Crew Bios

Click here for full list of crew credits.

Jim wants to be a producer! Jim's fascination and interest in show business was apparent at an early age. Growing up in Long Island in the 60's and 70's, Jim was seven the first time he asked his father, Murray, a textile salesman to bring home Variety from the city so that he could read casting notices and show business news. Jim says his yet unwritten memoir is sure to be titled "I was a Child Star in Search of a Stage Mother." After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, with a major in Theater and Media, Jim found his way into the mailroom of ICM, where many show business careers have started. After successful programming and syndication stints at CBS, Group W, Carolco Pictures Television and Orbis Communications, Jim started his own company, Kismet Media Group, in 1996 and began offering his marketing and sales expertise to content producers looking to grow revenue by expanding their footprint into new territories and markets. Kismet's motto is "thinking outside the box is what turns a good idea into a great opportunity" and they live it everyday!

Jim's passion and enthusiasm for artists and talent brought him to conceive "Live In the East." Nicknamed the Pied Piper by his colleagues, he has managed to attract and assemble a diverse and eclectic team of production professionals; from his 82 years young line producer, Frazer Dougherty, to his 24-year-old assistant, writer and producer, Jon Gentry. All are excited to be working with Jim on this enterprising new venture. "I feel like it's my civic duty to get L.I.E. off the ground so that the talented writers and performers we have thus far discovered will have a new home in which to flourish and share their comedic gifts with the world."

James Blueweiss

Executive Producer

David Kiviat

Executive in Charge of Production

David is a seven-time Emmy award winning director/producer, having spanned the globe with ABC Sports an ABC News for the past 22 years. David's versatility as a coordinating director or producer of complex, live, major network events, makes him a valuable asset to any production and made him an indispensable part of ABC's Wide World of Sports live, tape and short turnaround events. Time and again, David has shown his ability to deliver quality shows on or under his assigned budget, using innovative techniques to stretch resources, placing the results on the screen. Kiviat began his career at ABC after graduating from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1981. Shortly after, he was hired as a vacation relief cameraman, and then took a full time position in Network Operations. In less than a year, David was promoted to Associate Director and assigned to direct network studio breaks for news and sports. David resides in Ringwood, NJ, where he and his wife Cheryl are raising their two children Trevor and Raina. David's wife Cheryl grew up on the same block in Long Island as Jim did and their families have been friends for over 30 years.

Jon was born and raised in New York City, where he appeared on and off Broadway, in various television commercials and a number of feature films before graduating from New York's High School of Performing Arts (The FAME School). In college, Jon discovered a love for writing when he enrolled in a newly offered program founded in honor of legendary playwright Arthur Miller and mentored by Miller and renowned film director/screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan ("The Big Chill," "Empire Strikes Back"). After college, Jon returned to New York where he has had a number of his plays produced off Broadway, worked on a couple of independent feature scripts and had two of his television pilots optioned for production by Maverick Entertainment & Enlightening Entertainment. Jon is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a flagship member of the University of Michigan Entertainment Coalition. Jon and Jim have been actively developing L.I.E. and held numerous auditions to find and select the cast.

Jon Gentry

Producer/Supervising Writer

Dan Berg

Live TV Pilot Director

Dan Berg is a highly creative director with extensive experience in all aspects of television direction with emphasis on multi-camera live coverage. Since 1998 he has directed "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" and "Live with Regis and Kelly." Dan has also directed all newscasts for ABC "Eyewitness News" since 1997, including specials and 9/11 coverage. Since 2000 Dan has directed the live two hour "Eyewitness News Saturday and Sunday Morning," incorporating news, interviews, musical performance, fashion, and demos. Dan came highly recommended to the production from Art Moore, Jim's good friend and colleague at ABC/Buena Vista Television.

Antonio "Tex" Sanchez, Jr.

Editor/Producer

Frazer Dougherty

Line Producer/Production Manager

Frazer founded Public Access L-TV in East Hampton in 1983 and proceeded to open East Hampton Studios in the spring of 2000 with the notion that "If you build it, they will come." Nobody came. At the time, Peter Matthiessen's "Men's Lives" was considered a hot movie property and the well-connected Dougherty (who has a house on the ocean in East Hampton and whose wife, Frances Ann, was a Cannon Mills Cannon from North Carolina) found himself on the inside track with the project's promoters. That's it, he thought— Why not support public access television, this poor but much loved and worthy relation on the fringes of the media family, with a film production studio? Five years later, "they still haven't found the money for their film," said Dougherty, "but we did find the money to build (the studio)." Frazer has laid in waiting for someone to come for the past four years, occasionally renting the studio to a dance troupe and a museum to recoup some costs until finally Kismet Entertainment showed up with "Live In the East." Frazer, now 82 years young jumped at the opportunity to work on the production and has managed to exhibit more energy than a man his age has any right having. Frazer is much beloved fixture in the East End of Long Island and looks forward to bringing his expertise in television and the Hamptons together to "Live In the East." Frazer is looking forward to Premiere of L.I.E!

Jim's mother and biggest fan! Phyllis was born Phyllis Ruth Schwartz in Brooklyn, NY, the oldest of three daughters on June 22, 1924. An adventurous teenager, she commuted 4 hours every day to attend the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. Long before Goldie Hawn brought the world "Private Benjamin," Phyllis enlisted in World War II as a Seaman Second Class in the United States Coast Guard to "get out of the house" and "go where the boys were." After being Honorably Discharged, she attended The Juilliard School for classical piano, married twice and had four children; the youngest of which is our Executive Producer, also her favorite.

