About Us
Talented people who have histories in event production and execution are producing the Burbank International Film Festival. Internally we have volunteers who are experienced at project managing in corporate America.
Adrian Israel Iñiguez, Executive Director, a Woodbury graduate, whose experience is in architectural design and management, was the Architectural Coordinator at Sherwood Country Club, a master planned community for Castle and Cooke. Adrian also has experience in coordination and production of large-scale events and intimate gatherings. He has experience as a liaison between clients and city officials and understands the bureaucratic process in order to get various requirements accomplished.
Brandon Scott Kurtz, Executive Producer, a Woodbury graduate, has had several years of experience with event production and management. In the late 90's and early 2000's, Brandon worked with others to host numerous outdoor music festivals. His duties included on-site troubleshooting during the event and technical issues. Brandon also has a history of working on movie sets in grip, lighting and camera departments to pre-production offices. In 2008, he established B Design Solutions, a graphic design and printing business. B Design Solutions also donates services to the festival as well as other non-profit organizations.
Bill Henderson, Director of Seminars, Bill Henderson has been a professional Sound Engineer for the past 32 years. He works for Technicolor Sound on the Sunset Gower Studios lot. Bill is the most recent addition to the Board of Directors and was responsible for establishing the Seminar aspects of this years and last years Festival. Bill brings a host of well-respected and award-winning industry professionals to this year’s Festival, talking about the latest digital revolutions in the TV and Film industries.
Bob Leggett, Board Member, is the Music Coordinator for the Festival, and has been so since the beginning. In addition, he has been covering the music scene for the past 10 years, and has contributed to Examiner.com, Live Magazine, Music Connection Magazine, Yahoo Associated Content, the Orange County Register and the Riverside Press Enterprise. He also hosts thrice-monthly showcases for indie musicians at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles. He founded the SoCal Music Live competition five years ago after spending five years with the Orange County Music Awards. Bob is an active participant in the indie music community, including Songsalive!, Just Plain Folks and other grassroots organizations.
Jeff Rector, Board Member, is an award-winning filmmaker, his feature film "Revamped", which he wrote, directed and produced, is currently being distributed worldwide and is available on Netflix and Blockbuster Video. Revamped is a feature length version of his short film "Fatal Kiss", which won the award for "Best Screenplay" at the AFFMA International Film Festival, "Best Director" and "Best Picture" at ScreamFest and was one of the first short films ever acquired by HBO for worldwide broadcast.
Bill Plympton is considered the King of Indie Animation and is the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he graduated from Portland State University in Graphic Design. Bill Plympton moved to New York City in 1968. He began his career creating cartoons for publications such as New York Times, National Lampoon, Playboy and Screw. In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar for his animated short "Your Face". In 2005, Bill received another Oscar nomination, this time for the short film "Guard Dog". "Push Comes to Shove", another short film, won the prestigious Cannes 1991 Palme d'Or. After producing many shorts that appeared on MTV and Spike & Mike's, he turned his talent to feature films. Since 1991 he's made nine feature films, six of which ("The Tune", "Mondo Plympton", "I Married A Strange Person", "Mutant Aliens", "Hair High" and "Idiots and Angels"), are animated features.
Ken Mora, Board Member is an ulumnus of Burbank International Film Festival, new to the board this year, and a writer/director/producer of animated film. Ken's multiple award-wining screenplay 'Magnum Farce' has garnered several film fest awards, and his follow-on short film adaptation has won several awards as well. Ken's ties to the animation industry have fuled our stellar Animation Day program this year. Bella Fe Films is currently in production of the feature film version of Magnum Farce, the CG animated spoof of Dirty Harry films.