Our Team
George Romero
CEO
George Romero is a producer, film director, comic writer and contributor to Heavy Metal Magazine, a member of the Montgomery County Search and Rescue team, and the Montgomery County Film Commissioner.
Founder of the Eastern Kentucky Film Commission, it is Romero’s goal to create an ecosystem for film, television, and content production of all kinds centered on the career training necessary for Eastern Kentuckians to find a new path to success through the gig economy of home in the film industry.
With almost two dozen films and hundreds of commercial campaigns under his belt, George’s most recent releases are the “Cold Dead War” and “The Rise” comics through Heavy Metal Magazine. Both inaugural issues went to second printings almost immediately after release.
He has written, produced and/or directed and arranged financing for more than 35 film, television and streaming projects and serves as a business consultant and mentor for young and new filmmakers, content creators and entrepreneurs to help them navigate the turbulence of the entertainment industry.
George Romero is a producer, film director, comic writer and contributor to Heavy Metal Magazine, a member of the Montgomery County Search and Rescue team, and the Montgomery County Film Commissioner.
Founder of the Eastern Kentucky Film Commission, it is Romero’s goal to create an ecosystem for film, television, and content production of all kinds centered on the career training necessary for Eastern Kentuckians to find a new path to success through the gig economy of home in the film industry.
With almost two dozen films and hundreds of commercial campaigns under his belt, George’s most recent releases are the “Cold Dead War” and “The Rise” comics through Heavy Metal Magazine. Both inaugural issues went to second printings almost immediately after release.
He has written, produced and/or directed and arranged financing for more than 35 film, television and streaming projects and serves as a business consultant and mentor for young and new filmmakers, content creators and entrepreneurs to help them navigate the turbulence of the entertainment industry.
Rebecca Romero
Vice President
Rebecca’s background in startup finance makes her the perfect partner in Romero Pictures, The Veterans’ Compound and George’s life.
A managing partner in Romero Pictures, Rebecca’s understanding of film finance for the independent filmmaker comes from her days in mortgage finance and from her time helming startup finance departments in the real estate and tech industries.
An accomplished print editor, Rebecca’s most recent work editing “Beyond Kuiper” for Heavy Metal Magazine CEO, Matt Medney, her understanding of the creative arts is the perfect compliment to her work in finance.
With an understanding for the finance needs of the creative world, Rebecca works closely with Romero Pictures’ filmmakers and project leads to make sure the macro and the micro of project budgets are addressed from the early stages of fundraising to the day-to-day management of budgets through the final steps of every project.
The child of a military family, The Veterans’ Compound also strikes close to home with Rebecca which led her to become the organization’s Director of Partnerships.
Celena Crisp
CSO
A visionary strategist and community advocate serving as the Chief Strategy Officer for the Eastern Kentucky Film Commission. With a deep-rooted passion for creative economic development, Celena leads initiatives that bridge the gap between Appalachian talent and national film industry opportunities. Her work focuses on building sustainable pathways for regional growth through film education, local storytelling, and workforce development.
Drawing on her background in business development, partnerships, and grassroots organizing, Celena plays a pivotal role in shaping EKFC’s “Coal-to-Creative” campaign—transforming Eastern Kentucky’s historic legacy into a thriving future of cultural innovation.
Known for her collaborative spirit, Celena works closely with filmmakers, educators, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to position Eastern Kentucky as a national model for rural creative transformation. Her leadership reflects a steadfast belief in the power of storytelling to create jobs, preserve culture, and ignite generational change.
Christopher Miller
Board Member
Christopher T. Miller is a Professor of Education, Director of Morehead State University at Mt. Sterling, and College of Education Professor in Residence for the Eagle Scholars Program. He has served as the Dean of the College of Education and as chair of the Department of Foundational and Graduate Studies in Education at Morehead State University. He has a research focus on multimedia design, web-based instruction, educational gaming, leadership, and media for learning. Chris is actively involved at both the local and international level serving as the President-Elect of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), Secretary for the Mt. Sterling, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Past-Chair of the AECT Center of Excellence in Publishing, Past-President of the AECT Foundation, and Secretary and Past President of the Montgomery County Education Foundation. He recently co-edited AECT at 100: A century of leadership in educational technology as well as two previous books. He is also co-editor of the De Gruyter Brill Publishing/AECT book series Leadership and Best Practices in Educational Technology Management.
Chandler Maze
Director
Born and raised in Eastern Kentucky, Chandler Maze has been fortunate enough to live and attend schools and universities in Eastern, Western, Central and Northern Kentucky. After graduating from Bath County High School, Chandler attended Murray State University and thereafter, Morehead State University, before being accepted into Salmon P. Chase College of Law where he was elected Student Bar Association Vice President.
During his legal career, Chandler has worked in court systems across Kentucky, becoming familiar with how each county operates. After gaining valuable experience working for large firms and assisting clients throughout the state, Chandler decided to bring his practice back to the area where he grew up and use his knowledge and experience to help those in need by founding Maze Law Offices, PLLC in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. During his career as an attorney, Chandler has obtained millions of dollars in settlements on behalf of his clients throughout the country and internationally.
Albert Mason
Advisor
Visual Effects & Postproduction Leader | 25+ Years Experience
Accomplished visual effects and postproduction professional with over 25 years of experience delivering high-end digital effects for feature films, episodic content, commercials, online media, and emerging formats. Proven track record of building and leading top-performing teams of VFX supervisors, creative directors, artists, producers, and support staff across a wide range of projects and production environments.
Adept at collaborating with diverse creative and technical stakeholders—both in-house and client-side—to achieve exceptional visual quality, maintain strong client relationships, and ensure profitability. Trusted for balancing creative excellence with operational efficiency in fast-paced, deadline-driven settings.
Cornell Mitchell
Board Member
Cornell is the Head Software Engineer at NXTLVL Interactive LLC. Since its inception in 2019 he has managed the creation of dozens of automated systems for film companies by creating proprietary software and tech solutions that eases innate friction in the production process by helping many independent filmmakers to visualize delivery pipelines from pre-production through the post release, saving productions millions of dollars in cost amongst dozens of projects.
Cornell Mitchell is currently producing a slate of films, videogames, and software under the NXTLVL / Romero Films umbrella and is a fulltime Line Producer for narrative production projects.