Nic Baisley

Nic Baisley is the host of FilmSnobbery.Com. He hails from Massachusetts originally but has a wanderlust that has taken him to Europe, Australia, and all over the United States. He has been a fan of all things movie since he was a child, even working at a video rental chain, and at a couple of movie theaters while in high school. Nic sees that with the growing prevalence of social media in culture, that there is an opportunity to create a place where people in the movie industry can come together online and discuss their projects, their financing and distribution woes, and their triumphs. Along with a little entertainment from Nic and his Co-host Jerry Cavallaro, they aim to pierce the heart of Hollywood from the outside and bring the purity of the movie industry back into the public perspective.

Jerry Cavallaro

Born prematurely with a camera in hand, Jerry Cavallaro was already ahead of his time. Legend has it that he even filmed his own birth. At a young age, he already realized the magic that was filmmaking and knew that it is what he wanted to do in life. At age 9, he started regularly reading books on filmmaking. A year later he received his first video camera for a Christmas present but it was a cheap toy that never worked. By age 12 he was already a film buff and was using his dad’s hi-8 camera to make cheap little movies that no one ever watched. At age 15 he bought his very own camera and began making slightly better quality cheap little movies that still no one watched. These movies started to get bigger and ranged in genres from comedy to horror to documentary. People finally started to take notice. One of his proudest moments came when he met and interviewed his idol, Kevin Smith, who has been a huge influence on his filmmaking style. He also interviewed one of his favorite comedy actors, Chris Elliott, and has actually remained in touch with him. Now, at age 21, Jerry has a mini-film studio that operates out of his bedroom, has read over 100 books on filmmaking and is currently studying film at college. He recently finished his first feature film, Stuck Like Chuck, which he wrote, directed, edited, and produced. He also did pretty much every other crew position, as well as had a small acting role in the film. At this point, Jerry is probably better known for his movie watching skills after coming in 3rd place in the Netflix Movie Watching World Championship this October. He watched movies for over 68 hours straight and was labeled New York City’s Best Couch Spud in local news. Jerry has an undeniable passion for filmmaking and a strong determination that ensures he will be making movies for a long time. He also has a quick sense of humor and a unique personality. He still hasn’t matured though.

Francis Abbey

Francis Abbey began pursuing his interest in film as an undergrad at the University of Maryland. With no film major available, he became involved with the campus television station and spent his free time watching laserdiscs in the school library and reading books on filmmaking. Abbey graduated Magna cum Laude from the University with degrees in Spanish and Criminology. Abbey also received a citation for his membership in the College Park Scholars, Artists and is a member of the academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa.

In 2005, Abbey earned his M.A. in film and television from the Savannah College of Art and Design. While completing his graduate studies, Abbey wrote, directed, produced, and acted in a number of short films including Dogstar, a 2004 National Film Challenge semi-finalist. Focusing on writing, Abbey completed several short scripts, teleplays, and feature length scripts, including Truth or Consequences, which was a Project Greenlight quarter-finalist. Also while in grad school, Abbey co-founded and served as the first General Manager of Beecon, a website designed to showcase student films.

After returning to the Washington D.C. area, Abbey continued to pursue writing and acting. In 2006, his original script, Pennsyltucky, placed fourth out of 2,000 entries in the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. As an actor, Abbey has been in a number of films and has lent his voice to narrations and commercial voiceovers. Some of Abbey\’s notable roles include G. Stimpson Erdogan in the web series Buddy Jackson, the title character in the award-winning The Kumbio Takedown, and Guillermo in the feature film Bordertown.

Abbey wrote, directed, and produced his first feature film, Boxing Day, in 2008. Made for just $2,000 and shot largely over two weekends, Boxing Day has gone on to be accepted to multiple film festivals, earn enthusiastic reviews, and win The Indie Award of Merit. Currently, Abbey is working on his second feature film, 6 Nonsmokers.

Ambere Riggs

Ambere Riggs is a college student at the University of Southern Mississippi working towards a degree in English. Her father is in the military, so she has traveled a lot and has experienced many different cultures. Ambere’s dream is to become a successful writer. Currently she is working on her first book and writing movie reviews. Ambere is a very ambitious person that enjoys just hanging out with friends, reading books, and watching movies. She’s just an ordinary person working towards being extraordinary. Feel free to check out Ambere’s blog and follow her on twitter @Ambere_Lynn.

Lelia Nebeker

Lelia is a student at the University from Virginia where she watches way too much television at the expense of her schoolwork. She also works part time in an independent children’s book store, which she one day plans to write a sitcom about. Her idols include Joss Whedon, Michael Ausiello, and Meryl Streep, and she dreams of one day marrying Edward Norton. Or Ron Weasley. If Lelia was a superhero, her power would be the ability to become emotionally invested in great TV shows that get prematurely cancelled. Lelia’s favorite season is Oscar season, and when she’s not reading or watching TV, she enjoys playing Rock Band, correcting people’s mispronunciations of her name, and collecting Star Wars Pez dispensers.

Alex Pacheco-West

Alex Pacheco-West lives in small-town Alabama. She majored in Creative Writing and minored in English at Huntingdon College. Her favorite movies at this moment are “Hot Fuzz” and “Death at a Funeral”, and she thinks any film can be improved with a well-placed explosion or two. Her major pet peeves include people who ask questions during movies and films-from-books that butcher the source material. Alex’s favorite comic book series are Deadpool, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Hellboy, and pretty much anything by Alan Moore that she can get her hands on. If she’s not doodling cartoons on scraps of paper she’s probably out taking pictures or watching Star Trek.

Stephanie Stebbins

Stephanie Stebbins is a native of Virginia Beach, VA but is currently living in the land of poofy bangs and bitchin’ Camaros that is Fort Worth, Texas. She is married to a United States Navy service member and has two children she affectionately refers to as Thing One and Thing Two. Currently she is a blogger: http://stephinfectionisinyourhead.blogspot.com but plans on world domination as all bloggers secretly do. She thoroughly enjoys tomatoes, but is not a fan of liver.

Julie Keck and Jessica King

Jessica King grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and eventually moved to the city via China; country mouse Julie Keck entered Chicago via Jessica. Their first films were inspired by inside jokes and made primarily to tickle the fancies of their closest friends. In subsequent films they explored the exquisite embarrassment associated with living. King and Keck’s most recent efforts, Anxiety Acres and Libidoland, showcase characters venturing out of their comfort zones and flailing in the quicksand of their own imaginations. In addition to producing ultra-low budget films, Jessica and Julie write short and feature length screenplays in a variety of genres. Their primary goal: to tell stories that are at once familiar, uncomfortable, demented, and exhilarating. They’re currently working on a movie dramatic thriller called TILT with Minnesota director Phil Holbrook. Julie and Jessica chronicle their work at kingisafink.com and are active on Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube.