https://www.flowstatefilms.com/meet-kiley

Kiley Kraskouskas is a co-founder of Flowstate Films and a producer and writer. Her documentary films include The Last Song Before the War (2013), Dear Walmart (2019), and The American Diplomat (2022), a co-production with PBS’ American Experience. Recent projects include The Free State of George Floyd, produced in collaboration with the Community at 38th and Chicago and the Arizona State University Center for Work and Democracy, and a nine-part documentary film series celebrating George Washington University’s Bicentennial.

VFS  Sep 21, 2022

https://mahrya.com/

Mahrya MacIntire is an Emmy® Award-nominated documentary producer, and multimedia artist. She is particularly invested in exploring topics related to community (re)building and trauma healing. MacIntire most recently produced HBO's The Slow Hustle, directed by Sonja Sohn. In 2022, MacIntire was awarded entrance into The Producer’s Guild of America. Her work has aired on HBO and PBS, and screened at AFI DOCS, IDFA, DOC NYC, Urbanworld, the National Building Museum, Georgetown Law School, and the University of Virginia. She has contributed to projects for Netflix, Glamour magazine, FKA Twigs, and VICE. MacIntire is a graduate of the Production program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. She is currently based in Washington, DC.

VFS Nov 2, 2022

Peña has more 30 years of ex­peri­ence in the broad­cast and cable televi­sion indus­tries. He is currently the executive director of Fairfax Public Access (FPA), a nonprofit media center with a $3 million budget that provides training in television and radio production and operates a network of four cable television channels. This FPA cable network is carried over Verizon FiOS TV throughout northern Virginia; over Cox Communications in Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, Virginia; and over Comcast Cable in Reston, Virginia. The FPA production studios include three television studios, two radio studios and advanced post-production editing facilities.

Peña’s experience includes television industry work for International Media Service News, C-SPAN, Montgomery Community Television, the American Red Cross National Television Center and the Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic) Corporate Video Center. He served as Executive Consultant for the Whitehouse Chronicle public television series, produced in cooperation with WHUT, Howard University Television. Additionally, Mr. Peña has served as consultant for the National Division of Time Warner Cable. Further, he has considerable teaching experience, having taught numerous classes in studio television production and producers’ workshops.

Peña has been a session speaker at conferences of television media professional associations, such as the National Academy of Cable Programming and the Alliance for Community Media Mid-Atalantic Region. He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fairfax County, Virginia; the Board of Directors of Montgomery Community Media; and the Alliance for Community Media’s Mid-Atlantic Region Board of Directors.

He has served in a political leadership role in supporting public access media on both the federal and State levels. Peña’s activities in this area include giving testimony before the Virginia General Assembly and meeting with the staffs of U.S. Senators and Representatives from across the nation to lobby in the best interests of community television. Further, he has written a number of FCC filings, to protect and advance the best needs and interests of FPA and public access media in general, and has written a number of articles, regarding community media, and been quoted in print media, including the national cable industry magazine, Multichannel News.

https://www.flowstatefilms.com/meet-rachell

A co-founder of Flowstate Films, Rachell Shapiro is also an award-winning producer, director, and writer. With over 17 years in the industry, she has produced independent films, films for educational institutions and non-profits, and two CINE-award-winning films for Habitat for Humanity of DC and the non-profit, Comfort Cases. Prior to co-founding Flowstate Films, Shapiro spent 10 years producing numerous marketing and training videos for various large corporate and federal government clients. She directed the short film, From Hell to Here (2012).

VFS  Sep 21, 2022

Samirah Alkassim – Assistant Professor, Film and Video Studies

Tommy Britt – Full Professor, Film and Video Studies

Hans Charles – Associate Professor, Film and Video Studies

Giovanna Chesler – Full Professor, Film and Video Studies

Cynthia Fuchs – Interim Director/Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies

Susan Graziano – Director of Development, College of Visual and Performing Arts

Nikyatu Jusu – Assistant Professor, Film and Video Studies

Amanda Kraus – Associate Professor, Film and Video Studies

Justin Plakas – Assistant Professor, Film and Video Studies

Samantha Sinagra – Academic and Program Manager, Film and Video Studies

Anjuli Singh – Exhibitions and Office Coordinator, Film and Video Studies

Ben Steger – Associate Professor, Film and Video Studies

Lisa Thrasher – Associate Professor, Film and Video Studies

Maura Ugarte – Assistant Professor, Film and Video Studies