About Us - Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentoring Alliance

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About Us

Board of Representatives

  • Samuel Ashe
  • Crystal Jones
HISTORY

In 2017, after the sudden passing of sound industry veteran Paul Rodriguez, a longtime board member of the Motion Picture Sound Editors, the MPSE put forth the idea to create a mentorship program in his honor. The concept quickly spread among post-production craft organizations and the idea became bigger than what MPSE alone could do on its own. In short order, the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) along with the Vaughan International Film Festival, Cinema Audio Society (CAS), American Cinema Editors (ACE), Avid Technology, Audio Engineering Society (AES), Hollywood Professional Association (HPA), SMPTE, The Recording Academy and Sound Girls, formed the Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentoring Alliance. EIPMA is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the future talent of the entertainment industry.
  • Bryan Castle
  • Sarah Priestnall
  • Sherry Klein
  • Peter Kelsey
Advisory Council

Lillian Benson, ACE
David Bertman, ACE
Sam Seig, ACE
Molly Shock, ACE
Fabienne Rawley, ACE
Tom Menrath, ASG
Michael Krulik, AVID
Alan Meyerson, CAS
Mark Lanza, MPSE
Tom McCarthy, MPSE
Steve Saltzman, MPSE
Scott Gershin, MPSE
Keith Gayhart, MPSE-SMPTE
Jim DeFilippis, SMPTE
April Tucker, SOUNDGIRLS
Karrie Keyes, SOUNDGIRLS
Cynthia Stegner, Apple
Bobbi Banks, Independent
Jessica Bedford, Netflix
Sara Dinari
Franaz Smilina
Sara Hills
Antonio Ienco VFF
  • Becki Barabas
  • Vanessa Mering
  • Seth Hallen
  • Phil Kubel
  • Karen Dunn
  • Bernard Weiser
  • Chris Reeves
  • Maureen Droney
  • Candace Yang
Mission Statement

The Entertainment Industry Professionals Mentorship Alliance (EIPMA) provides expert guidance to young people seeking meaningful and productive careers in the entertainment industry. We are a coalition of trade groups and professional organizations involved in an array of behind-the-scenes art, craft and technology roles that support the magic of movies, television shows, and other media. Our goal is to ensure the continued health and progress of our industry by nurturing its next generation of talent.

Drawing on the deep experience of our members, we act as a source for career information and counseling. We disseminate knowledge through public events, school programs, media outreach and direct mentorship. We believe in diversity and are committed to assisting individuals across all races, creeds and economic circumstances. Our goal is to serve as a bridge linking highly-accomplished, working professionals with those aspiring to follow in their footsteps.
  • Jett Galindo
  • Jasmine Mills

Our Corporate Officers
  • Linda Rheinstein
  • Jane Priya Ranjanantham
Special Representatives
  • Rick Hinson   (MTSU-Educator)
  • Libby Hinson (MTSU-Educator)
  • Richard McKernan (Independent)
  • Lauren Johnson (Independent)

Bernard Weiser is a professional sound supervisor / editor / designer who has worked in Hollywood over the last 38 years. His passion, commitment and expertise have earned him a reputation as highly regarded and much in demand. As a result, he has worked on over 140 feature films and Television shows including Steven Spielberg’s SCHINDLER‘S LIST, THE HURT LOCKER, AMERICAN HUSTLE, IT, and recently GREENLAND, COMING 2 AMERICA, and NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, along with television credits on CSI: MIAMI, QUANTICO, IMAGINARY MARY, TOKYO VICE, and TED LASSO . Bernard earned Emmy nominations for DEADWOOD: THE MOVIE, TRUE DETECTIVE, and TED LASSO.

Richard is an industry veteran with a successful track record of building strong technical sales and service throughout the US with Avid & Euphonix.  His expertise is in large Broadcast, Post-Production and Music audio facility integration and operation.
His experience in Technical Sales involved collaborating with Chief Engineers & Technical staff from the major production studios in Los Angeles e.g. Sony, Disney, Technicolor, Capitol Record Studio, WB, Remote Control Production, DreamWorks etc... with the intent to design custom solutions that enhance operations, increase productivity, and help drive their ROI.

Richard earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Woodbury University and has held the post of treasurer for several large International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) unions serving the entertainment industry. Now retired, Richard’s last gig was as a post-production sound mixer for Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City, California. He is also a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

Lauren has built a career working in post sound in Los Angeles. She has a successful track record of working as a post/re-recording sound engineer while developing her skills as a scoring engineer, score mixer and re-recording mixer. She has worked for Walt Disney Studios as a Re-recording Sound Engineer, for Avid as a Pre-Sales Audio Solutions Specialist, an intern at Fox in Sound Editorial, and received her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in Film and TV Production with a concentration in Post Sound and Music Technology. She also was a runner at the Village (where she got to meet the Eagles) and was the Audio Systems Engineer at Margarita Mix Hollywood-a division of Fotokem.

Chris started his television career on the ABC/Disney show Dinosaurs after a decade working on independent feature films. Since then, he has worked on a diverse collection of shows ranging from Alias to The X-Files. He is currently a supervising sound editor with NBC Universal Studios.  With thirty years of experience in post-production sound, he has garnered two Emmys and two Golden Reels among his awards.  As a member of the MPSE Board of Directors for the past twenty years, he has worked to promote the importance of Sound and Sound Editing in television and film. He has served on the Sound Editor's Peer Group Committee twice before being elected to the Television Academy Board of Governors.
Support Team

Richard McKernan   Newsletter Editor
Linda Rosner            Artisans PR
Jett Galindo              Social Media Consultant
Richard Wollrich     Webmaster
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