Staff
Steve Mendelsohn
Executive Director
Prior to joining Arts Engine, Steve was the executive director of FilmAid International, which teaches refugees to create films and videos on vital issues including health, human rights, protection of women and girls, repatriation information, and more. The films are screened for the communities in large outdoor nighttime events and in smaller focused workshops during the day. Before FilmAid, Steve was the executive director of Project Rebirth, a nonprofit organization based in downtown Manhattan, whose mission is to document the entire reconstruction of the World Trade Center site through a feature-length documentary film and an installation in the Memorial Museum at Ground Zero. From 2002 to 2005, Steve was the executive director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the nation’s largest nonprofit public access cable television network. Prior to that, Steve was a general manager at Razorfish, an internet design and consulting company, and he also worked at Nurun, a French Canadian internet consulting firm. Steve also worked for a decade with American Express in a variety of marketing roles. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Katy Chevigny
Co-Founder and Senior Director
Katy Chevigny, Arts Engine's co-founder and senior director, is a documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur and nonprofit manager. For fifteen years, Chevigny has advocated for a diverse media culture, one that illuminates important stories and amplifies voices not often heard in the mainstream media. Chevigny founded Arts Engine and its predecessor Big Mouth Productions. In 2000, Arts Engine launched MediaRights.org, a “knowledge commons” for filmmakers, activists, educators, and the general public. MediaRights.org currently hosts information on over 7,000 films and is home to nearly 20,000 members from around the world. Media That Matters is now in its tenth successful year, drawing attention to the most important issues of our day showcasing short films through a multi-platform, web-based strategy. More than a film festival, Media That Matters reached over three million viewers in 2009. As a film director, Chevigny most recently directed the film Election Day, which premiered at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in March 2007 and was broadcast on public television by POV in 2008. Chevigny also co-directed Deadline (2004), an Emmy-nominated documentary about the dramatic events that took place in Illinois in 2003 concerning capital punishment. The film aired on NBC in July 2004 and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won a CINE Golden Eagle Grand Jury Award and the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award. Chevigny has produced many award-winning documentaries at Arts Engine, including: Arctic Son, Journey to the West: Chinese Medicine Today, Nuyorican Dream, Innocent Until Proven Guilty and Outside Looking In: Transracial Adoption in America.
David Wright
Director of Technology and Online Programs
With an extensive background in Information Technology and Film Production, David has produced and co-directed projects like Creating Karma and Maya's Soul. Prior to joining Arts Engine, David spent two and a half years working in developing countries like India, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria and Syria on the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, an organization dedicated to eliminating avoidable blindness. David's professional background includes seven years as an IT manager, web developer and database engineer in both the non-profit and for profit sectors.
Felix Endara
Filmmaker Services Manager
Ecuadorian-born Felix Endara is a filmmaker and independent programmer living in New York City. His films have screened at festivals including
Berlinale and Mill Valley. He has programmed screenings at the Brooklyn Museum of Art; been a reviewer for P.O.V. and Tribeca All Access; and an advisor for Cinereach Reach Fellows. He currently manages Arts Engine's fiscal sponsorship program and the monthly screening series DocuClub.
Lauren Domino
Program Manager-Media That Matters™
Joining Arts Engine, in the spring of 2011 Lauren serves as the Program Manager for Media That Matters™. A native of New Orleans, she has a wide-ranging history working in non-profit events and festivals, most recently as Event & Sponsorship Coordinator for the New Orleans Film Society. An avid art hobbiest her installation, Sousaphorescence was a featured exhibit at the Voodoo Music Experience 2010.
Mary Iannone
Community Manager
After an editorial internship at Arts Engine in Spring 2011, Mary Iannone joined the staff as the online community manager, helping to further implement new social media techniques. She now pulls double-duty as part-time office manager and internship coordinator. Mary's work, including articles and blog posts, can be seen on the Mediarights section of Arts Engine. Mary grew up in Wisconsin before moving to New York City in 2008 for her undergraduate degree in journalism and creative writing, which she will receive from Baruch College in 2012.
Affiliates
Angela Tucker
Filmmaker
Angela Tucker has worked at Big Mouth Films for the past seven years and is currently the Director of Production. She is directing the film Asexuality: The Making of a Movement and producing the films, Rose and Nangabire and Dreaming Nicaragua. She was the Associate Producer, Sound Recordist and Outreach Director for the Emmy nominated film, Deadline (NBC, Dateline). She was a Consulting Producer and Field Producer for Election Day (POV, PBS) and a Line Producer for Beyond the Steps: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (PBS' Great Performances). She directs and produces educational videos for non-profit organizations such as ACORN Housing and GLSEN in addition to producing spots for broadcasters such as Nickelodeon. She directed two shorts for The National Black Programming Consortium and ITVS’ Initiative, The Masculinity Project, entitled Invisible Men. She received an MFA in Film from Columbia University where she was awarded a grant from The Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Dean's Fellowship and a Milos Forman Finishing Fund Award. Angela received her B.A. with Honors from Wesleyan University in Theater and African-American Studies. She is a member of New York Women in Film and Television.
Elizabeth Mandel
Producer
Elizabeth is directing Rose & Nangabire (working title), along with Beth Davenport, for which she received a New York State Council on the Arts Fellowship. She produced the film Arctic Son, and was a co-producer on Jennifer Fox's film Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman. She directs and produces educational videos for non-profit organizations such as Jewish Women International and for Johns Hopkins Medical Center's Project Restore, in addition to producing spots for Nickelodeon and Sundance Channel. Elizabeth served as an associate producer for Jasmine Dellal's When the Road Bends and was the producer of the Deadline DVD. Prior to joining Big Mouth in 2001, she worked for the United Nations and the Asia Foundation. She has also worked in India, Cambodia, Nepal and Japan on a variety of community development, leadership training and citizen participation projects. She holds a Master's Degree from Columbia University in International Affairs, with a focus on Economic and Political Development and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with a B.A. in Religion and East Asian Cultures.