About NewFest

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.

Kayo joined the 2020 NewFest festival team as the Exhibition / Filmmaker Relations Assistant before becoming the Events and Operations Coordinator in Spring 2021. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Cinema from San Francisco State University and an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College.