Coolidge Foundation Staff

Joe Zina
(jzina@aol.com)
Executive Director

Joe Zina joined the Coolidge Corner Theatre in 1997 as a volunteer on the board of directors. In 1999, he was appointed Executive Director of the Foundation, following a diversified career history in public school arts education, college teaching, five years as a professional dancer with the Nikolais Dance Theatre of NYC and with the Susan Buirge Dance Theatre in Paris. In 1982, he co-founded Rugg Road Papers and Prints with lifetime partner Bernard Toale while developing himself as a visual artist, production assistant, and paper store entrepreneur. At the Coolidge Corner Theatre, he has developed innovative collaborations among communities, schools, filmmakers and non-profit organizations and has completed a five-year fundraising and capital campaign renovation of the theatre. At present, Zina is leading the Coolidge through its first major expansion to develop the boundaries of a community theatre with innovative programming, such as the Coolidge Award, honoring major artists in the film medium and, integrating its program through broadband technology. He holds a Bachelors degree from Salem State College, and a Master'­s degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Elizabeth Taylor-Mead
(elizabeth@coolidge.org)
Associate Director

Elizabeth Taylor-Mead grew up in New York, watching Million Dollar Movie and Soupy Sales. At 20, her love of Ealing Comedies and Thomas Hardy compelled her to move to London, where unqualified for any sensible career, she founded an independent film company and for fifteen years produced documentaries with British accents. After moving to Boston in 1990 Elizabeth freelanced on PBS films while raising her daughters to achieve satisfactory knowledge of all things cinematic, worshiping at the Coolidge shrine. In 2003 she joined the theater's board of directors, volunteering until a staff position was created for her. It is her mission to ensure that all Commonwealth citizens become card-carrying Coolidge members.

Andrew Thompson
(andy@coolidge.org)
Theatre Manager

Andrew Thompson never thought he'd "manage" anything, much less a movie theater. Over the years he's seen many changes to the Coolidge itself and the staff, and for the most part thinks it's all gone pretty well. Andrew is a collector of martial arts & fantasy movies, and other things even more trivial. He has a degree in Fine Arts, and occasionally draws pictures, usually on scrap paper while on the phone. Ticket, the theater cat, currently resides at Andrew's place, where she is spoiled rotten.

George Bragdon
(george@coolidge.org)
Programming Manager

Entranced by the flickery lights of projectors, George ran away and joined the movies as a boy and never looked back. Although, rumor has it he once worked as a journalist or something and has a college degree. He fell in love with the Coolidge after coming to his first show here, a midnight screening of LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS. He'd driven four hours just to see it.

Chris Kriofske
(chris@coolidge.org)
Office Manager

A Milwaukee native, Chris Kriofske moved out East in 1997 to pursue a Masters in Film Studies at Boston University. After completing that program, he drifted for a few years in boring, non-film related work before coming to the Coolidge in April 2004. In the past, he ha­s volunteered for the Brattle Film Foundation, the Independent Film Festival of Boston, and has written for Splendid!, a now defunct music website. He is also on the board of directors for the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.

4X5 Pinhole 1Shawn Morin
(shawn@coolidge.org)
Tech Manager, Website Admin

Throughout the years, Shawn's friends have forced many nicknames upon him; MacGyver, Genius Boy, and Mr. Everything, to name a few. A Jack-Of-All-Trades, a "master" of one (heck, maybe even TWO!). Does something need to be repaired, designed, built, installed, or otherwise mangled from its original state? Never fear! Known as 'human duct tape,' he does not hesitate to wield a tool, toss the instructions, and get his hands dirty. When the deadlines are just too quickly approaching, he employs his very own invention which cuts his commute to work down to ZERO minutes! It's called the "Sleep-Behind-Your-Deskerator!" He spends his extra-curricular time making music, as well as films, photographs, and cameras

Jillian Maryonovich
(jillian@coolidge.org)
Staff Manager (Employment Inquiries)

Theater Staff

Ben Alper, Mark Anastasio, Damon Barbieri, Nancy Campbell, Anne Continelli, Matt Gress, Sean Heming, Sarah Kershaw, Jacob Knable, Tania Lemos, Justin Levsen, Lucy Lindsey, Jonah Livingston, Sarah Manoli, Nick Peruzzi, Sarah Schmidt, Sean Sprecher, Woody White

Film Programming and Booking


Connie White, Balcony Booking
(connie@balconyfilm.com)
Connie White has been active in the independent film business since 1986, when she started to program films for the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, she served as co-owner, operator and film programmer/booker from 1987-2001. Since 1996, she has also been programming and booking art and independent films for the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and, more recently, for the Pleasant Street Theater in Northampton, Mass, the New Art Cinemas in Provincetown, Mass, the Amherst Cinema Arts Center in Amherst, Mass., and the Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1992, she co-founded the critically acclaimed Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema, which ran for 11 years. From 1999 - 2005, Ms. White served as the Artistic Director of the Provincetown International Film Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Taking what she has learned first-hand about specialty and art-film exhibition, in 2002 Ms. White created Balcony Releasing, which designs and implements theatrical distribution strategies for independently produced documentary features. Her first release, Daughter From Danang, went on to win an Academy Award Nomination for Best Feature Documentary, alongside Bowling for Columbine, Spellbound and Winged Migration. Other Balcony Releasing films include the acclaimed documentaries The Same River Twice, Love and Diane, Al Franken: God Spoke, So Much So Fast, and Wrestling with Angels:Playwright Tony Kushner.

Ms. White was awarded The 2000 "Image Award for Vision and Excellence" from Women in Film and Video, New England. She served on the jury for the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Publicity

Marianne Lampke
(marianne@beaconcinema.com)
Marianne has over two decades of professional experience in promoting and showcasing independent cinema and has worked with the Coolidge team since 1996. From 1986 to 2001 she co-owned the landmark Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts and developed a national reputation for high quality and distinctive film programming, marketing and publicity. The Brattle won over 50 awards during this period and became one of the highest grossing and most respected repertory movie screens in the world. >From 1993 through 2003 Marianne co-founded and produced the Boston International Festival of Women’s Cinema, which emerged as a leading showcase of commercial and independent works by women. She helped to launch the Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) in 1999 and became the festival’s Director of Publicity through 2005, garnering major media coverage in numerous regional and national outlets. Marianne was a recipient of the prestigious Image Award for Vision and Excellence (2000) from Women in Film and Video/New England. She continues to offer marketing and publicity services with a specialty in promoting independent cinema, the arts, and the preservation of theaters as cultural flagships of the community. She currently divides her year between the Boston area and Cape Cod, where she enjoys a balanced life of gardening, renovating Cape Cod cottages, and spending time with her partner, family and friends.

Website

Shawn Morin, Sean Effel