Staff and Board

Amy Aquilino

Distribution and Digital Assets Manager
(x3050) [email protected]

Originally a child of New York, Amy moved out to San Francisco to pursue her degree in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University. There, she spent several years in the Bay Area as an audio engineer, working in podcasting, sound design, and live sound reinforcement. Freelancing led to a full-time gig as a digital media associate for the international nonprofit Women’s Intercultural Network, which furthered her passion for social justice and commitment to promoting women in media.   As a self-described film nerd, and audiophile with an affinity for all things analog, Amy manages the WMM archive and also sits on the steering committee of the Women’s Film Preservation fund at NYWIFT.  There, she shepherds the restorations for grant recipients, and has assisted with the programming and promotion of live and virtual events at Metrograph, Union Docs, Anthology Film Archives, and London’s Barbican Centre. When not saving women’s film, Amy enjoys baking pies, live music, and exploring Brooklyn with her family.

Kyra Brands

Senior Program Associate

(x3200) [email protected]

A recent graduate from Northwestern University with degrees in Radio / Television / Film and Entrepreneurship, Kyra has moved back home to New York City to pursue her passion for film and social justice at Women Make Movies. Kyra has a background in research and production as an assistant to documentarians, Dorie Hagler and Kyle Henry, and experience in non-fiction TV development at Espiritus Productions. Additionally, she has worked as the assistant to the CEO and EVP at Republic Records, giving her a unique perspective in many different areas of the entertainment industry. She is enthusiastic about community organizing, connecting with people, and exploring how identity is reflected in film. As the Production Assistance Program Coordinator, Kyra is committed to supporting women filmmakers share their impactful stories. In her free time, you can find Kyra attending concerts, logging films in her Letterboxd account, and spending time with her French bulldog, Bruno.  

Elenie Chung 

Distribution Assistant
[email protected]

Elenie Chung is a filmmaker born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago and working virtually from Los Angeles, CA. She was an intern at Women Make Movies before attending UCLA to pursue an MFA in Film Directing/Production. Since graduating right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, she has been making films ranging from narrative to experimental, which have played at festivals such as Palm Springs Shortsfest and CAAMFest, and she has returned to Women Make Movies, ensuring her continued interest in women-centric cinema.

Nicole Collins

Marketing & Engagement Coordinator (x3080) [email protected]

Nicole Collins is an award-winning filmmaker, actor, and creative marketing director from Louisiana. A mass communications graduate of Dillard University, she began her career as a radio personality for iHeartMedia’s WQUE-FM (Q93) and as a host for the New Orleans Pelicans. Nicole’s marketing interest peaked with an internship with BET. Since then, her marketing and production talents have shaped the scope for clients in the film and television, philanthropy, politics, and entertainment fields. Nicole is no stranger to the film community, whether in front of the camera as an actress (12 Years a Slave, Carry On) or behind the camera as a director or producer’s assistant. Nicole has written, directed, and/or produced over 20 film projects. Her latest work, Maternally Yours, a web series surrounding the mother/daughter dynamic and executive produced by comedian/actor Lil Rel Howery, is currently distributed with KweliTV. Her short film, Period Party, is currently in post-production. Nicole’s goal as a creator is to radicalize the dynamic nature of black women.

Additionally, Nicole received grant awards for her philanthropic endeavors, including the LoveYours Workshop for girls and The Blooming Phoenix Postpartum Awareness initiative. She is excited to continue her work of assisting all women on their film journey with Women Make Movies. Nicole is the mother of the 11-year-old actress Aadyn Encalarde and a New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC) board member.

Kendra Hodgson

Managing Director
(x3120) [email protected]

