Jed Dietz  |  Director of the Maryland Film Festival  |  President of the Producer's Club of Maryland

The Executive Producer of the Fox Network's movie Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story, Jed Dietz is the founder and general partner of Film Development Partners. FDP is a limited partnership investing in ideas for feature film production. The fund has been used to develop ideas into screenplays for a variety of producers ranging from the actor Kevin Bacon to Larry Turman (The River Wild), and now has 15 projects in various stages of development. Mr. Dietz is involved with Parting the Waters, an eight-hour mini-series for ABC.      In 1993, Mr. Dietz founded the Producers Club of Maryland, Inc., a not for profit corporation to help the Maryland Film Office attract more film and television production to Maryland. The organization represents business leaders from around the state and has been instrumental in a significant increase in the film business in Maryland in the past few years.      The Producers Club owns the Maryland Regional Production Guide, the only comprehensive "yellow pages" for film and television production companies; has its own Web site geared to the Guide (www.mdrpg.com); and organized a production conference, REELMaryland, for local businesses who want to learn more about the opportunities for increased business with production companies. The Producers Club funds and administers the Producers Club of Maryland Filmmakers Fellowship each year in partnership with Sundance Labs. The Producers Club has organized numerous premier screenings and marketing events on both coasts.      Mr Dietz graduated from Deerfield Academy, the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar, and he holds an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester. He serves on the Marketing Committee of the National Aquarium, and is on the Board of Baltimore’s CenterStage.

Skizz Cyzyk  |  Programming Manager

Skizz is a filmmaker, and founder of MicroCineFest, the fall festival that has introduced countless underground films to the Baltimore area since 1997. As a filmmaker, Skizz is known for the Formstone documentary Little Castles, that he directed and edited, and an award-winning animated short called 4 Films in 5 Minutes. Skizz serves as a Jury member and projectionist at Slamdance, and consults with various other festivals including the Atlanta Film & Video Festival and Alabama’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. A founding member of the Maryland Film Festival's Programming Advisory Board, Skizz has made important programming contributions to each of the first two Festivals, before taking on the position of Programing Manager in 2001.

Dan Krovich  |  Programming Administrator

Dan Krovich graduated with high honors from the College of William and Mary with a degree in chemistry. He then received his Ph.D. in pharmacology and molecular sciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He served as a volunteer at the 1999 Maryland Film Festival helping with merchandise sales and at the 2000 Festival serving as an assistant to the programmer, aiding in the production of the program book and coordinating film projection logistics. He has also served on the screening committee for MicroCineFest. Dan joined the staff of The Maryland Film Festival in 2001 as programming manager and has worked as a production assistant on several films including Swimmers and Syriana.

Evelyn Hafferty   |   Sponsorship Coordinator

Evelyn has a degree in Communications Design from Syracuse University. Before joining the festival staff, she lived and worked in both New York City and Philadelphia as a branding consultant and usability designer. She continues to write on a freelance basis about branding, marketing, and design. Her experience within the non-profit world comes from working with the Bright Lights Organization in Philadelphia and Heifer International in Massachusetts (where she is originally from). Evelyn feels that branding and fundraising are very similar in that both involve selling a concept; in branding it is a product ­-- here we are trying to get the word out to people about how fantastic the Maryland Film Festival is and its greater impact in the community as a whole. Evelyn works closely with the Director of the Festival to increase and maintain membership to the year-round “Friends of the Festival” program and she coordinates travel and lodging for filmmakers.

Taryn Gentry  |   Operations Manager

Taryn Gentry graduated with honors from the University of Louisville in Kentucky with degrees in Communications and Theatre Performance.  While in college, Taryn performed in several Main Stage productions at the University as well as landing a national role as a co-host for A&F TV for Abercrombie and Fitch.  She also had a supporting role in an independent film, Shennanigans produced by college students in Louisville.  While she has always wanted to maintain ties with the entertainment industry, she made a run in the corporate world for several years before landing at the Maryland Film Festival.  In her corporate journey she became a jack of all trades.  Her skills include management, human resources, payroll and advertising/marketing.  Her passions include spending time with her husband and friends as well as volunteering and fundraising for BreastFest and the the Friends of the Walter's Art Muesum.  It only seems a natural fit for Taryn to bring her dynamic background to the Maryland Film Festival and add to their incredible team.