LOUISIANA ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT
LIST OF CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

SPEAKERS

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Governor John Bel Edwards

On January 11, 2016, Governor John Bel Edwards was sworn in as the 56th Governor of Louisiana.

The governor grew up in Amite, Louisiana as one of eight children. With four Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs in his lineage, he learned the importance of public service at an early age.

Governor Edwards graduated in 1988 from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The governor served eight years as an Airborne Ranger on active duty with the United States Army and commanded a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He went on to graduate Order of the Coif from Louisiana State University Law Center and set up a civil law practice in his home town of Amite.

In 2008, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 72, where he served for eight years until the voters of Louisiana elected him governor in November 2015.

Governor Edwards and his wife, First Lady Donna Edwards, have three children: Samantha Bel, Sarah Ellen, and John Miller.

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Secretary Don Pierson, CEcD

January 2016, Governor John Bel Edwards appointed Don Pierson to serve as Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development (LED). Secretary Pierson is Governor Edwards’ primary representative to Regional Economic Development Organizations, elected officials, local communities, and site selection consultants on all economic issues. He served as Assistant Secretary and Senior Director of Business Development at LED since 2005. Before coming to LED, Secretary Pierson served for 17 years as Executive Director of the Greater Bossier Economic Development Foundation. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as an Airborne and Ranger-Qualified Infantry Officer in the 82nd Airborne Division for five years. Secretary Pierson has over 28 years of economic development experience and is a Certified Economic Development Professional.

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Brantley Bissette

Brantley Bissette currently manages Production Services at Netflix, which is a core function of Studio Operations, under the Physical Production umbrella.  Production Services is responsible for establishing Netflix production hubs, engaging production service companies Netflix works with internationally and global vendor management.  His team also consists of Physical Assets & Archives and Studio Logistics. He previously lived for 6 years in New Orleans while working for Paramount Pictures and was on the New Orleans Film Festival Advisory Board.  Mr. Bissette has a dual bachelor’s degree in Managerial Economics & Religion from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.

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PANELISTS

Michael N'dolo

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Fallon Young

Fallon Young is Executive Director for the New Orleans Film Society, an organization that discovers, cultivates, and amplifies diverse voices of filmmakers who tell the stories of our time. NOFS produces the Oscar-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival annually and invests year-round in building a vibrant film culture in the South to share transformative cinematic experiences with audiences, and connect dynamic filmmakers to career-advancing resources.  

Prior to moving home to the South, Young, a native of Louisiana and East Texas, spent a decade in San Francisco, California where she ran a multi-disciplinary arts and cultural center, and developed a passion for supporting emerging artists and storytellers.  

Under Young’s leadership, NOFS has expanded its slate of filmmaker professional development programs designed to open doors for diverse Southern filmmakers, and the New Orleans Film Festival has achieved record-breaking attendance. The festival will celebrate its 30th Anniversary October 16–24, 2019 with a slate of 230+ films, a Filmmaker Forum featuring professional development panels and round tables, 9 days of networking events, and an Industry Exchange facilitating over 400 one-on-one meetings between filmmakers and industry gatekeepers. 

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Gregory Kallenberg

Gregory Kallenberg is the founder and executive director of the Louisiana Startup, Film, Food, and Music Prizes. As of 2019, the award-winning Louisiana Film Prize has contributed over $15 million in economic development for the Shreveport / Bossier area and reached tens of thousands of Film Prize fanatics. Since its inception in 2012, over 600 films have been created for the Film Prize using over 4,000 northwest Louisiana locals in casts and crew - the equivalent of 44 feature films!  

Kallenberg is also the founder of Rational Media, a documentary production company committed to creating balanced media and catalyzing civil, solutions-based discussions around divisive topics. He is the director and producer of the Rational Middle of Immigration and the award-winning Rational Middle of Energy (a partnership with Shell). To date, Rational Middle films have been downloaded, viewed, and shown over 6 million times. 

Before the Rational Middle, Kallenberg directed and produced Haynesville: A Nation’s Hunt for an Energy Future, a documentary chronicling a large natural gas discovery in northwest Louisiana and its effect on three individuals’ lives. Haynesville played at conferences, universities, and prestigious festivals like SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival.  

