Governor's Film Council

James Gollin

A Santa Fean since the late 1980s, James Gollin, was born in upstate NY, where his father founded the Film Studies Department at the University of Rochester in association with the George Eastman Film Archive. He studied at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the International University of Japan, and France and Italy. After working at think tanks and as an investment banker at Nomura Securities in Tokyo and Morgan Stanley International in Tokyo and London, Mr. Gollin co-founded the investment management company Pacific Partners in New York. He managed securities investments, real estate, and other projects. He is a founding member of the Social Venture Network of socially responsible business people. As Director of the Angelica Foundation, Mr. Gollin funds environmental and human rights groups, primarily in Mexico. He is on the boards of numerous other non-profits, commissions, and corporations.

Jo Edna Boldin

In 2019, Jo Edna Boldin was invited to become a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Casting Directors branch. Also in 2019, Jo Edna was inducted into the New Mexico Film & Television Hall of Fame.

Jo Edna was nominated for a Casting Emmy for GODLESS in 2018 and for casting on “Into the West” in 2006. Ms. Boldin has won four Artios awards for outstanding casting: The Harder They Fall, Godless, Hell or High Water, and No Country For Old Men.

Jo Edna received the 2013/2014 New Mexico Women in Film SAGE award. Dallas Women in Film awarded Jo Edna the Lifetime Achievement award in 2003.

Jo Edna was on the founding board of New Mexico Women in Film.

From 2017 to 2019, Ms. Boldin served on the National Board of CSA (Casting Society of America).

Austin Monthly magazine named Jo Edna Boldin “the premier casting director of the Southwest”. As a Feature Film location casting director for over 25 years,

Jo Edna has worked with many renown directors including Paul Greengrass, Karen Arthur, Amy Seimetz, Niki Caro, Nora Ephron, Zach Snyder, Taylor Sheridan, Denis Villeneuve, David Mackenzie, Scott Cooper, Peter Berg, Andrew Niccol, Matt Reeves, Gore Verbinski, McG, Albert & Allen Hughes, Carl Franklin, Ron Howard, Jim Sheridan, Alan Parker, Taylor Hackford, Billy Bob Thornton, Ethan and Joel Coen, Tommy Lee Jones, Paul Haggis, Lasse Hallstrom, Steven Soderbergh, Terence Malik, Mike Judge, Christopher Guest, to name a few.

Paula Dal Santo

After finishing her master’s degree in architecture at the University of New Mexico, she became a licensed architect and general contractor. Paula found both design and construction equally rewarding; it enabled her to see a project through from start to finish. In the mid-2000s, her daughter, a film student at the time, suggested that she look into film production. Her background as an architect was a strong fit: decades of experience in design and construction transferred into film as an Art Director and Production Designer. Since then, Paula has worked on some of the top productions in New Mexico, including Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Outer Range, and most recently, Duster. Working with leading Creators, Producers, Directors, Production Designers, and masterful crews, she has gained a wealth of knowledge and continues to appreciate the collaborative process.

Ramona Emerson

Ramona Emerson is a Diné writer and filmmaker originally from Tohatchi, New Mexico. She received her degree in Media Arts in 1997 from the University of New Mexico and her MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) in 2015 from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She has worked as a professional cinematographer, writer, and editor for over twenty-five years and is currently working on her 8th and 9th film project, Crossing the Line and Through Her Lens. She is an Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, a Tribeca All-Access Grantee, and a WGBH Producer Fellow. Ramona just released her second novel, Exposure, the follow-up to her debut novel Shutter, which was published by SOHO Press in 2022 and long-listed for the National Book Award, a finalist for the PEN Hemingway, PEN Open Book, and Edgar Awards, among others. Through her storytelling, Emerson looks at contemporary stories about her people and aims to question and redefine the expectations of Native cultural identity, highlighting stories that are not a part of mainstream media. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband/producer, Kelly Byars run their production company, Reel Indian Pictures. Ramona is also an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico's Department of Film and Digital Arts.

Marj Ergas

With 25 years experience in the Film Industry, Marj began her career in Los Angeles and moved to Albuquerque 17 years ago. She spent many years as a Production Supervisor and UPM before settling into her current role of Key Production Accountant. She has had the privilege to work with Netflix, Nickelodeon, A24 and many indie production companies.

In 2018 Marj founded After Wrap Accounting, a full service Post Accounting company. AWA handles all aspects of Tax Credit filing including Opinion Letters, Spot Checks, audits and the application process. AWA has completed over 40 tax credits in New Mexico and has also filed in Mississippi.

"It has been great to watch the industry and the incentive grow in the time I've been in New Mexico. I'm excited to be part of the Governor's Council and I hope we can contribute more to the process and continue this amazing progress."

Keagan Karnes

Keagan Karnes is an award-winning Director and Producer of narrative film and branded content.

