Speaker Bios

Gilles Barberis
Gilles Barberis is the head of the sound department of l’Immagine Ritrovata film restoration lab in Bologna since 2007. He is a lecturer for film restoration at the FIAF schools in Bologna, Singapore and Mumbai, as well as a sound technology expert. He has been working on soundtrack scanning for the past 9 years.

Korinna Barthel
Korinna Barthel works at Omnimago, a post-production company located close to Frankfurt am Main in Germany. As a key account manager Korinna is in charge of major digitization projects for different German archives. Over the past 8 years she supervised a number of prestige 2K and 4K projects including  DIE NIBELUNGEN, TARTÜFF, SOMMERWEGE or SOLO SUNNY. Her focus is on a strong communication and interaction between the archives and the technical operators who fulfill the needs of the customer. Having graduated from the Bauhaus University Weimar, majoring in media culture but also gaining a deep understanding of the technical processes from working in a technical eco system, she is the link between customer requirements and technical realization. Prior to Omnimago Korinna worked for the DEFA foundation for several years where she became accustomed to working with very valuable film assets and preserving them.

Snowden Becker
Snowden Becker has managed the graduate programs in media archiving and preservation at UCLA since 2012. She teaches courses on archival administration, preservation of heritage materials, and non-theatrical media, and researches how audiovisual recordings are managed and preserved alongside other forms of cultural heritage. Her forthcoming dissertation explores archival aspects of evidence management practice in law enforcement agencies.

Audrey Birrien
Audrey Birrien is a postproduction graduate who joined Éclair in 2001 as a project manager. She helped create the film heritage department and since 2009 has overseen, with her team, more than 700 film restorations for archives and private clients.

Rodolphe Bertrand
Rodolphe Bertrand is a Louis Lumière National Film School graduate. After directing several short movies he worked in animated cartoons and later joined Éclair laboratories. He has been in charge of its digital restoration service since 2015.

Blaine Davison
A nineteen year veteran of the Norman, Oklahoma Police Department, Blaine Davison has been a detective and forensic video analyst since 2005.  He also manages the department’s local storage solution for all digital evidence and serves on the body worn video selection committee.  Blaine is a certified member and past President of the Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association International (LEVA), a worldwide training and certification body in the field of digital multimedia analysis.

Lynette Duensing
Lynette has worked as a final finish colorist in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, and Shanghai, grading Television Commercials, Feature Film VFX, Episodic TV Shows, Animation, Multi-screen Immersive Experience Presentations, and Music Videos.

Now based in Los Angeles at Cinelicious Hollywood, she concentrates on Film and Television Restoration/Remastering projects as well as Feature Film DI’s.  Restoration projects include the iconic surf films of MacGillivray Freeman, American Biograph’s The Son’s Return c. 1909, Death Valley Days 450+ Episodes, and Private Property c. 1960.

Jonathan Erland
Born in England in 1939, Jonathan Erland commenced his professional training in the entertainment industry in 1954, studying theatre at the Central School (where fellow students included Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench) and film at the London Film School where he received his visual effects “baptism by fire” on the student film, Brief Armistice, an anti-war, battlefield film set in World War II. After additional studies at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, he began work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the heyday of live television drama, including such classics as Julius Caesar.

His knowledge of theatre technology made him a desirable asset to the team building the Charles Eames-designed audio animatronic puppet theatres for the I.B.M. Pavillion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Moving to Los Angeles, he maintained dual careers in both the entertainment and industrial and exhibit design fields. His eclectic backgrounds merged harmoniously when his industrial design knowledge made him a desirable asset for Industrial Light and Magic, the group formed by John Dykstra, A.S.C., to create the visual effects for the 1977 film, Star Wars. He continued his association with Dykstra, serving as Director of Research and Development for Apogee Productions. At Apogee, he received patents and Academy Awards for Reverse Bluescreen, the Blue-Max flux projector and a method for making front projection screens.

