Luis has always believed in the power of images to change people’s lives and that art can bring people together from diverse backgrounds. As a lifelong art professional, he has worked in multiple capacities through various arts and educational organizations. Luis moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2009 to work at the Aspen Art Museum where he was promoted up through the organization and most recently was the Chief Operating Officer. Luis was also appointed to the Carbondale Town Council in August 2017 and was subsequently elected to a 4-year term in April 2018. Since moving to the Roaring Fork Valley, he has volunteered his time with various organizations such as KDNK, English in Action, and Carbondale Arts. In his free time Luis enjoys snowboarding, stand up paddle boarding, surfing and gardening. He holds a BFA in Fine Art Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. Luis currently resides in Carbondale with his wife and two children. Photo Credit: Summers Moore
Charlie Turnbull is a documentary filmmaker with an interest in the American West. Originally from Australia, he worked around the globe as an expedition leader before graduating university with a journalism degree and setting off to America. His debut feature documentary, The Bikes of Wrath, premiered at 5Point in 2018 and went on to broadcast and theatrical success. He currently splits his time between California and Texas but would rather be in Carbondale
Christine moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1995 to go to Vet Tech school at Colorado Mountain College. Her first love is animals, film is a close second. She has worked as a veterinary nurse throughout the valley and been a buyer/manager for the Aspen Skiing Company as well, but really prefers volunteering. That’s how she got involved with 5Point in 2014. Falling in love with the Flagship Festival made her want to get involved on a different level. Volunteering with people like Tracy Wilson and getting to know the directors, talent, and guests has kept her coming back year after year. She has been known to “ugly face cry” through many of the films regardless of the subject matter. Christine is honored to have gone from volunteer to staff member. Raised in Southern California, the ocean is always calling, but the mountains are home. She loves skiing, hiking, surfing, horseback riding, and spending time with her dogs. Photo Credit: Frances Marron
Tracy Wilson, an Idaho native moved to Carbondale, CO in 2006. For the past twenty years, Tracy has coordinated volunteers for large-scale events such as marathons and Iron Man races. She has grown her involvement in the festival since its inaugural year through expansion of the 5point Dream Project and education programming. In addition to her work at 5point, Tracy has co-founded Bonedale Bike Week and teaches 9th-grade history at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, as well as co-teaching the University of Colorado and ACES night class, Tomorrow’s Voices. She serves as the Vice-Chair on the Town of Carbondale Parks & Recreation Commission. Tracy is motivated by cultivating powerful relationships in her community. She is a passionate climber, but when she is not out at the crag, you can find her playing chess at a coffee shop, volunteering, or coordinating a variety of community events. Photo credit: Katrin Bell
Benjamin Taylor Cole Hunter is from Fort Collins Colorado and has been living in the Roaring Fork Valley for the past four years. He attends Colorado Mountain College and works as a freelance Videographer and Photographer. Photo Credit: Catherine Aeppel
Aly Sanguily, an Austin Texas native, moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2011 with her husband Chase, to start Roaring Fork Beer Company. After many fun years of owning and operating an award winning brewery in a small mountain town, Aly and Chase sold the brewery to locals and now solely own and operate a boutique bar in the heart of downtown Carbondale, Batch Provisions. Aly has been executing and running festivals and events in the valley since 2012 and prior in Durango, Colorado. Aly is inspired daily by Carbondale’s funky, grassroots focused and vibrant spirit. Aly was recently named the Entertainment Director for Carbondale Mountain Fair and looks forward to bringing those skills into the wonderful world of 5Point. When not hosting events around town, Aly finds peace in the beautiful outdoors of the valley, being a volunteer DJ on KDNK and sunny paddleboard days with friends and family.
Jamie moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2017 when she accepted a position with the Town of Carbondale as a Special Events Coordinator. Originally from Wisconsin, Jamie chose to move out to Colorado to pursue her passion in the outdoors. She enjoys skiing, hiking, mountain biking, painting, camping, and fly fishing. Since living here in Carbondale, she has taken on various roles such as: Carbondale Farmers’ Market Manager, Board Member of the Tourism Council of Carbondale, and recently assisted with 5Point Film Festival at the Earth Day Pop-Up show. As a Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Carbondale Parks and Rec Department, Jamie has been able to experience the 5Point Film Festival the last four years. This year, she will be working directly with 5Point as a Production Assistant.
I was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Our family adventures to the slopes of Northern Michigan is where the real magic began. My enthusiastic parents introduced me to alpine skiing at the age of four, and that was it. Little did I know how that first moment I felt my skis floating down the massive 300-foot slopes at the Otsego Ski Resort would shape my life. School—I got through it and boogied directly to Aspen, Colorado at the ripe age of 19. I lived the life of a committed ski bum, teaching for the Aspen Ski Company and working evening restaurant shifts so I could master my passion for skiing and a life adventuring in the Elk Mountains. It wasn’t until I met my true love, Michael Kennedy, at the Sundeck Restaurant on top of Aspen Mountain, that I truly embraced my commitment to adventure of all kinds. My mission in life is quite simple—to connect people so they too can fulfill their inspired dreams and that is why I created the 5Point Film Festival.