Kallenberg graduated from the University of Texas where he received a degree in Film. He also attended the film program at the University of Southern California. His background includes event organizing, filmmaking, investment consulting, and philanthropy. He has been a writer and story editor for the award-winning production house, Bluefield Productions. He has also written for Esquire Magazine, the New York Times, and the Austin American Statesman, among other publications. Kallenberg was named the 2019 Champion of Culture by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. He currently serves on the SXSW Interactive executive board in Austin, the Artspace board in Shreveport, and is the chairman of the Deaf Action Center (Shreveport, LA) and Junior Achievement Laureate. 

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Nicelle Herrington

Watching Nicelle Herrington’s production work you feel what makes Nicelle special: her passion for the work. From the seed of an idea through the end of distribution, Nicelle loves every detail . She produces across multiple platforms including commercial campaigns, music videos and documentaries. Her notable work includes the short film ‘Mr.Okra’ an official selection to the Sundance and Cannes Film festivals, and the feature length documentary “A Tuba To Cuba” an official selection of SXSW Film festival. Both projects highlight her passion for the culture of New Orleans. Her music accolades include Executive Producing Solange Knowles’ multi award winning music videos 'Please, Don't Touch My Hair’ and ‘Cranes In The Sky’. Most recently Nicelle produced the trio of music videos, “Come On To Me”, for the legendary Paul McCartney. Nicelle serves as Head of Development at Nom de Guerre Films where she is pursuing her passion for bringing people together to create and develop remarkable projects.

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Lauren Domino

Lauren Domino is a writer and producer. She produced the short film Alone which won the Short Film Jury Award: Non Fiction at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was on the Oscar shortlist for Best Non-Fiction Short. Her work as a producer also includes The Evidence of Things Not Seen, The Earth is Humming, Black Folk Don’t, Like, and America which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Her work as a writer includes the short film Intersection and the feature films Paper Chase (in development at Gunpowder & Sky) and ALL STYLES which premiered on Showtime. She has produced branded content, photo spreads, and live events for The New Yorker, Elle.com, The Oscars, Microsoft, and Essence Festival. She is a 2017 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellow.

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Marcus Brown

Marcus Lyle Brown is a producer, consultant and academic with over 20 years experience in film/television, digital media development and higher education. He is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Digital Twin Studios.

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Matthew Findley

Matthew Findley co-founded inXile Entertainment, Inc. in 2002 and serves as its President. Previous to inXile, Matthew worked at Interplay Entertainment from 1989 to 2002. At Interplay, Matthew served most of his career in Product Development, as a Programmer and Game Designer. He also served as Producer, Executive Producer and Division Head of Interplay's first autonomous internal studio. Before starting inXile, Matthew served as Interplay’s General Manager of Europe for two and a half years in London, England and managed all of European development, marketing, and distribution.

At inXile entertainment, Matthew has returned to his game-making roots and serves as Creative Director and/or Executive Producer of all of inXile’s games. In additions to the critical success of their products, inXile has become one the most successful crowdfunded companies of all time with three multimillion dollar crowd funding campaigns for Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and The Bard’s Tale IV.

In 2015, Matthew moved to New Orleans to open inXile’s first satellite studio. inXile NOLA is currently home to over 30 game developers with plans to grow that number to 40 in the next year.

In their first year, inXile NOLA has ramped up to 25 team members and is currently working on an unannounced VR title for Oculus Rift.

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Marcus Morton

Marcus Morton is a corporate leader and serial entrepreneur; he has a proven track record in both the content and technology sectors and has successfully worked with a broad range of companies, from multi-nationals to start-ups. Early in his career, Marcus rose to become the youngest vice president in the history of EMI Records Group North America. When he saw the music industry changing, he also changed directions, opting to create and manage award-winning ventures in both technology and film industries. Meeting with success, Marcus sold his web start-up, OneNetNow.com, to Earthlink in 2001, while his film company was housed at renowned film studio MGM/UA for many years. His many film credits include the US box office #1 hit, You Got Served. Marcus also served as California Film Commissioner under Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

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Dan Clifton