CINEMA ARTS EXPO

Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc. hosted the first Cinema Arts Expo at Villa Maria College on Saturday, April 5th, 2025. The all-day event consisted of panel discussions and networking opportunites, with some sponsors at tables.  Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark and Buffalo Film Office Director of Operations Rich Wall discussed film opportunities coming to Buffalo, and Local 52 Business Representative John Scardino discussed the benefits of crew members joining a union. 

Additional panels focused on Screenwriting (Jeff Wilber, Paul McGinnis, Richie Leyland and Ken Rowe), Producing (Peter Johnson, Nikki Styliades Howze, Tom Paolino and Emily Sheng), Directing (Peter McGennis, John Michael Noan, Kyle Mecca and David O. Anerson), and Women in Film (Sabrina Pena Young - moderator, Jasmine Soto, Robin Lazzara, Amanda Besl, and Kristen Skeet).

Companies and organizations set up at tables included Buffalo Camera at Expressway Cinema Rentals, Casting Buffalo, Buffalo Film Academy, and Film Neighbor Network. Additional sponsors included eGlobal Creative Publishing,  Macrocosm Productions LLC, Rowe Visuals and Mindflip the Movie.

Attendees interested in joining the Buffalo film community as Production Assistants were invited to bring resumes, which will be collated into a directory that will be distributed to local producers, production managers, production coordinators, and assistant directors.

The event was a success, and we look forward to presenting Cinema Arts Expo at Villa Maria College 2026! Before that, we look forward to hosting special screenings at the Screening Room Cinema & Arts Cafe.

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In 2013 and 2014, Gregory Lamberson hosted  Buffalo Film Expo, the first conference of its kind in the Buffalo-Niagara region. BFE featured panel discussions featuring area film production professionals, as well as representatives from the Buffalo-Niagara Film Commission. The goal of BFE was to prepare and educate attendees for greater feature film production activity in the Buffalo-Niagara region. Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc. will continue that tradition with Cinema Arts Expo (CAE).

Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc. is a Nonprofit charitable organization, and our events are designed to be low-cost to serve the community.

We are pleased that Villa Maria College will host the inaugural Cinema Arts Expo from 11 am - 5:30 pm on Saturday, April 5th, 2025, and are grateful for their support.  Villa Maria College is located at 240 Pine Ridge Road, Buffalo, New York, 14225.   Doors will open at 10:30. Although Cinema Arts Expo will be held in Villa Maria's large auditorium, attendees will enter through the main entrance with the beautiful double stairway. Sponsors and vendors will be located in the foyer by the security station, and attendees will enter the auditorium via the backstage entrance.

Cinema Arts Expo  will feature panel discussions with area professionals on such topics as the Buffalo-Niagara Film Office, Screenwriting, Producing and Directing, and will provide attendees with networking opportunities for students and other  individuals hoping to join the Buffalo film community. Here is the schedule (subject to change):

11:00 am Opening Remarks

11:15 am Buffalo Niagara Film Production - This year the dream will become a reality: Buffalo is about to become a leading film production city. Learn how the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission operates, and hear up-to-date news on the many film productions coming to Buffalo beginning as this summer. Featuring Tim Clark, Buffalo-Niagara Film Commissioner; Rich Wall, Director of Operations for the Buffalo Film Office; and Cindy Abbott Letro, who sits on the film commission's board of directors, hosts Behind the Camera, and really got the film commission as it presently exists going.

12:15 pm A conversation with John Scardino, Business Representative for IATSE Local 52 Motion Picture Studio Mechanics. Local 52 is the first Labor Union Local in the world dedicated to filmmaking. If you're starting out or aspire to be as motion picture election, grip, sound person, shop craftsman, props person, or work in the Video Department, your goal should be to join this union. John will explain why, what the process is, and how  Local 52 benefits the overall Buffalo-Niagara community in addition to its members. 

12:45 pm Screenwriting - Story is the foundation of every motion picture. Our panel consists of four screenwriters with diverse experience: Jeff Wilber, Writers Guild of America member, will provide insight based on his years in Hollywood and what development deals are like;  Paul McGinnis has written two independent features which have been produced, and has read hundreds of screenplay submissions for area film festivals; Richie Leyland is an author who freelances as a screenwriter; and Ken Rowe of Rowe Visuals is in post-production on his feature film Mindflip, and is a filmmaker and photographer who taught screenwriting at NCCC. 

2:00 pm The Producers - Meet some of the people who have produced features films in Western New York and elsewhere, many of them multi-hyphenate talents: Peter Johnson (The Romans, The Blackness Project, Heartbreak Falls), who is also an actor, director and Casting Buffalo partner; Tom Paolino, who just wrapped production on One of the Good Ones, in which he stars; Emily Sheng, owner of  eGlobal Ceative Publishing, which produces vertical features; and Nikki Styliades Howze,  who has worked on several features in Buffalo, travels for work, and produces commercials here.

3:00 pm Thirty Minute Networking Break! Introduce yourself to our sponsors. and each other!

3:30 pm The Directors -  Directing requires not only a singular vision but the ability to juggle the personalities of cast and crew, and requires commitment and persistence. Our panelists include Peter Mcgennis (Queen City, Buffalo Girl), who has written, directed and produced five features, most of them in Buffalo, and has two more in the works; John Michael Nolan, who wrote, directed and produced the two-part crime epic Heartbreak Falls; Kyle Mecca, who directed the feature Dwelling, has recently begun directing commercials, co-founded Casting Buffalo; and teaches at Buffalo State University; and David O. Anderson, who co-wrote and co-directed the feature Slapped Straight and is about to co-direct Punch Andy, from a screenplay by Andy Michalski.

4:40 pm Women in Film - More opportunities exist for women in film than ever before. For our final panel, four women share their experiences and insights into creating and working here: Kristen Skeet (Slasher Days of Summer, Phantom Frights), an author, screenwriter, director and producer; Hope Muehlbauer (I Dare You to Open Your Eyes, Jane & the Brain), who directed her first, dark feature as a teenager and now works frequently as an assistant director while developing her own projects, and experimental filmmaker Amanda Besl, a fine artist who has received grants to create some of her work. We'll announce our final two panelists as soon as they confirm. This panel is sponsored by Valkyrie International Film Festival, which screens only films directed by women. 

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The general parking area at Villa Maria College faces the main auditorium, where Cinema Arts Expo will be held. However, the college has Open Day that day, and will be utilizing the lobby for the auditorium. Attendees of CAE must enter through the main entrance, which has the double stairway.  Our sponsors and vendors will be set up in the foyer near the security station, and attendees will purchase their badges (and submit your resumes to be considered for future Production Assistant work) there, then enter the auditorium through the backstage area.

 Regular Admission - $20

Students - $15

Seniors 65 and over - $15

Villa Maria  College Students - $5

We are currently seeking sponsors and donors.

Our goal for 2026 is to expand this conference/workshop to two days.

Buffalo Film Expo 2013

Buffalo Film Expo 2014