Kendra Hodgson is the Managing Director at Women Make Movies. She is passionate about social justice, gender equity, and the power of stories. A former high school English teacher and the previous Director of Marketing & Distribution at the Media Education Foundation, she has been working in film distribution and promotion, as well as nonprofit strategy and management, for the past two decades. She has extensive experience with selecting and using technology that improves internal organizational efficiency, while always keeping an eye on external access and equity.  Kendra is a member of the Gotham Expanding Communities Advisory Committee and has served as a mentor in the Gotham Film Lab and the Firelight Documentary Lab. She frequently sits on panels and consults with filmmakers and distributors about impact distribution, technology, and marketing strategy. In addition, she is board secretary of the Action Coalition for Media Education and a Pro Bono Consultant for PennPac, which pairs alumni consultants from the University of Pennsylvania with nonprofit organizations. Her previous experiences as a high school English teacher (Punahou School, Honolulu, HI), a yoga teacher, an Eating Disorder Awareness Week coordinator, a wilderness trip leader, a Domestic Violence Crisis Responder, a foster parent, and a track/cross-country coach all inform her team-based, community-driven, trauma-sensitive approach to work and life.  She lives in Springfield, MA with her feminist husband, teenage children, and two rescue dogs. 

Hiba Jama

Progam Assistant
(x3202) [email protected]

Hiba Jama is the Program Assistant at Women Make Movies. Graduating with a degree in Cinema and Media Studies from Carleton College, Hiba received distinction for her thesis film where she explored themes of home, belonging, and being first-generation. While in school, she received multiple fellowships to continue this work, allowing her to travel to Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, and Somalia to bring her creative ideas to life. In her early career, Hiba worked with organizations like the ACLU and the League of Women Voters, where she supported community initiatives and crafted her skills in video editing and shooting. After graduating, Hiba joined the Post team at A24, working closely on Academy Award-winning films like Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale and Minari. Prior to Women Make Movies, she worked at STATEMENT, a film and media startup created to uplift and champion African female filmmakers. Hiba is excited to join the team at Women Make Movies and to continue shining a light on women-led films. Outside of watching movies, Hiba loves reading memoirs, trying out new recipes, and fostering kittens. Originally from Houston TX, she is now based in New York City.

Aishika Jennela

Website Assistant
[email protected]

Aishika currently lives in Philadelphia and comes to Women Make Movies with various website management experiences. She spearheaded the transition of the East Coast Asian American Student Union’s website from SquareSpace to WordPress, aligning it with the organization’s renewed identity and branding. Additionally, she oversaw the development of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia’s website, curating various resources tailored to support small Asian-owned businesses in the region. Most recently, Aishika ran Desifacts.org, the first fact-checking website for South Asian Americans, while she was Program Manager at Indian American Impact Project. She handled the website’s content strategy in this role and published culturally tailored articles and digital literacy resources. Since 2023, she has also been working on founding Tamasha, a South Asian Film Collective in the Philadelphia area dedicated to providing filmmakers of South Asian descent with essential tools and resources.

When she’s not talking about social justice and empowering communities of color, you can find her cafe hopping with friends, trying different banh mi shops in Philly, or watching cat videos on TikTok.

Rena Jensen

Finance and Administration Coordinator
(x3040) [email protected]

Rena joined WMM in 2016 and is thrilled to be part of a historic feminist nonprofit arts organization. She has years of financial and administrative experience in various industries, and she has volunteered with nonprofit organizations including Coney Island USA, where she served as the Membership Coordinator. She was on the executive board for the NYC Chapter of the Younger Women’s Task Force, a grassroots women’s organization. Rena has also volunteered at film festivals including NYFF and DOC NYC and served on the Screening Committee for Rooftop Films. With a passion for feminism and the moving image, she believes in the power of nonfiction media to change the world. Rena holds a B.A. in Communication Arts from Ramapo College as well as a Professional Certificate in Accounting from NYU’s School of Professional Studies. She lives with her spouse in Chinatown/LES.

Rachel Morin

Finance and Administrative Lead
(x3090)   [email protected]

Rachel Morin is the Finance and Administrative Lead at Women Make Movies. She came to the organization with more than a decade of experience in nonprofit arts management, a passion for supporting the creative careers of artists, and a commitment to work that promotes gender equity and social justice. She was previously the Managing Director for the Cucalorus Film Foundation where she oversaw operations and development. Rachel has significant experience building organizational capacity through financial management, staff development, and grant writing and management. She has been an active member of Film Festival Alliance, the Association for Fundraising Professionals Cape Fear, and served on the Board of Directors for Yoga Village, an organization dedicated to bringing yoga to underserved populations. She began her career in Boston where she worked at the Huntington Theatre, the Handel and Haydn Society, and Company One. Rachel received her Bachelor of Science in theatre and business from Skidmore College. She earned her Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina with a focus on nonprofit management. She completed the WILMA Leadership Institute in 2022, which is part of WILMA’s Women to Watch Leadership Initiative. Originally from Vermont, Rachel now lives with her family in Wilmington, NC. She is a 500-hour Yoga Alliance certified instructor and can be found on occasion guiding practice at Longwave Yoga.

