ROBB NAMED AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY BOARD PRESIDENT,
THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS ANNOUNCED |
For Immediate Release
September 27, 2010
Contact: Agnes Varnum, Communications Manager, Austin Film Society
agnes@austinfilm.org or 512-322-0145 x3213
(Austin, TX)--The Austin Film Society is pleased to announce Catherine Robb of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP taking the helm as the President of the Board, and adds three new directors to its Board: actor and producer Todd Allen, retired Xerox executive Gloria Castro, and Troublemaker Studios business manager Kevin Dartt. Each new director serves a three-year term.
“Our board leadership includes many of Austin’s leading lights in the creative industries,” said AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell. “We are privileged to have their guidance and support and amazed that they find time to volunteer on behalf of the film community.”
 Catherine Robb is a media and entertainment lawyer with Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP. Her practice is focused on commercial and business litigation, First Amendment litigation, copyright and trademark litigation, open government issues and privacy concerns. She earned her J.D., 1998, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law and her B.A. from The University of Virginia.
 Actor-writer-producer Todd Allen, a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, has appeared in over 50 films and television programs. Among the more notable are three films with director Lawrence Kasdan, SILVERADO, GRAND CANYON, and WYATT EARP. Todd also co-starred with Robert Duvall in his Academy Award-nominated THE APOSTLE and again in the Emmy-Award winning AMC original mini-series, BROKEN TRAIL.
 Gloria Castro made Austin her hometown in 2006, after concluding a long career with Xerox Corporation. Originally joining the southern region office of Xerox in Dallas, she progressed through a number of management roles in Human Resources in Dallas and at the company’s national headquarters in Rochester, NY. Later Gloria moved to southern California, where for several years she was of head of HR for the company’s western region, which included the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii. Her last role was with the international division at the corporate headquarters in Stamford, CT, as HR manager for Latin American operations, covering Mexico, South and Central America. A life-long film fan, Gloria served as board member and president of Cine Las Americas in Austin.
 Kevin Dartt is general counsel and studio manager for Troublemaker Studios. Prior to joining Troublemaker, Kevin was an entertainment attorney with Graves, Dougherty, Hearon and Moody.
Other moves include Jann Baskett, a principal with Flashbang Agency, taking over the role of Board Vice President, filmmaker George Sledge its Secretary and Rodney Gibbs of Ricochet Labs as Treasurer. Outgoing board members include Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith and Janet Pierson, producer of South by Southwest Film Festival. Pierson will sit on the AFS Advisory Board.
The Austin Film Society’s programs are funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
Austin Film Society promotes the appreciation of film and supports creative media production by screening rarely seen films, giving grants and other support to emerging filmmakers, and providing access and education about film to youth and the public. Through Austin Studios, which AFS opened in 2000 in partnership with the City of Austin, AFS helps attract film development and production to Austin and Texas. Gala film premieres and the annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards raise funds as well as awareness of the impact of film on economy and community. Austin Film Society is ranked among the top film centers in the country and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and Directors Guild of America. For more information on Austin Film Society, visitwww.austinfilm.org
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