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Q-Me Con NYC 2008 Women's Summit has assembled some of the best queer digital content makers, producers, directors and writers currently working in the industry. Participating panelists will also include representatives from leading LGBTQ media outlets, top-level programmers, noted industry experts and traditional and alternative distributors.
(Panelists listed in alphabetical order)
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Actress/Artist/Filmmaker
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Reporter, CBS News on Logo
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Executive Producer, Logo's "Gimme Sugar"
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Executive Producer, Logo's "Gimme Sugar"
MICHALINE BABICH has developed factual entertainment and docu-soaps for network and cable outlets and has developed, produced and directed award-winning television and festival documentaries. Most recently she was Executive Producer and Showrunner/Director of Logo’s new series Gimme Sugar which airs in June 2008 and Co-Executive Producer/Showrunner on Seasons 1 and 2 of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing.
Other television directing/producing credits include Bravo’s Welcome to the Parker, Another Take, for Turner Classic Movies, Nanny 911 for Fox, TLC’s Faking It and Things I Hate About You for Bravo.
She is an award-winning filmmaker thoroughly versed in every aspect of the creative process. As a producer and director, her films have screened at festivals worldwide. Recent documentary films include, The Last Days of Jonathan Perlo (Co-Producer) an official selection of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival which is included in McSweeney’s literary journal, Kiki and Herb Reloaded (Co-Producer/Director) which premiered at 2005 Outfest, and the award-winning Kiss and Tell (Producer/Director) which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and screened at awards at festivals worldwide.
Her narrative short film Solace won the 2008 Members Choice Award for PlanetOut and Gay.com and is currently airing on Logo’s The Click List.
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Director of Integrated Marketing, MTV Networks & Co-Founder, Q-Me Con
A fifteen year veteran of the entertainment industry, John has held positions in marketing, consulting, event development, promotions and public relations at various companies including Metro Goldwyn Mayer, United Artists, CBS Radio, Viacom and Clear Channel. He is currently the Director of Integrated Marketing at MTV Networks where he oversees the development and executive production of key client-based creative campaigns and integrations across linear, digital, virtual, mobile and social-networking platforms. Along with Jennifer Howd, he was one of the Co-Founders of Punkmouse, a NYC-based queer entertainment company and one of the producers of the 2006 and 2007 Q-Me Cons. He is the co-author of "The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life" published by Random House/Princeton Review in Fall 2007 and is currently working on a PhD in Critical Theory and Media Studies at the City University of New York focusing on the social, political and economic changes brought about by the rise of queer virtual life.
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"Sound Check" columnist for AfterEllen.com & Co-Editor, Girlfriendisahomo.com
Trish Bendix is a Chicago-based music writer and columnist for AfterEllen.com. She has written on queer life & art, music, pop culture, media and feminist issues for publications such as The Village Voice, Time Out Chicago, Out, Punk Planet, and Planet Out/Gay.com. She's co-editor of the daily blog, Girlfriend is a Homo, and was co-founder and managing editor of the now-defunct online magazine, CHILLmag for Chicago's Hip Independent Lesbian Lifestyle.
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Co-Founder, Double Platinum
In September 2001, Stephanie co-founded with Arthur Korant double platinum, a full-service marketing communications agency that specializes in the gay and lesbian market and is affiliated with the Publicis Groupe, a global network of nearly 1,000 marketing agencies.
Double Platinum’s award-winning work has supported brands of Fortune 500 clients, including Allstate, IBM, ING, Lexus, Procter & Gamble Pernod Ricard USA, Nationwide and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others, and highly respected nonprofits such as The Gill Foundation, GLSEN and Lambda Legal.
Stephanie had previously started or partnered in three other GLBT-focused businesses: Spare Parts (1995), Blackwood and Friends Public Relations (1991) and the New York office of The Advocate, where she was associate publisher and vice president directing plans to reposition the nation’s oldest LGBT magazine. Prior to moving to New York, she worked at The Ohio State University, holding communications and management-related positions in women’s athletics, central administration and the University Galleries of Fine Art.
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Founder/CEO Our Stories Productions & Founding Executive Producer/Programmer, Queer Black Cinema
Angel L. Brown is the founder and CEO of Our Stories Productions, a multi-media/theatre
and consulting Production Company based in Brooklyn, NY. Angel is also the founder and
programmer of Queer Black Cinema (QBC), New York’s first and only Black LGBTQ
monthly micro-cinema and annual Film Festival. Angel has been a consultant for many
large film festivals as a resource to Black LGBT films and production consultant for both
music and films under Our Stories Productions.
Angel has not only been highlighted in GO NYC’s 100 Women We Love in 2006; but has
appeared in Time Out NY, CLIK Magazine, AfterEllen.com as well as featured as one of
twelve Black lesbian filmmakers to be on the look out in NYANSAPO (“N-YAN-SA-PO”)
Magazine- a National Black Justice Coalition publication. She has gone on to speak at
conferences like Q-Me Con, Frameline as well as Women of Color Film Festival in Santa
Cruz. You can hear her premiered radio interview about QBC on Out FM.org (WBAI 99.5
FM).
Currently, Angel is programming 3 astonishing projects: The 2nd Annual Just BE, first 72-
Hour Black Gay Erotica Poetry & Film Competition 2008 on HIV/AIDS awareness and
prevention; QBC Int’l Film & Music Festival to premiere October 23-26 2008 and under Our
Stories Productions, New York’s First Black Gay & Lesbian Film & Literature Market that
will take place October 2008. Brown is also gearing up for the 3rd Annual QBC Visions
Pride Benefit. The benefit will take place June 17, 2008 at Billie's Black, an upscale
gourmet soul food restaurant in Harlem hosted by Def Jam Poetry Artist, Buttafly Soul. All
funds goes towards QBC programming. Visit www.queerblackcinema.org for more
information on QBC events and www.ospfilms.com for Our Stories productions.
