ABOUT THE VAO

In 2009, in the midst of the economic depression, with a new found innovative spirit and the collaboration of dedicated artists and volunteers, Lou Cattaruzza gave life to the Village Artist   Organization   (VAO).

In his opinion: “In the worse of times innovation finds the need to blossom.” Leonardo da Vinci’s accomplishments would be the perfect example. VAO could draw inspiration for its vision, purpose and   mission from the greatest of Renaissance men.”

After several successful exhibits and lots of acknowledgment that the VAO vision was on the right track, the organization chose to incorporate as a not for profit 501c-6.The organization has developed several programs that will be marketed to communities in 2010, and the hope is that its clarity of purpose can be recognized in the new web site it has commissioned.

The site will feature all the elements that make a community a neighborhood. In its first member community, Bayside (currently VAO headquarter), is where new programs are formulated and implemented. The intention is to help other communities benefit from its successes by providing them with its programs and technologies.

staff and board members

Pearl August, President

Ms. August has over 17 years experience specializing in TV, film & video production, and special events/awards programming which included working with hundreds of non-profit organizations nationally. She has extensive international experience organizing and managing events, speech management and documentaries in the United States, Africa, Canada, Mexico and India.

Ms. August was director of production services at Fitzgerald Brunetti Inc. for over six years. She managed and oversaw the Volvo for life Awards, a highly acclaimed and award winning program that was the lynchpin of Volvo’s public outreach and citizenship portfolio and a key contributor to their media relations coverage and grassroots community engagement.

Prior to that, Pearl grew up in the broadcast news industry working for Global Television in Vancouver, Canada. Throughout her tenure, Pearl has interfaced with many of the best-known public figures in politics, corporate life, and the arts. The leading CEO’s and statesmen/women with whom Pearl has worked include US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Sonia Gandhi, a leader in the Indian Parliament and wife of the late Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

Simultaneously, she has worked as a consultant in scripting, communications, and speech preparation.

Pearl has served worldwide on major television and film productions, such as X-Men II and Life or Something Like It. Her portfolio in this area also covers high-level corporate conferences as well as independent film and video.

Louis Cattaruzza, VAO Founder board member

Founder and CEO of Bremen Group, Inc. a business development company specializing providing Intellectual and financial resources to start up companies that meet the need for regional economic development.

Founder and CEO of Worldwide Corporate Network (WCN), a business-to-business media company specializing in the production of quality business programming for radio, TV, and online events. On his business show "The Biz Connection", Lou Cattaruzza was heard over 150 radio stations interviewing corporate leaders, noteworthy business authors and leading entrepreneurs. WCN has produced on line conferences on gene therapy, wireless, and fuel cell technology, among others.

Founder and CEO of Professional Resources Organization (PRO), firm providing hospitals and other health care organizations with qualified and experienced compliance managers. The sales team garnered 80% market share in the New York metropolitan area. The business was sold to partners.

Founder and CEO of Douglas Bremen & Co., a registered broker-dealer and investment banking firm specializing in the financing of companies with private and public capital. This company eventually grew to include 290 registered account executives serving 15,000 private and institutional clients and operating out of nineteen offices throughout the country. Part of the successful growth of the company was related to the successful integration of several acquisitions. In 1994, the company was sold to Becker and Co.

Among recent completed projects is the Village Artist Organization, Inc., a 501-c6 community development organization helping Main Street in Bayside Queens to realize a new renaissance in its neighborhood. Following the project's success LC was acknowledged as a business leader in the community by The Queens Courier.

Steven Anthony Behar, Esq. VAO Board member

He is a Bayside Queens’s community activist.  Member of Bayside  Board 11 Counsel to Bremen Group business development company Founder - Transactional Corporate and securities practice representing U.S. and Foreign corporations and financial institutions in privet debt and equity offerings, private investments in public entities(PIPES), registered debt and equity offerings under the Securities Act of 1933, and the Sarbanes-Oxley ACT. Counsel to clients on all aspects of corporate finance, corporate governance, contract review and general corporate law. Global international practice includes representation of foreign corporations with investments in the U.S. and domestic corporations with investment worldwide. International transactions includes representing domestic and foreign entities in cross-border transactions. Investment Management includes establishment and representation of hedge funds and registered mutual funds

Gregg P Sullivan VAO Board Member

Mr. Sullivan has been a resident of Bayside, NY for more than 45 years he currently is an Executive Director of the Business Improvement District of Bayside, NY. He is an advisor for the Bremen Group in the area of film and entertainment.

Founder of HollyWired.net, Location On-Line and the Digital Directory, the world’s first web-site services for the entertainment industry, and holds the position of premier developer of the earliest “B to B” commerce sites for content production. Developing the internet for the Hollywood entertainment industry starting in 1991 before graphics could be transmitted over the web, Mr. Sullivan foresaw the Internet to be the ideal vehicle for the international distribution of content as well as a global link between locations, studios, products, services, specialists all over the world and the decision makers in the film, television, music video and still photography industries who need them. He personally developed and guided the services from their inception, inventing the search parameters and the user interface programs. His model and designs remain the foundations and fundamental operating systems now used by the film production industry over the net. Additionally, Mr. Sullivan has increased the productivity, efficiency and profitability of production studios by developing software that runs not only production facilities but hotels, motels, and other real estate and retail businesses requiring short and long term booking scheduling.