Who's Who
 Edmond Coisson
Founder
Edmond was born in Torre
Pellice, Italy. He grew up
with his mother and father
and two sisters, in a farming
community.
He first became fascinated
by a TV drama at the age of
7. He went to the only
theater in town, every
Sunday after noon.
Sometimes, watching the
same film for weeks. As a
teen, he had a few parts in
local theater, where he was
involved in summer plays.
He wrote his first screenplay at age 17. He traveled all over
Europe, working as a waiter, welder, carpenter, plasterer,
and factory worker. Studied drafting and worked for Fiat;
got a barbers license, and also did some bartending. He
moved to Los Angeles, CA., in 1981, to work on the Princess
Cruise Line.
His passion for film, acting and writing never went away.
After moving to Illinois in 1983, he became more active
in films, but his heart was still in writing. He attended
the Screenwriters Group of Chicago, and he and his wife, Glessna, went to the Screen Writers Awards in L.A. each
year. They started their own production company, Our Path
Productions, and made short stories, documentaries, and
feature films. While entering a film festival on the internet,
the comment was made that they should have their own
film festival. A year later, that dream has come true.
Glessna Coisson
Founder
Glessna Coisson was born
in Wyandotte, Michigan,
and moved to the suburbs
of Detroit. After graduation
from Allen Park High School,
she met her first husband.
They had two children,
Stephanie and Jeff. Because
of their jobs in marketing
and sales, they lived in 6
different states, including
Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio,
and Oregon, and settled in
Naperville, Illinois.
After 23 years of marriage she became a widow at age 42.
After meeting her second husband, Edmond, she became
involved with the movie industry, because of his work in
films. They began making short stories, documentaries, and
feature films, with their own production company, Our Path
Productions.
They began entering film festivals, and she jokingly said
“we should start our OWN film festival”, and they laughed.
Four months later, she said it again, and they didn’t laugh.
The wheels started turning and many people saw her vision.
This is how the Naperville Independent Film Festival (NIFF)
was born. A busy lifestyle includes a full time position with
two optometrists, and she is an independent consultant for
Jaz-zy, which is a clothing line and NHT Global, which is
geared toward health and beauty.
Daniel Nigg
Co-Founder
Daniel was born and raised
in Basel, Switzerland. He left
his homeland at twentytwo
to see the world. After
traveling extensively through
Europe he settled in the United
States after a six-month 50,000
mile backpacking adventure
through North America.
He began his business
career as a design engineer
and holds multiple U.S.
Patents for his inventions.
After moving into sales & marketing he rose to the level of
executive management, working for several multi-national
companies. Despite a successful career, Daniel’s passion was
always in the arts. Schooled in Switzerland by his producer/
cameraman father, he worked on documentaries and television
field productions. Using his extensive experience, he launched
NIGG MEDIA Productions.
A self-taught jazz he has expanded
his business to include custom music scores, arrangements and
live performances. After multiple overseas assignments Daniel
and his family settled in Naperville in 1990. Since then, he has
been actively involved in the community. He is a member of
the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors,
and past president of the Lyon County Chamber of Commerce
in Western KY.
A chance meeting with Edmond Coisson early in 2007,
led to yet another opportunity to combine his business acumen
and creative talents - NIFF. Daniel is excited about the Naperville
Film Festival and feels the Festival with its diverse program, will
offer something for everyone in the community.
Gary Pradel
Co-Founder
CEO, Arthur Ray Foundation
Gary Pradel is a Naperville
Native who started making
movies at the age of ten.
He started working for video
production companies when
he was still in High School.
After College he worked
for Video Impressions of
Aurora, working his way up
to Producer/Director.
Later, Gary worked for
NETG in Naperville, where
he produced interactive
training videos. It was at NETG where Gary started
learning about computers, mostly because video production
technology was moving from analog to digital. His knowledge
of computer programming and project management grew,
even though his heart was still in filmmaking.
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