Phyllis Blueweiss

Casting Consultant

Rosa Elena Santis Rodiaguez

Casting Consultant/Housekeeper

Rosa was born in Melipilla, Chile on June 3, 1942. She has three children and eight grandchildren that she adores. Rosa moved to the United States in 1982 and started out babysitting before becoming a top notch and much in demand housekeeper on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Jim has been a client of Rosa's for 15 years and considers her a dear friend. In addition to her outstanding housekeeping skills Rosa has a green thumb and loves caring for flowers and plants. In her spare time she likes to cook and work in her garden. Rosa will be in charge of the running and upkeep of the Comedy Compound.

Eli attended Yeshiva and Brooklyn College, where he majored in accounting. After finishing college, Eli earned his CPA. His love of music has led him to moonlighting as a musician, playing keyboards at weddings, bar mitzvahs and celebrations. Eli enthusiastically awaits the live premiere of the show, provided of course, that we stay within budget!

Eli Katzler

Accountant

Jordan E. Ringel

Attorney

Jordan is a senior partner at the law firm of Pavia & Harcourt LLP. His broad legal experience includes production and distribution in the domestic and international entertainment industry including television, movies, cable, radio, and home video.

As Jim is always looking for a second opinion (and not just from Doctors), Tim Debaets also serves as legal counsel to the production. Tim is a well-known transactional attorney for theater organizations, documentary filmmakers, television producers and directors, choreographers, dancers, writers, and playwrights. He is a partner at the law firm Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP.

Timothy J. Debaets

Attorney

Liz Koman

Ad Sales & Sponsorship Consultant

Liz grew up, the youngest of five children, in Elberon, NJ. She attended Vassar College, where she majored in Art History and minored in English. After graduation, Liz moved to NYC and began her media career as a sales assistant at Katz. She rose through the ranks of several top media companies, such as CBS, Tribune, USA Network and Cablevision to SVP, general sales management. Among her career highlights are: running sales at USA Network, with responsibility for over 500 million in national advertising sales. She also took both AMC and We: Women's Entertainment from sponsorship models (2 minutes per hour) to full ad support (8 minutes per hour). Jim and Liz worked together at Group W Productions in the early '90's and remained friends since. She currently lives in NJ with her husband Roger and two children.

Jon Minard currently works as a lighting director, director of photography, and gaffer. He developed his comprehensive lighting design skills working for Connecticut Public Broadcasting in Hartford, where he remained for 15 years. While at CPB Jon designed lighting and implementation for various television and film productions, both in the studio and on location. He also worked as Director of Photography for PBS and contract productions working with both film and video. Jon's clients include Martha Stewart Living Television, CBS, ABC, ESPN, TNT, Discovery, and others. In 1985, Jon received a New England Emmy Nomination for lighting, and in 1992 he received another nomination for videography.

Jon Minard

Lighting Designer

Jon Coniglio

Production Manager

Jon came to our production straight from a five year run at Martha Stewart Living Television. He began his work in television as an intern and, later, Production Assistant on Comedy Central's show "Viva Variety." Jon moved to Martha Stewart Living Television in 1999 and worked his way up from a Production Assistant, Key Production Assistant, and Unit Manager to the show's Production Manager. Born and raised in Garrison, NY, Jon holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communications with minors in Film and Mass Communications from the State University of New York College at Oneonta. MSL's President of TV Heidi Diamond referred Jon to Jim for this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Tom Hallbauer

Set Director

Jasmine Langstaff

Assistant Set Director

Kathryne Wick

Costume Designer

Liz Iasiello

Production Assistant/Web Designer

Liz is a recent graduate of Loyola College in Maryland, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, specializing in Digital Media. While attending Loyola, Liz excelled in all areas of the digital arts from creating promotional videos to producing web sites for public and educational use. Liz is taking her skills in videography, web design, graphic design and print design to Kismet Entertainment, where she has the opportunity to wear many hats while enjoying the excitement of a live sketch comedy production!

Geir arrived in New York to pursue a career in Fashion and has worked as a stylist for all the top fashion houses including Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Versace, and Gucci. He produced and hosted his own radio show in Iceland, and conducted fashion related interviews for various cable networks. Geir is an accomplished freelance photographer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The Southampton Press, Dan's Papers, and The East Hampton Star. Geir's technical saavy and keen eitor's eye has helped every stage of our production.

Geir Magnusson

Producer

Chris Davis

Director of Photography

Dan Ferraro

DP/Production Assistant

Ruben Morales, Jr.

DP/Audio

Dalas Verdugo

DP/Audio

Lauren is entering her fourth year at Ramapo College in New Jersey. She is a Communication Arts major with a focus in TV and Film. Her feature documentary which she produced, filmed, and edited received high reviews at the Ramapo College Media Festival. Lauren has had a love for movies ever since she was a little girl, and has always had dreams of working in the entertainment indusrty. After graduating from Ramapo College, she hopes to land a job as a casting director here in New York City.

Lauren Brody

Production Assistant

William Cotton

Audio

Kismet Home