Meet The Board
Randal Iverson
President of Black Hills Film Festival
Randal owns Iverson Productions LLC - a small production house located in South Dakota. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications from Black Hills State University and years of experience with commercial and documentary production in both still and motion. He is used to wearing many different hats, producing, directing, cinematography, sound, editing, and stills. Some of the companies he has worked for include ABC, PBSNews Hour, McDonald’s, and Walmart. Randal loves telling unique stories and sharing them with the world.
RANDAL IVERSON
Randal Iverson
Richard VanNess
Vice President of the Black Hills Film Festival
Rick recently retired from his own business, Crow Ridge Productions. He is an experienced sound mixer/recordist, often recording concerts for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in addition to his film and TV work. Rick worked on the Walt Disney production National Treasure: Book of Secrets as an Assistant Location Manager; was a sound recordist for the Full Throttle Saloon reality TV series and has many contacts in the film industry. Rick co-founded Open Stage in 2008 - the Hill City Arts Council’s winter program for emerging performers - and the Black Hills Film Festival in 2009. Rick continues to help train students to run sound and projection for these activities and his expertise in the technical realm greatly benefits the Film Festival
Richard VANNESS
Richard Vanness
Egija Hartmane-Salem
Secretary of the Black Hills Film Festival
Egija was born in Latvia and spent much of her childhood, and later her summer breaks, in the film, culture, and art house that was run by her grandparents for more than 40 years. That’s when she fell in love with films and many different art forms very early on. She worked as a freelance feature writer for one of the leading newspapers in Latvia but developed a passion for documentary filmmaking after moving to America in 2006. Egija received her MA in broadcast journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder and has been working on various documentary and educational projects since then. Egija has worked on the media crew for the Boulder International Film Festival for 10 years and joined the Black Hills Film Festival Board of Directors in 2019.
Egija Hartmane-Salem
Egija Hartmane-Salem
Dan Dickey
Treasurer of the Black Hills Film Festival
An Indiana native, Dan worked as a pension consultant in Minneapolis before he and his wife Pat became enamored with the Southern Black Hills and moved to Hill City. Dan bought Desperados Restaurant in Hill City and ran it for eight years before selling it and retiring. Dan emcee for the festival and occasionally for the Hill City Arts Council Live on Stage event.Dan has volunteered for the Festival for many years and is now taking on a financial role with the BHFF.
Dan Dickey
Dan Dickey
Ryan Hall
Board of Directors, Black Hills Film Festival
Ryan portrays the face of the Black Hills Film Festival in advertising and as the MC. He also helps with the website, marketing, and social media. After deciding to pursue his love of film in South Dakota, Ryan produced a low-budget feature called Dust of War which gained international distribution. He is a producer on the feature film Tater Tot and Patton which opened the 2018 BHFF and won Best Feature Film. In addition to features, Ryan has produced 5 award-winning short films. He works for a Marketing and Design company, Evergreen Media in Rapid City
Ryan Hall
Ryan Hall
Ryan Hall
Board of Directors, Black Hills Film Festival
Jesse is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in the state of South Dakota. In 2014, he was part of a team to change the name of Shannon County to Oglala Lakota County in SD. He co-founded a non-profit in 2009, the Native Youth Leadership Alliance (NYLA), which supports Native college students. His filmmaking features stories from the Oglala Lakota Nation. His short film Istinma won several awards and was screened at dozens of film festivals across the country. He participates in summer youth filmmaking workshops on the Oglala Lakota Nation with the First Peoples Fund. In 2022 his feature length film Lakota Nation vs. United States was nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to be purchased by IFC Films for theatrical distribution. His work is inspired by indigenous storytelling and the brilliant teachers who shared its power and responsibility with him.
jesse short bull
Jesse short bull
Meet The Advisors
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festical
WENDEE PETTIS
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festival
jim burgess
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festival
Charles abourezk
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festival
brett lawlor
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festival
Anna marie thatcher
Advisor of the Black Hills Film Festival
Stuart fromm
Meet The Staff
Richard VanNess
Executive Director of the Black Hills Film Festival
A founder of the Black Hills Film Festival in 2009 and its Executive Director, Chris helps manage and fund the growing event located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Chris holds a BA degree from the University of Minnesota in theatre arts and has experience in event
planning from Sled Dog Races to Art, History and Music experiences. She was also the coordinator/director for Heart of the Hills Economic Development Corp. for 6 years. Chris recently retired from Crow Ridge Productions, a film production company she started with her husband, winning multiple National Telly awards and American Advertising Federation awards for television and cinema commercials. Chris demonstrates the ability to initiate new programs, develop/manage tight
budgets, and fund raise.