FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Alexis Gambis

Alexis is a filmmaker and a scientist. He is currently attending New York University Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program and is an adjunct science faculty member at New York University College of Art and Sciences. Dr. Gambis is also a key advisor to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a regular Sloan grant reviewer and the youngest appointee to the five-member Sloan Film Council.

His film work straddles both documentary and fiction, having directed projects such as a documentary ‘Amazonia Brasil’ on the Amazon Forest and a short fiction ‘Disposable’ about the relationship between man and technology. He is currently preparing his first feature, ‘The Fly Room’, based on the life of Calvin Bridges, a pioneer geneticist known for his seminal work in understanding inheritance in the laboratory and his sex addiction out of of the laboratory. His recent short narrative ‘Courtship’ is a prequel to the ‘The Fly Room’ as it delves into the life of a young scientist and his struggle to overcome his loneliness and complement his scientific research with real-life experiences.

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PRODUCER / PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Kate Jeffrey

A postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University, Kate Jeffrey, a native Australian, has a Ph.D. in immunology and is currently investigating how the innate immune system fights viruses.  Her research is funded by a fellowship from the Australian government. Besides New York, Dr. Jeffrey has worked in Melbourne, Sydney, and Geneva. In 2007, she worked as the immunology editor for Nature Medicine at the Nature Publishing Group headquarters in New York.  She also was chosen as a candidate for Fresh Science, an Australian government initiative that promoted select scientists in the media. She is currently the chair of the Life Sciences committee of Advance (a Global Australian Professionals network for Australians working overseas, http://www.advance.org) where she organizes speakers and scientific events around New York City. Kate has a strong interest in film and the arts and has participated in international film festivals such as Tropfest, and has communicated science on radio and television, including 2SER, RRR and the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Sydney and Melbourne.

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MANAGING DIRECTOR
Jon Estreich

Jonathan Estreich is the Managing Director of Imagine Science Films. Mr. Estreich is also a Senior Consultant in the New York Forensic & Dispute Services practice of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. He has obtained the elite ‘CAPM’ credential from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and has achieved the status of a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, as well as that of a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Mr. Estreich was born in New York, NY where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Bard College, while serving as a member of the Economics Club and pursuing his interest in the social sciences.  With a strong passion for film, business, and education, as well as a diverse background in the financial advisory services sector and his experience working with talent management agencies such as Wilhelmina Creative Management and Cinematic Management, Mr. Estreich’s mission is to promote the development and growth of Imagine Science Films.

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DESIGN & WEB DEVELOPMENT
Linda Arredondo

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PRESS & MEDIA
Natalie Abruzzo

Natalie Abruzzo is an independent producer and director.  Having over a decade of production experience, she has produced numerous film shorts, documentaries and commercials.  From the Nation’s Capital to the Big Apple, Ms. Abruzzo has participated in video production as voice-over and on-camera talent as well as behind-the-scenes crew.  She is a producer and co-director of the 2009 Imagine Science Film Festival video highlights and footage.  She is also a creative designer managing projects for both the non-profit and for-profit sectors designing logos, marketing collateral, websites and sales campaigns.  Ms. Abruzzo finds great joy as a creative media professional delivering script-to-screen production content and management.

Ms. Abruzzo is the External Relations Manager for the Imagine Science Film Festival (ISFF).  She coordinates the press and media, sponsorships, and grant efforts for the annual Imagine Science Film Festival.  She lends her creative and strategic business expertise to the ISFF by working with corporate and media outlets to advance public outreach and awareness of science and the arts through film.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING & MARKETING

Natalia Marcou

Natalia Marcou started her professional career in world-renowned tv production companies in Venezuela and Argentina. She has been in the audiovisual field since 2002 performing different tasks of the content creation process. Nowadays Natalia has focused her carrer in the strategic planning and marketing for companyes from different fields including her own company.

Natalia Marcou received a Master in Bussines Administration in Entertainment and Media from University of Palermo and a degree in International Affairs from Central University of Venezuela.

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OF COUNSEL

Matthew T. Rogers

Matt is an attorney who has practiced in New York City for the past nine years. He has a deep love for the world of cinema, and as a Brooklyn resident for the past 13 years, looks forward to the growth of independent filmmaking in Brooklyn.  For the past few years Matt has been working with independent filmmakers, providing legal advice regarding financial and corporate matters. Prior to working with filmmakers, Matt worked in the New York City office of the law firm of Winston & Strawn, LLP, where he worked in the litigation department. Matt serves on the boards of directors of the Brooklyn Film Society and Recycle-a-Bicycle, and has served on the board of directors of the Boerum Hill Association. Matt received his J.D. from Fordham Law School, in New York, in 2001, and received his A.B. from Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1994, with a degree in Comparative Literature and Italian.