Lauren Concar has become executive director of the Garden State Film Festival (GSFF). She takes on the role as the GSFF returns to its original home in Asbury Park for the 2018 festival. The return move marks the festival’s “Sweet 16” anniversary and follows a successful four-year run in Atlantic City.
Concar has been with the festival for many years, acting most recently as the festival’s director of operations. She and production manager Kristen Dirato have been responsible for many of the festival’s weekend events in the last few years, including all the advance planning, event management and operations during the event. Concar has also taken on many of the administrative functions of the executive director for more than a year. She is an award-winning producer, director and editor, and is the head of the Brookdale Television department at Brookdale Community College.
GSFF board chairman Nicholas J. Falcone said of Concar, “She knows this festival backwards and forwards and most importantly knows the people who make this event. She knows what the fans want and her background in production allows her a deep understanding of the needs of the filmmakers. She is steady, focused and will bring great things to the GSFF in her expanded role.”
Founder Diane Raver said, “Lauren was raised in the film festival; she is really part of its fabric. Over the years, she has taken on more responsibilities and has logged countless hours, doing all the important work of preparing for the event and the essential follow-up work after the event. Those who know Lauren know she will be extraordinary and those about to meet will be most impressed.”
The 2018 festival is scheduled for March 22-25, 2018. The call for entries opened on July 1, 2017.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More