Team

MEET THE TEAM

AVA B

Ava B. began her versatile and multi-layered career in film and television projects which spanned Eastern and Western Europe, North America and Asia.
Those who have done business with her know Ava B. as a savvy businesswoman with a highly honed capacity to negotiate contracts benefiting both sides.

Over the years, with her frequent attendance at all major international film markets, her world-wide network of friends and colleagues in both the creative and business communities have come to respect her for acute insights into the marketplace and its trends. She has become an exemplar of taste and a go-to person for strategies regarding all aspects of ”new media,” and film distribution in general, from the creative to finding multiple and newer distribution outlets.

Amongst Ava B’s most notable successes is her executive role in the founding and management of Kanal 2, a privately owned television channel in Estonia. After securing the initial financing, she oversaw the licensing of all programming – including sales and acquisition – during the first five years of operation. Her effective strategies and fast-paced negotiations helped Kanal 2 achieve high ratings on a shoe-string budget. Not only did Kanal 2 become the market leader, it also satisfied its shareholders with high returns on their investment.

As the story of Kanal 2 spread in the industry, she was asked to serve as Marketing and PR Manager of VIASAT3, Europe’s leading satellite television network, and to consult for RTL, the leading television network in Europe.

For the last five years Ava B. has focused on film distribution in The United States; both in traditional distribution and in the new media. She has served as a VP of Sales & Acquisitions at LongTale LLC after she had been an executive in charge of all aspects of acquisitions for Cinequest Distributions/Cinequest On-line, York Entertainment and Jaman.com.

Ava B’s vast experience in the international and domestic film and television marketplaces, complemented by her achievements in creating, developing and growing successful entertainment companies, clearly evidence both her strong work ethic and the talent to achieve.

TERESA VANDRE

A lover of cinema, TERESA VANDRE was delighted to join House of Film in 2012, bringing with her a wealth of international experience in the entertainment industry. Teresa spent many years living in Italy and the UK delving into art and music and honing her skills in management, production and sales. Teresa graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Psychology and Theater.

LUCIA MUÑIZ

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lucía Muñiz joined the House of Film team in 2014 after graduating from the University of Palermo in Argentina with a Bachelor in Arts & Communications. She began her career in production working with VIACOM LATAM and in the animation world, being part of a TV series for Discovery Kids.

HOMAYRA SELLIER

Homayra Sellier is the founder of Innocence in Danger; an international organization of child protection against all forms of abuse and exploitation. The organization’s ground work brought Homayra to meet TV documentary and movie productions, producers and directors who chose to brings the lives of the victims into the light by narrating their stories through fiction films and/or documentaries. Homayra is a permanent judge and jury member of Tryon Film festival, she served as such at the Torino international film Festival in 2020 and at the Zürich Iranian Film Festival.

CHANTAL TOPOROW

Chantal brings her years experience in the research, development, application and management of high end technologies to House of Film. Degreed from UCLA’s School of Engineering, and with a strong background in the Arts, she is keen on creative problem solving for lucid solutions to complex systems assignments with proper flowdown within project infrastructures. She is dedicated to helping visionary ideas come into fruition.

DAVID G. HOLBERT

David Holbert, who has joined Los Angeles-based movie distributor House of Film as Chief Operating Officer, is an experienced management consultant with a long and impressive track record of successful projects.

Since 2006 he has been working closely with a growing number of media companies, principally in the independent sector which, he says, “is now facing unprecedented change and disruption.” He emphasises “business design” as the key to finding and exploiting the opportunities that the current threat presents.

David is currently working with media clients in strategy, business development and operations management developing trans-media projects and a promotion service for independent video as a spin-off venture of a distributor.

David, who received an MBA and Bachelor of English Literature from Arizona State University, was from 1998 to 2005 Executive Director and Principal Investigator of a research center at the University of Southern California. The main focus, he says, was helping small to medium sized businesses adjust to globalisation. To support this goal, he founded a national organisation performing advocacy at the federal level (Congressional and Executive).

