Friends of the Project
Christian Moerlein Brewery
Downtown Cincinnati Inc.
Cincinnati Historical Society
Over the Rhine Foundation
Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
German American Citizens League.
Rivertown Brewery
Hofbrahaus Newport.
Meckenburg Gardens
Voyageur Media
Costello Painting & Building Restoration Inc.
J. Miles Wolf Architectural Photography
Brewery District Community Urban
Redevelopment Corporation.
Weidmann Hill Mansion
Superior Chevrolet
The Cincinnati Irish Heritage Center
Admojo
AND YOU!!
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation below. We are a non-profit organization trying to preserve Cincinnati history! It’s not about us. It’s about Cincinnati Beer.
Mark Sweeney, Executive Producer
Mike Bizzarri, Producer/Director of Photography
Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Historian, Author, Subject Expert
Paul Abrams, Media Consultant, Subject Expert
Steven Hampton, Architect, Community Activist
Michael D. Morgan, J.D. / Author/Community Activist
Sarah Stephens, Author, Subject Expert
Kevin Grace, Archivist, Historian, Subject Expert
Timothy J. Holian, Author, Consultant
Michel Keidel, Advertising, Communications/Creative Director
Mark Sweeney, Executive Producer
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mark has 25 years of responsible business experience in project management, client relationship management, results- oriented sales, strategic planning, corporate marketing, and small business consulting for Valic, Fidelity Investments, Verizon and other organizations.
Mike Bizzarri, Producer/Director of Photography
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mike Bizzarri of Westchester Video has been a motion picture professional for 25 years - first as an independent contractor then as Staff Director of Photography for Cincinnati-based On Location MultiMedia where he worked for eight years before starting Westchester Video. Mike has worked with some big names in the industry including Oprah Winfrey and Steve Harvey. He has two regional Emmy awards for cinematography and several Internet Movie Database credits. He shot the 2007 documentary film, Do Not Go Gently (directed by Melissa Godoy), that aired nationally on American Public Television and was exhibited in several major art museums and film festivals throughout the country. Mike wrote, produced, and directed a low budget dramatic feature film called The Greater Good that won the Best of Festival, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor awards at the 2006 F.A.I.F. International Film Festival in Hollywood and the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2006 Ohio Independent Film Festival in Cleveland.
Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Historian, Author, Subject Expert
Author and editor of numerous books on German-American history and culture; his many awards include the Federal Cross of Merit from Germany, the Ohioana Book Award, the German-American of the Year Award, and Outstanding Achievement Award of the Society for German-American Studies. Retired as Curator of the German-Americana Collection and Director of German-American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, he serves as President of the German-American Citizens League of Greater Cincinnati, Curator of the Leagueʼs German Heritage Museum of Cincinnati, and as Historian for the Roebling Bridge Committee. Recent books include: German Cincinnati (Arcadia Publishing Co., 2005), German Heritage Guide to the Greater Cincinnati Area (2nd Edition, Little Miami Publishing Co., 2007), and John A. Roebling and His Suspension Bridge on the Ohio River (Little Miami Publishing Co., 2007).
Paul Abrams, Media Consultant, Subject Expert
Raised in Texas, Paul moved to Cincinnati in 1996 to serve as Marketing and Communications Director for Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company. He held that position until 2003. He also served as Marketing Director for Crooked River Brewing Company of Cleveland, Ohio and Frederick Brewing Company of Frederick, Maryland under the Snyder Brewing Group umbrella (1999-2003). Paul contributed photos and historical information to Over the Barrel; Tim Holianʼs comprehensive two-volume history of the Cincinnati brewing industry. Paul also contributed to several other books about beer and brewing history.
Paul occasionally speaks before live audiences about beer styles, beer history, beer advertising and public relations. Currently, Paul is the National Public Relations / Media Relations Manager for Roto-Rooter Group, Inc. He has been interviewed by and appeared on CNN Radio, CBS Radio, Fox News Channel, CNBC, NBC Today Show, National Public Radio (NPR), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Radio), Westwood One Radio, USA Today and many local newspapers, radio station and TV stations around the world. Before his move to Cincinnati, Paul was a television news reporter and producer at ABC and NBC network affiliates in Dallas-Fort Worth and Tyler-Longview, Texas from 1990 to 1996. Paul has been a frequent guest on Cincinnati talk radio stations, including 700 WLW and 550 WKRC. He is an occasional consultant to Christian Moerlein Brewing Company of Cincinnati.
Steven Hampton, Architect, Community Activist
Steven is President of the Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment PAGE 2 Corporation. This volunteer-driven neighborhood group focuses on preserving and promoting Over-the-Rhine's unique brewing history and historic architecture as well as working to sustainably redevelop it. Steven has led the group for the past four years and has been instrumental in bringing tens of thousands of people to the Brewery District for events such as Bockfest, brewery tours, and other unique events showcasing the neighborhood. Other community involvement includes being a trustee for the Over-the-Rhine Community Council as well as numerous other duties. Steven is a LEED Accredited architect with his own practice here in Over-the-Rhine where he works with clients to sustainably renovate the historic architecture in Cincinnati.
