Lillian Jiménez

For the past nine years, Ms. Jiménez has worked as an organizational development consultant for arts organizations.  She worked with the National Endowment for the Arts Advancement program and is now an independent  consultant.  Clients include Third World Newsreel, The Foundation for Independent Video and Film, Elders Share the Arts, KFAI Radio Station in Minneapolis, Aestraea National Lesbian Fund, Women Make Movies, Hispanic Coalition of Rockland County, Urban Bush Women, the American Festival Project , Paper Tiger TV and Casa Atabex Aché among others.

As a media literacy pioneer linking media images with issues of power,  she has worked for over ten years with a panoply of health organizations, community based organizations, media and access centers.   Through Third World Newsreel’s Seeing Through AIDS media training project, she has trained nearly 3,000 health care and community based health care workers throughout the city of New York.  she has offered media literacy workshops on Latino stereotypes, self representation, color/race and the construction of whiteness.  Her dynamic workshops have been presented throughout the country. Most recently she has collaborated with Third World Newsreel on media literacy workshops focusing on issues of race and color.

Since 1978, she has been a media activist -- working with various coalitions and organizations to expand the infrastructure of the independent media community.  She has worked with the Multicultural Media Makers Coalition, served as chair of the board of the Association of Independent Video and Film, and for ten years served as the Chair of the National Coalition of Independent Public Broadcasting Producers which continues to seat the board of the Independent Television Service.  She is one of the founders and former chair of the Steering Committee of the National Association of Independent Latino Producers, a membership organization,  and is a current board member of ITVS.

She served on the faculty of the Media Studies Dept. of the New School for Social Research in New York City where she designed and taught a critical studies graduate course, Demystifying Latino Images.  She also taught an Intro to Media Studies course at Fordham University,  Lincoln Center campus.

She has produced What Could You Do With A Nickel?, The PACT Project video documentary for the Rockefeller Foundation and “SisterSong,” a short documentary on a network of Women of Color in the reproductive health movement in the United States and Puerto Rico.  She is the current Executive Director of the Latino Educational Media Center and is producing a long form documentary on the life and work of the Puerto Rican visionary leader, Dr. Antonia Pantoja,  as well as a collection of oral histories of Puerto Rican leaders from the 1950’s to the present.

Phil Roman

The farmlands of Fresno, CA produced a gifted Mexican American artist with a fertile imagination. Young Phil Roman drew his way from a comic strip in the high school paper to advance as one of the top positions in the colorful but highly competitive field of animation. A true success story, six-time Emmy-winner Phil Roman has produced and directed animated series, theatricals and commercials for four decades.

Born into a large family on December 21, 1930, Phil spoke Spanish until he started public kindergarten. He quickly learned to express himself both in English and the international language of art. It was at age eleven when he saw Walt Disney's "Bambi" at the local cinema. It was then Phil commited to turn the magic of his genious to life on screen.

After completing high school, Phil boarded a bus for Los Angeles with only $60 in his pocket, a burning desire to be an animator, and a letter of introduction from the Fresno theater manager where he ushered. The kindly, perceptive proprietor of Hollywood Art Center School took young Phil in as a work study student. He paid $30 down and $15 a week for tuition. The young artist covered the remainder of his debt doing two hours of "grunt" work after school. In addition, worked the late shift at a movie theater. Phil left to serve in the military during the Korean War and returned to the Art Center School to continue his education under the G.I. Bill.

In 1955, his dream to came true when he was hired by Disney to work as an assistant animator on "Sleeping Beauty." Advancement was slow, and in 1957 he accepted an offer of full animator status. This adventure led Phil to San Francisco to work with Imagination, Inc., a studio specializing in TV commercials. He was quickly exposed to all aspects of animated production including recording sessions, client contact, camera, storyboards and budgeting. In the sixties, Phil directed such well-known animated spots as Starkist's "Sorry Charlie" (Charlie the Tuna) ads and Western Airlines champagne-sipping bird who knew "The only way to fly!". With the knowledge required for this specialized kind of animation production, he moved back to Hollywood and began working for the top entertainment animation studios, including Warner Bros., MGM and UPA, as well as for such respected talents as Chuck Jones and Jay Ward.

In the 1970s Phil began his association with Bill Melendez which lasted until 1983.During their relationship, Phil rose from being an animator on such prime time CBS specials as, "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown" to the position of co-director, with Melendez, on two animated features, "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown!" and "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown!" Altogether he directed sixteen specials there. Fifteen of these programs received Emmy nominations; and three of those won the coveted prize. During this time Phil also worked for Ralph Bakshi as an animator for "Lord of the Rings".

In 1984, Phil formed his own studio, Film Roman, Inc. The first production under his own banner was the Emmy-winning "Garfield in the Rough," the third CBS television special based on Jim Davis' nationally syndicated comic strip and series of best-selling books. He had directed the first two Garfield specials, "Here Comes Garfield" and "Garfield on the Town" while still at Melendez Productions. But with "Rough", Phil doubled as producer for the first time.Since then, Film Roman produced nine more prime time Garfield specials from "The Garfield Halloween Special" and "Garfield in Paradise" in the 1985/86 season to "Garfield Gets A Life" in 1991. All have been nominated for Emmy Awards. In fact, in 1986, only two animation specials were nominated for Emmys-and both were Roman's ("Halloween" and "Paradise," with "Halloween" winning the Emmy.) The studio has also produced a number of popular TV commercials featuring Davis' cat creation and Matt Groening's "Simpsons."

The quality of work Phil brings can best be demonstrated by the fact that the ten Garfield specials he has produced have all garnered Emmy nominations. Three of those ten have won the award, an unprecedented record. His "Garfield and Friends"and "Bobby's World" series were also nominated for daytime Emmys in 1991. The Film Roman studio jumped into the theatrical arena when Phil personally directed and produced the animated theatrical "Tom and Jerry -- The Movie," during which he fostered a close working relationship and personal friendship with legendary animator Joe Barbera.

Under Phil's leadership, Film Roman also produced the renown series "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill" for FOX. Between 1991-1996 the studio had also produced such popular series as "The Mask" and "The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat" for CBS Saturday mornings; "Bobby's World" with Howie Mandel and "C-Bear and Jamal," voiced by rap artist Tone Loc, for FOX Kids Network; "BRUNO The Kid," co-created and voiced by actor Bruce Willis, for first-run syndication; "The Critic" for ABC and FOX; "Mighty Max" for first-run syndication; and "Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm," an animated series based on the highly successful Mortal Kombat franchise for USA Network. Film Roman also had the exclusive animation rights to the 1996 Olympic Games mascot Izzy and produced a prime time special featuring the animated character. Phil underwent a huge business achievement when in 1996, he took Film Roman public and trading began on the NASDAQ stock market under the listing ROMN.

The millennium provides a new opportunity for Phil as he begins his new company, Phil Roman Entertainment located in Studio City. He is continuing his life's ambition. Phil looks forward to producing animated programming suited for various cultures. Bringing quality animation for the world to enjoy for many years to come is truly a gift to all of us. Through Phil's efforts, Phil Roman Entertainment produced, "Christmas in Gaudinia," a whimsical Christmas Special based on the unique designs of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. This project was produced in association with The Gaudins Projects, S.L. of Barcelona, Spain. Phil Roman Entertainment also produced "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," which is being distributed by WarnerBros.Home Video. Numerous other projects are in current development.

Phil Roman resides in the Hollywood Hills with his wife Anita.