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SIMON KILMURRY

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Executive Director

Simon served as chief operating officer of American Documentary for six years before assuming the role of executive director in Fall 2006. Since joining AmDoc in 1999, he has played a key role in helping to set strategic direction for the organization and implementing new initiatives, including the Diverse Voices Project, POV's co-production initiative in support of emerging filmmakers; POV's Borders, PBS' Webby Award-winning online series; and True Lives, a second-run series for independent documentaries on public television. In addition, he worked to secure pioneering partnerships with both Netflix and Docurama to expand the distribution opportunities for POV filmmakers and enhance branding for POV Previously, Simon was associate director at Teachers & Writers Collaborative, a nonprofit literary arts and education organization and publisher, where he is now a member of the board of directors. He has also served as a board member and treasurer for Elders Share the Arts and East Harlem Block Schools, and as an informal advisor and funding panel member for other organizations including the New York City Center for Arts Education, the Association for Independent Video and Filmmakers and New York State Council on the Arts. Simon attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Columbia University Business School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.

 

CYNTHIA LÓPEZ

Executive Vice President / Co – Executive Producer

Cynthia López is the executive vice president/co-executive producer of the award-winning POV documentary series. López is responsible for all aspects of the organization's development including programming, broadcast distribution, community engagement, communications and marketing, online initiatives and overall strategic growth of the organization.

Under her leadership as communications director, national media coverage of POV programs more than tripled and she has forged strategic partnerships with Harpo Studios, Netflix, ABC News' Nightline, WNYC (New York Public Radio), Pentagram, Inc., the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Ms. Magazine, among many others. The promotional campaign López spearheaded for the POV film, Farmingville, won the prestigious EPPSilon Award.

Before joining POV, López spent four years at Libraries for the Future as advocacy director, developing innovative strategies to serve some of the nation's poorest libraries. Her previous experience in public media includes stints as acting executive director of Deep Dish TV Network and executive producer of Satellite University Network. Her production credits include serving as executive producer on "Beyond the Browning of America" (PBS) hosted by Maria Hinojosa and as senior producer for "The Quincentenary," a Television Espanola, Canal+ and BBC co-production.

López is the founding chair of the board of directors and a trustee of NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) and is on the advisory committee of REEL New York (THIRTEEN/WNET.ORG). She has been a media advisor for the Heinz Awards, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Fellowships, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Americans for the Arts, the Banff Centre in Canada and AIVF (Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers). She has been an invited speaker at a variety of venues including Medimed (Spain), Prague Eastern European International Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs (Canada), Silverdocs, Independent Feature Project, Hofstra University, White House Conference on Libraries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, United Nations Women's Conference, Channels for Change (Scotland) Center for Democratic Communications (South Africa) and the international media alliance Videazimut (Peru), among others.

 

ANNE DEL CASTILLO

Vice President, Development and Business Affairs

Anne has been active in the independent media arts and public television as a producer, programmer and fundraiser for over 15 years. As director of development and business affairs for American Documentary | POV, she manages fundraising activities, program licensing, and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the AmDoc staff in 2002, she was a production associate at American Masters in New York and then series coordinator for Frontline in Boston. In 1997, she moved to Austin, Texas, where she served as associate director of the Austin Film Society, and worked on several documentary and narrative film projects. She was vice president of the board of Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers and has served as a panelist and advisor for numerous arts organizations and film festivals. She graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Mass Communications with honors and attended the Arts Leadership Institute at Columbia University. She is currently pursuing a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

ANDREW CATAURO

Coordinating Producer

Andrew Catauro is the Coordinating Producer of POV. Since joining the series in 2008, he has served on editorial panels and presented at festivals and conferences including the Sundance Film Festival, Doc/It in Trento, Italy, and the Asian Documentary Forum in Kolkata, India; as well as juries for the Brooklyn Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and East Silver Market in Jihlava, Czech Republic. His studies in Italian Cinema earned him the Immersion Award from the Milan International Film Festival. Andrew previously worked for the New York AIDS Film Festival and assisted Alexandra Kerry on documentary films in development. He holds a dual bachelor's degree from the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

BETTY CORDERO

Director of Operations

Betty was the operations manager at the Kingsbridge Women's Assessment Center in the Bronx for over five years. In 2000, she was hired as POV's office manager, and she has since expanded her role. As a member of the administrative team of AmDoc, Betty manages the organization's financial activities, administers employee benefits and oversees all aspects of AmDoc's operations. In addition, she coordinates POV's annual mailings and special events.

JENNIFER DAVIS

Development Coordinator

Jennifer coordinates fundraising activities and provides general assistance to POV's development department. Before joining POV, she worked in communications, fundraising and program development for organizations in diverse international contexts, including China, Laos, Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey. She graduated from Scripps College with a dual bachelor?s degree in Political Science and Cultural Studies. She recently completed her Master of International Affairs at Columbia University.