The author of some twenty Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineering (SMPTE) papers, he has received the Society’s Journal Award and the Fuji Gold Medal. In 1993, he served as program chair for the SMPTE Technical Conference. He is a Life Fellow of the Society, an Associate of the American Society of Cinematographers (since 1986 the A.S.C. Manual has carried an Erland tutorial: “The Future of Traveling Matte Photography.”, and he was a founder of the Technology Council of the Motion Picture and Television Industries. He was also a founder of the Visual Effects Society, for whom he has served as a Director, and, for seven years as Membership Chair. He serves currently on the Technology Committee. In 2006, the VES awarded him their inaugural Founders Award. In 2010 he, along with Douglas Trumbull and Dennis Muren, became the first Fellows of the VES.

In 1984 Erland was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in 1995, as Chairman of the Visual Effects Award Steering Committee, he achieved the long sought goal of establishing Visual Effects as a Branch of the Academy. He has served eleven years on the Board of Governors of the Academy, twenty-five years on the Executive Committee of the Visual Effects Branch and the Scientific and Engineering Awards Committee. He serves also on the Student Academy Awards Committee and the Foreign Films Committee. He’s a founding member of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Committee, as well as the Academy Science and Technology Council, where he serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Research Committee and the Solid State Light subcommittee.

For the Council he has appeared in a number of public programs, such as “Movie Magic”, where he presented the pre-cinema segment “Minwa -Za Company of Tokyo”, a program on Japanese shadow puppetry, “Illuminating the Future: theArrival of Solid State Lighting” from which his presentation of “The Science of Colour” can be seen on the Academy website. In 2011, at NAB and also CineGear he presented, “Chromatic Chaos: Implications of Newly Introduced Forms of Stagelight.” a study of solid state lighting, which was also presented for the ASC-sponsored International Cinematographers Symposium, Chaired by President Michael Goi, ASC. The Council, located at the Academy’s Pickford Centre for Motion Picture Studies, is also home to the “Esmeralda Stage” an imaging research laboratory Erland has been building for the past twenty-five years.

In 1993, he and his wife Kay, founded Composite Components Company, which specializes in traveling matte composite technology, and in 1996 the Academy awarded them a Scientific and Engineering Award for the Digital series of traveling matte backings.  In 2008 he received an Academy Award of Commendation for “his leadership efforts (in 1992) toward identifying and solving the problem of High-Speed Emulsion Stress Syndrome in motion picture film stock.” In 2012 he was honored with the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, which recognizes, “outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy.”

Henning Hahn
Henning Hahn is the product manager and the head of service at dft (Digital Film Technology GmbH) in Darmstadt, Germany. He joined the team nearly 2 years ago; previously, he headed Cinevation’s support department and served as product specialist at NUCODA / DigitalVision. Coming from a VFX, color grading and compositing background, he has over 20 years of experience in many capacities throughout the industry. He headed several digital film laboratories and DI facilities in Germany and India, and once described himself as a DI-Yuppie.

Ryan Hullings
A passion for fidelity and years of experience in audio postproduction for film, television, and music led Ryan Hullings to the Criterion Collection, where he began as an audio restoration engineer in 2007 and is now supervisor of the audio department. His work involves not just conducting digital film audio restoration but also keeping pace with cutting-edge restoration technology and evaluating the sound quality of various film elements, all with the mission of upholding the company’s lofty technical standards for film sound and allowing viewers to faithfully experience soundtracks as their makers intended them to be heard. In 2016, Ryan spearheaded the restorations of such landmark films as Chimes at Midnight, The Manchurian Candidate, Bicycle Theives, and Ikiru. Currently, he’s proud to be busy restoring Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog.

Wojtek Janio
Wojtek Janio is co-founder and CEO of Fixafilm, a multinational restoration and post-production company in Warsaw, Poland. He graduated from the world-famous Polish Film School in Lodz, after which he started his career as a Production Manager and Restoration Supervisor working for several studios. In early 2012 he co-founded Fixafilm. Wojtek has supervised the digital restoration of over 35 feature films (including six from the 1930’s), as well as the remastering of over 1100 minutes of documentaries.  Fixafilm has a diverse and international portfolio of clients including BAFTA, British Film Institute, South by Southwest Festival, Synapse Films, Filmoteca de la UNAM from Mexico, Polish Film Archive, Lithuanian Film Center and all major Polish film studios.

