Black Bear Film Festival adds new board members

MILFORD - The Black Bear Film Festival has introduced three new directors to its board: Celeste O’Neil, director of human resources and administrative services at The Biondo Group; Kalina Ivanov, production designer for feature films such as 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine; and Krista Gromalski, co-founder of Heron’s Eye Communications. “We are pleased to have such a diverse and community-minded group of talented individuals involved with Black Bear,” says festival Executive Director Nancy Pitcher. O’Neil joined The Biondo Group in 2004. She began her professional career in 1983 with Schirm Rehabilitation and Education Companies. In 1994 she joined Vassar Brothers Medical Center/Health Quest Systems in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., providing consulting services to small business groups. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pike County United Way. She lives in Milford, with her husband, Chuck. The couple has four young adult children: Ben, Chuck, Beth and Sarah. “I love the festival and what it brings to our region,” says O’Neil. “I am passionate about films and have two adult children in the business. Chuck is an actor and screen writer in LA and Beth is a budding film producer in New York City.” Ivanov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. During the height of communism, she escaped with her parents and landed in New York. Her design philosophy is to immerse herself in the script, fully embody the characters and reveal their history through color, texture and architecture in a visually original way. Ivanov has brought this originality as a production designer and visual consultant to 23 films and as a storyboard artist on over 30 projects. In addition to her design work, she has made the documentary, “The Longest Shadow,” which was part of The Human Rights Watch Film Festival and was screened on PBS/POV. “I am proud to be a part of the Black Bear Film Festival,” she says. Gromalski has worked for more than a decade in the public relations and publishing fields, most recently as Editor & Publisher of Milford Magazine. She has served on the Pike County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and is a board member for North American Cultural Laboratory (NaCl Theatre), and the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. She is currently producing the public television documentary, “Nature’s Keepers,” which will focus on Pike County’s conservation legacy and how it is continuing today through the activism of residents who are consciously and intentionally striving to be the example other rapidly growing communities look to for leadership on land stewardship issues. The 7th Annual Black Bear Film Festival will be held Friday through Sunday, October 13-15, in Milford. For more information visit www.blackbearfilm.com or call 570-409-0909.