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.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

PRODUCER / RESIDENT ARTIST

Luis Violante
Mr. Violante is a multimedia artist. He is a painter, graphic designer, video producer, director and editor. He has done design for SONY, Tiffany, Columbia University, NewsCorp. Produced video works for Nickelodeon, MoveOn.org, Sen. John Kerry. He is also a perennial student of science and technology. He started university life as a pre-aerospace engineering student before switching to a film major. After over a decade as a visual arts professional he returned to student life last year to pursue a M.S.P. from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
More on his work at: http://www.violante.com/Luis/

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

PRODUCER
Luis Quevedo

Science writer and producer. Received a BSc in Biotechnology and a Ms Communication in Spain. He was a writer in REDES, a weekly science tv magazine in Spanish National TV (TVE). Then co-created a weekly pop-science program, also in TVE, Tres14, where he acted as writer, producer and presenter. At the International level, he has worked for NHNZ and National Geographic in the documentary series Jurassic CSI.
At the European level, he has produced events for the Spanish Ministry on Science and Innovation, and the EuroScience Foundation. He’s been involved in european science policy as an active member of the Young European Biotech Network.
His last project is a road-movie flavored documentary about human evolution shot between Africa and Europe, “Searching for the First European“. He’s also a freelance writer and photographer, and blogs at Probeta en Nueva York.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Emily Driscoll

Emily Driscoll is a science video producer based in New York City. She holdsa master’s degree in Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting from NewYork University. Her goal of making science accessible to the public led her toproduce and direct Bugged: the Race to Eradicate the Asian Longhorned Beetle,which aired on PBS stations. Emily has written articles and produced videosfor Audubon Magazine, NBC Universal, Livescience.com, Scientific AmericanMind and TIME.com on subjects ranging from water pollution to particle physics.She is currently studying toward a master’s degree in Science DocumentaryProduction from NYU. In her spare time, Emily is a competitive badmintonplayer and coach.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

ANIMATOR
Pina Kingman

Pina Kingman is a biomedical animator.  Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada she obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Cell Biology and Genetics with a Minor in Fine Art from the University of British Columbia. Continuing her passion for science visualization, she completed her Masters of Science in Biomedical Communication at the University of Toronto. Focusing her studies on the efficacy of teaching science through motion graphics, three-dimensional space, and linear story telling, which lead to the production of a short-film describing the detrimental effects of Secondary Spinal Cord Injury for the Krembil Neuroscience Centre at Toronto Western Hospital. Having worked in Colorado, her animations aired on the Dr. Oz Show and on Healthline.com. Currently, she creates short 3D animations with subjects ranging from cellular function, to pathology, to human anatomy for both the entertainment and health-education industries. Through art, film, and animation, Pina hopes to help make science-education a little less daunting and a bit more fun.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

PRODUCTION 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.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Robin Kilmer

Formerly a public school teacher in the Bronx, Robin Kilmer now works for Environment New York’s Safe Drinking Water Campaign, which aims to protect the New York’s drinking water from natural gas drilling. Robin recognizes the importance of giving the public opportunities to educate itself, and sees the Imagine Science Film Festival as an exceptional venue for this undertaking.

Robin received her BA in History and a minor in Latin American Iberian Studies from Bard College, as well as a Masters in Teaching from Hunter College.  She maintains a blog http://thenewbieyorker.wordpress.com/ and hopes to one day successfully converge two diametrically opposing forces:  writing and making a living.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Pedro Gomez Millan

Pedro Gómez Millán is a Mexican born director and cinematographer whose work has been featured at Sundance, Berlindale, Cannes, SXSW and Palm Springs film festivals.  His cinematography credits include Herbert White (starring Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon), The Clerk’s Tale, and feature documentary Saturday Night (Oscilloscope 2011), all directed by actor/director James Franco.  Pedro has written and directed several short films and is in pre production on his first feature.  He is an MFA candidate in NYU’s Graduate Film Program where he has received the Tisch School of the Arts and FONCA’s Foreign Studies scholarships.