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Director of Production, TLA Releasing
Kelly is the Director of Production for TLA Releasing and part of the Development team in both the North America and UK territories. Kelly has been integral in TLA’s nationwide theatrical and home video releases of groundbreaking and critically acclaimed films such as Mysterious Skin, Latter Days, Another Gay Movie and Ma Mére. For the last 5 years, she is also one of the head programmers for Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (PGLFF). PGLFF is the 3rd largest film festival of its type in the United States and has grown to over 30,000 attendees. Kelly is the owner and creative force behind Pepperbox Pictures and begins production this summer on her debut queer noir short film Tremble & Spark.
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Host, Sirius OutQ "Diana Cage Show," author, blogger, columnist
Diana Cage is host of the Diana Cage show on Sirius Satellite radio's LGBT station, OutQ. For three hours nightly Cage discusses issues affecting queer women's lives while listeners call in and share their stories. Cage is the author of several books on sex and dating, the former editor of two national lesbian magazines and a daily blogger for the lesbian social networking site Ourchart.com.
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Programming Manager, Dailymotion
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Director/Producer, "Kali's Vibe"
Shari Carpenter's debut feature film, “Kali's Vibe” won both the Jury Award and the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2002 Denver Pan African Film Festival and a Vision Award at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival. It has screened in over three dozen festivals both nationally and internationally to glowing reviews and will soon be released on video/DVD.
Ms. Carpenter has received a New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA) grant, an Eastman fund grant and the Reel Affirmations Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Work in Progress Grant. She was nominated for a Rockefeller Grant. She was recently chosen to participate in the CBS Diversity Institute, a directing mentorship program that encourages diversity in network television hiring practices. She is an active participant in the ABC Writer/Director Development program. She was selected as one, of two fellows, to participate in the Independent Feature Project's (IFP) inaugural Project Involve: NY program, a career mentoring program designed to assist film professionals transitioning from one area of the industry to another (in Ms. Carpenter's case, script supervisor to writer/director).
Ms. Carpenter has written and directed four short films: “Walk,“ which premiered in April at the Creatively Speaking Film Festival at Brooklyn Academy of Music, “Call Me On It,“ “The Assistant” and "Since Lisa," which won awards at the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame, the Black American Cinema Society and the Rochester International Film Festival and screened at the Seattle Film Festival, among several others. Both “Since Lisa” and "Call Me On It" aired on BET J's 'The Best Shorts" and “Call Me On It” is part of an AIDS/HIV Awareness educational film tour.
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Co-Author, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles & Associate Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop
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Co-Director, U People
Olive Demetrius’ interest in film began as a love for communication. The accomplished image can convey a time, place and the intensity of emotion. There is a standard that she adheres to that comes across in each piece. Her recent projects have included two music videos for recording artist Hanifah Walidah, for the singles Make A Move and Do You Mind. Her most recent work with the group BFE Sound System is a document of their inaugural tour in this configuration of the band. She traveled with them during their thirteen day, four country European tour.
Olive Demetrius has worked for the Lucy Awards program that recognizes outstanding achievements in photography. Her work included conducting interviews of outstanding individuals such as Jerry Schatzberg, Susan Calhoun-Moss, Charlie Moss, Barney Melsky all to honor advertising legend Howard Zeiff. As a part of a program which National Black Programming Consortium and LOGO MTV Networks have teamed up to provide, Olive Demetrius has been provided the opportunity to assist the production and creative departments at LOGO. There she has served as camera operator for the New Now Next shoot featuring Annie Lenox, The Big Gay Sketch Show and a Cadillac promo. Olive Demetrius’ work in documentary includes shooting on location in Caracas, Venezuela during the filming of Bringing Venezuela Back. This piece focused on the World Festival of Youth and Students. Her work has been screened throughout New York City at Brecht Forum, The Cantor Film Center, and MNN.
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President & Founder, Outcast Films
Vanessa Domico, President and Founder of Outcast Films, has over 30 years of business experience in the corporate, small business, and non-profit sectors. Domico has held several key executive and director positions including Buyer with May Company and Deputy Director of Women Make Movies. Domico also held the position of Treasurer and ultimately became the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival from 1993-1997. As an authority on distribution and LGBT films, Domico has represented Outcast Films, Women Make Movies, and The Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival at numerous festivals, panels, and other events. Domico is a member of IFP, NYWIFT, and Out in Film and Television and has sat on the boards of NewFest and PILGFF.
Outcast Films is a distribution company dedicated to the fair and equal representation of media made by and concerning the diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community. By outreaching to thousands of educators, activists, policy makers and breakers, media arts institutions, and individuals, Outcast Films helps to foster critical discussions around social justice issues, as well as providing the public with a resource of cutting edge films and videos created by and impacting the LGBT community.
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Performance Artist
Dred is the world's foremost drag king, and is one of the most sought after artists for LGBTQQIA, Black History, and Women's History Month events. Through her performances she draws attention to how society domesticates us into our preconceived notions of sexuality, race, and gender. Her life, humanity, and spirituality, brings us a bit closer to recognizing and unlearning constraints, prejudices and stereotypes. She's received non-stop raves at numerous events, from campuses including Yale, Penn State, Vassar, MIT, NYU, and Smith College; theaters such as NYC's P.S. 122 and Harlem Theater Company, and conferences such as Creating Change and True Colors. Dred has performed internationally including, Korea , Australia , Croatia , Austria , Switzerland , Germany , and Brazil .
