Board of Directors & Chairs

BOARD

STEVE GRUMETTE

FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Steve Grumette is a graduate of UCLA, from which he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Physics. After spending two years working in the aerospace industry, he returned to the UCLA motion picture department to study filmmaking. Steve has worked in the motion picture industry for more than forty years as director, cameraman and editor. His collaborative project, The Magic Machines, won a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for “Best Live Action Short Subject.” His other films have won numerous festival awards, including top prizes at the American and Atlanta Film Festivals. While working as a consultant on the film WarGames, he pioneered the use of live computer imagery in motion pictures and subsequently created computer effects for more than a dozen major Hollywood films. He also uses the computer as a paintbrush and is widely known for his photo mosaics and giclée prints, which have been exhibited in galleries around the world. READ MORE

KATIE GUERNSEY

PRESIDENT

Katie Guernsey’s professional and philanthropic endeavors have straddled art and technology since 2005 when she joined the Center for Arts Management and Technology at Carnegie Mellon University to promote better adoption of tech to meet cultural nonprofit needs. After receiving her Masters in Arts Management, she has developed software for nonprofits, foundations and corporations as an executive Product Manager and consultant, primarily in media: streaming video, live streaming, lifestyle content, and gaming. She was also a founding board member for Art With Impact, a nonprofit that promotes mental wellness through short film. Katie looks forward to bringing her strategic planning, marketing, and tech enablement prowess to create a basis for effective fundraising and communications with OFF constituents. Originally from sunny Ojai, she is now based in LA and enjoys hiking, ballet, and helping startups get their footing in the wild west of tech.

BRUCE J. NOVOTNY

VICE-PRESIDENT
Manager of Screenwriting Competition and Gold Coast Competition

Bruce has worked for almost two decades as a film and TV editor, getting his start at a world-renowned agency in Malibu, where he worked on public affairs campaigns that are studied today in university political science programs. He has edited feature films and documentaries, series TV and music performances, has been an active contributing member of the LA-based comedy collective BrevityTV and co-produced a successful series of PSAs supporting marriage equality in 2009. Bruce is a published novelist (Tales From an Endless Summer, Down The Shore Press, 1996), and was a regular columnist for newspapers on the Jersey Shore before moving to Ventura County. He’s currently a practicing screenwriter in addition to his work as an editor. He was educated at the Universities of Notre Dame and Cambridge, representing both on the soccer pitch, and is active with the Notre Dame Club of Ventura County.

LORI BALDERAS

BOARD MEMBER

Lori Balderas is an Ojai native and multifaceted producer with a background ensued with a cultural education and awareness gifted to her by her father, Andrew Bisaccia, who was a prolific anthropologist, scientist, educator, author and mentor. Lori gained the privilege of living with the Fijian and Samoan peoples in the early 1980s which gave her a perspective of respecting all cultures. Lori’s background includes modeling and the beauty industry which led to her becoming an award-winning professional photographer. This also gives her a keen eye as a casting director. She also is an interior designer and owned a home decor company, which gives her a gift of set design. Her organizational skills and personality are an asset to any production or event. Lori enjoyed working side by side on the multitude of commercials, music videos, documentaries and films with her Native American husband, Simon Balderas since they started WonderMouse in 2016.

SIMON BALDERAS

BOARD MEMBER

Simon Balderas is a Native American filmmaker who was raised in Ojai. Seasoned and self-directed, creative with the ability to bring complex stories to life with a unique and highly visual affection. He is able to communicate sophisticated concepts into beautiful and consistent visual poetry that utilizes lyrical and emotional conventions. At a very young age, Simon became an adept photographer eventually leading him to pursue a degree in critical film studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His immersive approach has gained him an impressive array of skills that few creatives possess, becoming an accomplished Director/Producer/Writer/Editor/D.O.P.. Over the past 30 plus years, he has demonstrated the ability to deliver projects with extraordinary cinematic results.

BONNIE BARTLING

RECORDING SECRETARY

Bonnie moved to California in 1988 from Washington State. In 2002 the community of Ojai became her home and in 2008 she started volunteering at the Ojai Film Festival. Recently she became the Recording Secretary for the Board. Bonnie believes in supporting the local community and shops the Ojai Farmers Market every Sunday. Her other past volunteer work includes the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, the Ojai Music Festival, and the Ojai Storytelling Festival. Bonnie retired at the end of 2019 from the National Weather Service, leading the Cooperative Weather Observers Program. She is an avid supporter of independent films.

