NewFest Staff

David joined NewFest as Executive Director in August 2019. He has spent his career amplifying and elevating the mission and programming efforts of non-profit arts organizations, serving for 11 years in a senior leadership role at NYC’s Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. He was an integral part of Signature’s transition to its permanent home, the 75,000 square foot, Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center, and the growth of the company, which more than tripled its budget, staff and programming during his time with the organization. David studied in the MA program at New York University’s Gallatin School, with a focus in LGTBQ Studies. He has a deep passion for queer culture and a strong desire to create spaces for queer storytelling.

Having been with NewFest since 2016, Nick curates and manages the annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival in addition to NewFest’s year-round programming. Nick previously served as the Film Curator at The Tank and worked in academic publishing & international media, serving as a Production Coordinator of the MENA-region talk show NIDA’A. Nick received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing and Visual Arts / Media Studies from Emerson College. Nick has written about film & media for publications including Slant Magazine, Time Out New York, NBC News, and the Boston Phoenix, and has served on multiple domestic and international film festival juries, including GAZE in Dublin, Columbia University’s CUFF in New York City, and Inside Out in Toronto.

Madeline (she/her) is the Marketing and Communications Manager and leads NewFest’s marketing, community partnerships, public relations, and communications. She attended New York University where she received a B.F.A in Film and Television Production from Tisch School of the Arts and a B.A. in Anthropology. She received her M.A. in Museum Studies and Non-Profit Management from Johns Hopkins University. She recently received an Award of Excellence and an Award of Distinction from Communicators Award for the original content series for the Museum of the City of New York. Madeline is a filmmaker and producer and has worked in the film and television in both Los Angeles and New York City. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and currently lives in Fort Greene with her partner and their tuxedo cat, Fred Astaire.

Monisha Gandhi joined NewFest in 2019 as Festival Producer. With a background in event production, film distribution, and public programming, Monisha has supported programming initiatives within the film, media, arts, and entertainment industry for over 15+ years. She has contributed to the success of 30+ festivals including the Tribeca Festival (formerly Tribeca Film Festival), World Science Festival, Doha International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and Nantucket Film Festival, to name a few. She has worked on the delivery and exhibition of 300+ films including Oscar nominated theatrical releases Cartel Land, Life Animated, and The Music of Strangers along with Box Office Hits such as What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Finally, she has played a central role in curating and producing a wide variety of programmatic events serving NYC’s media arts community including IFP Week (now Gotham Week), The Mile Long Opera, AMP NYC, LIFT Labs: Lift Your Story, and co-produces The Moving Image Awards, in partnership with Museum of the Moving Image.

Natalie currently serves as NewFest’s Production & Operations Manager, overseeing all production logistics for screenings, sponsor activations, and events year-round.

Prior to joining the NewFest team in October 2023, she studied Arts Management at SUNY Purchase College, and Film & Video Production at the Academy of Arts University. She then gained several years of experience managing digital media campaigns for companies like HBO, Adidas, Red Bull Media, Lionsgate, Wieden+Kennedy and more.

Natalie then became deeply passionate about going back to her roots supporting independent filmmakers, and is committed to creating rewarding and memorable experiences for the community. Natalie enjoys building inclusive and innovative production environments, aligning with NewFest’s mission to celebrate and support LGBTQ+ storytelling.

Rachel (she/her) joined NewFest as a Social Media Manager in 2021 for NewFest33. Rachel has played various roles across marketing and screening departments during her festival work, including the Seattle Queer Film Festival, North Bend Film Festival, SeriesFest, and recently the Nantucket Film Festival. She received a BA in Sociology and Film Studies from Western Washington University, and made the cross-country move to New York in 2022. If Letterboxd ever asks, her top four favorite films are (probably) A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (1974), MAMMA MIA! (2008), MAGIC MIKE XXL (2015), and ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (2022). She loves living in Brooklyn with her partner and their orange cat, Leon.