Colleen O’Shea

Outreach and Exhibitions Manager
(x3070) [email protected]

Colleen facilitate both in-person and virtual screenings for films in the distribution program and manages outreach efforts for distributed films. Originally hailing from Michigan and receiving her Bachelor’s degree in History and Film Studies from the University of Michigan, Colleen moved to NYC in 2008 to pursue a career in the arts, first exploring the world of off-Broadway at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre. After a wonderful time there, she decided to go back to school to study her first passion – film. While finishing up her Master’s Degree in Film Studies at CUNY Graduate Center, Colleen excitedly accepted an internship position at WMM and was eventually asked to join the staff. She is thrilled to be working with a feminist organization that not only aids in the production of current film projects, but also acts as a living & ever-growing archive for female directors with its vast distribution catalog. When not at WMM, Colleen enjoys exploring her East Village neighborhood, in particular its plethora of great movie theaters and music venues, and taking too many pictures of her two cats

Debra Zimmerman

Executive Director
(x3010) [email protected]

Debra Zimmerman has been the Executive Director of Women Make Movies since 1983. During her tenure it has grown into the largest distributor of films by and about women in the world. WMM’s internationally recognized Production Assistance Program has helped thousands of women get their films made. Films from WMM programs have been nominated or won Academy Awards for the ten of the last eleven years, including recent documentary award winner, Citizen Four.

She is in great demand around the world as a speaker on independent film distribution, marketing and financing as well as on women’s cinema. She has moderated panels and given master classes at the Sundance and Toronto Film Festival’s IDA’s Getting Real conference as well as other events in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. She has keynoted conferences and spoken on panels, including the Women’s Film History Conference at the University of Sunderland, Visible Evidence Conference at NYU and the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference at Boston University. She lectures regularly at universities across the United States, including Harvard, Smith College, Bryn Mawr, UCLA and others.

Zimmerman has been closely affiliated with the as the co-host of the Talk of the Day and as a tutor for their Summer Film Academy. She has been on the juries of festivals around the world including the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, International Documentary Film Festival of Amterdam (IDFA), the Cartagena Film Festival (FICCI), and the One World Human Rights Film Festival in Prague among others. In addition, she has mentored filmmakers at the Ex-Oriente Film Workshop in Vienna, the Sheffield DocuFest and for many years at the National Alliance of Latino Independent Producers’ (NALIP) Academy. She sits on the Board of Directors of Cinema Tropical, a resource for Latino independent filmmakers and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Social Media at American University. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the New York Women in Film and Television’s Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award, the Athena Award and Hot Doc’s 2013 Doc Mogul Award, given to those who “over the course of their career has made an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry, both in his or her country or abroad.” Zimmerman was appointed the Laurie Chair in Women’s Studies at Douglass Residential College at Rutgers University and taught there in 2014-15.

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Nicole Page
President

Partner, Reavis Page Jump LLP
Head of Business Affairs, Engle Entertainment, Inc.

Nicole Page is a partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, a woman-owned law firm in New York. Nicole counsels independent producers and production companies in connection with issues ranging from financing, rights acquisition, production and talent agreements, exploitation of ancillary rights, content licensing, fair use and clearance issues and an array of related matters. She routinely serves as production counsel and negotiates broadcast and distribution deals for film and television productions. In addition to entertainment law, Nicole has a robust employment law practice and as a result, found herself at the forefront of the #MeToo movement representing complainants in several high profile cases. As a passionate advocate for gender equity, Nicole aims to provide women with tools and information they can use in their fight for equality. She regularly writes and speaks about legal issues both in the film and television industries as well as on structural and legal issues facing women in the workplace. Nicole is proud to serve as President of the Board of Women Make Movies.