HERB HEMMING

TREASURER

Herb Hemming retired to Ojai in 2006 after a 40-year career in photojournalism, most of it with the Associated Press. He previously has served as OFF Operations Manager and President. He has also served on the Board of the Ojai Art Center and spent 4 years as chair of the Art Center Theater branch. He has produced about a dozen plays at the Art Center and received the American Association of Community Theatre Spotlight Award. He is currently treasurer of the OAC Theater branch.

JONATHAN W. LAMBERT

BOARD MEMBER 

Jon spent 35 years as a professional educator working in both the public education and college/university sectors. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education (State University of New York) and Masters’ and Doctorate degrees from Northwestern University specializing in Counseling and Counselor Education. He has worked in the public school sector as a teacher and curriculum developer, and in the university sector as a counselor and professor in both the Department of Psychology and the Graduate School of Education. In addition Dr. Lambert was active within the field of International Education both with the State University of New York and as University Director for International Education at Pace University (NY) working with study-abroad, foreign student and faculty exchange programs. READ MORE

DAVID LEGRAND

BOARD MEMBER

A graduate of the University of Southern California, David spent over a decade working in production, eventually shifting to CGI where he spent more than five years honing his skills. After his work in CGI David decided to pursue a new career as a financial advisor with Edward Jones. Throughout his personal and professional journey, he has cultivated a diverse set of skills and experiences that will be valuable in a board seat. He brings a keen eye for detail, a strategic mindset, and a deep appreciation for the arts. As the Ojai Film Festival prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, he is excited about the opportunity to contribute fresh energy to the board and looks forward to sharing his ability to generate ideas, solve problems, and find creative solutions. Being involved in an organization that embraces the transformative power of film and filmmaking resonates deeply with him and links him back to his creative core.

RICHARD SVEN SHELGREN

BOARD MEMBER

Sven comes to OFF with decades of global experience as an Executive Producer for many top production and post production companies. His efforts earned honors at award shows including Cannes, Clios, the Emmy’s, and MOMA. With his A Single Woman feature film premiere in the US Congress, screening at the Smithsonian Institution and the United Nations, and winning the highest award from the National Women’s Political Caucus, Sven shows his ability to produce original, inspired projects. Sven’s favorite experiences include managing his family’s world-renowned prop rental business (HouseOfPropsInc.com) as well as honoring his grandfather’s distinguished architectural career in upstate New York. He practices many forms of creative expression, including writing, drawing, painting, and father(and grandfather)hood.

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

LISA ANGLE

MARKETING DIRECTOR & WEBMASTER

Lisa Angle of Ninety Degrees Media is the ‘right Angle’ to help you write and sell your stories with websites, video, and social media. She earned a master’s degree in computer-based education from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. While in SLO she served as marketing director for the SLO Museum of Art and taught creative writing at Cuesta College. Back in Santa Barbara she worked for TVSB, produced a weekly newsletter for the Film Commission, and coordinated the Screenwriters Association. She helped produce two documentaries, Ablitt House Journey and Thirty Years of Literary Excellence. She’s Chief Technology Officer for the Writers and Publishers Network.

ROSA COSTANZA

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION 

Rosa Costanza is an award-winning Screenwriter and Director, Emmy nominated TV producer, and a third-generation filmmaker with twenty plus years experience in film and television production. Her credits include multiple departments on over one-hundred projects from North America, Asia and Africa. She advocates for the arts, and feels passionate about mentoring, lecturing, and volunteering. Her service involves working with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Yale University’s Film Studies Center, the Ojai Film Society, and CalArts. At Orange Coast College she taught film production master classes. She received honorable withdrawal from IATSE Local 695 after a decade, became a producer member of the Emmys/TV Academy (ATAS), and a VIP member of Women In Media.

ATEFEH RAHMANI

IRANIAN FILM TRACK 

Atefeh Rahmani is a Women Filmmaker in Iran. She received a bachelor’s degree in theater direction from the UCNA in Iran. She is an ISFA official member (Iranian Short Film Association) and has more than 10 years of experience in the film and cinema industry.

Some of her experiences in the film industry are listed below:

  1. Director of 5 short films  and a feature documentary in production
  2. Assistant Director of the many feature movie, short films & feature Documentaries
  3. Script Supervisor of the feature & short movies

Her films have been screened in various festivals all over the world and won several awards.She also was a judge at the 21th Aporia Film Festival in South Korea, and responsible for the selection of Iranian films in the Busan Animal Festival.

Now she officially works as a film judge at the Chatham-Kent International Film Festival in Canada. She is also a member of the Indie Memphis Shorts Screening Committee and an official member of the screening committee at the Woodstock Film Festival which is an Oscar Qualify festival.