The smooth-headed, internationally known Haitian-American, multi-spirited performance-artist, and gender-illusioning woman, Dred has been seen on HBO, MTV, Oxygen and one of the stars of the award-winning film "Venus Boyz." Using theatre, dance, humor, and cultural history, Dred plays with gender roles and social/racial stereotypes to inspire all audiences to think about race, gender, identities. Her shows are not just about imitating the "opposite" sex, they are about freedom of self-expression and crossing/breaking boundaries. Dreds performance has been written about in books including The Drag King Book and Female Masculinity, and also has been published in the anthology Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater. www.OUTmedia.org
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News Editor, The Advocate
Kerry Eleveld has worked as a journalist in different media for 15 years. She cut her teeth editing business journals in South Carolina, where she started as assistant editor of one business publication in Charleston and was hired at the age of 26 to be editor-in-chief of a startup business journal in Greenville. Eleveld was voted “Business Woman of the Year” in 1999 by the Business and Professional Women's Organization in Greenville for her work in launching the journal. Eleveld moved to San Francisco in 2000, working as director of content at a dot-com and later earning her master's degree at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism with an emphasis on documentary filmmaking. After graduating, she moved to New York and worked as a freelance shooter and producer, working on several award-winning documentaries and airing pieces about the 2004 elections on CNN.
Eleveld shifted back to print in 2006 as the political reporter for the New York Blade, a local LGBGT weekly. She is currently news editor of The Advocate, editing and reporting political pieces for both the print and online editions. Since she began covering LGBT issues, Eleveld has won: the "Best News Article" award in 2006 from the American Veterans for Equal Rights for an article on "don't ask, don't tell"; second place for "Coverage of Election/Politics" in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest; first place in the "Excellence in News Writing" category in 2007 from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalist Association for a piece about gay millionaires investing in elections. And an article she reported on an anti-gay Nigerian Archbishop was recently nominated for "Best Magazine Article" by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
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Producer/Director, Underdog Films
Elaine Epstein, the founder of Underdog Films, is an Emmy nominated, award-winning producer, director, and writer. She has worked on feature length documentaries, television series and specials for HBO, PBS, MTV, LOGO, Discovery Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, and Lifetime.
Epstein's 2003 film "State of Denial", examining the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa, premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and won Special Jury Prize at the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival and Audience Award for best Documentary Film at the Florida Film Festival. The film, which was funded by the Ford Foundation, aired on the PBS award-winning series, P.O.V, in September 2003 and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Current Issue-Long Form.
Epstein produced, directed and filmed “Gender Rebel” a documentary examining the latest frontier of gender identity, which premiered at NewFest and aired on LOGO in 2006. She also directed and produced the “Out 100,” a one-hour television special that delivered an inside look at “Out” magazine’s 100 most intriguing LGBT people of the year. In 2005 Epstein produced and directed “News Now: Out in the Real World” MTV’s examination of the US military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” and wrote and produced “Closing in On Cancer,” an hour-long documentary on cutting-edge cancer treatments for the Discovery Health Channel.
Epstein is currently the series producer of Stolichnaya Presents Be Real (Season 2) airing on LOGO and Lesbian Sex and Sexuality (Season 2) airing on here! later this year.
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Coordinating Producer, In the Life
Jacqueline Gares is a New York-based filmmaker, who joined IN THE LIFE in September 2007 as Coordinating Producer. As an independent producer, she's worked on television specials and documentaries for the History Channel, Food Network, USA Networks, and The GLAAD Media Awards.
She served as post-production supervisor for the Daytime Emmys and the Tony Awards in 2006 and 2007. Gares has independently produced the documentary UNRAVELED about genetic testing and Alzheimer's Disease currently making the rounds in film festivals; her short film REMNANT won a TELLY Award in 1999.
Between 1997 and 2001, she worked for PBS's premiere non-fiction film showcase, P.O.V./The American Documentary, in a variety of roles including
Associate Producer. Her work as a video artist in the performance Fidget has been shown at The Whitney at Philip Morris. Gares has a BA in English
Literature from Rutgers University and an MA in Media Studies from The New School University.
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Producer, Short Bus & Head of Production, Process Media
Process’ upcoming features for release and production in 2008 include one in post-production - Joel Hopkins’ Last Chance Harvey, starring Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson (with Overture Films) — and two in prep, Bart Freundlich’s latest feature, The Rebound, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, and World’s Greatest Dad, the latest feature from Bobcat Goldthwait (Sleeping Dogs Lie).
Process’ recent releases include Freundlich’s Trust The Man, starring David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal, released by Fox Searchlight in summer 2006, and John Cameron Mitchell’s provocative Shortbus via ThinkFilm, in release in fall 2006 after its successful premiere at Cannes.
2006 saw Process producers Tim Perell and Howard Gertler included in Variety’s “10 Producers To Watch,” and in 2007 they won the Film Independent Spirit Producers’ Award.
Process is currently developing projects for 2008 with directors such as Scott Coffey (Ellie Parker), David Jacobson (Down In The Valley, Dahmer), Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Chuck & Buck), Emma-Kate Croghan (Love & Other Catastrophes, Strange Planet), Ziad Doueiri (Lila Says, West Beirut), Gaby Delal (On A Clear Day) and Alex Steyermark (adapting Marc Spitz’ comic novel How Soon Is Never), as well as the latest from John Mitchell.
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Director, Task Force Policy Institute
Jaime Grant, Director of the Policy Institute at the Task Force, holds a Ph. D. in Women’s Studies from the Union Institute where she studied with Minnie Bruce Pratt, Barbara Smith and queer historian John D’Emilio. For six years, she directed the Union Institute’s Center for Women, the nation’s only academic women’s center dedicated to collaborations between scholars and activists. Her articles on transformational organizations and coalition work have been published in major academic journals and anthologies.
Grant has offered a course in social movements at Georgetown University and workshops on gender expression and sexuality at Whitman Walker’s Lesbian Services Program and NGLTF’s Creating Change Conference. Her piece on butch/femme erotics was developed at Whitman Walker and appeared in Leslea Newman’s anthology The Femme Mystique and in Sojourner: The Women’s Forum. Grant recently served as a program designer and facilitator for the Ford Foundation’s signature leadership program, Leadership for a Changing World, at the Advocacy Institute.
