The Festival's Founders

Mary Riser

Mary Riser founded and directed the Fairhope Film Series for fifteen years. Once a newspaper film critic, she has studied film all her adult life and has taught film classes at various high schools and colleges. Mary is one of the Founders of Fairhope Film Festival, Director of the Selection Committee and Co-Chairman of the Fundraising Committee. She is Executive Director for the organization and Director of Alabama Nature Partners, Inc.

Phillip Norris

Phillip Norris chairs the marketing and public relations committee for the Fairhope Film Festival. Phillip is the retired founding director of the University of South Alabama Baldwin County campus. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in broadcast and film and received his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in applied behavioral science and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.

John Gautier

John Retired from the Department of Homeland Security after twenty-two years as a Senior Special Agent with Immigration and Homeland Security. He is an attorney and owner of a computer repair shop in Fairhope. John got involved with the Fairhope Film Series through his good friend and co-worker John Tardieu. He has assisted Mary Riser with technical consulting and occasional presentation of films at the Saint James Theater.