Tallgrass Staff

Lela Meadow-Conner

Executive Director

In 2003, lured by the thought of living in “fly-over country”, and by her best friend Timothy Gruver, Lela traveled to Kansas to produce Wichita’s first Tallgrass Film Festival. She returned to Wichita as Producer in the fall of 2004 and in 2005, because the show-must-go-on, she took on the role of Festival Director for the 2006, 2007 and 2008 festivals. To date, the Tallgrass Film Festival has been enjoyed by more than 46,000 people from around the world.

Adopted from India when she was an infant and raised outside of Boston, Massachusetts, Lela must have had “Bollywood” in her genes. After high school she moved to Los Angeles where she attended California State University, studying Radio/TV/Film and worked at a boutique talent management firm where she met Tallgrass Film Festival founder Timothy Gruver. Heeding the call of Production, Lela and Timothy formed WILD INDIANS ENTERTAINMENT and developed many projects together, including a television series optioned by LAWRENCE BENDER. From there, she went on to work for the Executive Producers/Showrunners of the Disney Channel series SO WEIRD, followed by a stint with the Producer of BLUE CRUSH and CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL. Lela was later tapped to join the world of movie marketing, as a Producer for Seismic Productions. She was integral in creating marketing campaigns for major motion pictures including, ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, ANGER MANAGEMENT, MAID IN MANHATTAN, IGBY GOES DOWN, CABIN FEVER and the Academy Award winning films THE PIANIST and LOST IN TRANSLATION. Lela joined Rohr Talent Public Relations in January of 2004 where she honed her skills in entertainment publicity, later freelancing on her own and representing talent, lifestyle and independent film clients. Lela has abundant experience in event production having created events for the Oscars®, Sundance Film Festival, Golden Globes, CD & Business launches, non-profit organizations, and a number of celebrity-driven parties. She also attended UCLA for their Public Relations Certificate Program.

After a stint in the Windy City, where she earned a degree in the Culinary Arts at Chicago’s prestigious Kendall College, Lela moved to the Denver area, and in 2011, after eight years with the Tallgrass Film Association as Festival Director, Lela was named Executive Director of the organization and moved with her family to Wichita, full-time. In addition to overseeing the film festival, she also directs the Tallgrass Filmmakers Lab, Special Screenings and Membership arms of the organization.

Gretchen Mitchell

Co-Director of Programming

Gretchen Mitchell has been part of the Tallgrass team since 2005. She became involved when she met Timothy Gruver who was teaching a Tallgrass-sponsored filmmaking class in the summer of that year.

Gretchen is actively involved in the Hospitality and Programming for the 2006 Tallgrass Film Festival. A former high school English teacher and Journalism instructor, she now serves as a Technical Writer/Marketing Coordinator for an engineering firm headquartered in Wichita.

If you are a visiting guest or filmmaker at Tallgrass, and you are lucky enough to find yourself in Gretchen’s van, fear not, she keeps her Denali well-stocked!

Nick Pope

Co-Director of Programming

Born and raised in Wichita, Nick Pope has been associated with the festival since year one. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BGS in film, Nick returned to Wichita to serve as a volunteer. For the past four seasons he has served as a Programmer and Director of Print Traffic. He has also worked with other staff members to help make Cinema Alfresco and WAMPA special screenings a success.

Outside of the Festival, Nick is an associate designer and draftsman for Lee Products Engineering Services.

Jessy Clonts

Marketing Director

Coming Soon.

Shan Jabara

Director of Acquisitions

In 2006 Ms. Jabara was named Director of Programming for the Tallgrass Film Festival after serving on the Programming Committee since its inception. She has made noteworthy contributions to the structure and make-up of the festival’s Programming committee and has focused on tailoring the film selections to Wichita’s various audiences. Since 2009, Jabara has been responsible for bringing the Tallgrass Third Thursday program to Wichitans.

Recently relocated to Wichita after spending a decade in the art and education worlds of New York City, followed by six years of teaching and traveling overseas, Shan holds a BA from the University of Kansas, and an MA in Art History from the University of Massachusetts, as well as a New York State Teaching License.

Upon meeting Timothy Gruver, Ms. Jabara became very involved with the Tallgrass Film Festival, and along with her Programming Duties, she has coordinated Tallgrass's Cinema Al Fresco series and dedicates long hours to promoting the festival within the Wichita arts community.

Those fortunate enough to bump in to Ms. Jabara at various Tallgrass events, will find themselves engrossed in long conversations about film and art, in the Wichita community and beyond.

