Mike Suglio
Executive Director
Mike Suglio is a Cleveland native and filmmaker himself. After graduating from Mentor High he attended Case Western Reserve University where he studied theatre, political science, and psychology as an undergrad and then continued on to receive his M.B.A.
During his time at CWRU, Mike directed a feature length documentary, The Struggle for Existence, a film that explores how the Cleveland Natural History Museum and the Creation Museum approach science. He continued on to direct several other short films, including his most recent, A Tribute to the Fallen, which was shot on location in Negros Oriental, Philippines.
As a filmmaker he loves sharing his films with others and is extremely happy to provide an opportunity for other filmmakers to share their films to the Cleveland community. Mike Suglio is also a professor at the School of Film & Media Arts at Cleveland State University and on the Board of Directors of Independent Pictures.
Rhys Campanella
Director of Operations
Transplanted from a small town in Pennsylvania to the city of Cleveland, Rhys received his BA in Film Studies, a course of study he designed himself, from Case Western Reserve University in 2016. He also completed a month long filmmaking workshop in New York City at the New York Film Academy in 2014. A life-long lover of literature, Rhys initially became interested in filmmaking with the intention of creating screen adaptations of books that better represented how he read them, though his view of the relationship between film and literature has since changed greatly. Rhys is currently a filmmaker, having worked on a number of small projects in Cleveland with friends and having created a few of his own short films including Cold Coffee which made its public debut at the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. in 2015. He also is a film blogger, focusing largely on queer representation in media, on his website rebekahcampfilms.com. Rhys has been under the tutelage of Mike Suglio since shortly after the moment he set foot in Cleveland and he is so excited to be able to work and grow with this festival and the incredible artists who take part in it.
Olivia Moe
Selection Committee
A graduate of Cleveland State University (spring ‘18) with a B.A. in Film and Interactive Media, Miss Moe became involved with the festival in 2017 as a volunteer member of the submission committee. While she continues to enjoy her time reviewing the submissions (primarily in the Animation, Documentary, Art/Experimental, LGBTQ+, and International categories), she also enjoys the responsibility of overseeing the festival’s volunteer services, box office and merchandise sales, and meeting with festival goers. Although this will be her final year with the festival as she pursues her degree in Deaf Interpretive Services at Cuyahoga Community College, she cannot wait to come back and contribute to future festivals!
Andi Barnett
Manager of Public Relations
Andi Barnett fell in love with the film world after a Screen Queensland internship in Australia (promoting movies, not creating them). She's worked two international film festivals in Australia, the Tribeca Film Festival and several consecutive years of the Cleveland International Film Festival. Though movies are a passion, publicity is her game...as a freelance and full-time publicist since 2013. She's thrilled to join Short.Sweet.Film.Fest. for another year of securing news coverage, helping spread recognition for fine short films created locally and abroad.
Laine Seliga
Graphic Designer
Laine is honored to have been part of Short Sweet Film Fest since the beginning. As a long-time friend, she designs the promotional art for SSFF, including shirts, pint glasses, stickers, and some social media illustrations. Rumors state that sometimes she has been spotted playing guitar for the festival’s networking parties. Her interest in design is a passionate outlet for her career as an academic and she is excited to see how her own artistic vision can grow alongside the forward-thinking creativity of the Short Sweet staff!
Tyler Hoffman
Digital Solutions Consultant
Tyler Hoffman is a Cleveland-based digital solutions consultant, who manages the Short. Sweet. Film Fest website. He holds a bachelor's degree in Medical Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University, and he is certified in process improvement, global health and change management. Tyler’s people-focused approach to technology is retained by a range of clients including the National Benevolent Association, Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, and the FLEX Program at the CWRU School of Medicine.
Andrew Ahlgren
Director of Virtual Reality
Andrew C. Ahlgren is a Student at Cleveland State University. after spending several years working in IT he decided to go back to school in order to pursue his goals of working in film. In the past few years, Andrew has produced, directed, and edited several short films. In his free time, Andrew likes to swim, watch movies and play games.
Josh Bowens
Projectionist
Josh is a young filmmaker native to Ashland, Ohio. He has started his film making studies through the Video Production program at the Medina County Career Center. After completing the program, he enrolled at Cleveland State University to join the newly established School of Film & Media Arts. During his time there, he made his mark as a cinematographer on many short films, documentaries, and multimedia projects. While attending Cleveland State, he was employed as a Video Streamer for the Cleveland State Athletics Department in conjunction with ESPN, a staff member at the Cleveland International Film Festival’s Perspectives program, an intern for Good Deed Entertainment, and a projectionist for the 8th Annual Short Sweet Film Festival. Josh is looking to continue furthering his career in film making and cinematography in the Greater Cleveland area.
Zachary Niton
Projectionist
Zachary Niton aspires to be a filmmaker and is currently a student at Cleveland State University in the School of Film and Media Arts learning the steps. He is a Cleveland native, born and raised. He has always been fascinated with creating just about anything. Zachary grew up learning a lot about construction and woodworking from his father. In a way, he believes it is what drew him to his love of filmmaking, creating a story, seeing it go from paper to screen and then to be shared, which fills him with a lot of satisfaction.
Michael Reusch
Projectionist
Michael Reusch is an aspiring writer/director primarily focused in narrative fiction work studying at Cleveland State University. He's an avid collector of vinyl records and Criterion Collection blu-rays who tries to catch as many film-viewing experiences as possible.
Tom Zavertnik
Projectionist
Tom Zavertnik currently attends Cleveland State University majoring in Film, TV, and Interactive Media, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Post Production. Tom also writes articles and reviews for a podcast and video entertainment news network Who Are They? Reel Entertainment.