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Click on pictures to read bios.

Meet the Afterglow Team

We appreciate all of our members!

Festival Founders and Directors
Director of Int. Development
Marketing Consultant
Director of Game Tournament

Katrina and Isabella Kinder

Festival founders and directors

K+I

  Teenage sisters Katrina and Isabella Kinder founded Afterglow at the ages of 14 and 17. Now, the festival is gearing up for it's third year of festivities! Katrina and Isabella are the owners of DiamondBack Productions LLC and are award winning filmmakers. They have had the honor of having their films play at domestic festivals, including Times Square, and California, and also internationally; including Italy and Canada. Click here to read an article featuring Katrina and Isabella on the how and why of Afterglow. Click here to watch their interview with "Mapping a Modern Mississippi."

Brian Kalafatian

Director of International Development

Brian

From Marseille, France, Brian is a law student at the University of Provence and is on the TEDxAix organizing team. He is an avid film enthusiast who was born wearing a suit and tie. As writer and event reporter for Conso-Mag.com, he's had many adventures covering events hosted by Red Bull, as well as the Eurockeennes de Belfort (one of the greatest music festivals in Europe), Marsatac (a popular electronic music fest in France), and the International Film Festival of Aubagne. He recently had the priviledge of interviewing the production designer for Marvel's ANT-MAN. Brian's next assignment is the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Marketing Consultant

Jim Hatten

Jim
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Jim provides consultation with the Grenada Afterglow Film Festival in all aspects of event planning, including logistics, marketing and advertising, staging and presentation, print and multi-media projects and promotion.  These inputs help to grow the audience that is coming to Grenada on a beautiful fall afternoon for a terrific event.

 

A lifelong enjoyment of film and the arts lead Jim to lend his support to Afterglow, but more so is his interest to help Afterglow succeed.  Jim has a great familiarity for small town Mississippi, through his business and personal travels and through his family history.  The inspiration of two home schooled high school girls launching careers in film and showcasing their talent through a film festival was innovation that Jim recognized and he now champions their cause.

 

Jim attained the rank of Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force as a jet engine mechanic on fighters before earning his B.A. (Philosophy & Religion, Mississippi State University).  Jim continued his aerospace career to include the position of Manufacturing Engineer for a Fortune 500 company, putting his industrial engineering training and F.A.A. Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic license to work on aerospace, marine, and defense hydraulics assembly for a product line of over 400 models.  Jim followed these successes with five years of various sales positions with increasing responsibility in the insurance and automotive industries until the passing of his parents, then launching the Jim Hatten School of Management, offering business, industrial, and marketing consulting services.  Jim completed his Associates of Applied Sciences (Marketing Management Technology, Hinds Community College).  All these skill sets have helped to build his current concern, Made in Mississippi Marketplace LLC, to grow an opportunity to promote all things Mississippi through his creation, the Mississippi BBQ Trail.

Organizer of Video Game Tournament/ Head of Sponsorships

Raley Hilmus

Raley

Raley “Ray” is married with 2 children and has a 3rd one on the way. One year ago, he had to take a medical leave from his job in the oil field, which left him with an abundance of free time. Starting with the small goal of creating a local gaming scene for Grenada players of Super Smash Bros 4, it grew so popular that he began to host major gaming tournaments, welcoming gamers from all cities and states. Thus began the official series of tournaments called “G-Town Throwdown,” which went on to become one of the top gaming tournaments in the state of Mississippi, branching out to include even more video games and transitioning into “The Grenada Gaming League.” Raley hopes that the tournament at Afterglow will be the first one in MS to ever reach state level. His goal is to put Grenada on the map for competitive gaming tournaments and eventually open a gaming shop, which would be home to more frequent activities for gamers both young and old to come together, and add growth to downtown Grenada. Raley is Chief Editor of the Mississippi Smash League; an online information sharing network for gamers across the state. In his teen years, he was an MMA/Cage fighter in Jackson, and now continues to train in boxing.

Malfunctioning Productions

Cosplay Contest Organizers

m prod

Malfuntioning Productions is comprised of Jessica McLean, Kazzy Clupka, and Sierra Allread. The group has been cosplaying for 4 years and have travelled around the country to attend conventions. Each of the girls having a broad array of characters in their repretoire, they are well suited (mind the pun) to share their knowledge of cosplay. Last year at Afterglow, they hosted the Coplay Contest and also the Intro To Cosplay workshop.

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