Advance your business with the Georgia Entertainment PR Alliance
About Us
The Georgia Entertainment PR Alliance (GEPRA) is made up of public relations professionals based in Georgia who collaborate to provide public relations services for entertainment-industry clients globally.
Our team includes more than a dozen professionals with experience in the film, television, music and gaming industries. Together we help companies of all sizes and types advance their business objectives. Our single focus is always our clients — their success is our success.
Our services include media relations, branding, thought leadership, creative services, and media training. GEPRA breaks the agency mold with our collective format, pooling our diverse expertise and talent to provide our clients the perfect solution, every time. By working with GEPRA, any organization can create its own dream team to assist with strategic, effective PR.
We know the markets. We know the industry. And we know how to get results in a targeted, cost-efficient way. GEPRA combines senior-level expertise with trail-blazing thinking to build brands, strengthen reputations and grow businesses.
GEPRA is a superior resource for many different entities in the entertainment. We can offer services from set to screen, ranging from large studios to smaller companies, as well as vendors, suppliers, artists, events, and even municipalities offering great locations and venues.
We have efficiently combined the in-depth knowledge, unique talents and extensive expertise of a wide variety of senior-level PR professionals to collaborate and serve the needs of our clients.
Our Team of Senior-Level Professionals
As a go-to source for the entertainment industry in Georgia and the Southeast, we couple polished know-how with trailblazing thinking to build brands, strengthen reputations and grow businesses. Our alliance of senior-level experience and expertise shapes the way people connect with the world, and we want to work with you.
Mitch Leff is a 35-year Atlanta public relations veteran recognized as one of the strongest and most effective media relations specialists in Atlanta. He founded Leff & Associates in 2003. He began his career with Cohn & Wolfe Public Relations, rising to become Media Relations Director for the Atlanta office, at the time the largest public relations agency in the southeast. His superpower? Linking clients to what's topical in the news of the day!
Nicholas Wolaver brings more than 23 years of communications experience to the GEPRA team. His work related to entertainment includes independent film publicity, celebrity media tours and special events. You might also recognize his results (and crisis management work) for the global theme park industry, several local attractions and venues. His favorite made-in-Georgia film is “Richard Jewell” and Nick’s PR superpower is no-stone-unturned media relations. Contact Nicholas at (678) 358-7476.
Melissa Sanders’ PR experience ranges from ESL Gaming, DreamHack, Skillshot and Houston Outlaws; to John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band), New York Philharmonic, Miami City Ballet, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chelsea Shag; plus PC&E, Crafty Apes, Moonshine Post-Production and People Store. Some of her favorite made-in-Georgia shows include “Ozark”, “Stranger Things” and “The Walking Dead.” Her superpower is storytelling, which results in successfully connecting you with engaged audiences.
Elise Riley with My Global Presence has been in marketing & PR for over 25 years. She works with Fortune 500 companies and small business owners on their PR and marketing initiatives to help enrich and positively impact their businesses. Her entertainment industry work includes The Weather Channel, Warner Bros. Pictures & Cartoon Network.
Meredith Fletcher has more than 20 years of experience working with, for and alongside the news media. She launched Fletcher Public Relations in 2008 and enjoys helping start-ups to established brands boost their presence in the news. A natural go-getter at heart, Meredith is constantly on the hunt for that next opportunity. A love for playing tennis led to the need for a place to talk about it; thus, Meredith’s Instagram blog for tennis commentary and community @Short_Angles was born.
With more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Gina is a creative, strategic and results-driven communications leader. Prior to opening GEM PR, Gina was VP of publicity at Turner Broadcasting, where she served in a key role in the evolution of 3 major networks. She led the re-launch of TBS into comedy; led the expansion of TNT into more original programming; and served on the leadership team that built TCM into a lifestyle brand. Her superpower: the ability to see around corners.
Debbie Fitzgerald has 22 years of PR experience in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and more than nine years of entertainment industry experience. Her entertainment-related work includes promoting actors in the commercial department at William Morris Agency and PR and media relations stints with the following: domestic and international television programs, Philippine Animation Studio, comic book companies, an independent film during its fundraising phase, an annual Atlanta film tour stop, and producers at conferences like NATPE and MIP-TV. Debbie’s favorite made-in-Georgia film is The Blind Side. Her superpower: predicting what will be in the news tomorrow. Call Debbie at (770) 887-6060, email her at debbie@fitzgeraldpr.com, or learn more about her services at www.fitzgeraldpr.com.
Tammy Hawk is a 35-year public relations veteran, who spent the last eight years leading marketing and communications for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She continues supporting the ASO and clients including the Woodruff Arts Center, Spivey Hall, and Franklin Pond Chamber Music. Before moving to Atlanta, Tammy was a consumer marketing lead at Weber Shandwick working on an array of accounts including Unilever, Motorola, Oscar Mayer, Allstate, Mead Johnson, and Groupon, to name but a few.
