Frank Shankwitz, A Founder of the Make-A-Wish Foundation®
Ride Captain & Chairman, The Wish Riders Foundation
As an Arizona Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol officer, Frank met a little boy that would change his life and the lives of children throughout the world. As a result, Shankwitz and others formed the Make-A-Wish Foundation to give hope, strength and joy to children facing life-threatening medical conditions. Shankwitz continues to be involved as a Wish Ambassador for the National Foundation. Frank also remains involved in the law enforcement community, serving as a Reserve Detective for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Investigator for the Prescott Police Department Cold Case Homicide Unit, and as a Search and Rescue Coordinator/Board Member for the Yavapai County Mounted Sheriff's Posse. Frank serves on the Board of Directors for Wish Riders, is working on a book, and also still enjoys riding motorcycles.
Rob Cohen, Wish Riders Director and Executive Producer
Rob Cohen is a feature film and television director, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for directing high-energy action franchise films such as "xXx" and "The Fast and The Furious." Cohen’s critically acclaimed The Rat Pack, an HBO film starring Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr., garnered 11 Emmy Award nominations and earned Cohen a nomination from the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Direction of a Television Film. As a producer, he has been behind many major motion pictures, including The Witches of Eastwick, The Serpent and the Rainbow and The Running Man. His latest movie is the third film in Universal Studios’ franchise The Mummy.
Hank Cohen, Wish Riders Distributer and Producer
Hank Cohen supervises distribution of Wish Riders as well as its advertising sales through his company Trifecta Entertainment. Cohen also syndicates shows such as American Idol Rewind, MTV's Punk'd, Hollywood Shoot-Out, Jack Hannah, The Hills and UFC Wired. Prior to forming Trifecta, Hank Cohen has served as President of MGM Television Entertainment overseeing all aspects of television including development, production and marketing. Previously, he was VP of Comedy Development at Lorimar Television where he supervised popular series such as Full House and Family Matters. As Vice President of Specials and Reality Series for ABC, he developed the America’s Funniest Home Videos franchise.
Kurt Eide, Founder of The Wish Riders Foundation
Kurt Eide (“I.D.”) brings over 20 years experience in entertainment, technology and multi-platform production. Eide is the inventor and US patent registrar for DataCaption online video technology. Kurt has also supervised or produced over 400 hours of television programming, having been formally recognized by the U.S. Cabinet for his work in cause-related television. On the lighter side, Eide is the creator and executive producer of a new television program with the animators of The Simpson’s. Eide is a published composer and also recently finished his first screenplay. A trained wish granter for children facing life threatening medical conditions, Eide is also an advocate for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
David Sams, Wish Riders Executive Producer
David Sams is a respected marketing strategist, nine-time Emmy winning producer and director. He has been featured in the pages of TV Guide, USA Today, and Entertainment weekly. Sams has appeared on 60 Minutes, Entertainment Tonight, NBC’S Today Show, Dateline NBC, and ABC's World News Tonight. In the 1980s, while head of global marketing for King World, Sams helped turn Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy into the two highest-rated shows in syndication history; he also was responsible for launching the Oprah Winfrey Show nationally. In addition to his many TV ventures, Sams has launched multiple successful Internet and companies, and was instrumental in the mass marketing of several global initiatives including the .tv and .cc domains
Ed Leclere, Partner, Wish Ride Host Committee Co-Chair
Ed has been promoting events in the motorcycle community for over 10 years. In 2004, Ed became a partner in Arizona Bike Week (ABW), a world famous motorcycle rally held each year at Westworld in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since its inception, ABW has attracted an estimated 600,000 attendees for motorcycle rallies, exhibitions and concerts. ABW has attracted such high profile musicians and bands, such as Bret Michaels, Eddie Money, Foreigner, Cheap Trick just to name a few. Arizona Bike Week 2010 will feature Vince Neil of Motley Crew, Ratt, Dierks Bentley and George Thorogood performing before an estimated 70,000 bike enthusiasts from around the world.
Marcia Roeder, Wish Ride Host Committee Co-Chair
National Advisory Board
Marcia has worked in the charity space for nearly 10 years, currently serving as Chief of Marketing for The Cause Academy. Marcia’s expertise entails national corporate sponsorships, creating and producing major events and cause related fundraisers. Marcia recently served as Sponsorship Marketing Manager for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. In this capacity, Marcia’s primary role was to secure national strategic alliances on behalf of the Foundation. Marcia and team successfully generated more than $22 million per year in sponsorship and an additional $10 million of in-kind, mission-critical resources.