Claire Aguilar
Vice President

President, Wilmera Media

Claire Aguilar is an award-winning documentary film producer and film consultant providing analysis and strategic planning for independent producers. She has served as a film curator, film festival director and public television commissioning editor and broadcaster. At IDA (International Documentary Association), she served as Director of Programming where she oversaw IDA’s professional development, education, mentorship and training initiatives and set strategy around IDA’s policy and advocacy work. Claire is the former Director of Programming and Industry Engagement at Sheffield Doc/Fest, one of the leading festivals for documentary and digital media. At the Independent Television Service (ITVS), she served as Vice President of Programming and Executive Content Advisor, working on program content and strategy for the organization, including commissioning over 200 films from international and U.S. producers and filmmakers. A second-generation Filipina American, she holds a BA in Communications Studies and an MA in Film and Television Studies from UCLA. Claire is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the Academy’s Executive Documentary Branch Committee. She is Vice President of the Board of directors for Women Make Movies, and serves on the boards of Firelight Media and the Why Foundation.

Tina DiFeliciantonio
Treasurer

Director/Producer, Naked Eye Productions, Ltd.

From cinema vérité to impressionistic documentaries, Tina DiFeliciantonio’s critically acclaimed work has been screened and broadcast in countries throughout the world.  Along with her partner Jane C. Wagner, she has tackled a wide range of subjects—social justice, human rights, teenage sexuality, child abuse, sustainable energy, art, science and ethics—garnering dozens of top honors, such as two National Emmy Awards and two Sundance Film Festival Awards, including the Grand Jury Prize.

DiFeliciantonio began her professional career after graduating from Stanford University’s Master’s Film Program, where she made her directing debut with the student Academy Award-winning LIVING WITH AIDS, which was the first film on the subject to be broadcast on PBS.  Over the years, her intellectual and creative collaboration partnership with Wagner has matured into a dynamic partnership that is sustained by a shared vision and passion for storytelling. Having worked in countries throughout the world, including Senegal, Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh, India, Japan, China and Turkey, their films have been aired on P.O.V., Sundance Channel, Showtime, HBO, TLC, MTV, SyFy, USA Networks and foreign television. Support for their work has come from organizations that include the MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, NEA, NEH, ITVS, AFI, and Sundance. 

In addition to serving on the board of directors of media non-profits, DiFeliciantonio enjoys jurying film festivals, participating on funding panels and guest lecturing.  She is actively involved in community service in New York City and is the co-parent of an active ten-year-old boy named Luca.

Patricia White
Secretary

Professor of Film and Media Studies, Swarthmore College

Patricia White is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College, where she teaches Feminist Film and Media Studies and World Cinema among other courses. She was an intern and later a staff member at Women Make Movies in the 1980s and recently completed a term as board chair. She’s the author of Women’s Cinema/World Cinema; Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability, and the co-author with Timothy Corrigan of The Film Experience: An Introduction and co-editor, with Corrigan and Meta Mazaj, of Critical Visions in Film Theory. She’s published numerous book chapters on gender and sexuality in cinema and essays in journals including Screen and Cinema Journal.  A longtime member of the editorial collective of Camera Obscura, the leading journal of feminism, media, and culture, she now serves on its advisory board, as well as on the editorial board of Film Quarterly.

Pamela A. Aguilar

SVP, Head of Smithsonian Channel Unscripted Development, MTV Entertainment Studios, Paramount</p

Pamela A. Aguilar is Vice President of Original Documentaries at VIACOM/CBS. In this role she focuses on the development and strategy of Documentaries and Documentary series across all the MTV Entertainment Studios brands including MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, VH1, CMT and the Smithsonian Channel.

Prior to joining VIACOM/CBS, she was on the Senior Editorial team at PBS where she identified, developed and oversaw the production of original unscripted and documentary programming across various genres. She shepherded award winning projects like “No Passport Required” with Chef Marcus Samuelsson” (VOX), and “Somewhere South” with Chef Vivian Howard (MARKAY); “Big Pacific,” narrated by Daniel Dae Kim (NHNZ), The Wonders of Mexico, narrated by Anthony Mendez, “Going to War” (VULCAN) and independent documentary films for Independent Lens and POV.

Before that, she was a writer/producer/director creating innovative content in the areas of science, history, social justice, and pop-culture. Her credits include, “America by the Numbers,” about the impact of America’s changing demographics, The Graduates/Los Graduados,” about the high school dropout crisis, “Between Two Plates,” a satirical Telenovela she created on healthy eating for the WIC Nutrition Program, and “Latin Music USA.” She began her career in TV commercial production where she worked on top brand-named client advertising campaigns.