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Video & Film Artist
Barbara Hammer was born on May 15, 1939 in Hollywood, California.
She is a visual artist working primarily in film and video and has made over 80 works in a career that spans 30 years. She is considered a pioneer of queer cinema. She recently had a Tribute Retrospective at the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan where she also led a workshop “Strategic Planning for Film/Video Artists.”
Her experimental films of the 1970’s often dealt with taboo subjects such as menstruation, female orgasm and lesbian sexuality. In the 80’s she used optical printing to explore perception and the fragility of 16mm film life itself. Optic Nerve (1985) and Endangered (1988) were selected for the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennials (’85,’89). Her documentaries tell the stories of marginalized peoples who have been hidden from history and are often essay films that are multi-leveled and engage audiences viscerally and intellectually with the goal of activating them to make social change. Nitrate Kisses (1992) was chosen for the 1993 Whitney Biennial.
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Producer, "Typecasted"
RJ Harper is an alum of both Brown University and Harvard Business School.
A former investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co., his recent film "Typecasted" was an "Official Selection" at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and it won "Best Comedy Short" at the NY Film & Video Festival. A former Peace Corps Volunteer (Guatemala), he is very interested in media projects that focus on underserved communities. Mr. Harper lives in Jersey City, NJ and has a six-year old son.
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Co-Founder, Latin Hip Hop Summit & Bronx Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
CEO/Founder/Outreach/Pastor, Stratford Community Services, Inc. As an advocate/Activist in the Soundview section of the Bronx for the past 32 years, Rev. Carmen Hernandez has helped empower at risk inner city kids. Through her efforts and a list of activities that specifically target youth, Carmen has proven herself a vital part of the South East Bronx community. Rev. Carmen Hernandez has coordinated Stratford Annual Back 2 School Jam Block Party for almost two decades and is President/Founder/Youth Community Pastor of, The Stratford Community Services, Inc. (Giving Kids/Youth a Chance). With that experience and lost faith in letting politics help our community, Carmen sought new avenues for Youth Empowerment. Rev. Carmen Hernandez slowly met and organized small business owners, persuading each that business and community must work as one family. Carmen carefully realized that the future of our community depended on a stronger business community and saw the need to empower small businesses.
Six years ago Rev. Carmen Hernandez Co-founded and was the Former Senior Vice President of the Bronx Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Inc. And then went on to build as co founder, the Latin Hip Hop Summit at Lehman College, with Mr. Russell Simmons. Carmen also helped to build other organizations, such as the 1st ever Bronx Christmas Parade and is currently working toward 1st ever Bronx Macys Thanksgiving Parade for 2009. Rev. Carmen Hernandez is most commonly known for making something out of nothing. She is presently the President/Founder of the 1st ever NYC LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Inc., as well as, Founder/former President/Chairperson of Warrior4Luv Productions, Inc., an online music store and online booking and Promotions Company. Carmen was also just awarded the Groundbreaker Latina Leader award in the United States 2006 by Catalina Magazine
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Executive Director, Q-Me Con & Co-Founder, Punkmouse
Jennifer Howd is the Co-Creator & Executive Director of Q-Me Con (Queer Media & Entertainment Conference). She is also one of the Founding Partners of Punkmouse, a queer media and entertainment development company based in NYC.
Jennifer is currently developing several queer-inclusive media projects, including a reality series called "(Re)Inventing Love" which documents a group of polyamorous friends & lovers living in NYC.
She is also the co-author of The Princeton Review and Random House Publishing book, "The Gay & Lesbian Guide to College Life" currently available in stores across the country.
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Producer/Director, Orchard Films
Lesli Klainberg is an award-winning producer and director whose documentaries have screened at film festivals such as Berlin, Sundance, Outfest and Frameline, and have been broadcast on networks including Cinemax, AMC, A&E, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), WE and PBS and the owner of Orchard Films.
Most recently, she produced the documentary mini-series, INDIE SEX, which explores different aspects of sexuality in cinema. The three episodes INDIE SEX: TEENS, INDIE SEX: EXTREMES and INDIE SEX: CENSORED (which she also directed) which premiered on IFC in 2007.
Other Orchard Film projects include FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA (2006, IFC) a feature length documentary which explores the history of American independent gay and lesbian cinema; IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN (2004, IFC), a documentary about women in independent film; INDIE SEX: TABOOS (2001, IFC), which was the first in the INDIE SEX series; BEAUTY IN A JAR (A&E, 2003) which tells the story of the American beauty and cosmetics industry; DIRECTED BY ALAN SMITHEE (AMC, 2002) about the pseudonym used by film directors; and MISS AMERICA (PBS/American Experience, 2001) a history of the Miss America Pageant.
Ms. Klainberg is also the producer of the acclaimed independent film, PAUL MONETTE: THE BRINK OF SUMMER'S END (Cinemax, 1997), which won the audience award for documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and the producer of THE REAL ELLEN STORY (Bravo/Channel 4 (UK), 1997) a documentary about the making of the "coming out" episode of the sitcom ELLEN.
She is a past board member of OutFest and GLAAD and presently on the Newfest board. Ms. Klainberg is currently producing a documentary about obituaries and lesbian history.
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Executive Director, In The Life
Driven by her belief in television as a catalyst for social change Michelle began volunteering at IN THE LIFE in the Production Department in April of 2002 and joined the staff, in the position of Production Manager, later that year. Promoted to Operations Director and later, Deputy Director, Michelle was appointed Executive Director in July 2006.
