SYRACUSE, N.Y. - s4story -- The Syracuse International Film Festival (SIFF) has announced Lori Twichell, publicist/marketing strategist, screenwriter, and founder of Beyond the Buzz Marketing LLC, as its newest board member.

Founded in 2003 and based at the Catherine Cummings Theatre in Cazenovia, NY, SIFF has spent more than two decades building a year-round film culture in Central New York. The festival's mission centers on engaging, entertaining, informing, and inspiring the community through film, art, fashion, music, and media, with a stated commitment to championing diverse and historically underrepresented voices in cinema. SIFF partners with the Onondaga County Film Commission to support local, national, and international filmmaking projects that bring cultural and economic value to the region.

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Twichell brings more than 20 years of entertainment industry experience to the role, including on-set publicity, theatrical distribution, and marketing and PR campaigns for major studios and independent filmmakers. Along with this, she has two degrees in writing and is a produced screenwriter with films in the Lionsgate catalog and television and movies on several major networks. Her credits include theatrical campaigns for Sony, original programming development for INSP (now The Cowboy Channel) and Lifetime, and work with international corporations like Paramount, Nike, Microsoft and NBC. Through her company, Beyond the Buzz Marketing, she works with independent filmmakers navigating distribution and marketing strategy, and hosts a podcast called It's Nothing Trivial that breaks down the business behind creating entertainment.

"When Michelle approached me about joining SIFF, I was beyond excited. I grew up on the east coast and I love seeing the beauty of it reflected in films and television shows. For far too long, shows set in areas have not been filmed in those locations. I'm delighted to be working with Michelle and the SIFF team to highlight all of the good things this industry brings to the table, help shine a light on voices and talent that has been overlooked, and hopefully, pull some filmmaking into the area that will spotlight all it has to offer," said Twichell.

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Twichell joins a board that includes Michelle DiBernardo, Jeff Meyer, Linda Osborne, and Cody Slade.

For more information about the Syracuse International Film Festival, visit https://syracusefilmfest.com/. For more information about Lori Twichell, visit https://www.loritwichell.com/