Leadership Team
Matt Saravay
CEO
Matthew Saravay has vast experience in event production, theater and television production, branding, marketing and sales in several industries. Mr. Saravay’s work in Special Events has been recognized over the years through the many awards he has won for set design, logistics management, Social Media Engagement, and Sustainability. In 2011 Wizard Studios was named Best Corporate Event Planner by the NY Chapter of the International Special Events Society at its’ annual Big Apple Awards. In 2018 Mr. Saravay was inducted in to the International Live Events Association, NY Metro Chapter’s Hall of Legends. Matthew currently lives in Katonah, NY with his wife Vicha and is the proud father of four sons.
Shawn Cooper
CRO & Partner
Shawn Cooper has been working with Wizard Studios since 2007. After spending over two decades working in the Hospitality and Event Production Industry, Shawn knows how to truly deliver impactful, immersive and engaging corporate and experiential while integrating cutting edge technology to increase event interactivity. Shawn believes that managing and exceeding client’s expectations is what makes him and his team at Wizard Studios successful and desirable. Shawn holds a BA in Business/Corporate Communications from Quinnipiac University and has also completed 2 years of Leadership, Sales and Management training from Yale University. Currently, Shawn lives in Long Island with his son Bradley and has been volunteering as an EMT, Fire Fighter and Water Rescue Officer since 2004.
Rebecca Abernathy
Director of Operations
Rebecca Abernathy joined the team at Wizard Studios in June of 2016 as a Production Coordinator. In December of 2017, she was promoted to Production Manager. And in January of 2018, Rebecca was promoted to Director of Production and was in that position until March of 2020. She returned to Wizard Studios this past April as the Director of Operations.
Prior to joining Wizard Studios, Rebecca spent most of her professional career in retail management in Orlando, FL, and Boston, MA. She worked for DKNY and Ulta, each for over 5 years. As a manager for those companies, she focused on developing teams and leading them to operational excellence. This included training teams on inventory processes, visual standards, and labor efficiencies. When Rebecca moved to New York in 2012, she changed career paths and began work as a personal assistant. In this position, Rebecca was able to learn the ins and outs of the city. She was with the same high-profile family for four years until they moved out of state.
Rebecca enjoys working on all the different types of events that Wizard produces. She also loves being part of a team of dynamic people who are passionate about the company and our clients.
Jonathan ‘Yiani’ Yianilos
Creative Director
Creating beauty and being around good people, that’s all Yiani cares about. He’s been doing exactly that in NYC for 10 years. His first production gig was 2010 ago as a PA for fashion runway show in Times Square. Since then he has managed creative visuals for over 300 NYC corporate, private, fine art, fashion, retail, and experiential marketing events.
Jonathan Peter Yianilos, often called “Yiani”, started as a freelance carpenter with Wizard in 2016 and began leading builds and installs in 2017. By 2018, in-house Wizard creative service capabilities expanded into an additional warehouse. That same year Yiani built and hung the doors on our very own workshop.
As the Director of Creative Services Yiani helps clients and team members explore and enjoy their own creativity and hands on skills as he guides the many layers of the creative production process.
Before Wizard, Yiani assisted a fine artist in NYC as the operations manager of a stone sculpture studio. He also worked as a fine art handler and carpenter. He studied Sculpture and Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife Emily and son Peter Jonathan.
Jamahl Gambler
Director of Talent Acquisition and Development
Jamahl Gambler joined the Wizard Team with a broad range of experience in Technology and Event Management. As Director of Talent Acquisition and Development, he leads our recruiting efforts by providing a values-focused approach to finding the best people to join our team. He also provides direction and leadership in training all team members in technical, professional and personal development.
Before joining Wizard Studios, Jamahl honed his interpersonal skills working in diverse industries for over 20 years, including Hospitality, Event Technology, IT, and Experiential AV integration. The common thread throughout was developing and maintaining solid relationships with the people; Clients, Staff, and Management.
Across his career, Jamahl has adhered to a people-first focus in managing teams. His years managing Events and Productions in the NYC hospitality industry have aligned him with a spirit to serve. Not only to ensure clients' expectations are met but also his team's. Encouraging each team member's technical and professional development, he created opportunities for many to advance their careers.