British-born, Sarah-Jane has lived and worked in all four corners of the world, but Colorado stole her heart in 2002 and since then she's spent most of that time living the dream in the Roaring Fork Valley. SJ began her journalism career in the frantic world of newspaper reporting, before she made the switch to public relations to pursue a career path more aligned with her passion and interest for the travel industry. She worked on global marketing campaigns at international PR agencies for brands including tourism boards, airlines and hotel brands, before taking a more focused approach to support smaller grassroots organizations within the sectors of tourism, lifestyle and outdoor recreation. SJ lives with her family, including Finn and Matty who are devoted 5Point attendees, and enjoys spending her time planning the next big trip-- be it home to Cambridge, England, the Great Lakes of Michigan, the rainforests of Ecuador, or mountains of Northern India.
Paddy O’Connell is a freelance creator and storyteller, and the host and co-writer of Safety Third podcast. When he’s not practicing Footloose inspired dance moves, Patrick Swayze-esque hair flips, and grooming his mustache to resemble Tom Selleck’s lip caterpillar, Paddy can be found in the mountains — mostly likely being a bit loud and doing something a lot weird. He is based in Carbondale, Colorado. Photo credit: Mike Thurk
President - Laura has over ten years of experience in marketing, PR, and communications, she has a strong knowledge in digital marketing, content distribution and loves helping clients grow their business. For the last eight and a half years, Laura has worked in the outdoor industry in roles like 'Associate Media Director', where she was responsible for full funnel media planning strategies and 'Account Director and Senior Strategist’ where she has worked on developing and implementing brand strategy. One of her greatest passions is working with storytellers and film makers to ensure that their stories are being seen by as many people as possible. She believes that film has the power to move people and spark change.
Treasurer - Roger Hennefeld and his wife moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1998 after he completed business school. A firm believer in 5Point, Roger believes everyone needs the spiritual uplift that being in nature brings, and feels that film and great social events are an amazing facilitator.
Ryan is a product manager, marketer, and technologist, most recently at Google Creative Lab. He has deep experience with experimental technology; defining what it is, what to do with it, and how to explain it to the world. Ryan has also produced many advertising commercials and branded films for ESPN and others. He has been madly in love with snowboarding since 1993 and has spent seven years working at ski/snowboard shops in his native New York and in Aspen. Ryan currently resides in Los Angeles.
Originally from Aspen, Chris Dirkes recently moved back to the Roaring Fork Valley in the fall of 2020. Chris is a Charted Financial Analyst, specializing in corporate credit analysis and responsible for managing institutional fixed income portfolios at New Century Advisors, a Washington, DC based investment firm. Prior to joining New Century Advisors, Chris lived in New York City and worked in Fixed Income at Morgan Stanley. Chris received his undergraduate degree in Business Economics from Brown University in 2002. Chris currently lives in Aspen with his fiancée, has a love of the outdoors and enjoys skiing, ice hockey, mountain biking, fly fishing and elk hunting.
Michael lives in the Roaring Fork Valley with his Fiancée and Swiss Mountain Dog named Tater. He works as an attorney for the firm Kalamaya Goscha. The 5Point Film Festival has been inspirational to him in many ways, and he looks forward to growing their mission and presence.
Derek Johnston has been a professional artist for over thirty years and his fine art landscape photography has been widely collected and exhibited. It is included in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and has been honored with a Colorado Council on the Arts Grant in Visual Arts. Derek is currently a professor and Director of Professional Photography at Colorado Mountain College, where he initiated a partnership with 5POINT to help inspire young storytellers.
Candice is a Texas Native with an Ozark mountain pull and resides in Northwest Arkansas. She's an avid mountain biker, van-lover, kayaker, and explorer. Over the year's she's worn many professional hats, including bookkeeper, marketing manager, mental health therapist, and most recently Development Director for a regional cycling advocacy organization. Candice is a big believer in the healing power of immersing oneself in nature; her favorite way to do this is taking off into the wilderness in her van or biking down a long flow trail. She's currently halfway through her goal of exploring every National Park in America before she turns 40 and is working on building the van community through her side-gig, Vanarchy in the Ozarks.
Keile is a 3rd generation Roaring Fork Valley native, with a passion for the outdoors and the stories that inspire action sports communities to engage, feel, and work together around a bigger picture. She works professionally as an Associate Media Director at Backbone Media, spending time in marketing strategy for a number of category-leading retail brands such as Patagonia and Smartwool, as well as non-profit organizations Protect Our Winters and The Wilderness Society. She is also a member of Backbone’s DEI Community committee, where she works to organize and rally the Backbone team around opportunities for employees to give back to underrepresented groups both in Carbondale and Denver.
Arriving in the Roaring Fork Valley after graduating from the University of Denver, Summers has been an integral part of the community. Her love for the area is immeasurable. Her latest passion finds her in the art/photography scene while raising two beautiful daughters.
Bodhi Stewart is a Principal Digital Product Designer at REI; leading innovation design for the Activity categories, specializing in cycle and run. Before joining REI, Bodhi designed experiences for an eclectic range of companies and startups including Asurion, Poolsuite, Philz Coffee, and Verizon. As a Latina, Bodhi cares deeply about making the outdoors an accessible and equitable place for all. As Jacques Cousteau once said “People protect what they love, they love what they understand and they understand what they are taught.” and she is motivated by that same desire to cultivate an enduring love of the outdoors in others so that they will strive to protect it.
Greg joined Backbone Media in 2005 after managing the advertising team at Climbing magazine and co-founding the Philadelphia Rock Gym. At Backbone, Greg has worn many hats both on the PR and media team and has been instrumental in establishing and growing the media buying and planning side of Backbone’s business. Backbone’s media work spans all channels and includes award winning digital campaigns and national TV brand campaigns. Greg is an all-around outdoor enthusiast and lives in Carbondale with his family – Carolyn, Sage and Luke.
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