His career has also encompassed management of projects serving the underprivileged and MIS operations as well as managing operations including promotion, fund raising and grant writing for housing development in dangerous and remote areas of the world.

GABOR SZITANYI

Gabor provides a wide range of technical support services for House of Film on behalf of its filmmaker clients, from digitizing films to assembling digital components for submission packages.

No stranger to the filmmaking process, Gabor has worked as editor, visual effects editor, and cinematographer on a wide range of projects. He was visual effects editor on Mel Gibson’s “THE PASSION OF CHRIST,” as well as on “BEHIND ENEMY LINES: AXIS OF EVIL.” He shot and edited the award-winning feature, “THE YOUNG UNKNOWNS.” He collaborated with renowned photographer, Carrie Mae Weems, to create a series of video exhibition pieces for museums and galleries. He has worked as cinematographer and/or editor for many independent filmmakers, including Tamara Jenkins, Todd Solondz, Patrick Stettner and Catherine Jelski. In addition to his work with House of Film, he currently specializes in editing, visual effects, animation, compositing, authoring and web design at his own company, TENSTRONGMEN STUDIOS (www.tenstrongmenstudios.com.) Gabor was the recipient of the W.TC. Johnson Fellowship while attending the New York University Graduate Film and Television Program.

MICHELLE NIANA

Michelle is a writer and producer who has worked on several TV shows and documentaries. She is best known for her work on Justin Timberlake: Man of the Hour, where she served as writer, producer, and director. Michelle also served as an Associate Producer for Donnie After Dark, the Docu-series, Being (Centric TV) as well as the NAACP Image Awards (NBC, TV One). Michelle is also a licensed attorney, admitted to practice in California.

FEDERICO TOSO

Passionate about arts, literature and filmmaking, he was born in Buenos Aires Argentina and joined the House of Film team to update and create new key arts for the catalogue of the company. He has a Degree in Graphic Design and a Degree in Journalism, with advanced studies in Typographic Design and Digital Photography.

ILMAR TASKA

Ilmar Taska serves as Creative Consultant/Development Executive for House of Film, bringing his expertise in several areas, including the international film industry and writing, to House of Film’s new fusion distribution business model.

Ilmar’s exceptional writing skills has earned him international recognition: Ilmar Taska is listed among the Best European Writers of 2016 and his short story, “Apartment for Rent” has been published in the Almanach of Best European Fiction. Just like Ilmar’s collection of short stories, his new novel Pobeda 1946 (based on his award-winning short story, A Car Called Victory) is fast becoming a bestseller and a major critical success in Estonia.

Ilmar has also directed and produced several feature films “Thy Kingdom Come,” a psychological horror movie about the end of the world, and “Set Point,” a psychological drama starring international super model Karmen Kass.

Ilmar produced “Candles in the Dark,” starring Chad Lowe, Alyssa Milano and Maximilian Schell, and was producer and co-author of “Back in the USSR,” starring Roman Polanski, Frank Whaley and Natalya Negoda.

He had been the founder and president and CEO of Kanal 2, a private terrestrial television network, Kanal 2. Under Ilmar’s helm this small weekend channel was successfully developed it into the nation’s market leader. During that time he created, produced and directed a number of the network’s successful original programs, including “Spring Tales” and “Decide Yourself.”

Previously, Ilmar produced and directed the “Best Foreign Picture” segment for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards telecast.

Prior to serving as a consultant for Disney Film Festivals in the USSR and as vice president of international affairs & co-production for the American-Soviet Film Initiative in Los Angeles, Ilmar directed “Legends of Hollywood” for CTV and served as editor of the New York-based “Video Fashion.” Before that, Ilmar served as director of feature projects for Fries Entertainment of Los Angeles.

Ilmar earned a Master of Arts degree at VGIK, the Film Institute of Moscow. He also pursued additional studies at Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm, and in Daniel Mann’s directing master class in Los Angeles.