Arietta Austin

Hospitality Coordinator

Arietta Austin, a native of Coffeyville, Kansas has been the festival Hospitality Coordinator since 2004. Arietta became involved with Tallgrass when she came to Wichita to care for a family member, and coincidentally, Tallgrass Film Festival founder Timothy Gruver. Despite the fact that she had never previously worked a festival, between her Hollywood affiliations, administrative skills, and love for the arts, Tim was certain that she was the perfect woman for the job.

An integral part of the Tallgrass team, Arietta radiates a warmth that has been proven to turn visiting filmmakers and guests in to life-long friends. She has quickly established herself as “Hostess with the Mostest!”

Eric Moore

Senior Programmer

Producer and Senior Programmer Eric Moore played a key role in helping late founder Timothy Gruver start up the Tallgrass Film Festival in 2003, along side Lela Meadow-Conner. He met Gruver when he was offered a college internship at IFP/West (now Film Independent) helping Gruver market the festival and aiding the programming department to check in and screen submissions. He was subsequently offered a production position with the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF).

The Brookline, MA native took up permanent residence in Los Angeles and quickly got involved with a number of other prominent film festivals and events. He has screened films and worked for LAFF, Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the American Film Institute (AFI). He has also worked in Exhibitor Services and Screenings for the American Film Market (AFM) and served as Security Coordinator for the Independent Spirit Awards in 2005 and 2006.

As a student at Emerson College, Moore put his creative and intellectual talents to work in various ways both inside and outside the classroom, helping start up and produce content for the Children’s Television Department, and receiving the college’s prestigious EVVY Award for his thesis short film. A published author, Moore has contributed to a number of Boston Community newspapers, was a writer in residence at the Wang Center for Performing Arts, and helped edit and select submissions for a nation wide best selling anthology. As a filmmaker, he has served as art director and production designer for a number of shorts and features and has written and directed several of his own short films.

Eric joined the Tallgrass staff as Print Traffic Coordinator in 2003, and quickly proved himself to be an invaluable part of the team. In 2004 he returned as Senior Programmer and in 2005 he added the title of Festival Producer to his plate.

A passionate and creative person, Moore’s overall goal is to bring art and film to areas that don’t have it readily available to them and create programming that opens worlds of discussion without judgment. In his spare time, you might find Moore on stage performing with the critically acclaimed reality-performance troupe GET MORTIFIED in the seedy bars of Hollywood. If you find yourself in Nicaragua, you might bump into Moore and his family setting up optometry clinics that provide medical translation, glasses, and basic vision problem prevention, from the north-eastern Miskito Coast to the south-western border of Costa Rica in San Juan Del Sur.

Francine Fairweather

Box Office Director

Originally from Jamaica, Francine joined Tallgrass at Box Office Director in 2010. Before that, she had worked as a venue manager and volunteer for the festival for several years.

Arvin Cruz

Director of Print Traffic

Arvin holds a PhD in Chemistry from Wichita State University and is now an instructor at Pittsburg State College in Pittsburg, KS. His thesis that made him "Dr. Cruz" was "Nitrile-based carotenoid complexes of Ru (II), Re (I) and Pt (II) metals: Coordination synthesis, electrochemical and photophysical characterization." And we have him run little films around. This is entirely to distract him enough that he doesn't become an evil genius and take over the world.

Gay Quisenberry

Volunteer Director

A Chicago-area native, Gay has been the Volunteer Director at Tallgrass since 2007. She coordinates volunteers for several social- or entertainment-based organizations, both for- and non-proffit, in addition to Tallgrass. By the light of day she works for the Sedgwick County Department on Aging.

Tom Mittlestadt

Event Designer

Tom Mittlestadt joined the Tallgrass team in 2003 for the inaugural festival through Timothy Gruver’s powers of persuasion. He is a nationally recognized Prop Master and Art Director. Some of his film credits include Vestron Pictures’ TWISTER; MYSTERY TRAIN, which won Best Art Direction at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989; HEART OF DIXIE; THE GOOD THINGS; and CRUDE OASIS, directed by the Emmy Nominated Alex Graves.

Tom’s invaluable vision has contributed to unforgettable events and parties at the Tallgrass Film Festival, including transforming a parking garage in to a NY Underground Club, an art gallery in to a Film Noir set, and a classic theater in to a Baseball stadium. His artistic talents lend way to much of the look and feel of each year’s festivals.

When Tom is not working on films you will find him backstage on live theater productions propping and dressing sets, or renting props to film and theatre projects through his company, PROPS & ANTIQUITIES.

Dannielle Werner

VIP Lounge Concirege

Dannielle. She's good people.