Prior to joining IN THE LIFE, Michelle enjoyed a long and accomplished career on Wall Street as Assistant Vice President in the Legal and Compliance Depart of Oppenheimer & Co. and as Vice President of bond and equity trading for various firms including Dean Witter Reynolds. Michelle earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of Arts from New York University.
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Tony Award nominated Actress and Playwright & Member, The Five Lesbian Brothers
Lisa Kron has been writing and performing theater since coming to New York from Michigan in 1984. Her play Well opened to critical acclaim on Broadway at the Longacre Theater in March 2006 and received two Tony nominations. It premiered at the Public Theater in 2004 and was listed among the year’s best plays by the New York Times, the Associated Press, the Newark Star Ledger, Backstage, the Advocate, and is included in the anthology, “Best Plays of 2004-2005.” Her play, 2.5 Minute Ride (OBIE, L.A. Drama-Logue and GLAAD Media Awards, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations, New York Press: Best Of 1999) premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 1996 and at the Public Theater in 1999 and has since been presented all over the world at theaters including the London Barbican, and Japan’s Rinkogun. Kron’s other plays include 101 Humiliating Stories (Drama Desk nom.), Charity and Montecore (2006 Humana Festival, New York Fringe), and 43/13 (Dad’s Garage, Atlanta). Kron is a founding member of the OBIE and Bessie Award–winning theater company The Five Lesbian Brothers, whose plays Oedipus at Palm Springs, Brave Smiles, Brides of the Moon and The Secretaries have all been produced by New York Theater Workshop and performed widely throughout the country both by the Brothers and by other companies. She has received playwriting fellowships from the Lortel and Guggenheim Foundations, an NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Fellowship, the Cal Arts/Alpert Award, and grants from the Creative Capital Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts. Kron teaches playwriting at Yale Drama School. She is also working on a new play for L.A.’s Center Theater Group on the state of American democracy and a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.
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Director/Producer & Development Consultant
Melanie La Rosa has worked on independent film since 1996 in capacities including Director, Producer, Director of Photography, 2nd Unit Camera, Associate Producer, and Additional Editor. Her first film SIR: JUST A NORMAL GUY, premiered at the 2001 New Festival, screened around the world, won awards at the Western Psychological Association Film Festival and the Berkeley Film and Video Festival, was reviewed by Curve magazine, screened on Free Speech TV, and is sold by Women Make Movies. She has since made several other short films – RISK, SCHUYLKILL DRAGONS, NO SAFE PLACE, and UNITED STATES OF AUTOMOBILES. All screened at local, national, and international film festivals. She is now at work on COMING TO TERMS WITH IMPERMANENCE, a documentary about legendary poet Diane di Prima.
Melanie is also a development consultant with more than ten years experience raising funds from foundations, corporations, government, and individuals. She has won grants, contracts, and sponsorships for all kinds of projects and organizations, from small films to national political organizations.
She teaches documentary at Hunter College/CUNY and has taught at Long Island University and the New York Film Academy. She is a member of New York Women In Film and the IFP/New York. She has an MFA in Film/Video from Temple University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
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Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, GO! Magazine
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President, Linton Media
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President, Linton Media
Katherine Linton is an award-winning producer whose documentaries have aired on PBS, A&E, Logo, VH1, Bravo, TLC and Discovery Health. As senior producer and host of the series “In the Life” she brought gay and lesbian issues to a national public television audience as early as 1993.
She wrote and produced "AIDS: A Pop Culture History" for VH1, which won a Cable Poz Award for Best History Documentary and was nominated for the 2005 GLAAD Award for Outstanding TV Journalism. She also wrote and produced "Black Las Vegas: In Through the Backdoor" for The Learning Channel, which was awarded a Bronze Telly in 2004; as well as "The Junkie Next Door: Women and Heroin" for A&E: Investigative Reports, winner of a 2000 Silver Telly Award.
In 2004 she started Linton Media Inc. Linton Media's first project, "The
Evolution Will Be Televised" launched Viacom's gay channel,
LOGO, on June 30, 2005. Linton also Executive Produced “The Out 100” for Logo and co-produced "The Addiction Project" for HBO with Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker Kate Davis. In January 2007 Linton’s six part groundbreaking series on Lesbian Sex and Sexuality launched on the pay gay cable network Here TV. And in June of 2007 the series Stolichnya Presents: Be Real, produced by her company launched on Logo. She recently wrapped production on both series for season two.
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Co-Executive Producer of Q-Me Con NYC 2008 Women's Summit & Founder, Warrior Princess
Actress, Director, Producer, and Editor Sandra Madsen has worked many different sides of the Industry with many talents such as; Susan Batson, Al Maysles, Judy Reyes, and Alan Arkin. As a Director she has won awards for her documentary film, 'Momentum'. She has also directed plays in association with The Producers Club and EyeBlinkEntertainment. As an Editor she has cut short and feature films Produced by Maysles Films, Black Nexxus Inc., EasyTiger Productions, BBC London, The Picture Press, iContent, The Jewish Museum, Punkmouse Productions and IContent.
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President, Riot Grrrl Ink
Gina Mamone is president and CEO of the largest queer record label in the world, Riot Grrrl Ink. The Riot Grrl Ink. roster is home to over 100 artist including Bitch, Alix Olson, God-des & She, Nicky Click and the Athens Boys Choir.
Gina has topped the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce’s Roll Call of who’s who in contemporary activism today, and has made Ms. Magazines Real Hot 100’s list of important women activists for two years running. Gina has produced music that has been featured on Showtime’s The L Word and Multiple Programming on MTV’s Logo Television Network. Her art
and activism has been featured in Curve, Bust and Cherrie Magazine.
Gina’s current projects include a new album with legendary folk singer Ferron & Bitch entitled ‘BOULDER’ which features Ani DiFranco - the Indigo Girls - Samantha Parton (Be Good Tanyas) - JD Samson (Le Tigre), a series of podcast that she produced for the Indigo Girls and producing Nervous but Excited’s new album Hard Times & Lullabie.
