2010 Duke City Shootout Staff

Jim "Grubb" Graebner: Mover & Shaker  

Currently director of the Duke City Shootout, head of the Digital Filmmaking Institute and the State of New Mexico's Film Technicians Training Program at CNM, Grubb is a producer, director, casting director, talent agent, screenwriter, and playwright. During the last nine years he has headed the Flicks on 66/ Duke City Shootout digital filmmaking festival. Grubb has been active in the New Mexico film community for many years, serves on the Governor's Media Council and is an active member of IATSE 480. Prior to his entry into the film business, Grubb was a theater guy, writing, directing and producing plays.  Former dramaturge at The Vortex Theatre, Grubb has had more than fifty productions of his work presented at various theater haunts in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, El Paso, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Madrid.

Ella Sitkin:  Mama Producer, Line Producer, Financial Manager, Web/IT Geek

Ella worked in the corporate world in senior management and project management for a few decades. She has an MS in Computer Science and was the Executive Director of IT at UNMH for 11 years. Prior to that, she worked as a software developer and project manager for Honeywell and Rockwell. One day she decided enough already, time to give up her phoney baloney career to make films. She's much poorer now but what the heck, she never knew life could be so....um....fun?  Ella has co-produced and line-produced DCS for the last two years and will again for the 2010 DCS. She's also co-produced and line-produced a telenovela, 17 mini-documentaries comprising the New Mexico Ecopedia (www.nmecopedia.org), some educational industrials (www.rhymesntimes.com) and an independent feature (Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer). In between film projects, Ella teaches math as a part-time instructor at CNM. Ella also serves on the boards of the YWCA and the Digital Filmmaking Institute.

Christopher Boone: Task Master, Submissions Manager, Production Manager, the "Face"

Christopher Boone is an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, or so he claims.  Boone's 2008 Duke City Shootout film, PRESCHOOL'S A BITCH, won the Audience Award, Best Editing, and Best Score.  PRESCHOOL'S A BITCH also won Best Comedy Short at the 2009 New Mexico Filmmakers Showcase, and has been an Official Selection of LA Shorts Fest (an Academy Award qualifying fest), DC Shorts Film Festival, Santa Fe Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival (jury award nominee), and Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.  PRESCHOOL'S A BITCH was also a finalist of the USA Film Festival National Short Film & Video Competition (another Academy Award qualifying fest).  Boone has directed and produced short films that have screened at several film festivals across the country, and has written feature-length screenplays that have been named a top-30 finalist out of 4,100 script for Scriptapalooza and requested for review by the Sundance Screenwriting Lab twice.  His latest short, WE'RE HAVING A BABY, can currently be seen on a YouTube near you.

Shane Urioste: Mr. Gala

Shane Urioste has over 25 years of experience in both the film and television industries.  He has worked as a Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Key Grip, Gaffer and Production Assistant on numerous local independent and feature film productions, and has worked on various commercial, industrial, and government productions. In television, he has worked with KNME TV (Channel 5), KRQE TV (Channel 13), and GOV TV (Channel 16) in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the capacity of News/Commercial Videographer, Editor, Floor Director, and Producer for special projects, including live studio and field productions; he has also done computer graphics and audio work for broadcast media. He is currently the Production Manager for The University of New Mexico’s Media Technology Services, providing field and studio production services for various departments at The University of New Mexico. He is an active member of the IATSE Local 480, Duke City Shootout and Friends of Film, Video & Arts.  

John Grace: Boot Camp Head Honcho, 

John Grace is a veteran Director of Photography and cameraman with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has worked on scores of theatrical features and national television shows and on literally hundreds of industrials and commercials. During the past few years he has worked on projects for ABC, NBC, CBS, HBO, ESPN, TNN, PBS, The History Channel, Discovery, The Learning Channel, Lifetime and Walt Disney Studios.  Grace serves on the Board of Directors of the Digital Filmmaking Institute, and I.A.T.S.E. Local 480, the union representing film technicians. He helped create the curriculum for the Film Technicians Training Program at Central New Mexico Community College and currently teaches film production at DATA Charter high school and technical production classes at UNM Continuing Education. 

 

Aynn Kirby: Marketing, Media Relations 

Aynn Kirby worked in the insurance industry as a claims adjuster for almost 20 years and then when she decided to either get a lobotomy or get out of insurance she discovered the film industry in Albuquerque and luckily was able to forgo the lobotomy.  Instead she found she had an aptitude for producing and works as a producer for Black Sheep Productions.  In addition to producing she has been acting on and off for 16 years and surprisingly, her stated age hasn’t changed since she started in 1996.  She was the communications director of the Albuquerque Film Festival in it 2009 inaugural year.  She is currently working on documentary about native New Mexican cowboys that are working in Euro Disney’s ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show’ outside of Paris, France. 

Christina Berlin: Event Planner, Volunteer Coordinator, Fundraiser

Christina is currently the Events/Volunteer coordinator for Roadrunner Food Bank, a local non-profit organization that distributes nearly 21 million pounds of food throughout the state of New Mexico each other. She is also the Director of Other Paths, Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean water solutions in the developing countries of Kenya and El Salvador. Christina has also worked as the International Marketing Manager and National Director of the Universal Music Group.

Matt Berlin: Fundraiser