Board Members

Tom Whiteside

Board President

Tom Whiteside has been making, curating, and exhibiting film since 1979, when he graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in Radio, Television and Motion Pictures. Interests include experimental film, regional film history, and the intersection of motion pictures with music and fine arts. He worked as a Visiting Artist in the North Carolina Community College system for four years, and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California. He was an Arts Administration Fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC in 1990. Founder and director of Durham Cinematheque, he has presented more than 60 unique film programs in downtown Durham since 1991.

His short film Conjure Bearden was part of the Romare Bearden exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in 2006, and was screened at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in 2007. He works as an audio-visual technician in Technical Services at Duke University.

Laurie Bley

Bio Coming Soon!

Cicero Leak, III

Cicero is a native of Durham, NC where he attended North Carolina Central University. After obtaining a degree in Political Science, Cicero gained invaluable experience while working with one of North Carolina's most accomplished sports agents and attorneys. During that time he co-founded RDU919 Music & Films, LLC and is Executive Producer of the award winning documentary Welcome to Durham, USA (www.welcometodurhamusa.com). Leak has directed several successful ad campaigns in multiple industries while taking RDU919 to a reputable level of notoriety in the music and film industries.

Cicero's professional attributes include currently serving as Managing Partner of the Turner Leak Agency, a sports & talent agency he co-founded located in Durham, N.C. with offices also located in Washington, D.C. and Charlotte, N.C., he also served as Director of Marketing for both the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and North Carolina Central University. In both roles his marketing initiatives have been considered innovative and garnered much success.

Beverly Meek

Beverly Meek is Outreach and Communications Assistant for the Vice Provost Office for the Arts. In this capacity she is responsible for campus-wide arts communications, Arts & Engagement initiative, community outreach, marketing and publicity for special arts projects, residencies and events, and grant writing. Previously she was Director for Marketing and Audience Development for Duke Performances, Assistant Dean and Marketing Coordinator in the division of Student Affairs at Duke University, Program Administrator for the NC Arts Council, Company Manager for the African American Dance Ensemble, and Assistant Director, Presenting Services for the Durham Arts Council. She holds a MA from Duke University, a BS from Cornell University and completed the UNC-Chapel Hill Arts Management Institute. She is currently a board member of the North Carolina Presenters Consortium, the City of Durham Cultural Master Plan Board, Mallarme Chamber Players, Vice President, and serves on the Duke University Martin Luther King Commemoration Committee. Beverly is a southerner by birth, having grown up in rural northwest Georgia, and currently resides in Durham, NC.

Scott Misner

Scott Misner is an experienced communicator and instructor. He produced a weekly television news-variety show and is a graduate from Purdue University and the University of North Carolina. Scott launched a public relations firm in 2001 and works with statewide and national media in the court of public opinion. He serves as chief strategist for this idea factory that helps N.C. organizations find their creative voice. Fifteen years of broad experience enables him to tell good stories and know how to participate as a brand with consumers.

Fun happens each of the past six years he has taught in the UNC Journalism School's top-ranked public relations department. We can thank his students for the ideas used to promote the SDF documentary, Durham: A Self-Portrait. In his free time, Scott's a yogi, cyclist, swimmer and downtown advocate who likes animals and refuses to eat them.