Lee Kline
For almost 20 years Lee Kline has presided over the technical group at The Criterion Collection, based in New York City.  Moving from analog to digital, Lee has re-mastered hundreds of world cinema classics and oversees a full restoration staff in the Criterion New York post facility.  Although Criterion has licensed films from all over the world for distribution on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and sister company Janus’s Films theatrical releases, Lee has approached each project both as a preservation and a restoration for future generations to enjoy.

Traveling the globe to locate the best available film elements, and closely working with filmmakers, Lee ensures the smooth transition from the cinema to the various home video screens in existence today – speaking out for the need to preserve film grain or to be careful about removing dirt, debris and other abnormalities if it’s non-destructive to the end result of the picture or soundtrack.  When a filmmaker is not alive to represent their work, Lee and the other members of his team at Criterion are always trying to stay true to the original release of the film.  Color, framing, editing, and major film components are hopefully presented in the same way these filmmakers would present their work today using digital technology to enhance the film.

Steve Kochak
Steve Kochak is President of Digital Preservation Laboratories, Inc. based in Burbank, California.  Starting in feature film visual effects, Steve has previously served as Vice President, Engineering for Ascent Media and Deluxe Media Services.  He founded DP Labs to invent new affordable ways to migrate legacy digital imagery and use deterministic algorithms to remove subjectivity from traditional archival verification workflows.  In April 2016, DP Labs and Oracle were the first two companies to successfully complete interoperability testing of the AXF standard (SMPTE ST 2034-1:2014).  Steve received a Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge, an MBA from Pepperdine University in Malibu and is a member of the Technical Standards Community at SMPTE.

Reto Kromer
Having graduated in mathematics and computer science, Reto Kromer became involved in audio-visual conservation and restoration thirty years ago. He was head of preservation at the Swiss National Film Archive and lecturer at the University of Lausanne. He has been running his own preservation companies, and lecturing at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. His current research includes color spaces, CLUT and codec programming and emulation.

David Marriott
David currently serves as Vice President of Acquisitions and Distribution for Cinelicious Pics, an art-house distributor founded in 2014. Recent releases include new restorations of Agnès Varda’s Jane B. Par Agnès V. and Kung-Fu Master!, Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness, and Leslie Stevens’ Private Property, as well as first-run titles such as The Mend and Gangs of Wasseypur. He is a graduate of UCLA’s Moving Image Archive Studies program.

Andrew Oran
Andrew Oran serves as VP Sales & Operations for FotoKem’s Large Format and Restoration Groups.  Established in April 2004, the Large Format Group provides comprehensive lab, video and digital services for 65/70mm and mixed format film/digital projects.  Recent films include the IMAX format documentaries “Journey to Space” and “National Parks”, and the feature films “The Hateful Eight” and “Interstellar”.  FotoKem’s Restoration Group has produced 4K restorations on titles like “My Fair Lady” and “The Sound of Music”, and provides on-going film evaluation, repair, preservation and digitization services for Hollywood studios and archives nationwide.

Michael Pogorzelski
Michael Pogorzelski received his Bachelor’s and Master of Arts degrees in Film Studies (Communication Arts) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He began his career at the Academy Film Archive in 1996 and was named Director of the Archive in 2000. He has supervised and co-supervised the restoration and preservation of documentaries, experimental films, animated films as well as five Academy Award Best Picture winners. Most recently, he co-supervised the digital restoration of THE ROBE (1953), Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON (1950) and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943).

John Polito
John Polito has been at the forefront of digital sound restoration since its inception.  After graduating in 1987 from Stanford University with honors in Music Composition and Digital Signal Processing, John joined Sonic Solutions and helped define the field by assisting in the development of the first digital audio workstation for sound restoration.  In 1991 he started Audio Mechanics, which is one of the premier sound restoration facilities.

