ABOUT THE BLACKMAGIC COLLECTIVE

Founded with the belief that the art of filmmaking should be accessible to all, the Blackmagic Collective brings together filmmakers from all disciplines and all experience levels — to learn from, share with, and inspire each other.

With a robust schedule of events and filmmaker initiatives, the Collective offers:

• presentations by expert content creators
• panels covering cutting edge trends and techniques in production and post-production
• hands-on training sessions and workshops
• a film festival celebrating new short works
• networking with peers
• accelerator programs for filmmakers, and more

Blackmagic Collective is a 501 (c) Non-Profit volunteer-run organization.

The Team

Jenn Page

Industry Role(s): Director/Producer
BMC Position: Executive Director
Jenn Page is an accomplished feature and series director who was selected by Take The Lead as one of the “50 Women Who Can Change The World in Media & Entertainment.” She has filmed projects for/with internationally known brands and artists including Marvel’s Agents of Shield, The Voice, The Mindy Project, Blackmagic Design, Panic at the Disco, Weezer, Billy Ray Cyrus, Wolfmother, Estee Lauder, and Hans Zimmer. Her work includes the award-winning comedy musical feature film Waiting in the Wings starring Lee Meriwether and Shirley Jones, the award-winning musical comedy series My Two Black Girlfriends, the award-winning dramatic rock opera The Breakout, and the International Academy of Web Television’s live awards show hosted by Tony award-winner Roger Bart.  Her latest flim Playing with Beethoven, a feature film starring Kadeem Hardison and Shannon Elizabeth, releases in theatres in 2021.

Jenn took on the role of Executive Director of the Blackmagic Collective in 2020 to help the Collective grow initiatives that would help spotlight and serve underrepresented behind the camera talent.

Connect with Jenn:

Instagram     Facebook     Twitter      Jenn’s Work

John FK Parenteau

Industry Role(s): Producer/Director/Writer
BMC Position: Chairman of the Board
John FK Parenteau has been an active entertainment industry professional for over 30 years, working in a wide range of areas, including Cinematographer, VFX Supervisor and Producer. His early career began as a cinematographer, after graduating from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1987. He transitioned into computer animation in 1992, working for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment as both a visual effects animator and a manager for the company’s fledgling FX division, Amblin Imaging. John’s credits include visual effects supervision, producing and executive producing on such projects as Hunger Games, Oceans 8, Iron Man and Star Trek: Voyager, for which he won an Emmy Award©.

John has continued to shoot throughout his career, staying active with web series and music videos. He has also produced a variety of projects, including web series Ark (available on Hulu), comedy On Hold, and feature film Danika, starring Marisa Tomei, as well as a wide range of online episodic and short films. He recently Executive Produced sci fi short Alone, which premiered on WatchDust.com.

Through his personal production banner, Bigfoot Robot, John develops and produces his own content, from feature film to series work, as well as producing projects for a variety of clients. John’s latest music video, Don’t Leave Me Alone, featuring artist Vinn Lombardo, premiered at the New Filmmaker LA festival in August 2020.

Connect with John:

Instagram     Facebook      John’s Work

Chris Edgar

Industry Role(s): Composer/Producer
BMC Position: Secretary, Board of Directors
Chris Edgar is an attorney, film producer and composer based in Los Angeles. Previously at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and now in his solo law practice, Chris has represented numerous entertainment clients in intellectual property, financing and commercial litigation matters. Chris is a graduate of Stanford University School of Law and served as a law clerk to now-Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court.

On the music and production side of his odd double life, Chris has scored numerous films for which he won best film score awards, including The Breakout: A Rock Opera, Ghost in the Gun, and Steve’s Quest: The Musical, and toured as a drummer with signed recording artists.

Connect with Chris:

Instagram     Facebook      Twitter      Chris’ Work

Brittney Bertier

Industry Role(s): Actor/Writer
BMC Position: Social Media Manager
Brittney Bertier is an actress and comedy writer, best known for originating the role of Norma Jeane in Marilyn! The New Musical at The Paris in Las Vegas. TV credits include Netflix’s Atypical and Jane The Virgin. She co-created and stars in the web series transpLAnts, which won best comedy at Indieboom Fest 2019, and her solo writing debut Doublemint Bitch was awarded internationally.

She most recently produced A Very Covid Christmas: The Radio Play (on Spotify and Apple Podcasts) and is hard at work on her first feature. She owns and operates a social media management and photography business, Rebel Fern, and is committed to always finding the funny!

Connect with Brittney:

Instagram     Brittney’s Work

Harleen Silva

Industry Role(s): Actor/Musician
BMC Position: Film Festival Coordinator
Harleen Silva is an award-winning singer/songwriter and actor. She recently won the “Best Single” at Rockfest for her haunting song Possessed. She was nominated in multiple festivals for her lead role in the film Soledad which premiered at Walt Disney Studios. She began her career at age two in the film DeadGirl. At seven she had a recurring role in the multi-award-winning series Pretty. By age 16 she had worked in almost every crew position from production assistant to camera operator and often still works as an assistant director for Heart on Fire Productions’ films.

In 2020 she took on the role of Blackmagic Collective Film Festival Coordinator, helping select and program from nearly 1,000 film entries. She is currently in the development stage of her first full album as a solo artist as well as working on her other art installations and projects. 