Michael D. Morgan, J.D. / Author/Community Activist
Michael Morgan is the author of Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King, an attorney and real estate agent.. Morgan is a graduate of Ohio University and the University Of Toledo College Of Law. He moved to Cincinnati and established a law practice in Over-the-Rhine in 1999. Morgan began phasing out of the full-time practice of law in 2004 and started selling urban real estate with a focus on Over-the-Rhine. He also started becoming active in the neighborhood, assuming the volunteer role of primary Bockfest organizer in the winter of 2005, and becoming the first Director of the Brewery District CURDC in 2006. He then served as director of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation between 2007 and June 2010. Currently self-employed, Morgan continues to do pro bono work related to historic conservation and city land use policy. Morgan serves as the chair of the Board of Housing Appeals
Sarah Stephens, Author, Subject Expert
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sarah Stephens received a BA in English Literature from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2002 and a MA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati's College of DAAP in 2006. Her Master's thesis about contemporary street artists, Shepard Fairey and Banksy, received honors from the university. She has worked as a Research Associate for CERHAS (the Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites), University of Cincinnati, and was also Special Projects Director/Project Manager with Zender + Associates, Cincinnati, OH. Both jobs involved scholarly research, grant writing, copywriting and editing. Sarah is currently employed as an Accounts Manager and Editor with Scenario Learning. Ms. Stephens has contributed many arts and culture articles to local news weeklies, CityBeat and Soapbox Media, including the regular CityBeat column "Cincitecture," which she founded and was the sole author. In March 2010, Ms. Stephens' first book, Cincinnati's Brewing History, was published with Arcadia Publishing. She is involved in the Brewery District CURC and the Cincinnati Preservation Association, and has been a guest presenter at several events: the 2006 "Rebels and Renegades" Symposium, University of Oregon (Eugene, OR); and the 2010 "Suds, Signs and Saving Our City" event, Cincinnati Preservation Association (Cincinnati, OH).
Kevin Grace, Archivist, Historian, Subject Expert
Kevin Grace is Head of the Archives & Rare Books Library at the University of Cincinnati and is the University Archivist. He has been with the University of Cincinnati since 1979, and in addition to his research and reference duties with special collections and urban history, he also is an adjunct assistant professor in the University Honors Program and the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. He has published widely on the history of Cincinnati, has assisted with a number of Cincinnati documentaries and publications and is currently writing a biography of boxer Ezzard Charles. Kevin’s publications include Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine; Cincinnati Boxing; Cincinnati Revealed; Cincinnati Cemeteries: The Queen City Underground; and Cincinnati on Field and Court: The Sports Legacy of the Queen City.
Born and raised in Tehran, Iran (December, 1971), Kiumars immigrated to the USA in 2000. He continued his education in Hertfordshire, England and graduated with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Film and Media from the University of Hertfordshire in September, 2009. Kiumars has produced numerous programs for Media Bridges since 2002, including TV and radio shows such as "The Echo on WVQC" and "The Echo on TV." He produced programs for the only Spanish-speaking radio station in Cincinnati, known as LasabrosiatFM.com.
His movies include Salsa Fever, a promotional video for two Latin music groups (producer, director and editor); Grime and Punishment, a short for the 48 hours Project (executive producer, director and writer); Dreamland, a film short by Mark Sweeney, (Asssociate producer); and Michael McIntire and the Marmalade Brigade, a live music video (producer).
Timothy J. Holian, Author, Consultant
A native Cincinnatian, Tim is the author of The German-Americans and World War II: An Ethnic Experience (Peter Lang; 1996 and 1998) and the acclaimed two-volume book project Over the Barrel: The Brewing History and Beer Culture of Cincinnati (www.sudhauspress.com ; Volume One: 1800-Prohibition; and Volume Two: Prohibition-2001), as well as several professional articles on the brewing industry in Cincinnati; Stevens Point, Wisconsin; and elsewhere. He was a featured commentator in the television productions Tapping Kansas City: A Beer (Love) Story (KCPT-TV; 2001) and Where the River Bends: A History of Northern Kentucky (KET-TV; 2007) and frequently gives guest lectures and presentations on historical and contemporary aspects of the American brewing industry. His pending book project is an expansive oral history-based work on the contributions of small local and regional brewers to the industry during the post-Prohibition era, and includes interviews with legends including local icons Bob Pohl (Hudepohl); Ken Lichtendahl (Schoenling); Bob Piening (Burger); and John Piening (Hudepohl-Schoenling); as well as nationally-known figures such as Fritz Maytag (Anchor Steam - San Francisco); Bill Smulowitz (The Lion - Wilkes-Barre, PA); Joe Ortlieb (Ortlieb - Philadelphia); Ted Marti (Schell - New Ulm, MN); Dick Yuengling, Jr. (Yuengling - Pottsville, PA); Jake Leinenkugel (Leinenkugel - Chippewa Falls, WI); Nick Matt (F.X. Matt - Utica, NY); and Billy Pflaumer (C. Schmidt - Philadelphia); as well as actress Shirley Jones (Jones - Smithton, PA). Tim currently resides in Janesville, Wisconsin, and teaches German language, literature, and culture within the University of Wisconsin Colleges system and coordinates its German program statewide.
Michel Keidel, Advertising, Communications/Creative Director
Born on the west side of Cincinnati, Michael is the Creative Director at CG Marketing Communications, a small but mighty Advertising & Interactive agency. Michel is a self described ad man with 30 years experience building local Cincinnati brands. Michel is charged with telling the story of The Cincinnati Beer Story. Michel is credited with several years of Hudepohl-Schoenling advertising and co-created the annual Bockfest event. Michel is a displaced west-sider from Cleves now living in the east side suburb of Mt. Lookout. Michel has a long history with beer and a belly to prove it.
Award winning PBS film maker... more to come