Chris Reynolds
Chris Reynolds recently assumed the position of Director, Client Technical Solutions at Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, which includes the audio group formerly known as Chace Audio, where he has worked for over 15 years.  In his current role, Reynolds works closely with Deluxe’s sales and operations teams to provide integrated technical and workflow solutions to new and existing clients and analyzes legacy workflows and processes to determine whether new approaches or technologies can be applied to improve quality or efficiency. He is focused in the areas of audio, archiving, and advanced formats.

Prior to his current position, Reynolds was Director of Deluxe’s audio post-production services in Los Angeles where he oversaw a team of more than 60 employees consisting of audio editors, mixers, technicians, and client services staff serving the motion picture, television, commercial / promo, archival and home entertainment industries. In that role he was responsible for their state-of-the-art post-production operation that features an advanced IT and security infrastructure, audio transfer and editorial bays, ADR recording studios, television and commercial mixing studios, and theatrical Re-recording stages located in multiple physical locations in Hollywood and Burbank, CA. He still works closely with this group, which also includes a specialized audio preservation and archival team focused on preserving, migrating, and restoring audio soundtracks.  Over the course of his career, Reynolds has worked in many capacities covering nearly every aspect of audio operations including technical operations management, music recording engineer and mixer, optical recordist, transfer and conform engineer, sound editor, sound supervisor, and re-recording mixer. He is a Full Sail University Alumnus and active member of AMIA, SMPTE and AES.

Craig Rogers
Craig honed an exacting eye for detail during his 12-year tenure at IMAX, where he was responsible for the quality control and supervision of final film recording for over 50 IMAX releases. He then founded High Hat Post, where he oversaw the restoration of Greg MacGillivray’s series of early surfing films. Paul Korver of Cinelicious and Rogers began collaborating on scanning projects, ultimately leading to the acquisition of High Hat Post in 2013 by Cinelicious, where Craig currently holds the position of lead restoration artist.

Peter Schade
Peter is Vice President of Content Management, the organization that oversees NBC Universal’s vast library of feature film and television content.  Partnering with the company’s in-house post facility, NBCUniversal StudioPost, Peter’s team is responsible for creating the company’s archival elements including film, video and digital assets that serve to support worldwide distribution and long-term preservation.  This group’s efforts are key to fulfilling Universal’s commitment to restoring and preserving its classic films.  Peter has been with Universal for 17 years.  Prior to that, he ran Technical Services departments at Worldvision Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.

Jayson Wall
For the past 20 years, Jayson Wall has been working in film preservation and restoration in various capacities throughout the industry. Jayson is the Managing Film Archivist for a major studio in Los Angeles, where for the past 9 years, he has overseen a number of large preservations and restorations of classic Hollywood features. He started his career as an assistant to director/writer/producer Rod Lurie, after which he joined New Line Cinema in the asset management department, overseeing YCM preservation masters for the studio. He subsequently worked at Pro-Tek Media Preservation and Cinetech Film Labs as a senior restoration technician.

Wall is a member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). He is also a historian of mid-century Space Age Pop/Exotica music as well as a syndicated radio show host that can be heard worldwide. Jayson has lectured on film and television preservation as well as music in film, focusing on Scopitones, Soundies and Snader Telescriptions.

Adrian Wood
Adrian has worked with archival material for over 40 years either in the context of documentary production for broadcast as well as theatrical release or in the restoration of motion picture films. Restorations supervised by him include films by directors such as Fanck, Riefenstahl, Ichikawa, Marcellini and Shinoda.  The restorations have screened at key festivals and Cinémathèque around the world.

Whilst retaining a deep commitment to the supervision of restorations he continues to develop productions led by archival content. His long-standing commitment to research and to the discovery of forgotten content has led to him being honoured with several prestigious awards both in the UK and in the US, where he is currently based.

His mantra for many years has been and remains ‘it is not that something is lost or no longer exists, we simply need to continue the search until we find it’.