Franklin L. Bitz
President / Publisher

With more than 20 years of journalism experience underneath his belt, Franklin Bitz made a dramatic career change in the late 1980s: going into business as a venture capitalist. Using some seed money from regional Canadian governments and several well-known private foundations, Franklin developed a firm that was instrumental in helping nurture new companies in the high tech sector, environmental protection industry, and in other fields, such as travel and transportation. One of the few areas of interest that spans Franklin's entire professional career is a love of film, art, and culture. With FILMART, he is working to unite those passions with his long experience in journalism and business.

fbitz@filmart.ca

Massimo Amici
Film Director

Born in Rome, raised in Canada, and returning to live in Europe at the age of twenty-six, he acquired a dual outlook on life. He studied graphic design and worked in advertising for ten years, in both continents, before moving on to indipendent filmmaking in 2001, when he produced his first short film acaluma which won the Jury Prize at Coming Soon Television, and gave the name to his production company acalumaFILMS. Massimo went on to produce other short films, among which "She He" which won Best Short Film at the Queens International Film Festival. His personal philosophy of filmmaking reflects the European author whose formative years took place in North America.

www.massimoamici.com

Deanna R. Breglia
Writer

Living and working amid the studios of Hollywood gives Deanna access to the pulse of the mainstream film industry. As a pioneer blogger on the latest movie buzz, she has the opportunity to see and review many of the worthwhile films that rarely garner wide release as well as the blockbusters. For fifteen years, from screenwriting to grantwriting, from no budget to big budget, Deanna has seen all sides of the movie-making business.

email Deanna

Gianpiero Cognoli
Actor

In thirty years, from Rome to Toronto and back to Rome again, Gianpiero's played a large number of roles. He spoke three languages by the age of 4, started playing the piano at 10, got a BA in Psychology at 22 and an MBA at 24. Then he stopped, looked back, and realized he was in love with being different people. He's been acting ever since, on stage and on camera. He has also played the character of a freelance writer and editor for the last 10 years, working across different sectors and languages.

www.gianpierocognoli.com

Eric J. Lyman
Journalist

Eric J. Lyman is a Rome-based freelance writer, focusing on media and entertainment topics among others. He has had articles on the subject published by various outlets including USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Advertising Age, and United Press International. Eric grew up in Florida but has lived abroad since the early 1990s, including time in Spain and South America. He moved to Rome in 1999.

www.ericjlyman.com

Bernhard Warner
Journalist

Bernhard is a freelance journalist, aspiring entrepreneur and unapologetic Italophile. Since the mid 1990s, Bernhard has been writing about media, technology and culture for the likes of Reuters, Time Magazine, Wired, The Times of London, Variety and The Industry Standard. During that period, Bernhard has interviewed celebs ranging from Christina Aguilera to BitTorrent-user-turned-filmmaker Timo Vuorensola. Betraying his geek side, Bernhard prefers the penniless file-sharing revolutionaries to the pop stars. He has worked in New York, London and now Rome.

http://customcommunication.co.uk/