Roger Lyons, Producer/Director
An award-winning writer/producer/director, Roger Lyons is an experienced and multi-talented veteran of New England television. Following successful stints at WBZ/WSBK, WCVB, WGBH, Metromedia, WVIT and WHDH, Roger runs his own production company, Many Hats Productions. His company produces commercials and PSA’s, web videos, documentaries and other video projects for a variety of sponsors and companies. Recently, he served as the Coordinating Producer on the documentary “Digital Man, Digital World”, a film about the life and work of Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Roger Lyons is National Trustee from the Boston/New England Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). In 2011, he received the prestigious Governors Award for the Boston/New England Chapter. He has also received numerous industry awards from organizations such as PBS, ProMaxBDA, Imagine Magazine and others.
In addition to his production work, he also serves as adjunct professor in the Communication Department at Curry College. He has also written 4 feature screenplays and has worked as a talent coach at Boston Casting.
An award-winning writer/producer/director, Roger Lyons is an experienced and multi-talented veteran of New England television. Following successful stints at WBZ/WSBK, WCVB, WGBH, Metromedia, WVIT and WHDH, Roger runs his own production company, Many Hats Productions. His company produces commercials and PSA’s, web videos, documentaries and other video projects for a variety of sponsors and companies. Recently, he served as the Coordinating Producer on the documentary “Digital Man, Digital World”, a film about the life and work of Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Roger Lyons is National Trustee from the Boston/New England Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). In 2011, he received the prestigious Governors Award for the Boston/New England Chapter. He has also received numerous industry awards from organizations such as PBS, ProMaxBDA, Imagine Magazine and others.
In addition to his production work, he also serves as adjunct professor in the Communication Department at Curry College. He has also written 4 feature screenplays and has worked as a talent coach at Boston Casting.
Tony Bennis, Videographer/Editor
Tony Bennis is an established media executive with over twenty years experience working in television, film, advertising, public relations, marketing and internet development. He has won or been nominated for numerous awards for producing films, television programs, and advertising campaigns.
Bennis has worked for CBS, ABC, and FOX television stations in Boston, and has successfully created and syndicated independent television programs for FOX, A&E, SportsChannel, and broadcast stations around country. He’s also been a television program director for Time-Warner and for Cablevision. He also spent 5 years as a Marketing and Product Director for the Phoenix Media Communications Group.
Since 2006, Bennis has produced and directed numerous media projects that deal with the topic of teen gun-violence and efforts to reduce that crisis. His projects have received recognition from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media. During that timeframe he also produced several special programs dealing with US Marines in Iraq and their connections to their families at home.
A career highlight occurred in 1992 when he produced a one-hour special for FOX TV in New England on Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It was the first television program Mr. Carter had appeared on since moving to Canada in 1985 after being exonerated and released from his nineteen years of wrongful incarceration.
Tony Bennis is an established media executive with over twenty years experience working in television, film, advertising, public relations, marketing and internet development. He has won or been nominated for numerous awards for producing films, television programs, and advertising campaigns.
Bennis has worked for CBS, ABC, and FOX television stations in Boston, and has successfully created and syndicated independent television programs for FOX, A&E, SportsChannel, and broadcast stations around country. He’s also been a television program director for Time-Warner and for Cablevision. He also spent 5 years as a Marketing and Product Director for the Phoenix Media Communications Group.
Since 2006, Bennis has produced and directed numerous media projects that deal with the topic of teen gun-violence and efforts to reduce that crisis. His projects have received recognition from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media. During that timeframe he also produced several special programs dealing with US Marines in Iraq and their connections to their families at home.
A career highlight occurred in 1992 when he produced a one-hour special for FOX TV in New England on Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. It was the first television program Mr. Carter had appeared on since moving to Canada in 1985 after being exonerated and released from his nineteen years of wrongful incarceration.
ALLAN HOLZMAN – Executive Producer
In his 30-year career as a director for film legends ranging from Steven Spielberg to Roger Corman, Allan has proven himself a skilled filmmaking chameleon working in narrative and documentary, in big budget and independent, in genres from comedy to drama to action to musical. His work as the director-editor of Steven Spielberg’s SURVIVORS OF THE HOLOCAUST, the first Shoah documentary to spin off from SCHINDLER’S LIST, won Allan two Emmy Awards. The film also earned Cable ACE and Peabody Awards. His feature documentaries OLD MAN RIVER (based on a one woman play) and SOUNDS OF MEMPHIS (produced by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) earned a combined eight best documentary film awards.