Crystal Bui was previously an Emmy-nominated television news reporter with a decade of hands-on media and communications experience. Her work in entertainment includes collaborating with high-profile public figures and influencers to plan and bring publicity to their special events. Her favorite made-in-Georgia film is The Hunger Games and her superpower: making someone's words and vision unforgettable.
Kim Speece is a graduate of James Madison University with a double major in Communications and Health Sciences, she was one of the college television station’s first female sportscasters. She previously worked as a television producer focusing on special projects and long format news shows in Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC. She received a regional Emmy for her work on a documentary celebrating the life of Arthur Ashe.
Nancy Tao launched her career at global PR agency FleishmanHillard and their flagship office in her hometown of St. Louis, MO. From the midwest, she ventured south to help "welcome the world" in 1996 and was recruited by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2008, she ventured to the far east to live and work in Beijing, China. With nearly 30 years of experience, Nancy has represented iconic brands, worldwide sporting events, entertainment venues, and lifestyle products.
With 25 years of experience in Hollywood and Atlanta, David H. Gardner is a senior PR professional who champions projects for top entertainment corporations, networks/streamers/studios and esports/gaming companies. His superpower is deep understanding of Fandom and diverse, niche audiences. His Master’s thesis from Georgia State University – on how publicists and media work together to create-maintain TV Fans – has been downloaded 6000+ times.
Donna Fleishman, Brand Strategist & Protector public relations. Brings 30+ years experience to GEPRA. Donna has handled clients in entertainment including celebrities, events, sports and music venue marketing, ticketing and film festivals. You might recognize her from her success in handling the opening of Georgia Aquarium, when more than 300 media from around the world attended. Her favorite made-in-Georgia film is The Blind Side. Her superpower is using commas in all the right places. You can reach her in Atlanta at (770) 241-8252 or email her at donnafleishman@gmail.com
Services We Offer
GEPRA provides a full range of services including public relations, branding, creative services, and media relations for all facets of the entertainment industry in Georgia and the Southeast.
Messaging & Positioning
We specialize in exposure, relationships, and reputation building. Our public relations and marketing specialists will give your business that extra adrenaline you want with all creative aspects of any project, large or small scale. Count on our team to partner with you and help you succeed.
Communications Strategy & Planning
It's all about a cohesive plan - and we deliver impactful, sophisticated results to each and every one of our clients, making them stand out in the creative world. We are smart, we are fast, and we get the job done just how you envisioned. See how our services can truly benefit you today.
Integrated Marketing
Our integrated marketing services are best-in-class. Our services enable your business to grow and help increase your exposure in your business vertical. We begin by working with you to define project goals that focus on reach, engagement, and conversion. We then map out a plan to achieve these goals. This is what we live for: merging creativity and technology in a way that brings your business more success than you ever thought possible.
Our Clients
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Our Work
ESL DreamHack
Georgia Entertainment Public Relations Alliance worked with ESL DreamHack to create and implement a public relations program to debut DreamHack Atlanta, a digital gaming festival attracting esports enthusiasts, gamers and fans. The event was held July 21-23, 2017, in downtown Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. The 24 hour-a-day festival weekend featured all things gaming under one roof and was jam-packed with nearly $1 million in pro esports tournaments, collegiate matches, world famous LAN party, cosplay championship, panels, art, activities, expo, live music and more.
The strategy focused on media relations and positioning designed to increase awareness of the event (and meet attendance expectations) among a broad, general audience locally and regionally. We introduced, positioned and launched the festival in Atlanta; and achieved more than 75 stories across local, regional and national media. DreamHack Atlanta was a great success brining in nearly 25,000 visitors from a total of 48 states and 25 countries, which exceeded attendance expectations by at least 5k. Total unique viewers on Twitch reached more than 12 million.
GEPRA also worked on DreamHack Denver and DreamHack Austin, and will welcome DreamHack Dallas in 2019!
DeKalb Entertainment Commission
GEPRA helped the DeKalb Entertainment Commission promote its expertise as a localized professional resource for film and entertainment companies. We provided brand development that included their logo and website design, mission statement, and brand launch. We also positioned them as a leader in local government-film industry engagement. Our branding expertise and in-depth knowledge of the ins-and-outs of Georgia’s film industry helped them launch their service in a way that generates awareness of their role as a leader for other counties in the state.
MomoCom
Imagine the colorful pageantry and excitement of 35,000 costumed fans of all ages enjoying a Memorial Day Weekend convention celebrating gaming (video, board games, live action role play), music, anime costuming (cosplay), comics, visual arts and voice acting -- and that’s MomoCon!
Our research showed an opportunity to increase media coverage and awareness over prior years. With that as a goal, GEPRA created a strategy focused on earned media relations and social media designed to raise event awareness among a broader general audience. Our efforts contributed to an increase of more than nine percent in attendance and reached an earned media audience of more than five million.
