TEAM BIOS

Alan Klingenstein (Producer) A refugee from corporate America, Alan Klingenstein spent 12 years as a corporate lawyer and investment banker. Armed with a BA from Princeton, and a law degree and MBA from Cornell, Al spent the 1980s working as a corporate and securities lawyer at McCutcheon, Doyle, Brown & Enerson in San Francisco. This led to real estate banking ventures for 6 years at Bankers Trust in London and New York. But after 12 years in the corporate world and seeking to do something more fulfilling, he fled the business world looking to venture into the film production arena. In 1996, he made the half-hour documentary "THE CHURCH OF SAINT COLTRANE" with friend and former NBC DATELINE producer Jeff Swimmer. The short film won awards at seven film festivals and aired on BRAVO in the fall of 1998, and cable outlets in Europe and Asia. Shortly after, he formed Filbert Steps Productions with private capital from Wall Street. Al produced the company's films TWO FAMILY HOUSE and FOREVER FABULOUS, as well as RUNAWAY, which premiered to universal accolades at the Tribeca and Toronto Film Festival and won the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2005 Austin Film Festival.

David Viola (Producer) is a native New Yorker who has been working in the film business since his graduation from Binghamton University in 1998. Before joining Filbert Steps, David's experience included stints at Julia Roberts' Revolution-based Shoelace (now Red-Om) Productions and indie-leading Artisan Entertainment (now a division of Lions Gate Entertainment). He had also freelance-evaluated scripts for independent production companies and studios throughout the city. David now oversees projects in development for Filbert Steps and searches for exciting new material, and served as Producer on RUNAWAY, which premiered to universal accolades at the Tribeca and Toronto Film Festival and won the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2005 Austin Film Festival.

Robb Badlam (Development) has worked in the development department at Filbert Steps since 2000, lending a hand to sift through the ore and helping to find many of the gems that now grace our "In Development" page. The proud owner of an MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, Robb has been writing for stage and screen for almost as long as he's been able to read. His short play "Slop-Culture" was the winner of the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Heideman Award. His full-length drama "WILL" earned a spot in the semi-final round of the Chesterfield Writer's Film Project, and his newest screenplay, a werewolf thriller, made it to the semifinals round in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships. Robb's other film business experience includes HBO's legal department as well as at Mandaly Pictures and Artisan Entertainment where he helped evaluate screenplays for potential production.

Cristina Garza (Development), a native Texan, has been living in New York City for five years and making films for three. In addition to studying Producing, Media Managment, Cinema Studies, Business and Economics, Cristina produced numerous student films while at New York University. Cristina also worked as an intern at This Is That and Focus Features and curated a short film festival for the King Juan Carlos Cultural Center in New York. Since graduation, Cristina has become a member of the Producer’s Guild of America and has produced international co-productions for short film. Cristina is thrilled to now be working in development at Filbert Steps.

Lesley Robin (Story Editor) grew up in Arizona and left the desert heat for the sunny beaches of Santa Barbara. She graduated with honors from the Dramatic Arts program at the University of California Santa Barbara with an emphasis in playwriting and directing. She wrote and directed several original plays both in Santa Barbara and in LA, where she moved after graduating. While in LA, Lesley assisted three literary agents at Original Artists. After a couple solid years in LA, Lesley packed her bags and headed for the big apple. Since moving to New York, she has worked at Miramax and Vox3 Films. She is now very excited to join the Filbert Steps team as their new Story Editor.