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Administrative Director, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)
Sue Marcoux is Administrative Director of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) where she administers and promotes special funds and scholarships, including the Women’s Film Preservation Fund, and the Fiscal Sponsorship Program. She’s currently working with others at NYWIFT to explore new media projects for their website. She completed her master’s degree in documentary film where her film, Twinsburg, OH, won the Student Academy Award for best documentary. Sue has been a television and film producer working in the US, Asia and Europe on programs for A&E, Discovery, Bravo, Lifetime, and PBS. She is currently exploring a sequel to Twinsburg, OH, which would revisit her complex relationship with her straight twin some years later.
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Actress & Filmmaker
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President, All Out Films
A filmmaker, event producer and entrepreneur, Andrea Meyerson has built her life around creating a fun, diverse and nurturing social network for the LGBT community. Borne out of Meyerson's initial idea 13 years ago to create Women On A Roll, a cycling group for Los Angeles area lesbians, she's since launched her event production company StandOut Productions and All Out Films, with all three companies working in concert to provide quality events and entertainment for the LGBT community.
Meyerson began All Out Films in 2002, producing and directing her award winning film, Laughing Matters (2003), in which she paid homage to the pioneering out lesbian comics. The film was initially acquired by Here TV and distributed by Wolfe Video. Her successful series, including Laughing Matters... More! (2006), and Laughing Matters... the Men (2007) currently air regularly on MTV's Logo Network. Now an ardent documentarian of LGBT comedy, Meyerson's comedy specials featuring solo performances of Kate Clinton, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Vickie Shaw, Karen Williams are staples among Logo's regular programs. Meyerson's current projects include, Laughing Matters…Next Gen, featuring the freshest faces on the LGBT comedy circuit and I Stand Corrected, about the life of renowned jazz bassist John Leitham, who disappeared one day and resurfaced as Jennifer Leitham. She recently launched All Access Pass, a video blog for afterellen.com giving viewers an up close and personal look at women in the entertainment business.
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here! Networks online, "Girls on Girls"
Spontaneous Combustion are the two words that best describe Jackie Primrose Monahan. Called the perfect cross between Emo Philips and Sarah Silverman, Jackie killed audiences on the Maury Povitch show, is a regular on Red Eye - the Fox News late night television show and is a repeat guest on maxim and Out Q Sirius satellite radio. Currently headlining the national LOL Tour, Jackie also can be found co-hosting Girls on Girls- on the HereTv network.
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Managing Editor, OurChart.com & Founder, Velvetpark
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Executive Director, One in Ten
Margaret Murray is the Executive Director of One in Ten, a Washington, DC based LGBT arts and cultural organization. Their crown jewel is Reel Affirmations: The Nation’s LGBT Film Festival. Murray came to DC by way of Florida, where for two years she was Executive Director for the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
She successfully launched KidFlix, Tampa’s first children’s film festival, and has also programmed festivals for various cultural institutions, including the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL as co-director of Cinema of Agitation: Eastern Surrealism in Film.
She is the founder of Movies That Move, an award-winning roving cinema showcase that pairs site specific film screenings in out of the way and unlikely locales.
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here! Networks online, "Girls on Girls"
Anne Neczypor is a writer/comedian, and a graduate of NYU's drama program. She has worked for two major networks as a Digital Media Consultant and an Advertising Editor. She was one of the original "Lesbians of Laughter," and nominated for an NYC MAC award after her first year performing stand-up. She is the new Co-host of "Girls on Girls," a podcast on Heretv.com, and can be seen performing regularly at comedy shows all over New York City. Called "hilarious" by Time Out New York, she has been declared one of Here! TV's ""Hot Gay Comics" and writes a weekly blog entitled "Pretty Witty And..." (anneneczypor.blogspot.com) about life as a struggling single in the big gay city.
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Editor, QueerFilmReview.com
Tate Nova is the editor of QueerFilmReview.com. She has worked at Crossroads Films, a division of Miramax, in script development, WNET on the show American Masters, and at the independent film company White Mountain Films on the feature IMAX documentaries, The Good Fight, the story of Bobby Bowden and The Lord God Bird. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in narrative screenplay writing and film. Currently, she is the New Media Coordinator for BlackPublicMedia.org, a project of the National Black Programming Consortium.
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President, Breaking Records
For the past 25 years, Brooklyn native and New York-based, independent record label owner, Bernadette O'Reilly, has made a mark in the local, national and international music industry by developing new talent and producing and licensing music to film and television.
Her record label, Breaking Records, founded in 2006 is what Billboard Magazine calls "the versatile indie" label because it features a diverse roster of cutting-edge talent which includes LOURDS, The Demolition String Band, and Sandra Bernhard.
As a producer and music publisher, she has worked with Tina Turner, Menudo, James Ingram, Chaka Khan, The London Symphony Orchestra, Buster Poindexter, Ben Jelen, Willa Ford, Eva Cassidy, Jennifer Holiday, Raven Symone, and the late Laura Branigan. Her company has also provided music for television commercials for clients such as Loreal, Exxon, and AT&T, as well as spots for the NBA, ESPN, and MLB.
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Head of Programming, Joost
Danny Passman is the Head of Programming at Joost. Most recently he was the Senior Creative Director for Dailymotion in the US. In March 2008, he launched the Gay and Lesbian channel on Dailymotion, which focused mostly on user-generated content. Previously, he was a tv development executive at fuse and VH1.