JAMIE DOBIE

Community Engagement & Education Coordinator

Prior to joining POV in 2010, Jamie worked at Northwestern University?s satellite campus in Doha, Qatar where she was part of the team tasked with setting up the school's film and journalism programs in the Middle East. She has worked in various capacities on many documentary film crews around the world, including productions in West Africa, and has worked closely with acclaimed filmmaker Margaret Brown. Jamie has also previously worked in the exhibition department at the Field Museum of Natural History and the education and cinema programming departments at the Block Museum of Art. She holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in Radio/TV/Film and African Studies.

CATHY FISHER

Associate Director, Communications

Cathy is responsible for publicizing POV's programs and initiatives to media and consumers. She joined POV in 2003 after five years as manager of program press relations at PBS. Previously, she served as public relations director at Bravo and the Independent Film Channel; Group W Satellite Communications, where she managed PR for TNN: The Nashville Network; Westwood One Radio Networks; and D.L. Blackman, where she promoted classical music artists and IMAX movies. She was also the manager of press, advertising and promotion for NBC and ABC Radio.

YANCE FORD

SERIES PRODUCER

Yance works closely with POV's executive director and programming director to evaluate films submitted to POV She is instrumental in curating the series, a showcase of acclaimed documentary film on PBS. Yance frequently represents POV | American Documentary at conferences, festivals and markets, procuring work from filmmakers both nationally and internationally. Yance also oversees POV's annual call for entries, which yields upwards of one thousand entries, and coordinates POV's annual programming advisory board. Yance is a Programming Consultant and Pre- Screener for film festivals around the country, including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Black Maria Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, Latino Public Broadcasting, Creative Capital and the Sundance Film Festival. She has served on festival juries at Full Frame and Silverdocs, appeared on panels at Sunny Side of the Doc and DocuClub and served on the IFP Advisory Committee. A graduate of Hamilton College and the production workshop at Third World Newsreel, Yance is a former Production Stage Manager for the Girls Choir of Harlem and has worked as a Production Manager on numerous independent productions for the Discovery Health and History channels. Ford has also worked in various capacities on the documentaries The Favorite Poem Project, Juanita Anderson, Executive Producer, Brian Lanker's They Drew Fire (PBS), and Barry Levinson's Yesterday's Tomorrows (Showtime).

AUBREY GALLEGOS

Community Engagement and Education Assistant

Aubrey started at POV as an intern in 2011, and worked briefly as Special Events Coordinator before moving into a full time position as Community Engagement and Education Assistant in 2012. Prior to joining POV, she spent three years as an environmental educator and deckhand aboard wooden sailing ships, including the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which was co-founded by Pete Seeger. She has also worked as an Event Manager for UnionDocs, a documentary art space in Brooklyn, and served as a Production Assistant on a number of independent film and theater productions. Aubrey graduated from Whitman College with bachelor's degree in Rhetoric and Film Studies.

SEAN HOLMQUEST

Producer, POV Digital

Sean Holmquest is a Producer in POV's Digital Department where he produces content and features for the POV film companion websites and manages online video content. Prior to joining POV in 2010, he worked as a freelance film editor and writer, in addition to holding a position as an assistant for an independent music artist and interning with a Hollywood production company. He has written and directed several short, experimental films, and holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University in Literary Arts.

ELIZA LICHT

Vice President, Community Engagement and Education

Eliza oversees the development and implementation of POV's national community engagement and education campaigns. She works with public television stations, educators, and community-based organizations to present community screenings of POV films and to develop and distribute accompanying educational resource materials to teachers nationwide. Over the years, she has expanded POV's community engagement activities by nearly 400% and increased POV's educational efforts by over 80%. To further develop these areas, Eliza established a Library Board and a Teachers' Advisory Board, which provide feedback on activities and help produce POV's companion resource materials. Before joining POV in 2001, she traveled extensively in Spain and Mexico, teaching English as a foreign language. Eliza is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University.

DAVID NANASI

Consultant, Operations

David has worked on the POV website, since its infancy, helping to develop and improve it as well as producing special features. David also oversees and administers POV's internal computer network, maintaining hardware and software for the POV staff. Prior to joining POV, David, served on the staff of CyberEd, an 18-wheeler Internet classroom that toured nationwide. Since 1997, David has worked independently as a computer consultant, specializing in systems, networks and Web design and construction.

ADNAAN WASEY

Interim Director, POV Digital

Adnaan heads POV Digital, the Webby Award-winning interactive department of the acclaimed PBS documentary series POV. Prior to joining POV, Adnaan was an online editor and manager with PBS NewsHour, PRI/WNYC's The Takeaway and the local news organization DNAinfo. His digital media company Science Bistro produces Festology, a website builder for events, conferences and festivals, and other social apps. And, before technology was cool again, he co-directed the Kingston Canadian Film Festival and directed the short film festival Light Plays Tricks.

CHRIS WHITE

Vice President, PROGRAMMING AND Production

Chris and his team work closely with the executive director in the areas of programming, production and PBS station relations. Previously, he worked as associate producer and production office manager on the documentary Blue Vinyl (HBO, 2002). Chris spent a number of years as vice president of sales and acquisitions at Angelika Films International, and at BNN-TV in New York as associate producer on projects for the History Channel and the Smithsonian Museum. He also produced the children's program An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance for the Museo Italo-Americano in San Francisco.

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