Darin Chavez, Wish Riders Producer
Darin Chavez has provided legal counsel for such clients as Miramax, MTV Networks, Viacom, and Warner Bros., as well as various independent filmmakers. He has performed business affairs and production legal services on films, such as, Criminal, Kill Bill vol.1 and 2, Sin City, and Doubt, as well as for unscripted television series, such as, Punk’d, Rich Girls, Newlyweds, and Clean Sweep. Darin's producing credits include the highly rated Bravo TV series Being Bobby Brown and the syndicated series Home Team. Chavez received his Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. In addition, Chavez serves as counsel to numerous high net worth individuals, professional athletes and performing artists.
Michael Kostov, Co-Creator and Producer
Michael is a producer with a long history of award-winning projects, including television commercials, corporate image films, training and orientation videos. Kostov's work has earned one Platinum and six Gold Telly Awards and the Gold Award from the International Television Association. Before founding his production company, Kostov worked many years in the radio industry, including stints with Golden West Broadcasting, Entercom Communications, and Gillette Broadcasting. Kostov lives in Monroe, Washington with his wife and two kids as is an avid Harley Davidson enthusiast.
Mark Myers, Wish Riders Coordinating Producer
A writer and producer based in Los Angeles, Myers recently produced the reality show, Hollywood Bootcamp and is in pre-production to direct President's Day from his award winning short script. Other recent work includes the animated series The Eco Family for the BBC, Candy Chronicles for Rockrite Entertainment, George of the Jungle for Cartoon Network and the horror feature Gravedigger. He is a producer on a new series from the animators of the Simpson's (Film Roman). Myers has written and/or produced a number of other shows including projects for HBO, VH1 and MTV.
Heather Netzer, Wish Riders Coordinating Producer
Heather began her career in advertising creating effective campaigns for Levis and Kraft Foods at Foote, Cone and Belding. She moved to Los Angeles to work as a Media Supervisor on Dawson’s Creek and Felicity for The WB Television Network. Heather transitioned into production where she worked on feature films for Warner Brothers Studios and a compelling independent film that won accolades at the festival level. She wrote for a show entitled Portable Hollywood that is distributed through a Global Distribution Network and seen in over 50 countries throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Currently, Heather freelances as a journalist for Us Weekly and has interviewed plenty of movers and shakers from Mick Jagger to Halle Berry.
Suzanne DeSimone, Wish Riders Art Director
Suzanne DeSimone has nearly 20 years design, brand and internet experience. Suzanne is an exceptional designer who has a keen abilty to balance great design solutions and internal/external customer needs. As an Art Director at Classmates.com, Suzanne leads the site marketing efforts and assists in designing and building new brands. Suzanne is also the Creative Director for authentici.org, a not for profit organization. Suzanne has a BA in Graphic Design from Western Washington University, and lives in Seattle with her husband and children.
Jules Clark, Wish Riders Committee Chair for Public Relations and Events
Jules has a strong background in senior level non-profit management. Her education includes the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University and is a graduate of the Western Association of Chamber Executives. Her career path has always been in the public relations, marketing, event promotions arena. She has worked in front and behind the camera achieving many awards and most recently, first runner up for "Innovative Promotions", at the 28th Annual AZ Governor's Conference on Tourism, for a travel destination commercial that she produced and was featured in. She has a long relationship with children’s charities and currently holds the Business Representative seat on the Board for the First Things First Yavapai Regional Partnership, Arizona Early Childhood Development Organization. A proud Wish Grantor for The Make-A-Wish Foundation for the past 8 years. She is the Proprietor of BCT Public Relations and Promotions Inc., and is a motivational keynote speaker. Her favorite past time, is touring on a 1998 Harley Davidson Road King. Jules mission is to inspire and empower our youth with the life skills and tools they need to be successful in achieving all of their wishes.
TJ Johnson, Transportation Manager
TJ also worked as Site Manager and Transport Manager for the nationally syndicated television show Home Team. Previously, he spent over 20 years in the Harley Davidson industry working as a technician and service manager where he earned Level 5 Master Technician status. An accomplished motorcycle drag racer, TJ was a winner of the the Northwest Nationals in 2003 (Pro Modified; Buell) and other NHRA and AHDRA events and was also the Crew Chief of the Znetics sponsored Harley Nitro Pro Dragster. TJ coordinates all motorcycle logistics for Wish Riders, including Cast and VIP motorcycles, working closely with law enforcement and host committees for the Wish Ride rallies.
David Woodruff, TreMagna
Advisory Board
David has been in the event merchandising and management field for the past 24 years, working with some of the largest events and event organizers in the country. From his early years working with the World Corporate Games and the National Hot Rod Association, to more recently the Indy 500, National Finals Rodeo, and many Fortune 500 companies, David’s approach has always been to deliver a great product, with the best possible customer service.
