ABOUT
MEET THE GARF BOARD MEMBERS.
Suzanne Romero,
Founder and President
A theater graduate and a history buff, I met George A. Romero in 2005 when he was doing post-production for Land of the Dead. I had no idea who he was nor had I seen any of his films, not even Night of the Living Dead! (I am more of a Shakespeare and a Daphne Du Maurier fan; as it turns out, so was he.) My relationship with George blossomed into a rare simpatico. It seemed like we had spent our whole lives looking for each other. George taught me how to see films, not just look at them; all films, including westerns (which at the time I was reluctant to watch; now I am a huge John Ford fan).
Tina Romero,
Vice President
Tina Romero, daughter of George A. Romero, is a filmmaker, professor, and DJ based in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated as a Cinema Studies major from Wellesley College in 2006 before attending the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts graduate film program. While at NYU, Tina received the Warner Bros. Film Award and the Steven J. Ross Scholarship for her accomplishments in filmmaking.
Ramona Streiner,
Secretary & Treasurer
Ramona is honored to be part of the George A. Romero Foundation team. She brings creative energy in her work to help preserve George’s work and legacy. Ramona moved to Pittsburgh from Germany and is quickly becoming at home in the local creative community. In addition to working as an officer of the GARF, Ramona is writing a series of children’s books and is collaborating on a screenplay. High on Ramona’s list of interests are travel (especially Paris and Scotland), video game design, charitable work, assisting her husband in his film work, and her four cats.
Jeff Whitehead,
Chief Operations Officer
By day, Jeff works in higher education. By night, he is an avid horror screenwriter. Some of Jeff's fondest childhood memories are of sleepovers that included classic horror movies, role playing games (RPGs), comic books, and junk food. George's work always featured prominently, and Jeff cannot remember when such an occasion did not screen Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, or Day of the Dead. Jeff is honored for the opportunity to give back to the legacy by assisting with the website and operations for the GARF. By doing so, Jeff hopes to help George and his work have an impact for a very long time to come.
Peter Grunwald
Peter Grunwald graduated from Princeton University in 1977. He began his career at 15 as a production assistant on Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends. Two years later, teamed with producer Steve Tisch, he wrote and directed The Vendor, a short subject that led to an association with Robert Evans at Paramount, where Grunwald worked on developing such films as Chinatown, Marathon Man, and Black Sunday. Grunwald became a story editor at Paramount before forming an editorial consulting firm that included Ken McCormick, publisher of Roots, among its clients. He returned to the film business as Vice President of Charles Evans Productions, which developed and produced Tootsie. It was there that Grunwald began his collaboration with George Romero, on his film, Monkey Shines, he served as executive producer. Their partnership, Romero-Grunwald Productions, released Bruiser, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Survival of the Dead, and Empire of the Dead, and continues to produce projects George developed and loved.
Barry Gutterman
After graduating Law School in 1970, Barry went “on the road” for a year, driving from Europe to Nepal and back again with a six months stay in India. Returning to New York City, he worked as a bartender in an off-Broadway “actor’s” bar, and tried his hand at acting In 1973, he opened his own law practice. Meeting George in 1977, he became his close friend, ”brother”, confident and legal adviser for the ensuing forty-years. Over the years they shared their mutual love of the cinema and food, watching countless movies and cooking numerous feasts together. Barry was George’s legal adviser and a sounding board for most of his projects thereafter, including being the production attorney for The Dark Half, the re-make of Night Of The Living Dead, and having had the honor of a cameo appearance in Knightriders.
John Harrison
John Harrison began his career directing rock videos and collaborating with famed horror director, George A. Romero, for whom he composed the scores to Creepshow and Day of the Dead. Harrison wrote and directed multiple episodes of George A. Romero's classic television series, Tales from the Darkside, before helming Tales from the Darkside: The Movie for producer Richard Rubinstein and Paramount Pictures, which won John the Grand Prix du Festival at Avoriaz, France. He has written and directed multiple TV episodes for a variety of networks, as well as world premier TV movies and miniseries, including the two Emmy winning miniseries adaptations of Frank Herbert’s Dune and Children of Dune, which he wrote, directed, and co-produced. John co-wrote the Disney animated feature, Dinosaur, and wrote and directed the theatrical adaptation of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood. John’s three-episode mini series, Residue, which he created and wrote, is currently on Netflix.
Adam Lowenstein
Adam Lowenstein is a professor of English and Film/Media Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media (Columbia University Press, 2015) and Shocking Representation: Historical Trauma, National Cinema, and the Modern Horror Film (Columbia University Press, 2005). Adam’s essays on topics as diverse as Alfred Hitchcock, Japanese cinema, the art of film, David Cronenberg, Ben Wheatley, and George A. Romero have appeared in numerous academic journals and anthologies. He has been interviewed on issues of cinema and culture in The New York Times and in Adam Simon’s documentary, The American Nightmare.
Jim Rogal
An Emmy Award-winning writer and producer, Rogal has spent his career in communications, first as a newspaper reporter, then as a television sports writer and supervisor, a PBS executive documentary producer and a regional sports network production executive. He is the owner of Century Communications.
Chris Roe
Manager, writer, producer, director Chris Roe entered the entertainment business in 1996 after starting his own talent management agency, Chris Roe Management. His company has since become well respected in the entertainment industry, managing such clients as directors as George A. Romero and Clive Barker, and actors Bruce Davison, Meg Foster, Mariette Hartley, and Malcolm McDowell, to name a few.
In 2007, Chris wrote, produced and directed the award-winning documentary feature, One for the Fire, released in May, 2008. He also produced and co-directed a pilot for television called Soul of the City and acted as producer or executive producer on major films. In 2018, he launched his production company, Tea Time Productions, Inc. and Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters, was the company’s first production.
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The GARF is dedicated to honoring the life work and cultural influence of George A. Romero, and supporting a new generation of filmmakers and artists inspired by his legacy.
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