Pamela serves on the board of Women Make Movies, NALIP’s Diverse Women in Media Advisory Committee and Jackson Wild’s New Voices Committee. She’s a graduate of The New School University in New York City, she hails from the Golden State of California.

Kisha Imani Cameron

Executive Producer, Completion Films

Kisha Imani Cameron is a distinguished documentary producer and showrunner, former studio executive, and accredited professional executive coach. Recently, Kisha completed a feature documentary on MEGAN THEE STALLION for Amazon. She previously served as Executive Producer of THE HAIR TALES alongside Michaela Angela Davis, Tracee Ellis Ross and Oprah Winfrey. She also served as the showrunner/Co-EP of the true crime series AFTER THE FIRST 48 and Consulting Producer on THE FIRST 48. Additional producing credits include the Mike Tyson documentary, THE KNOCKOUT, directed by Geoffrey Fletcher, Spike Lee’s BAMBOOZLED and Raoul Peck’s SOMETIMES IN APRIL. As a trained coach, she also passionately works as a speaker, career and executive coach, for individuals and clients such as CHIEF, MACRO, The Sundance Institute and WIF, to name a few.

Lisa Cortés

Foundes, CORTÉS FILMWORKS
Director and Producer

Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning director and producer Lisa Cortés generates bold, explosive art that shines light on important stories hidden from view. From executive-producing the Academy Award®- winning film, Precious, to producing and directing 2023’s “enthralling documentary” (Variety Magazine) Little Richard: I Am Everything, Lisa sparks cultural change through works of unrivaled excellence.

Little Richard: I Am Everything (CNN Films) had its world premiere as the opening night selection in the US documentary competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for 26 awards, including a Grammy nomination for best music film. Also premiering at Sundance was Invisible Beauty, the documentary about Black fashion industry pioneer Bethann Hardison, which she produced. In June 2023, The Space Race (National Geographic Documentary Films), premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Cortés directed and produced this gripping saga of African American astronauts at NASA and in space, now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Her film productions have received over 100 international awards and nominations.

Cortés launched her early career as a music executive at the iconic Def Jam label and Rush Artist Management; she also was VP of Artist & Repertoire at Mercury Records and founded the Loose Cannon label. She is a graduate of Yale University. Cortés is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Director’s Guild of America. She serves on the Boards of Film at Lincoln Center; Independent Television Services (ITVS); the Trajal Harrell Dance Company; Women Make Movies; the Jacob Burns Film Center Industry Advisory Committee and the DGA Focus on Women Committee.

Kayo Denda

Head, Margery Somers Foster Center & Women’s Studies Librarian
Interim Media Librarian, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Mabel Smith Douglass Library

Kayo Denda is the Head of the Margery Somers Foster Center and Women’s Studies Librarian at Rutgers University Libraries. She is the liaison librarian to the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Institute for Women’s Leadership, Institute for Research on Women, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, and Douglass Residential College. Her research interests range from women’s and gender issues to migration and diaspora, in particular movements of people, migrant communities and resettlement. Denda has been involved in a number of projects centered on Japanese-American community that settled in New Jersey to work at the Seabrook Farms, after their internment experience during the WWII. One of Kayo Denda’s main interests is to provide access and discovery to invisible collections. She led efforts in creating the CWGL: Center for Women’s Global Leadership Poster Collection, a digital collection of 292 posters published by 166 international women’s activist groups based in 24 countries between 1990 and 2005 and collected by Rutgers, Center for Women’s Global Leadership. This project received the “Significant Achievement Award in Women’s Studies Librarianship” from ALA/ACRL/Women and Gender Studies Section in 2012. Her theoretical research in providing access to interdisciplinary resources is demonstrated in the essay “Beyond Subject Headings: A Structured Information Retrieval Tool for Interdisciplinary Fields” published in Library Resources & Technical Services. The article received the Research Award from NJLA’s College and University Section in 2006. Denda is also a co-author of the book Douglass Century: Transformation of the Women’s College at Rutgers University that will be published by Rutgers University Press in 2018.

