Participant Bios
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Participant Bios Entertainment Track — Class of 2018 Zach Calig Heather Rosen Entertainment Track Chair Entertainment Track Chair Zach Calig is a writer from Los Angeles with Heather Rosen is a creative director and credits including Narcos (Netflix), Of Kings visual artist who freelances with agencies and Prophets (ABC), and #Cartel (History). and brands like HUGE, NIKE, 72andSunny, He recently wrote American Colony for R/GA, VICE Media and Apple. She holds a Israeli director, Gidi Dar, and created the comic book Grimm Fairy dual bachelor of arts in Psychology and Art from UC Berkeley Tales: Coven for Zenescope. Zach is currently a development and a master’s certificate in Art Direction from Miami Ad School. executive for Chris Brancato Inc. He is actively involved in the Beit Heather is a valley native, proud to call Los Angeles home after T’Shuvah community and sits on the Steering Committee for the spending more than a decade in San Francisco and New York American Jewish World Service. City. When she isn’t writing bios in the third person, Heather spends her time illustrating and painting ketubah art. Ellie Altshuler is an entertainment David Blankleider was born in and fashion attorney in the Los Angeles Montevideo in 1986. He graduated as a office of Nixon Peabody, an international Filmmaker from the ORT University of law firm. Ellie is also a stakeholder and Uruguay on April 2011. In December 2011, co-founder of Haks, a food company he directed his first short film “Another that manufactures BBQ sauces, cooking Christmas” (“El día de la Familia”), which sauces, salad dressing and mixed nuts. She holds a JD from was awarded in China, The U.S., France, Holland, Morocco, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and a BA in Political Science Argentina, and Uruguay. In 2012 his screenplay “Silver Cutlery” and Minor in Russian Studies from UCLA. Ellie leads the (“Cubiertos de Plata”) won first place at the Uruguayan Women’s initiative at her firm and mentors 3 attorneys. National fund for the Audiovisual Arts Contest, which has also been honored with several awards and was selected in the Maor Azran is a producer who is Oscar qualifier LA SHORTS FEST. In 2013 David moved to LA, currently enrolled as a Producer Fellow and in 2015 he graduated from the Directing Program at UCLA at American Film Institute in Los Angeles, Extension. In 2016, he directed his first English-spoken short California. He was born in a remote town film, which has been awarded in more than 10 festivals. He’s in Israel’s north, called Kiryat Shemona. At now developing his TV pilot with Andrew Lenchewski (Creator fifteen, he moved to Tel-Aviv to study at & EP of “Royal Pains”). Thelma Yellin, Israel’s most prestigious arts high school. There he studied directing and producing plays. Upon graduation, he Becky Bordo is the writer & director was drafted to the IDF where he served in the Entertainment of “American Birthright”, the interfaith Branch of the Education Corps as a producer/commander of marriage documentary spearheaded by the Cultural Department where he oversaw army-wide cultural Bordo’s own production company, “Go events and ceremonies. While completing military service, he Tahel Productions.” Becky holds a BA in began working in the TV industry. Since then, he has produced Communications, with a Theatre minor, many leading television programs, including THE AMAZING RACE, from Philadelphia’s Temple University. The Israeli born creative THE VOICE and MASTER CHEF. He has also worked as a junior graduated summa cum laude in three & a half years and executive for Keshet Broadcasting, where he oversaw physical quickly relocated to California to pursue her dream of creating productions and helped develop original formats. conscious content. Becky is active in her community, For more information contact us at The Jewish Federation Goldsmith Center | 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048 | (323) 761-8000 JewishLA.org Participant Bios Entertainment Track — Class of 2018 she is a Moishe House Without Walls host, and is working Corporation and worked for NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable in closely with leading clergy & thought-leaders from Wilshire New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Stephanie has been a Temple, Ikar, CLAL, AJU, NuRoots, and many others to create board member of several organizations, including Atid at Sinai relevant content from within Judaism for all. Temple and Dress for Success Worldwide West. Jordan Davidovitz is a writer, Travis Guterman is an Associate producer, and entrepreneur based in at Savitsky, Satin & Bacon, a business Los Angeles. Jordan holds a BA in Media management firm in Los Angeles. He Management from California State graduated with Honors, Distinction, and University Northridge. Jordan is an magna cum laude from the University of alumnus of the ADL’s Glass Leadership Arizona, Tucson with a BS in Agribusiness