The Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival showcased independent Black films from the brightest minds in filmmaking during this year’s festival from September 15 – 23.
GCFC and GCUFF were honored to present an exclusive panel with local film professionals.
THE MOVIE BIZ IN THE CLE: MOVIE JOBS & MOVIE MONEY
Saturday, September 17th
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Atlas Cinemas Shaker Square – Theater 2
13116 Shaker Square
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
Just before you watched the latest Marvel post-credit scene, hundreds of names scrolled by while you patiently waited. Each of those names is a real person who makes a living working in the film industry. Join the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and guests for an inside look at how the nonprofit organization’s mission to bring film and TV production to Northeast Ohio is creating thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars of economic impact right here.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Lillian Pyles, CSA • Casting Director
Her long career of casting contributions to the film and television industry include many Blockbuster movies and even an Oscar-nominated film. She has worked with an array of reputable actors like Meg Ryan, John Travolta, and Daniel Kaluuya to name a few. Directors she has worked with include the likes of Denzel Washington and Malcolm D. Lee. Major motion picture studios on her resume list Paramount Pictures Columbia, Sony, Fox Searchlight, and other top production companies with whom she’s worked. NBC, HBO, Showtime, Lifetime, and Netflix (just to name a few) are broadcast networks, cable networks, and streaming services in her repertoire. Included in her professional career are also many shorts, independents, industrials, and commercials. Lillian has been voted a member of CSA (Casting Society of America), the premier organization for casting directors in film, television, theater and new media. Casting Directors affiliated with the Casting Society of America are committed to maintaining the highest levels of professionalism & ethical responsibility.
Korrey Robinson • Makeup Department
Creative, versatile, and passionate about her craft, Korrey Robinson is an accomplished licensed cosmetologist working in the industry for over 25 years. She owns a salon studio focusing on healthy hair care for a variety of hair textures. She shared her enthusiasm for education as a campus director for Regency Beauty Institute and served on the advisory board for Polaris Career Center. Korrey now works full-time in the film, television, theater, and commercial world. She has been involved in over 60 productions to date. Her Oscar-qualifying work has been viewed across the world in films and television shows such as Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Brothers), Native Son (HBO), Ghosted (Apple TV+), The Last Summer (Netflix), American Rust (Showtime), Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount+), and the upcoming TV series Sprung (Amazon Studios). She has worked as a wig stylist for iconic Broadway shows including Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, and Kinky Boots. Korrey has been the hair department head for multiple commercial campaigns for the NBA, NFL, Ford Motor Company, New Balance, H&M, and Samsung. She’s worked as a personal stylist for clients like Jim Brown, Baker Mayfield, Colin Sexton, and Robert Griffin III (RG3). Korrey currently serves on the financial board for IATSE Local 209 and lives in Ohio with her wonderful husband and three remarkable children who think their mom has the coolest career.
Michele Lilley • Production Supervisor
A California native, Michele’s domestic and international career spans more than 30 years. In the ‘90s she worked on independent feature films, episodic television series and movies of the week as a Line Producer and Directors Guild of America Unit Production Manager for various independent studios, Paramount, Disney, ABC and USA TV. Taking a turn on the road less traveled, Michelle moved to Italy in early 2000. She continued to work with independent filmmakers seeking financing while managing an art gallery and running the non-profit, Save Vernazza, which she co-founded, in order to rebuild and preserve the UNESCO World Heritage Site after a natural disaster buried the seaside village in 2011. In 2019 she returned to Cleveland with her daughter and picked up where she left off, working on Cherry (AGBO, Cleveland), Desert Warrior (MBC Studios, KSA), White Noise (Netflix, Cleveland), Rosaline and Juliet (Disney Studios/Cattleya, Italy), The Year Between (Level Forward, Chicago) and most recently Shooting Stars (NBC/Universal, Cleveland). Michelle is currently the Cleveland Unit Production Supervisor on a Marvel Studios feature film shooting this fall.
Allison Smith Newsome • Moderator
Allison is a health, employment, and IP associate attorney at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and a Greater Cleveland Film Commission Board member. She has also been the host of the Solution: Community Conversation Series since 2020. A graduate of Vanderbilt University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Allison is a proud transplant to the Cleveland community and now warmly calls it home.
Bill Garvey • GCFC President
Bill Garvey, President of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, is a former motion picture & television location manager and scout with 26 years of experience. He recently won the Location Managers Guild International Award for best period location management for his work on the academy award winning Judas & the Black Messiah (Warner Bros, starring Daniel Kaluuya). His credits include White Noise (Netflix, starring Adam Driver), Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix, starring Amy Adams & Glenn Close), Fast & Furious 8: Fate of the Furious (Universal Pictures, starring Vin Diesel & The Rock), Captain America: Winter Soldier (Marvel Studios, starring Chris Evans), The Avengers (Marvel Studios, starring Robert Downey Jr), and over 30 other feature films, over a dozen TV Shows, and dozens of national & local TV Commercials.