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The Filmmakers

Richard Iannello

Co-Producer & Writer

Rick is a 1971 graduate of SUNY Brockport with a major in Economics and a minor in Art. He became a licensed nursing home administrator in 1975, and in 1982, he received a Masters Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in health care.

His experience includes positions such as administrator at Genesee County Nursing Home; Vice President, Programs and Administration at St Anne's Home, a 591 bed nursing facility campus in Rochester, New York; health care consultant for Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) and consultant for The Eddy, a system of services for the elderly and a part of Northeast Health in Troy, New York.

In 1987 Rick was appointed executive director, Eddy Cohoes Rehabilitation Center, where he directed the complete renovation of a closed acute care hospital in Cohoes, facilitated its reopening and then guided it through its first three years of operation. The center was a New York State demonstration project and provided rehabilitation services specifically to a senior population.

Rick went on to serve as director of all Eddy health care sites and senior housing projects and in his final two years he served as executive director of LTC Eddy, Inc., the holding corporation that oversaw all Eddy activities. During these years, Rick worked on projects such as Beverwyck, a retirement community in the town of Bethlehem, NY, that was a joint initiative with Eddy and Albany Guardian Society. Rick also supervised project teams that eventually developed two other senior housing projects. Other projects under way included expansion of day care services at various satellite locations and creation of the Marjorie Doyle Rockwell Center, the Eddy's Alzheimer's initiative. During his tenure, the Eddy opened a PACE site in Schenectady, NY, adding a managed care product to the extensive array of services already offered by The Eddy.

Since leaving the Eddy at the end of 1996, Rick has been asked on numerous occasions to assist chronic care providers with strategic planning and he has facilitated many planning sessions to help organizations refocus their services to better meet the changing needs of the senior populations they serve. He has also completed a joint engagement for the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, studying the development of health care alliances and how they have impacted relationships within the provider community and with associations.

Since July 2000, Rick has served as executive director of Albany Guardian Society, an operating foundation that undertakes projects to improve the quality of life for seniors.

Stephen Honeybill

Senior Producer
International & Special Projects

Stephen Honeybill has extensive credits in the production of national series for American Public Television for subsequent distribution internationally. It's An Age Thing!, produced almost entirely on location, benefits greatly from Stephen's past experience in producing a broad range of other programming for public broadcasting. Not only are the programs seen throughout the United States but also currently in Europe, the Far East and Australia.

His recent productions for WMHT include, Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico. This thirteen-part Mexican cooking series released through American Public Television, began airing on PTV stations in the U.S. in September 1999, and in countries abroad earlier this year. Following up on the success of this series, he completed production of a new thirteen-part Mexican cooking series for public television, ¡Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana, with celebrated New York City chef Zarela Martinez. The series was released for national broadcast by APT in September, 2001. Other productions include numerous music and documentary specials with Irish folksinger Tommy Makem. In addition, he has produced two other cooking series which have aired nationally: Classic Spanish Cooking with Chef Ef, and three seasons of Tommy Tang's Modern Thai Cuisine. In addition to these productions, Stephen produced ten seasons of Welcome to My Studio, one of the most popular painting series in public television history and Paint the Van Wyk Way With Joan Lord.

In addition to these recent successes, Stephen has produced television programs that cover many genres of programs including Mark Twain: The Musical Biography, Intimate Danger: Grappling With Domestic Violence, and Stateline - Call Governor Cuomo. He began his television career at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) where he worked on such shows as The Dick Emery Show, a situation comedy series, Mill On The Floss, a drama series, and Nationwide, a nightly current affairs show.

Stephen was recently honored by American Public Television as "Most Valuable Producer of the Year 2000" in recognition of his many contributions made to public television.

Marianne Potter

Executive Producer

Marianne Potter has significant public broadcasting programming, production, marketing, development, and management experience. As Vice President of Television at WMHT Educational Telecommunications, she has substantial achievements in leading an outstanding public television station to the development of new programming strategies, the creation of local programming, and new records in fundraising.

Since joining WMHT in 1988, she has had a wide range of responsibilities, including positions as On-air Promotion Coordinator, Program Manager, and Director of Programming and Local Productions. Previous to joining WMHT, Marianne worked as Traffic Manager, Promotion Manager, Program Guide Editor, and Membership Manager at WSKG public television and radio in Binghamton, New York.

Over the years Marianne has served as producer, and often host, for numerous television productions including regional, documentary, musical, fundraising and public-affairs shows. She currently produces and hosts InSight, a weekly program of regional interest in the WMHT viewing area.