His years as Senior Account Manager for a Global IT and an Experiential AV Integrator helped hone a process-driven approach to creating procedures and operational standards, improving efficiency within the organizations.
His passion for people led Jamahl to a career shift from Account Management to the People and Culture team. Taking the lead and maximizing the efficiency of the HRIS and ATS systems. This allowed for more automated processes, removing bottlenecks and increasing employee engagement.
As a member of SHRM, Jamahl brings a strong understanding and natural ability to calmly and respectfully process and handle confidential issues in accordance with policies and regulations.
"Helping to find and cultivate the best possible people to support our clients and one another is what drives me."
Sam Lunetta
Director of Production
Sam has worked on thousands of events over the years. Their scope ranging from a single megaphone in a park to multi-day-multi-track conferences, Product Launches, Galas, Fundraisers, Cycling Event(s), Multi-day Festivals to a concert and D-Cinema screening at MSG. Sam has chosen to never limit his education to only one aspect of production. He feels, “Every piece in the puzzle has an interaction or relationship with every other piece in the puzzle.” He continues to educate himself in the latest technologies and best practices. This gives him the ability to “Talk Tech” with technicians and ensure all deliverables are realistic and done in the must cost efficient manner.
Sam started his career in Presentation Technology at a very young age. His father, Don Lunetta, was a pioneer in the Multi-Image world and Sam spent many an hour with him learning about Film, Slide and Multi-Image Production along with AV System Integration and Design. Sam also spent many of his formative years both performing and working Tech in his local Community and Regional Theatre Groups.
The list of clients that Sam has worked with include many Fortune 100-50 Companies and many named Talent. His first payed event was in 1980 for Lighting and Sound of a Dance Performance by Maria-Theresa Duncan’s Heritage Dance Troop. She was the last surviving adopted daughter of dance legend Isadora Duncan. Since then, he has contracted Production Services for events with such notables as: Danny Aiello, Julie Andrews, Joshua Bell, Tony Bennet, Pat Benatar, Michael Bloomberg, Vice President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Tony Danza, Sammy Davis Jr., Snoop Dogg, Don Felder, Curtis (50 Cent) Jackson, Carole King, Kermit and Pepe, Robert Merrill, The Minions, Constantine Moroulis, President Barack Obama, Tony Orlando, Joe Piscopo, Gianni Russo, Frank Sinatra, Kandace Springs, Ben Stein, Dionne Warwick and Henny Youngman.
Having a voracious curiosity about how things work, Sam has been a life long learner. After High School, Sam accepted a position at the brand new Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum as an Audio Visual Technician. During the next few years he spent many an hour working not just on the AV support for the exhibits and events but he also assisted with the refurbishment and/or activation of certain ship board systems. Sam then went on to attend Westchester Community College and The New York Maritime College. At that time he pursued an education in Engineering while also maintaining an active roll in live theatre performance and Technical Directing. The Challenger Accident caused him to divert from formal studies so he could pursue Theatre and Live Event Production full-time.
Sam currently resides in New York City with his wife Bonnie and their two cats. He likes to spend his spare time traveling, reading and going for long bike rides with his friends in the New York Cycling Club.
Leha Edwards
Director of Production in Creative Services
Leha Edwards’ experience in the events industry began in 2006 at a floral shop in Minnesota. It’s where she fell in love with designing wedding floral arrangements, decided to move into wedding planning, and eventually made the transition to corporate events & fabrication.
In 2016, Leha moved to New York City to explore more opportunities and expand her skill set even further. In the last 6 years, Leha has found the most joy in start-up organizations. She has worn many hats as these companies got off the ground, serving as an event planner, design & fabrication lead, and has spearheaded business development initiatives.
Leha’s passion is leading great people through incredible projects, so it’s a no-brainer that her journey brought her to Wizard Studios, where she will take on a new role as our Director of Production in Creative Services.
Leha continually finds joy in, and is inspired by stories told by strangers in dive bars, mixed textures found in nature, and developing clever Halloween costumes each year!"