Connect with Harleen:

Instagram      Harleen’s Work

Kayla Marie Coates

Industry Role(s): Actor/Director/Producer
BMC Position: Production Coordinator
Kayla Marie Coates began her acting career at the age of five and continued doing theatre throughout grade school and high school. She quickly discovered her love for screen acting going into her junior year of high school.

For the past three years, Kayla has had the rewarding opportunity to help direct and teach children whilst encouraging them to express their creativity and uniqueness through the inspiring program: Camp Bravo. She has always toyed with the idea of experimenting behind the camera, and since she made the move to Los Angeles in early 2020 to pursue her passion for screen acting, that vague idea turned into a spark that ignited a burning desire inside of herself.

She launched her own Youtube channel this year creating content where she defies stereotypes, embraces individuality and discusses and destigmatizes taboo topics whilst being positive and uplifting others- plus being fun and quirky all at the same time.
Kayla hopes to start a production company some day down the line and yearns to make movies for the rest of her life whilst leaving a meaningful impact in this world in some way.

She firmly believes The Blackmagic Collective is a monumental resource in inspiring and assisting fellow independent filmmakers, which is one of the reasons why she decided to take on this role.

Connect with Kayla:

Instagram          Facebook     YouTube     Kayla’s Work

Shimon Galiley

Industry Role(s): Cinematographer/Gaffer
BMC Position: Technical Director – Live Events
Shimon Galiley is a cinematographer, gaffer and prior to his work in film, he lived in New York working as a musician. While in the city, Shimon fell in love with filmmaking when he started creating and directing music videos. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles and has worked on a variety of broadcast, streaming and traditional film projects, including ABC’s The Happy Days of Garry Marshall and Disney+’s Big Shot.

He also works as a technical director, using his film background to bring high production values to livestreams.

Connect with Shimon:

Instagram     Shimon’s Work

BMC Initiative Leaders

Soma Helmi - Breakthrough Initiative

Industry Role(s): Director/Writer
BMC Position: Breakthrough Initiative Director
Born to an Indonesian father and a Polish mother, Soma Helmi hails from Bali and directed all 20 episodes of Season 3 and 4 of Snapchat’s Original Series  The Dead Girls Detective Agency. The series is produced by Keshet Media and Insurrection Media.

She works frequently with Catherine Hardwicke as a creative consultant. Soma worked with Catherine on her feature Miss Bala (2019) for Columbia Pictures and Misher Films, as a script coordinator on Hardwicke’s short film Life Sentence for Quibi, and as a creative assistant on her upcoming Quibi Series Don’t Look Deeper. Soma’s short film In Case of Emergency was also recently selected as one of the top 10 entries in Amazon’s 2019 New Voices Film Festival.

Soma began her career working as an Art Director for J. Walter Thompson in Jakarta, where her clients were Unilever and Pfizer. After leaving J. Walter Thompson, she would go on to direct commercial spots for Google, Klondike, Nike, Chevrolet and Campbell’s.

Despite the numerous development programs that have cropped up in the entertainment industry, Soma felt there was still a lack of real diversity in most positions. She wanted to open the doors for some of the more underrepresented individuals who are out there working hard to be heard – like Indigenous and South East Asian filmmakers – and need to be exposed to decision makers to make that leap into episodic TV. Thus, the Breakthrough Initiative was born.

Connect with Soma:

Instagram     Soma’s Work

Cate Carson - Future Directors of Studio Features

Industry Role(s): Producer/Director
BMC Position: FDSF Initiative Director
Cate Carson is an LA-based writer/director with award-winning feature screenplays and short films, including the national wildcard-winning Lionsgate short Masque, which also earned her a directing award at the Crystal & Lucy’s. As a director selectee for the Alliance of Women Directors Short Film Program grant, Of Mine premiered at Disney Studios. And her latest adventure suspense short, The Plumber, won the grand jury award at the Blackmagic Collective Film Festival in Nov to kick off a 2021 festival run.

Prior to a return to film in 2012, she served ten years as a decorated military police officer and instructor and transitioned to Intelligence during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom while adventuring through Europe. Later, as a victims’ advocate and civilian detective, this “spectrum of humanity” experience lent to a unique perspective on human connection. It also shaped her focus in narrative adventure and suspense stories about unconventional characters in extraordinary circumstances, with bold accompanying visuals. She is in development of her debut feature.

The inclusive ethos and leadership in action at the Blackmagic Collective led her to becoming an ambassador for the community, and team lead on the inaugural Future Directors of Studio Features initiative.

Connect with Cate:

Instagram     Facebook      Twitter     Cate’s Work

Shannon DeVido - All Access Initiative

Industry Role(s): Actor/Writer
BMC Position: All Access Initiative Director
The BAFTA Breakthrough and Casting Society of America Top 20 of 2020 actress and comedian Shannon DeVido is best known for her roles in Hulu’s Difficult People, Netflix’s Insatiable, Comedy Central’s Delco Proper, and Law and Order: SVU, as well as appearances on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and Sesame Street. Shannon starred in the world premieres of Michael Lew’s dark comedy Teenage Dick at the Public Theater and Samuel D. Hunter’s The Healing.

Shannon has also acquired a dedicated following on her disability-focused comedy YouTube channel Stare at Shannon. In her latest project, she leads the cast of the full-length independent feature film Best Summer Ever, an award-winning musical comedy which had been set to premiere at SXSW in 2020.

Connect with Shannon:

Instagram      Twitter      Shannon’s Work