Nicole Guillemet

Deputy Executive Director and Senior Programmer, El Gouna Film Festival

Guillemet has worked in key positions in the film industry for twenty-five years.  For over fifteen years she served as Vice President of the Sundance Institute and Co-Director of the Sundance Film Festival.   At the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, she launched and directed the Documentary Film Program and its ” House of Docs” to provide support to documentary filmmakers.  She also initiated the Gen-Y Studio, a program designed to nurture student filmmakers.   In 2002, she founded the Utah Film Center bringing the world of film to local audience, emphasizing social content and artistic excellence.  From 2002 – 2007, Guillemet was the Director of the Miami International Film Festival, showcasing the most important selection of Ibero-American Cinema in North America.  She led the Festival through an astounding five-year period of growth including the creation of the Miami Encuentros, a program to help emerging Ibero-American producers.  In the last six years Guillemet has worked as an executive consultant for various international festivals including the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, the Costa Rica International Film Festival as Program Director, and the Middle East International Film Festival, the Bahamas International Film Festival, and ESAV, the Marrakech School of Film and Design supporting new Arabic cinema. Over the years Guillemet has assisted many documentary filmmakers during their creative process and in the production of their films, as well as in their distribution strategies.Throughout her career, Guillemet has been a dedicated arts activist.   She serves on national boards of a number of arts organizations.  She has also served on funding panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rolex Foundation, and as a juror and panelist for international festivals. In 2005 she received the decoration, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Minister of Culture.

Ryan Harrington

Senior Advisor, Jacob Burns Film Center

Ryan Harrington is a film and television industry veteran of nearly 20-years. He has dedicated his career to nurturing and empowering films and filmmakers from around the globe as a producer, creative executive and through his various roles in the non-profit funding worlds. He is currently Director of Film Programming, Curator-in-Chief, at The Jacob Burns Film Center. Most recently, he was the VP of Nat Geo Doc Films, where he EP’d the Academy-Award® nominated and Emmy-winning The Cave, Emmy-winning The Nightcrawlers, Sea of Shadows, Rebuilding Paradise and the upcoming feature docs Fauci, Becoming Cousteau, The First Wave, Torn and The Rescue.

Harrington helped launch A&E IndieFilms, the theatrical documentary arm of A&E Networks, and managed production on some of the most prolific documentaries of the 21st Century. In his role as Vice President of Artist Programs for Tribeca Film Institute, he launched the organization’s worldwide granting and filmmaker aide initiatives and supported the careers of hundreds of filmmakers including Laura Poitras, Alma Har’el, Dawn Porter, Heidi Ewing, DA Pennebaker, Terrance Nance and Roger Ross Williams. And during his tenure at Discovery, he was the Director of Docs and Specials, where he commissioned and acquired feature docs for their numerous platforms. Harrington sits on numerous advisory committees and is proudly the first male board member at Women Make Movies. He is an Academy-Award and PGA-nominated and Peabody, Emmy and IDA-winning producer, as well as a frequent panelist, speaker and jurist at industry events around the world.

Terry Lawler

Director, CinemaStreet Women’s Short Screenplay Competition

Terry Lawler is a media consultant and the Competition Director of the CinemaStreet Women’s Short Screenplay Competition. She was Executive Director of New York Women in Film & Television from for 20 years, until December, 2018. Lawler serves on the Board of Directors of the Katahdin Foundation and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Prior to becoming Executive Director of NYWIFT in 1997, Lawler was Director of Development and Production at Women Make Movies and National Director of Film and Videomakers Services at the American Film Institute. She has been a media consultant for foundations and nonprofit groups, including the MacArthur Foundation, the Astraea Foundation, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the Goethe Institute, among others.

