View the video below from our October 19th zoom forum!
Special thanks to the panelists and to the Neighborhood Organization to Save North Beach
Robert Geitner, Executive Director – Olympia Theater, a native Floridian and theater artist from Orlando living in Miami for the last 26 years, has worked in entertainment, marketing, and community redevelopment all over Florida. Mr. Geitner managed several hospitality businesses during the rebirth of South Beach in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s, Geitner and his partner Terrell Fritz have worked as Fritz Geitner Inc., with community organizations, businesses, and government leaders throughout Florida helping them realize redevelopment and creative placemaking goals and objectives. In 2019, Fritz Geitner began work on a sweeping update of the Cultural Arts Master Plan for the City of Pompano Beach, FL. In 2008, Geitner joined the team of the Miami Downtown Development Authority as Senior Manager for Marketing and Communications launching a re-brand of for the area (DWNTWN) and introducing several signature events, concerts, and consumer marketing initiatives. In 2011, he joined the team at the Olympia Theater, returning to his theater roots.
Mireille Chancy Gonzalez, Board Member, Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance
Mireille Chancy Gonzalez was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and later pursued her education in Paris and Madrid. Chancy Gonzalez co-founded World Wide Foto and Carousel Studios, the biggest chain of professional photography store in Miami Dade County. Both enterprises are located in Miami’s Design District and specialize in professional photography equipment rental and sales. She is an avid art collector and especially enjoys Cuban, Haitian, African, and Modern Art genres. She serves as the vice president of the board of trustees of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and on various boards such as IWF, Partners for Artisans, and New World School of the Arts. She is also one of the founders of the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance. Mrs. Chancy-Gonzalez is committed to helping the Haitian Community through Art and the preservation of historical documents. On May 29, 2012, she was nominated by the French Minister of Culture and Communication the ranking of Knight in the order of Arts and Letters. She is Married to Tomas and has one daughter.
Beth Boone is the Artistic & Executive Director of Miami Light Project and Founder of The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. Since 1998, in her role as Artistic and Executive Director of Miami Light Project, Beth has distinguished herself as a leader in Miami’s cultural community. She has developed critically acclaimed artistic programs that have asserted the organization as one of the leading cultural institutions in South Florida and which have brought her national recognition for her work in the field.
Roberto Espejo, Principal at C-Studio, has been collaborating in architecture for over 35 years and for 23 years of those years, had the distinct privilege of working with renowned architect Cesar Pelli. During Roberto’s tenure at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and with his own design collaborative, C-Studio, he has worked on projects from Malaysia to Mexico and Miami, where he most notably spent 12 continuous years of his life working as the Senior Associate in charge of the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. From the international competition to opening night, the experience profoundly motivated his passion for working collaboratively with a wide range of interested stakeholders, user groups, and communities with diverse points of view. We all know that Miami is just that kind of place!!! Having recently relocated here full-time since his Arsht Center days, he is now committed more than ever to being involved in community initiatives that will continue to build on this mission of meaningful placemaking, projects that will have a profound and lasting impact on communities and the civic realm. He is here to stay this time and offer his experience and expertise to anyone that will listen!!!
Gregory von Hausch, Broward County Film Society, Inc. President & CEO
See America First, director/PBS 1969…The Naked Ape, actor/Universal Pictures 1970…Bachelor of Fine Arts Theatre/directing-acting University of Florida 1972…Founder and Artistic Director of Hippodrome State Theatre 1973-88…National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Panel, Co-Chair 1978 – 81…A Flash of Green Production Mgr/American Playhouse 1984…Enter Laughing Guest Director/University of Florida 1985; Six Characters in Search of an Author guest director/Rollins College 1986…Executive Director Broward County Film Society 1989 – 1995…Florida Arts Council Media Panel 1990 – 92, 97, 99, 02…Florida Arts Council Multi-Disciplinary Panel 1993 – 95…President & CEO Broward County Film Society 1995 – present…Leadership Broward LEADER OF THE YEAR 1999…Guest of Iran to Fajr Film Festival in Tehran 2001…Commencement Speaker Art Institute 2002…Vision Broward Committee 2004; MC for Leadership Broward Gala 2004; article published in Fort Lauderdale Magazine Jan 2005; Florida Film Critics Circle’s GOLDEN Orange Award for service to the community during Hurricane Wilma. Programmed FLIFF, The Daytona Beach Film Festival, The Perrier French Film Fest, The 5 Points Theatre Fest in Jacksonville, The Dinner & A Movie (monthly in St Augustine), Flagler Film Festival and Cinema Paradiso….2013 Awarded “IMPRESARIO” Award by Florida Grand Opera; Awarded: CHEVALIER DE L’ORDRE DES ARTES ET DES LETTRES” by Aurelie Filippetti, Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication of France….2014 Awarded “Champion of Downtown” by Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority. In 2019, Gregory celebrated his 30th year as Director of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the second-longest tenure in the nation.