Anton Astudillo is a Lenapehoking/New York-based filmmaker, performance artist, and curator originally from Wallmapu/Santiago, Chile, working with 16mm film, video, and performance. With a background in theater and film, Anton has taught film production at Massachusetts School of Art and Design, Emerson College and Keene State College. In 2015, Anton joined the AgX Film Collective, programming experimental film internationally. As an independent curator, he has worked at Performance Space New York, Anthology Film Archives, Maysles Documentary Center and the international film festivals Go Shorts in the Netherlands and Uppsala Kort in Sweden. From 2023 to 2024, Anton was the lead programmer and festival director of TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival. In 2023, Anton joined the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival NEWFEST as a festival programmer. That same year he took on the role of Program Director of Millennium Film Workshop. Anton’s appreciation for cinema extends beyond programming films, which is why you’ll often see him acting, directing and collaborating with independent artists as a 16mm cinematographer. This love for both film and its community inspired Anton to co-found Trans+ Film Social, a monthly gathering for TGNC artists hosted at Millennium Film Workshop.

Jen (she/her) joined the NewFest crew as Audience Services Manager in September 2022. Originally from Florida, she holds a BA in Arts & Humanities from Florida Atlantic University and is now somewhat of a professional nomad, city-hopping between NY, Ithaca, Birmingham, London, LA, etc. She also serves as Internal Ticketing Manager for Tribeca Festival, handles all film team ticketing for Sundance FF, and is on the pre-screening committee for Nashville FF. Passionate about sharing indie filmmakers’ stories, she’s thrilled to be a part of such a special team and organization!

Martine Joelle McDonald is a film curator, teaching artist, and inclusion consultant, with over a decade of experience at the crossroads of social impact storytelling and anti-bias education. She is thrilled to join Newfest as the Concord Initiative Manager.

Her work as a facilitator centers on historically excluded artists, with a focus on LGBTQIA narrative leaders, in service of transforming industry pipelines in media arts. She has held leadership roles across Journeys in Film, the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and most recently served as the Director of Artist Development at Outfest. Practice Wonder, her creative studio and cultural consulting firm, continues to carve pathways for narrative inclusion with clients spanning film production, academic institutions, and nonprofit arts organizations. Martine earned an MFA in Social and Environmental Arts Practice from Prescott College and a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies from Naropa University. Based in Los Angeles yet with New York roots, she can often be found studying clouds as a newfound birder.

Julia Maddox graduated in 2022 from City College of New York with an MFA in Film where she was a BAFTA U.S. scholar. An emerging screenwriter, her work has garnered her finalist placements for fellowships with Stowe Story Labs and Humanitas.

Roni Polsgrove (she/her) joined NewFest in 2024, as a Production Coordinator for NewFest36. Now, she is thrilled to join the year-round team as Production & Operations Assistant.

Roni graduated with a B.F.A in Film & Television Production from Tisch School of the Arts, and has since worked for several film festivals (DOC NYC, Fusion Film Fest) as well as in film production. Outside of work, Roni is an independent filmmaker. She is a part of the 52films.org collective and a 2024-25 fellow in the Stony Brook Podcast Incubator. She lives, laughs, and loves in Queens.

Arno Mokros (he/they) is a queer, trans film producer and arts organizer. Since 2023, he has coordinated NewFest’s New Voices Filmmaker Grant for emerging LGBTQ+ directors, a program created in partnership with Netflix. He is also co-founder and co-director of UFO, a New York City-based nonprofit filmmaker support organization guided by a culture of care. UFO supports filmmakers working across scripted, nonfiction, and hybrid genres through a Short Film Lab hosted at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), residency programs, and other initiatives. Beyond his artist support work, he works in the field as an independent producer of queer and trans stories, including the feature film Summer Solstice (2023), starring Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Marianne Rendón and distributed by Cartilage Films. He is currently a 2024 International Documentary Association (IDA) Getting Real fellow.