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EMF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
(2003 - 2015)
 In his career, Mr. Silvestri has created and managed a succession of startup ventures, entrepreneurial businesses and nonprofit organizations, and been an ardent supporter of environmental causes. As President of Tiburon Group, Inc. and its related entities, he oversaw the its architecture and affordable housing development services, real estate development partnerships, financial underwriting and its analytical software products. The company also acted as an investment advisor to institutional clients and participated in a variety of ongoing investment ventures.
Bob founded Blue Sky Productions, an independent film company, with writer/director David O'Malley, in 1983. Subsequently, he scripted and developed feature film projects for Paul Monash / Warner Brothers, Cannon - Golan Globus Productions, and Rastar / Sony - Columbia Pictures. He was a Creative Director for Two Islands Entertainment (1998-2007) and an advisor to Conspiracy Films since 1985. Conspiracy Films co-produced "Instinct", starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Anthony Hopkins. As President and CEO of Environmental Media Fund, Bob has advised on and helped develop hundreds of film projects, the most significant of which are noted on the EMF web site.
Mr. Silvestri graduated the Cooper Union School of Architecture, receiving a Graham Foundation Traveling Fellowship in urban studies. Active in community affairs, he is an Emeritus Board member of Friends of Mill Valley, a activist organization working for better local government. Bob has sat on the Advisory Boards of Specialty Studios, the Marin Environmental Film Festival, the International Wildlife Film Center in Missoula, Montana, where he has been a guest speaker, and Filmmakers For Conservation, an international conservation organization for the film and television industry. In 2005, Bob founded The doGoodr Fund, a nonprofit Internet technology company matching charitable and philanthropic initiatives. In July of 2010 the doGoodr Fund and doGoodr technology became projects of EMF.
CHARLES PEARSON
Director
 Charles Pearson has been a writer for thirty five years, working primarily in non-fiction television. His work has been seen on PBS, ABC, HBO, Showtime, The Disney Channel, the Discovery Channel, and numerous international networks.
His credits include: series writer and script editor for the three part PBS series, The Promise Of Play, series writer for the two part PBS series, The Digital Divide; writer for San Francisco In The 20’s, a 60 minute documentary nominated for a Northern California Emmy; writer for Don Briggs’ award-winning series of films about the Grand Canyon, RiverSong, Mule Ride, and River Runners of the Grand Canyon; several films about America’s National Parks, including Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Mt. Ranier, Olympic and Glacier; (Disney Channel); contributing writer to Ghost of the Rockies, (ABC’s World of Discovery) and a film on preserving the California Desert commissioned by the Wilderness Society. His dramatic screenplay, Child of the Owl, co-written with Felicia Lowe, received both development and production grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Pearson’s work has been honored with an Academy Award nomination (Goodnight Miss Ann, writer, associate producer), the Emmy (Chinatown, an episode in the series The Hidden Neighborhoods of San Francisco - PBS), and multiple Cine Golden Eagles. Pearson has also written scripts for clients ranging from Apple Computer to Zenith Corporation. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and an M.A. in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University, where he has also taught script writing.
 Annie Roney is the founder and managing director of ro*co films international. She launched ro*co in 2000 after eight years with CS Associates, a leading international distributor, where she worked with noted producers such as Ken Burns and Jon Else, as well as with series such as NOVA and FRONTLINE.
Starting with a single, Academy Award nominated film, Regret To Inform, today ro*co represents a highly selective catalog of award winning feature documentaries and doc series (Becoming Chaz, Girls Rock, The Garden, Street Fight, Hoop Dreams, No Impact Man, Born Into Brothels, Gunner Palace, The Weather Underground, Promises, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, The Garden, The Great Warming, The New Americans, among others). As Annie explains, "I'll only represent films that I connect with and feel passionate about. The film, whether it be the characters, or the complexities and subtleties of the story, have to get under my skin. If something about the experience of viewing the film doesn't haunt me, it's not for me".
Her credo has helped establish ro*co films international as one of the most highly respected U.S. distributors among buyers and commissioning editors worldwide. ro*co films international is a primary partner in the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
CHRIS PALMER
Director
Chris Palmer is currently the president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation. The Foundation is a not-for-profit organization which funds and produces giant screen films (IMAX) as well as companion educational programming focusing on science, the environment and world cultures. Concurrently, he is a Distinguished Film Producer in Residence, and founder and director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, School of Communications at American University in Washington, DC. As a wildlife film producer, Chris has spent 25 years producing more than 300 hours of original programming for prime time television and the large-format film industry. He and his colleagues have won two Emmy's and an Oscar nomination for their work.
In 1983, Chris founded National Audubon Society Productions and served as its president and CEO for eleven years. In 1994, he founded the nonprofit National Wildlife Productions (part of National Wildlife Federation, the largest conservation organization in the U.S.) and served as its president and CEO for ten years.
Before Chris Palmer became a producer of environmental films he served as a naval officer, worked as an engineer, a business consultant, an energy analyst, was chief adviser to a senior U.S. Senator, and environmental lobbyist, and a political appointee in President Jimmy Carter's EPA.
Mr. Palmer has three degrees and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University. He holds a B.S. with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering from University College London, an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from University College London, and a second M.S. degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.
JULIE BERGMAN SENDER
Director
Julie Bergman Sender is an Academy Award nominated producer of feature films and independent documentaries, and the creator of groundbreaking social media and viral online campaigns, and global alliances for a variety of social and environmental causes. She has produced films for Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, and specials for network television.
Julie began her career at Warner Brothers, working with Sydney Pollack before going on to partner with Jodie Foster. She has worked with a long list acclaimed writers, directors, filmmakers, actors and musicians. The films she has produced include: Washington Square starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney and Maggie Smith; Ridley Scott’s G.I. Jane starring Demi Moore; Six Days, Seven Nights starring Harrison Ford; The Fabulous Baker Boys starring Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges and Michele Pfeiffer; Major League, and others.
Most recently she acted as the Executive Producer of The Garden which was nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary, and served as Executive Producer of Harmony, A New Way of Looking at Our World. Harmony, a film and primetime television special produced in collaboration with HRH, The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles), which aired on NBC.
Julie and her husband Stuart Sender are partners in Los Angeles based Balcony Films. Their work has been featured on all the major television and cable networks, including programs such as Oprah, Good Morning America and The Today Show. Julie blogs for the Huffington Post and her work has been written about in the NY Times, Washington Post, NY Post, and The Times of London.
MAURICE H. BENNETT
III
Director
 Maurice Bennett holds a B.A. in Economics from Colorado
State University and an MBA in Business from San Francisco State University. A
financial advisor and housing developer since 1990, he currently specializes in
real estate investments and finance, and teaches Economics at the Community
College of Denver. Maurice also serves on the Board of Directors of The
Partnership for Sustainability which offers no-interest loans for PV solar
installations for qualifying residential and business customers.
Over the years, Maurice has been active in
community affairs and in helping secure financial assistance for low income
families.
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