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Site Director, GLEE.com
Site Director Parker Ray has been an active force in gay media for almost nine years. Before heading up GLEE.com, the Gay, Lesbian and Everyone Else social-networking site, Parker was the Editor in Chief of Instinct Magazine for five years. He led the relaunch of Instinct and turned it into one of the top national gay publications. During his tenure, Instinct won two Maggie Awards for Best Alternative Lifestyles Publication (in 2003 and 2004) and Parker has conducted numerous exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in pop culture: Gwen Stefani, Tyra Banks, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Stipe, Bjork, Kim Cattrall and Missy Elliott are just a few of the individuals that had their first gay-press interviews in Instinct’s pages.
With GLEE.com, Parker continues his involvement in innovative and groundbreaking media outlets for the gay audience by helming the first major LGBT social- and professional-networking site. As a spokesperson for GLBT culture, Parker has appeared on numerous national and regional TV and radio shows, and he has been interviewed by The New York Times; Los Angeles Times; San Francisco Chronicle; Details; Cosmopolitan; LA Weekly; and over 35 national, regional and local GLBT publications.
He recently joined the Steering Committee for the New York branch of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC-NY). Parker holds degrees in Economics, History and Psychology from UCLA, and was the first person in University of California history to graduate with three degrees in four years.
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Director, Prodigal Sons
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Managing Partner, Renna Communications
Cathy McElrath Renna, Managing Partner, Renna Communications
Cathy is nationally recognized as a media relations expert and as a leader within the LGBT community. Renna was a major force behind the success and growth of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), where she worked for 14 years, Cathy served as a primary spokesperson for GLAAD, as well as its first National News Media Director. Since leaving GLAAD, Cathy has worked to increase the visibility of clients such as 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the Point Foundation, Family Pride and the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. In addition to her work as a communications consultant, Cathy continues to be highly sought after by the media as a spokesperson on LGBT issues and has appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America and numerous local affiliate shows throughout the country. Renna Communications has become of the most successful LGBT focused communications firms in the county, with clients that range from the Family Equality Council to SAGE to the NY LGBT Center.
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Playwright, CAVEDWELLER, Co-Author of Judy Gold's 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother,
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Author, Rat Bohemia, The Child, Girls, The Sophie Horowitz Story
Sarah Schulman is a native New Yorker, whose novels, nonfiction books, journalism and plays reflect people whose points of view and experiences are rarely represented in the mainstream arts. She is the author of eight novels - most recently THE CHILD (2007), THE MERE FUTURE (forthcoming 2009)two nonfiction books - most recently STAGESTRUCK: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America (1995), THE GENTRIFICATION OF THE MIND (forthcoming) Her plays include CARSON McCULLERS (Sundance/Playwrights Horizons), MANIC FLIGHT REACTION (NY Stage and Film/Playwrights Horizons), THE BURNING DECK (La Jolla Playhouse) and ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY, adapted from IB Singer (Wilma Theater). Her awards include a Guggenheim (playwrighting), Fullbright (Judaic Studies), Revson Fellow for the Future of New York City, 2 American Library Association Book Awards (Fiction and Nonfiction), Stonewall Award for Contributions Improving the Lives of Lesbians and Gays in the United States and a finalist for the Prix de Rome. She is a Full Professor of English at The City Univiersity of New York, College of Staten Island.
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Founder, Oh the Ladies Productions & Castings
An Award-Winning dynamic Director & Casting Director, Kelly is noted for her strong sense of initiation juxtaposed with her curious & keen eye for detail.
Since her 2001 inception of Oh The Ladies, essentially her artistic lab, Kelly has been saturating screens with her directing skills, production accomplishments & continuing credits. With her years of hands-on versatile experiences across the board of creative services, she has played a key role for several projects achieving notoriety at International Film Festivals, appearing on Network TV & obtaining DVD Distribution.
Currently, The Lady is pushing The Productions of her in-house films, commercials, & promotional hybrids; producing her company’s feature film; & managing The Castings of top spots for clients.
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Author & Founder, Girlchild Press
Michelle Sewell is an award-winning screenwriter, poet, and founder of GirlChild Press. Throughout her work as a poet and a social worker, she has maintained that there must be a place for women and girls to develop and express their truest selves. With that in mind she has created open mics, workshops, and writing circles to foster that "sacred space" environment for women.
The Jamaican-born artist/activist work has appeared on NPR, in Sinister Wisdom, Other Countries: Voices Rising, Campaign to End AIDS Anthology, Port of Harlem Magazine, and seeingblack.com. Michelle is a 2007 OutFest Screenwriting Fellow.
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Director/Producer/Writer, "The L Word" & "Go Fish"
Rose Troche is an award winning writer, director, producer of both film and television. Her first feature, Go Fish (1994) was released to wide acclaim and has become a seminal film in the history of queer cinema. Bedrooms and Hallways(1998) followed, receiving the audience award at the prestigious London Film Festival. 2003 saw the release of Troche’s third feature, The Safety of Objects, which received stellar reviews and went on to open the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and win best feature and best actress (Patricia Clarkson) at the Deuville Film Festival. In 2004 Troche completed the pilot for Showtime’s The L Word and went on to direct, write and produce for the following three seasons. The hit show is currently shooting its 6th season where Troche continues to produce, write and direct. Troche also directed the pilot for the popular teen series, South of Nowhere and has gone on to direct several episodes. Currently Troche is casting her fourth feature, Potential, based on Ariel Schrag’s graphic novel, and is completing an original script for production in 2009.
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Director of Production, Big Mouth Films (Arts Engine)
Angela Tucker is a writer, director, producer. She is the Director of Production at Big Mouth Films, a social issue documentary production company that is a project of Arts Engine, Inc. There, she produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, Deadline and worked in various production capacities on the documentaries, Election Day and Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She currently is directing a feature length documentary about asexuality and producing a film about a mother and daughter's reunion after many years separated by conflict in the Congo. Angela received her MFA in Film from Columbia University and her BA in Theater and African American Studies from Wesleyan University. Born and raised in New York, her writing has appeared on MediaRights.org and The Huffington Post.