Allan began as an editor in the 1970s under the so-called “Roger Corman Film School” which famously launched the careers of a who’s who of Hollywood greats. During this period he worked on productions that included the likes of Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and James Cameron. Allan has directed five narrative feature films including the hilarious, action-packed MUTANT (aka Forbidden World), recently released by Shout and the faux documentary GRUNT! THE WRESTLING MOVIE. Expanding on a genre that had recently been created by Rob Reiner with THIS IS SPINAL TAP, the “mockumentary” GRUNT! shifts between tones of subtle biting satire, over-the-top comedy, whodunit, and exciting RAGING BULL-esque in-the-ring action scenes. The film mixes media and styles to give the appearance of non-fiction, pulling back the curtain on the world of professional wrestling. His psychological thriller, INTIMATE STRANGER with Deborah Harry still stands as Showtime’s highest rated film.
In more recent years, Allan has challenged himself to a wide variety of project types, including an interactive, multi-screen theme park touring video for 20th Century Fox, The Titanic Attraction; whimsical behind-the-scenes documentaries accompanying the DVD releases of Walt Disney classics CINDERELLA, THE LION KING, ALADDIN, LADY AND THE TRAMP, and POCAHONTAS; a bio-doc about television humor pioneer Sheldon Leonard, producer of the comedy classics THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW and ANDY GFFITH SHOW; a 30 minute pilot episode produced by the American Film Institute, THE ART OF DIRECTING; and the editing of two pop culture-filled feature documentaries: TREK NATION, in which STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry’s son goes in search of his father’s legacy, and MY MARILYN (also directed and produced by Allan), examining the strange, disparate group of people who have devoted their lives to Marilyn Monroe.
His new documentary THE PROFESSOR, features UC Berkeley’s uniquely inspiring Landscape Architecture professor Chip Sullivan. For the past few years, Allan has used his editing skills to help first time directors transform their documentaries into compelling films. They include: REFUSENIK, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL 2, ICEBERG SLIM PORTRAIT OF A PIMP, CURTAIN UP and THE PAW PROJECT. He has also completed his book, CELLULOID WARS based on his experiences editing and directing for Roger Corman with a companion DVD: C-C-CUT: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A STUTTERING FILMMAKER.
In his 30-year career as a director for film legends ranging from Steven Spielberg to Roger Corman, Allan has proven himself a skilled filmmaking chameleon working in narrative and documentary, in big budget and independent, in genres from comedy to drama to action to musical. His work as the director-editor of Steven Spielberg’s SURVIVORS OF THE HOLOCAUST, the first Shoah documentary to spin off from SCHINDLER’S LIST, won Allan two Emmy Awards. The film also earned Cable ACE and Peabody Awards. His feature documentaries OLD MAN RIVER (based on a one woman play) and SOUNDS OF MEMPHIS (produced by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) earned a combined eight best documentary film awards.
Allan began as an editor in the 1970s under the so-called “Roger Corman Film School” which famously launched the careers of a who’s who of Hollywood greats. During this period he worked on productions that included the likes of Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and James Cameron. Allan has directed five narrative feature films including the hilarious, action-packed MUTANT (aka Forbidden World), recently released by Shout and the faux documentary GRUNT! THE WRESTLING MOVIE. Expanding on a genre that had recently been created by Rob Reiner with THIS IS SPINAL TAP, the “mockumentary” GRUNT! shifts between tones of subtle biting satire, over-the-top comedy, whodunit, and exciting RAGING BULL-esque in-the-ring action scenes. The film mixes media and styles to give the appearance of non-fiction, pulling back the curtain on the world of professional wrestling. His psychological thriller, INTIMATE STRANGER with Deborah Harry still stands as Showtime’s highest rated film.
In more recent years, Allan has challenged himself to a wide variety of project types, including an interactive, multi-screen theme park touring video for 20th Century Fox, The Titanic Attraction; whimsical behind-the-scenes documentaries accompanying the DVD releases of Walt Disney classics CINDERELLA, THE LION KING, ALADDIN, LADY AND THE TRAMP, and POCAHONTAS; a bio-doc about television humor pioneer Sheldon Leonard, producer of the comedy classics THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW and ANDY GFFITH SHOW; a 30 minute pilot episode produced by the American Film Institute, THE ART OF DIRECTING; and the editing of two pop culture-filled feature documentaries: TREK NATION, in which STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry’s son goes in search of his father’s legacy, and MY MARILYN (also directed and produced by Allan), examining the strange, disparate group of people who have devoted their lives to Marilyn Monroe.
His new documentary THE PROFESSOR, features UC Berkeley’s uniquely inspiring Landscape Architecture professor Chip Sullivan. For the past few years, Allan has used his editing skills to help first time directors transform their documentaries into compelling films. They include: REFUSENIK, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL 2, ICEBERG SLIM PORTRAIT OF A PIMP, CURTAIN UP and THE PAW PROJECT. He has also completed his book, CELLULOID WARS based on his experiences editing and directing for Roger Corman with a companion DVD: C-C-CUT: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A STUTTERING FILMMAKER.