Lawler was a production executive on several network television specials and was Executive Producer of Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography, which won Best Documentary awards from the American Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Neyda Martinez

Associate Professor, the New School
Producer & Engagement/Communications Strategist

Neyda Martinez is a producer and independent strategic communications and cultural consultant with over 15 years of experience.  While working full-time she completed graduate studies at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs earning an MPA in 2008. She’s served clients such as Hachette Book Group USA, NYC’s Mayor’s Office of Adult Education, and Pernod-Ricard, a former sponsor of the Latin Grammy’s who sought her expertise in strategy, marketing and communications.  Most recently, she concluded her tenure as Director of National Engagement for PBS’ documentary special, LATINO AMERICANS.  In 2004, she conceived the music and humanities project, HABANA/HARLEM®. Five years later, Neyda created The New Audience Project™ to engage Latina women as cultural ambassadors and participate as consultants and micro-entrepreneurs in the cultural economy. The initiative garnered a highly coveted Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund Award for the pilot’s host organization, Teatro Circulo.  She is also the producer of the independent film, LUCKY, www.luckythedocumentary.com.  She volunteers on committees for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Uprose and serves on the national board of directors for The Association of American Cultures, as well as for the Bronx-based dance company, Pepatian. An active cultural advocate and leader, she nurtures the next generation with hands-on mentoring. Her contributions have been recognized by El Diario-La Prensa’s Mujer Destacada campaign (2002); BeingLatino.com (2012); Senator Peralta and the Latin American Intercultural Alliance (2013); and Ford Motor Company’s Mujer Legendaria campaign. (2013). 

Theresa Riley

Audience Engagement Editor
Covering Climate Now

Theresa oversaw content for BillMoyers.com, and oversaw the planning and execution of Bill Moyers’ social media strategy. She is an award-winning web producer and editor whose work has been featured on PBS Online and TIME.com. Previously, she was the vice president of digital content and strategy at POV, a documentary film series on PBS. Under her leadership, POV was one of PBS.org’s top 25 program sites. She developed new strategies for informing and engaging the public online, earning the site critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including the Webby Award, the Online News Association Award for General Excellence, the Knight-Batten Award for Innovative Journalism and the Parent’s Choice Award.

Esther Robinson

Co-Executive Director, ArtBuilt
Filmmaker and Producer

Esther Robinson is an award winning filmmaker and producer.  Her critically acclaimed directorial debut “A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and The Warhol Factory”  took top prizes at The Berlin, Tribeca and Chicago film festivals and is currently in international theatrical release. Other producing projects include the film Home Page (by acclaimed filmmaker Doug Block), the digital satellite release of The Last Broadcast to 5 cities,  the award winning PBS series Alive From Off Center and serving as the Director of Film/Video and Performing Arts for the Creative Capital Foundation (1999-2006). Additionally, Esther has a philanthropy consulting practice (clients include The Ford Foundation, Chicken and Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund), is a technical advisor on the “Shifting Sands – Art, Culture and Neighborhood Change” initiative (this initiative recognizes neighborhood-based arts and cultural organizations as unique stakeholders in poor neighborhoods experiencing economic and demographic shifts and is funded by the Ford Foundation and managed by Partners for Livable Communities) and she is the founder of ArtHome a non-profit business that helps artists and their communities build assets and equity through financial literacy and home-ownership.  Esther has a film and television degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Debra Zimmerman

Ex Officio, Executive Director, Women Make Movies

Debra Zimmerman has been the Executive Director of Women Make Movies, a non-profit NY based film organization that supports women filmmakers, since 1983. During her tenure it has grown into the largest distributor of films by and about women in the world. WMM’s internationally recognized Production Assistance Program has helped hundreds of women get their films made. Films from WMM programs have been nominated or won Academy Awards for the last eight years.

She is in great demand around the world as a speaker on independent film distribution, marketing and financing as well as on women’s film. She has moderated panels and given master classes at the Sundance Film Festival, MIPDOC and Reel Screen as well as film festivals in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Zimmerman has been closely affiliated with the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) as the co-host of the Talk of the Day and as a tutor for their Summer Film Academy. She has been on the juries of festivals around the world including the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the Cartagena Film Festival (FICCI), and the Leipzig International Documentary Film Festival, among others. In addition, she has mentored filmmakers at the Ex-Oriente Film Workshop in Vienna, the Sheffield DocuFest and for many years at the National Alliance of Latino Independent Producers’ (NALIP) Academy. She sits on the Board of Directors of Cinema Tropical, a resource for Latino independent filmmakers and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Social Media at American University. She is the recipient of New York Women in Film and Television’s Loreen Arbus Award and Hot Doc’s 2013 Doc Mogul Award, given to those who “over the course of their career has made an essential contribution to the creative vitality of the documentary industry, both in his or her country or abroad.”