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multiple-media artist & performer
Having just shot and produced her latest video “Do You Mind” off the soundtrack of her new documentary “U People” and after just completing a new album “Wacha Playin’” with multi-national neofunk band the Brooklyn Funk Essential who are set to embark on a spring and summer international tour; Hanifah Walidah is easily defined as one of the hardest working renaissance women in the arts. Her work over the past 15 years with spoken word, music, theater and film, reads like a list of cultural milestones in almost every arm of the urban arts. You don’t ask Hanifah Walidah what she does, but how?
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Founder & Editor, AfterEllen.com (Moderator)
Sarah Warn is the founder and editor in chief of AfterEllen.com (www.afterellen.com), a six-year-old lesbian entertainment website that is the largest lesbian site on the internet, with over half a million visitors each month. In addition to its ongoing editorial coverage of lesbian and bi women in mainstream entertainment, AfterEllen.com began creating and aggregating lesbian-themed video blogs on a variety of topics in late 2006, and then scripted web series like "3Way" and "Time Traveling Lesbian," with the goal of providing a platform for lesbian and bi filmmakers, actors and content producers to showcase their work to lesbians around the world interested in comsuming queer video content.
Warn received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Master's in Theological Studies from Harvard University, and spent several years in online marketing and business development for large consumer brands before founding AfterEllen.com in April 2002. Warn sold AfterEllen.com and two other websites to Viacom's Logo in 2005, where she is the Director of Editorial for their constellation of websites.
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Founder & President, OUTMedia
Shelly Weiss is the Founder and President of OUTmedia, a social enterprise whose mission is to promote the positive visibility of LGBTQQIA people and inclusive multiculturalism through the arts. OUTmedia has been in the forefront of the movement for queer awareness and inclusion in the music, comedy, film, TV, and record industries. To support its mission, OUTmedia has become a leading source for LGBTQ and LGBTQ-affirmative celebrities and other multicultural talent and speakers. It is deeply committed to the promotion of diversity within mainstream and LGBTQQIA culture, giving voice to women, African-American, Latino/a, Asian, and Jewish artists.
Shelly has worked on TV and film projects including VH1, Comedy Central, The Late Show with David Letterman, MTV’s LOGO, The View, HBO, and the film “I Wanna Be a Republican” featuring the Kinsey Sicks. OUTmedia spearheaded the summer development runs in Provincetown, MA of Margaret Cho's, "Notorious C.H.O." sold-out national tour and the Kinsey Sicks' Off-Broadway show, "Dragapella!" Shelly associate produced Rob Nash’s “Holy Cross Sucks!” that won rave reviews in the NY Times and Variety and was chosen Top 10 Broadway/ Off Broadway by Time Out NY, and is producing “Queer Riot! for global touring. Shelly and OUTmedia are now the subjects of a reality TV series in development by a 6 time Emmy award winning producer. http://www.outmedia.org/more.htm
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Founder and President, OUTmedia
Shelly Weiss is the Founder and President of OUTmedia, a social enterprise whose mission is to promote the positive visibility of LGBTQQIA people and inclusive multiculturalism through the arts. OUTmedia has been in the forefront of the movement for queer awareness and inclusion in the music, comedy, film, TV, and record industries. To support its mission, OUTmedia has become a leading source for LGBTQ and LGBTQ-affirmative celebrities and other multicultural talent and speakers. It is deeply committed to the promotion of diversity within mainstream and LGBTQQIA culture, giving voice to women, African-American, Latino/a, Asian, and Jewish artists.
Shelly has worked on TV and film projects including VH1, Comedy Central, The Late Show with David Letterman, MTV’s LOGO, The View, HBO, and the film “I Wanna Be a Republican” featuring the Kinsey Sicks. OUTmedia spearheaded the summer development runs in Provincetown, MA of Margaret Cho's, "Notorious C.H.O." sold-out national tour and the Kinsey Sicks' Off-Broadway show, "Dragapella!" Shelly associate produced Rob Nash’s “Holy Cross Sucks!” that won rave reviews in the NY Times and Variety and was chosen Top 10 Broadway/ Off Broadway by Time Out NY, and is producing “Queer Riot! for global touring. Shelly and OUTmedia are now the subjects of a reality TV series in development by a 6 time Emmy award winning producer. http://www.outmedia.org/more.htm
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Administrative Director, NewFest (Moderator)
Kerry Weldon is currently Administrative Director of NewFest: the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival. Kerry joined NewFest after 9 years at IFP, where she held the position of Managing Director of Development, and, most recently was Director of Development at the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She has also served on the NewFest Board of Directors for three years, where she chaired the Development Committee. As a filmmaker, Kerry has directed two short films: Transit and Quejios, and has appeared on panels at the Tribeca Film Festival, and South by Southwest. She has also served on juries for Slamdance (narrative features 2006), the International Emmys and the Director's View Film Festival.
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Creative Director, Moonkiissedmedia & Co-Founding Board Member, OP/LYNX
Alina Wilczynski is a concept packaging specialist, creative director, multi-media artist, photographer and life-passion-enthusiast. As a founding principle of the award-winning boutique design firm, Jupiter Design Group, Inc., she directed communication campaigns for clients such as The Valley Hospital (NJ), The Red Cross (NJ), M&M/Mars, Robin Hood Foundation and Queens Council on the Arts. Wilczynski is currently launching moonkissed media, a creative channel for elegant, concept-driven design, emotionally resonant messaging, culturally relevant experiential marketing, press, studio and anthropological photography and fine art.
In 2003, Wilczynski co-founded OP/LYNX, The Women’s Network of Out Professionals, a community-building endeavor created to foster professional growth for individuals and groups through panel discussions, workshops and networking socials. Wilczynski has organized events featuring women entrepreneurs and executives, noted filmmakers and playwrights, authors, artists and athletes.
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