Institute, a former Television Academy Foundation Intern and a Economics and Management. After working in finance at TCW member of various local non-profits. and at the Israeli startup BITES, Travis returned to school to obtain a Master of Business Taxation from University of Bryan Edelman is a serial Southern California’s Leventhal School of Accounting/Marshall entrepreneur in the interactive tech and School of Business. Travis enjoys volunteering at SOVA Food games space (VR, AR, games, software, Pantry. etc.). He founded and operates Crowd. Game LLC, a Los Angeles-based tech Joel Kliksberg is a Partner at startup that provides solutions for political strategy and media firm Left interactive advertising using custom-designed, trackable brand Hook, where he runs the firm’s digital activations. The company serves partners across traditional department. Left Hook represents around sports, esports, Supercross, festivals, conferences and trade 70 mostly congressional, senatorial and shows. Bryan holds three educational degrees: two BA’s in gubernatorial campaigns nationwide. Joel Anthropology and Computer Science from the University of previously served as Chief of Staff of ABC News, Chief Strategy Missouri-Columbia and an MFA in Interactive Media and Games Officer of Fusion (the Disney/ABC & Univision JV) and Founder from the University of Southern California. of Y Combinator fellow Palaround – a social network marketing tech startup. Sarah Frantz currently works at Disney Studios in their International Marketing Allie Koppel is Director of Finance at team. She holds a BA in Psychology and The Third Floor, Inc., a visualization studio Art History and the Visual Arts with a based in Los Angles. Allie graduated from focus in Film and Media Studies. Sarah is the University of Wisconsin with a BBA in an alumnus of the Kahn Fellowship with Accounting and Communication Arts, with The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. a concentration in Radio, TV, and Film. Allie has been involved in Jewish organizations for over 15 years, Stephanie Glass is a sales analyst spending time at both JCC MetroWest in New Jersey and Los for Fox Networks Distribution Group in Angeles Hillel Council. Los Angeles. She holds a BS in Applied Economics from Cornell University. Prior to joining Fox, she was part of a rotational leadership program at Comcast For more information contact us at The Jewish Federation Goldsmith Center | 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048 | (323) 761-8000 JewishLA.org Participant Bios Entertainment Track — Class of 2018 Stephen Laddin is a Los Angeles Cara Rifkin is the Director of based writer/producer. In 2010, he Development and Programming for Lando joined Creative Artists Agency, where Entertainment, a non-scripted television he successfully placed comedian Leslie production company. She is also an Emmy Jones in Chris Rock’s directorial debut Award-winning producer of a number of feature, TOP FIVE. In 2015, he was a Food Network series. Cara holds a BS in junior producer on the independent pilot DR. DEL for Heel & Theatre and Art History from Northwestern University and an Toe Films (HOUSE), starring John Hawkes. He then executive MA in Journalism from USC. A native of Los Angeles, Cara prides produced the BitTorrent Now pilot THE SPECIALS alongside herself on knowing where to find the city’s best tacos. Honora Productions (DEAN, HITS, PLAYDATES), and most recently co-created the digital series DON PACO’S CASA for Broadway Jonathan Steingold is currently a Video’s digital network, Más Mejor. In addition to television Sr. Director of Digital Partnerships at and digital projects, Stephen produces two monthly stand-up WME|IMG. Jon is a graduate of Bates comedy shows, working with the top comedians in the country. College with a BA in Economics. He’s also a Board Member of the 3G Group at The Taliaferro Pollock moved to Los LA Museum of the Holocaust, as well as Angeles to pursue her career in the a member of the LA Guardians and LA Jewish Family Service’s Entertainment Industry shortly after Young Leaders group. receiving her BA in Film and Journalism from The University of North Carolina. Lara Wilinsky is a VFX and Post She has since produced and acted in Producer, who recently moved to Los various projects, including recent series Cast Off, which she Angeles from New York City. After also co-wrote. This project led to her shooting a web pilot receiving a BA in Journalism from the with Milana Vayntrub (This is Us), which is set for release in University of Kansas, she worked in news Winter 2017. As Taliaferro is very passionate about LA’s Jewish and reality TV for seven years before Community, she is a former member of The Jewish Federation’s making the transition to live-event and large-scale media Kahn Fellowship, which led to her involvement in many other production. She won an Emmy Award in high school and has organizations, such as Moishe House, AISH, Jerusalem U and been joking that she peaked too early ever since.