Keagan produced Little Brother, a dramedy starring Daniel Diemer, Phillip Ettinger, and JK Simmons, released in 2024 by Gravitas, and Sunlight, written and directed by acclaimed comedian Nina Conti and Executive Produced by Christopher Guest. Keagan also produced Santa's Cousin, released in November 2024 by Heartstrings Media, and Walking with Herb, starring Edward James Olmos and George Lopez.

Keagan wrote and directed the short film Good Cop, which won Best First Time Filmmaker at the DC Shorts Film Festival, Audience Award at the SENE Film Festival, and Best Short Film at the Boston Comedy Film Festival. His short film Home Movies won several awards, including Best Short Film at the Las Cruces International Film Festival. Keagan owns and operates INSPIRADO, an award-winning production company that has produced creative content for Meow Wolf, Hyundai, and Facebook, among others. In 2024, Inspirado won a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy for its video campaign for VISIT ALBUQUERQUE.

Keagan has also taught Business of Film at New Mexico State University's Creative Media Institute, his alma mater.

Most recently, Keagan produced and directed his debut feature film, BREWMANCE, a romantic comedy starring Alex Moffat, Kennedy McMann, Zoe Colleti and Steven Ogg.

James Lujan

James Lujan is a filmmaker, playwright, and educator from Taos Pueblo. In 2012, he founded the Cinematic Arts & Technology program at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, where he serves as Department Chair. Before returning to New Mexico, he ran the Los Angeles InterTribal Entertainment film training and production program. From 2016 to 2022, he was Vice Chair of the Santa Fe Film and Digital Media Commission.

Liz Pecos

Liz Pecos is an International Representative for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Technicians (IATSE). She co-chairs the IATSE International Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee and chairs the joint IATSE/AMPTP Diversity Committee for the Hollywood Basic and Area Standards Locals.

Ms. Pecos proudly served as the first woman and BICOC-elected President of New Mexico’s studio mechanics film union, IATSE Local 480, from 2018-2021. She has been a member of IATSE Local 480 for 14 years and has worked on over 30 films and television series in the costume department. She previously served as a Vice-President of the New Mexico Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Executive Board. Ms. Pecos is the IATSE District 5 Political Coordinator and IATSE D5 Women’s Committee Coordinator. She serves on the Entertainment Community Fund Human Services Committee and works with the IATSE International Education and Training Department.

Ms. Pecos is a native New Mexican who is proud of her Indigenous heritage. She is also proud to be able to work in labor rights and to expand equitable opportunities, education, and training for entertainment workers, especially in underrepresented communities. She is a member of the Pueblo of Jemez, known as “Walatowa,” or “this is the place,” and traces her ancestors back to the original Pueblo of Pecos.

Milton Riess

Milton Riess is Chair of the Film Department at Santa Fe Community College. He began his stay at SFCC in 2013 teaching their film training and Workforce Development, working his way up the ranks to the position he now holds.

Milton comes to Santa Fe with over 35 years of professional Above-the-Line and Below-the-Line experience deep inside the hard and fast trenches of the Film and Television industry. He moved to Santa Fe from Los Angeles, where he was exposed to nearly every aspect of the filmmaking process. After one of his shows got cancelled (and they all do), he came to Santa Fe for a long weekend. By the end of the weekend, he rented a place, and a month later he became a resident.

Milton has worked as a writer, script doctor, director, technical director and the occasional actor. Several of his screenplays have won international awards (2012 Hollywood Screenplay Contest, International Family Film Festival Competition, Semi-finalist in Zoetrope Screenplay Competition). For nearly ten-years he was Lighting Director and Technical Director on several Emmy award-winning TV series for NBC/E! Networks as well as countless other TV shows and pilots.

Other positions Milton holds is also a Council person on the Santa Fe Film and Digital Media Council. In addition, he was instrumental in bringing New York University TISCH Film School to Santa Fe, where together with SFCC, they held a free filmmaking workshop on Indigenous Storytelling.

Jennifer Schwalenberg

Jennifer began her career in casting in Los Angeles in 1995, working for prominent commercial casting director Beth Holmes. She spent five years honing the craft of traditional commercial casting while also scouting the streets for directors who favored “real people.” During her tenure at BHC, Jennifer worked on hundreds of national commercials, including numerous Super Bowl campaigns.

She eventually left L.A. for her geographic dream: Santa Fe, New Mexico. Under Governor Bill Richardson, she was hired by the State Film Office to create and manage a Native American casting database to showcase the state’s tribal members.

Jennifer served as Deputy Director of the New Mexico Film Office until 2011, during which time she devoted herself to recruiting and servicing productions, marketing New Mexico, its communities, and resources, coordinating scouts throughout the state, managing the tax credit and loan programs, and assisting producers, studios, and networks throughout production and the incentive process.

She returned to her love of casting and joined the Midthunder Casting team in 2013, working on dozens of feature films, television productions, and local and national commercials.

Jennifer opened Casting by Jen in 2019. She is a Member of the Casting Society of America (CSA). Jennifer casts principal talent for feature films, independent films, television shows, series, shorts, and commercials.

Jennifer is passionate about animal welfare, and her three large rescue dogs are often seen in her virtual casting sessions.