Writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, composers, editors, actors and voice talent all attended to schmooze.  The business cards were always flying!  For those who frequented the Film Biz Happy Hour, it was a great opportunity to hang out with colleagues and friends on a monthly basis, all while giving back to the greater community.  A future Film Biz Reunion will likely be planned for the fall of 2005.

Individually, we are strong, but together, we are that much stronger.

Film Biz is endorsed by the following film & video organizations:
(listed in alphabetical order)

In addition, Film Biz is truly grateful to ICOM and to the late Steve LeHuray, as well as to Eastman KODAK, Jim Hodges and Melanie Jones, for their special friendship and support of Film Biz through all these years.

Special thanks to those who have helped make and continue to help make Film Biz so successful:

• David Bujard, Dan Swensen, Brian Vradenburg, Todd Wilcox and NGEN Online for hosting these pages.
• Everyone at The Jurys Washington Hotel for their generous hospitality.
• Filmmaker Jorge Bernardo for his wonderful help with Film Biz.
• Susan Hebert, owner of Susie Q Scrub, for her generous donation of dead sea salt body scrubs for auction items at Film Biz. 
• Producer Susan Franklin of O'Keefe Communications for creating our first flyers.
• Writer/Attorney Sharon Rubinstein for designing and making our flyers originally.
• All the staff at the Washington, DC, Planet Hollywood for their past hospitality.
• KODAK, Melanie Jones and their former Mid-Atlantic rep Jim Hodges for their generosity in providing terrific gifts for our drawings.
• Burt Maggio of Thinlinemedia.com for his creative help with the graphic design of the flyer and help in launching the corporate sponsorships.
• Our friends at The Childe Harold for their past support in providing a location.
• Colorlab of Rockville, MD, and its president, Russ Suniewick, for being the first corporate sponsor of Film Biz.
• Robert Dodd of National Public Radio for his help.
• Scott Gordon, president of Word Wizards, for his technical help and continuous support.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER/DIRECTOR OF FILM BIZ

   ALLISON SILBERBERG is a writer and experienced grant-maker. Her background combines grant-making, nonprofit management, public policy and writing. She is the author of a forthcoming book about courageous individuals who are making a difference in the nonprofit sector. (Currently under consideration at publishing houses.) In 1998, she was commissioned to write a memoir for a philanthropic family. The family came out of the ruins of the Depression, succeeded in business and gave generously to the Washington community and the nation. Focused on the meaning of a life of philanthropy, the memoir was published privately in 2001. She is also the author of numerous articles and columns published in The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News.

In addition to her work, Ms. Silberberg created and managed Film Biz, which was a monthly, charitable, networking event for film, video and media professionals in the region for over nine years. All proceeds went to a different local nonprofit each month. She established criteria for selecting nonprofits and gave more than $50,000 to dozens of local nonprofits that are focused on children at risk and families in distress. Endorsed by 22 local film and video organizations, Film Biz received ample press coverage, and Ms. Silberberg won two community awards, including the 2004 Reatig Award for Outstanding Service to the Film and Video Community. Ms. Silberberg also sponsored Film Biz's Nonprofit Synergy Night for all past Film Biz nonprofits.

From 1993 to 1996, Ms. Silberberg founded and was the executive director of Lights, Camera, Action! (LCA!), a nonprofit committed to helping inner-city teens realize their potential through film. Ms. Silberberg developed and taught LCA!'s four-month mentor program in the heart of DC's inner-city neighborhood, Anacostia. Writing, analytical and technical skills were emphasized as LCA! students wrote and helped produce their own short film. Ms. Silberberg directed and produced the program's first student film, Poppy, which premiered at The American Film Institute at The Kennedy Center. Winner of a 1995 CINE Golden Eagle Award and a 1995 Excellence for Local Programming Award from the American Association of University Women, Poppy has aired on local PBS stations dozens of times. Extensive press coverage included local and national media. LCA!'s funding and in-kind contributions totaled more than $150,000, including a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. Seven out of the eight LCA! participants from Anacostia Senior High School went to college.

Her LCA! program was based upon a screenwriting course she had developed as an adjunct faculty member at The American University. There, she taught screenwriting to undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Communication from 1991 to 1994. In 1989, Ms. Silberberg wrote an episode for the nationally syndicated comedy show, Mama's Family.

From 1990 to 1992, Ms. Silberberg was chief editor/chief research assistant for the office of U.S. Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen.

As a professional photographer, Ms. Silberberg specializes in portraiture. Her photos have appeared in publications here and abroad. Clients include: the Style section of The Washington Post; Sette (Italy’s leading newspaper); AARP; the presidential campaign of General Wesley K. Clark; and numerous embassies. Ms. Silberberg donated her photography of the elderly to Emmaus Services for the Aging. Almost three dozen of her black-and-white photographs of the elderly are on permanent display at the new Emmaus headquarters in Washington. Getty Images represents Ms. Silberberg's widely published photograph of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, which was taken August 23, 2003, on the steps of Lincoln Memorial at the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Ms. Silberberg's community work includes serving as a member of The World Bank's Community Outreach Grants Committee, which gives major funding to local nonprofits on an annual basis. (Three-year term, 2005-2007). She is also a member of the Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC), which serves as an advocate for low-income residents. On behalf of the EOC, Ms. Silberberg co-chaired the City of Alexandria’s 40^th Anniversary of the War on Poverty in 2004. Her political work includes volunteer speechwriting for various Democrats, most recently for the Kerry Campaign at the Democratic National Committee.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Ms. Silberberg received a B.A. in International Relations and History from The American University in 1984 and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from UCLA’s Department of Theater, Film and Television in 1987.

For more information about the Film Biz Happy Hour,
contact the Film Biz Founder/Director,
Allison Silberberg at allisonsilb@aol.com.