Napa Valley Film Festival Announces Appointment of Tom Tardio as CEO
Cinema Napa Valley Board of Directors Expands with Addition of Robert Bassett, Zoe Fairbourn, Geyer Kosinski and Daniel Schryer
Napa Valley – The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) announced the hiring of Tom Tardio as their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Tardio assumes the role immediately and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the annual film festival including managing the current staff, fundraising, and developing new and existing programming. Tardio comes to NVFF after serving 28 years as CEO at Rogers & Cowan, an entertainment, technology and consumer communications firm and recently as CEO of Socialtext, a communication software provider. Tardio will report to the Cinema Napa Valley (CNV) board of directors, who chose him after an extensive six-month nationwide search.
The announcement was made today by CNV chairman Patrick Davila who commented “As we embarked on the search process, we defined the criteria for the person in that role as someone that not only would possess the attributes to expertly manage the complexities of delivering a world class film festival, but also would bring the creative vision to fulfill the desire to see the festival grow and reach its full potential. Tom has those qualities, and more, and his highly regarded reputation in the film and entertainment industry will serve the festival and our community well as we continue to evolve.”
Tardio added “Ultimately, my vision is reimagineering Napa Valley Film Festival with the proper worldwide brand image and reputation deserving of the Napa community as we approach our 10th anniversary in 2020. The fundamental goals still remain to develop strong relationships with established and emerging filmmakers, structure the proper promotional vehicles for consumer brands, and to accelerate our support of community educational initiatives.”
In addition, Cinema Napa Valley, the non-profit organization that oversees the festival, announced four new members joining the board of directors. Educator and producer Robert Bassett (Founding Dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University), marketing executive Zoë Fairbourn (Head of Brand Partnerships, Hello Sunshine), Emmy and Golden Globe winning producer and manager Geyer Kosinski, and venture capital and technology executive Daniel Schryer add to an established board bringing their insight, guidance and resources to the organization.
On the addition of the new board members, Tardio commented “My focus will not only be to build off the rich heritage of NVFF over the past nine years, but also to work with an incredibly strong and influential board of directors who bring expertise and unique perspectives from the entertainment, hospitality, culinary and wine making cultures.”
The 9th annual Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) takes place November 13 - 17, 2019 and is a five-day immersive experience celebrating the best new independent films of the year, accompanied by Napa Valley’s world-class food, wine and hospitality. Visiting filmmakers interact with audiences at screenings and intimate events while enjoying industry panels, culinary demonstrations, wine-tastings, festival parties, and more. For more information visit www.napavalleyfilmfest.org.
Tom Tardio (biography)
Tom Tardio, a business strategist and marketing communications luminary, most recently was a Managing Director at Peoplefluent and the Chairman and CEO of Socialtext, an enterprise social collaboration and communications software provider. He also served on the Board of Directors at PeopleFluent, a leading human capital management company. He is the former CEO of marketing and public relations powerhouse Rogers & Cowan, a position he held for most of the 28 years he had been with the agency. As CEO, he propelled the brand through corporate asset acquisitions and amassed one of the strongest reputations in the industry in the converging fields of technology, entertainment and consumer marketing. Previously, he played a major role in the development of strategic plans for Columbia Pictures and Coca-Cola Telecommunications that resulted in the acquisition of new entertainment business ventures and co-financing arrangements with the Wall Street Community.
New board members (biographies):
Robert Bassett arrived at what was then Chapman College in 1981 and created a film school that is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the top film schools in the world. Currently, Dodge College is ranked #6 in the nation by The Hollywood Reporter. Bassett was part of a team that raised $70M to build and equip Marion Knott Studios, a 76,000-square-foot state-of-the-art studio complex, the Digital Media Arts Center, and Chapman Studios West. He received the 2006 Artistic Visionary Award from Arts Orange County for lifetime achievement in recognition of his leadership in developing Chapman’s film school and building a key community asset. He was named Variety’s Media Mentor of the Year in 2013 and one of the 100 Most Influential People in Orange County in 2015 by the Orange County Register. Bassett founded Chapman Filmed Entertainment (CFE), a feature film company designed to produce films in the $1M range and offer a post-graduate experience unique in higher education. As a faculty member, Bassett taught a wide range of production and film studies courses and is also an award-winning producer and director of film and video projects for corporate and non-profit clients.
Zoë Fairbourn is currently Head of Brand Partnerships at Hello Sunshine, where she creates and oversees brand partnership opportunities across the company’s film, television, digital, events and DTC business. Zoë held a senior role at DKC Integrated Marketing in New York where she handled talent procurement and partnerships for such clients as Coach, J.Crew, WE Network, and MAC Cosmetics. In 2006 Zoë joined Condé Nast, where she created and executed multi and single advertiser integrated marketing programs. Zoë left Condé Nast for WME where she oversaw a wide range of branded entertainment programs. Zoë then joined Relativity Media where she created and managed the studio’s largest corporate integrated marketing deals and developed new content opportunities for brands within Relativity’s slate. Following Relativity, she went in house at The Weinstein Company, where she oversaw all film and television integration and promotional campaigns, as well as licensing for both TWC and Dimension. She also managed and grew the Lexus Short Film series into an award-winning global film marketing program, winning at Cannes Lion in 2017.
Geyer Kosinski, an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning CEO, has packaged and produced over 80 feature films and television series including Goliath, Magic City, and Fargo, for which he won Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes. Among the feature films he has produced include Beyond Borders, Bad News Bears, School for Scoundrels, Changeling and Bad Santa. In 2004, as a manager and producer, Kosinski formed Media Talent Group, where he and his staff cultivate the careers of Academy Award-winning actors, writers and directors while building global brands. Kosinski sits on the board of directors for Skechers USA, Shared Intelligence, Top Fan, and The Napa Valley Film Festival.
Daniel Schryer, is the Managing Partner of Bali Venture Partners (BVP), a company that invests in real estate and technology startup companies in U.S. and Australia. In 1988 he began his professional career in commercial real estate in San Francisco. In 1996 he redeveloped China Basin Landing into one of the first tech/office properties in the market, converting office space into telecommunication and data center space. In 1998 Dan became more deeply involved in the technology side of real estate as a co-founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development at Urban Media Communications, a $130 million venture capital-backed national broadband service provider focused on metropolitan and suburban office customers and landlords. Dan formed Venture Asset Partners to sell the assets of failed data center companies. The program was successful and lead to the formation of DCI Technology Holdings with Dan as the CEO. Dan partnered with The Blackstone Group to create and operate a data center platform in Asia Pacific. Headquartered in Singapore, the company built a portfolio over the following three years eventually selling the business to Brookfield for $364 million. DCI’s tenant base includes many industry leaders including IBM (Softlayer), Equinix, ViaWest CenturyLink, eBay, Level 3, and Verizon.
Headshots for board members are available for download at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qs5qa4uwrsvkogu/AABQ8XyvrkWkLg-jbB7iWgr4a?dl=0
About the Napa Valley Film Festival
The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) is presented by Cinema Napa Valley, a registered 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Napa, California. Cinema Napa Valley’s mission is to celebrate the cinematic arts and enrich the community by presenting an annual world-class festival and year-round education and outreach programs. The Napa Valley Film Festival will be held November 13-17, 2019. Passes are on sale now. Visit www.napavalleyfilmfest.org for more information or call 707.226.7500.
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