Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017 at 6:00 PM
Location: The 3 West Club, 3 W 51st Street, New York, NY 10019

Join EMBCA for a compelling and informative panel discussion moderated by James DeMetro the Director of the New York City Greek Film Festival , with two film shorts written and acted by Zina Wilde (Anaplioti) an actress known for her work on “Billions” and “Madoff”.

Moderator:

JAMES DeMETRO
James DeMetro (Takis Hadzidimitriou) is a life-long New Yorker. He has taught
composition and literature for nearly fifty years at Bronx Community College of
The City University of New York and currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus.
He is the founding director of the New York City Greek Film Festival and works to
promote Greek cinema in the U.S. He says he is a “filmhellene,” a pun
he unashamedly admits stealing.

Panelists:

ZINA ANAPLIOTI
Zina Anaplioti is originally from Thessaloniki Greece. She moved to New York at the ripe age of 18 to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she got a BFA in Acting. Since then she has been acting in the New York stage and in numerous films and TV shows. Most notably she has been playing Helena on the hit show BILLIONS on SHOWTIME. She will be returning back to the show for it’s 3rd season. She has also appeared on the BLACKLIST and acted alongside Richard Dreyfuss on the mini-series MADOFF on ABC for all 4 episodes. One of her favorite experiences has been working on the indie film THE BLEEDER next to Liev Schreiber and Elizabeth Moss. The movie has gotten great critical acclaim. As a producer she is very excited to be working on her own projects. She has recently finished 3 projects that are all now being submitted to festivals. Her near future goal is to create content in Greece and mix her Greek roots with American film.

JESSICA KELLY
Jessica Kelly is a Casting Director.Selected Recent and Notable Films include: John Wick 2, Jackie, Don’t Think Twice, Demolition, John Wick, The Wolverine, Noah, The Other Woman, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Southpaw, Labor Day, Young Adult, Lola Versus, Precious, The Wrestler.  Selected TV: Madoff, Blindspot, The Blacklist, Person of Interest, Believe, Zero Hour, Pan Am, Mercy. Previous Sundance films: Patti Cake$ ,The Incredible Jessica James, As You Are, People Places Things, Jacqueline Argentine, Obvious Child, Little Accidents, 2 Days in New York, Liberal Arts, Happythankyoumoreplease, Twelve, Assassination of a High School President. Upcoming and to be released feature films: Assassination Nation, An Actor Prepares, Slice, Tully, Book of Henry, Jonathan, Lizzie, Amateur.

CLEM MCINTOSH
As an actor; Clem McIntosh has appeared in a multitude of TV shows, films and off-Broadway plays. He reoccurred as “Wellman” on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and has also appeared on The Lottery, Person of Interest and most recently Hulu’s; The Path, and Netflix’s; Master of None. He also plays the lead in Giant; (a Virtual reality experience), which has recently played at many festivals including Sundance and Cannes. Along with acting Clem also produces and directs his own content, and he is currently in post-production on 8 different short films. Last year, he appeared in and Produced the comedy feature; Ghost Team; starring Jon Heder and Justin Long, which was theatrically released and purchased by the Orchard.

A LETTER FROM THE PRODUCER:

Most people get married and go on a honeymoon, others get married and get kicked out of the US. It was June of 2012, I had one suitcase to my name when I left my comfortable Upper East Side apartment to head to Thessaloniki to get married. The plan was to come back with my Canadian husband and star in my first big movie after the festivities. Fate took a different turn. I was banned from the US for life by mistake. What followed was, an incredible connection to John Lennon and an against the odds case between Zina VS the USA. Zina won, so now I am here.
The day that this decision was reversed was the day that I realized in my bones that nobody can tell you what you are or aren’t capable of. I thought it was a compelling story that needed to be told. I knew I was one of the lucky few, but I also knew how many aren’t as lucky as I am. Through this experience I felt the responsibility to make my voice heard and speak for all the people that weren’t able to reverse such a decision, or that are unable to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
I never knew there was a writer in me but after years of acting and reading endless plays and scripts I realized I had more to say than I ever thought. I was encouraged by a great circle of support mentors and friends to put my story on paper, so I did.
Our goal is to make one short film this summer in Thessaloniki and Halkidiki and raise enough funds to make our feature movie that would tackle the important and relevant subject of immigration.
More than ever before this is a subject that needs to be addressed. I consider both places my home. Greece and the USA. I am very proud to now hold a green card after the herculean task of acquiring it. I am also very proud to be Greek. I would like to show the world through these movies the tenacity, stubbornness and hard work that sometimes Greece isn’t associated with. That can be unfair. The English poet Percy Shelley declared, “We are all Greeks” meaning that “Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their root in Greece”.

Please consider donating towards our films that we will be making in Greece this summer and the near future.

Paypal: zinaanaplioti@hotmail.com

Thank you,

Zina

This event has a general admission fee of $20.