Panelists Biographies

GONZALO CASTELLANOS

Gonzalo Castellanos Valenzuela is a well renowned Colombian lawyer who elaborated a model Law of Cinema for Colombia. He has also been an adviser to diverse public and international organizations and has managed and designed social projects for the Inter-American Development Bank.

SANDRA CONDITO
Sandra Condito is Vice President of Production and Development for Dimension Films. Her multifaceted role includes overseeing the production, marketing and publicity of Dimension’s co-productions with Troublemaker Studios, producer Elizabeth Avellan and visionary filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s Austin-based production facility.

Condito’s long and successful relationship with Rodriguez and Avellan began when she was an assistant publicist on the genre hit THE FACULTY, starring Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood. After the successful production and marketing collaborations on SPY KIDS and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, Condito moved to Austin to oversee SPY KIDS 2, SPY KIDS 3-D, ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY & LAVAGIRL and SIN CITY on behalf of Troublemaker Studios. She is currently overseeing the production and marketing of PLANET TERROR, Rodriguez’s contribution to the double feature, GRINDHOUSE, for Dimension Films.

During her time in Austin, Condito further developed her producing skills and understanding of day-to-day operations enabling the undertaking of her debut effort as an independent producer, SECUESTRO EXPRESS, Venezuela’s highest grossing film and winner of 5 ANAC Awards (Venezuelan Oscars), including Best Picture. Produced independently, SECUESTRO EXPRESS was acquired and released by Miramax in 2005.

Condito’s career began in 1997 when she joined the publicity department of Miramax and Dimension Films in New York. During her first tenure with Miramax, Condito was involved in the publicity and awards campaigns for several of the company’s most notable successes, including LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and HALLOWEEN: H2O. After moving to Los Angeles in 1999, Condito continued to work closely with Miramax as an associate at The Angelotti Company, on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, guild and Academy Award campaigns for Lasse Hallstrom’s, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and Anthony Minghella’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. She returned to Miramax in 2001 and joined The Weinstein Company at the time of its formation in 2005.

ISABEL HILL
Isabel Hill is a volunteer with Citizens Development Corps, Sth. Carolina Film Commission.

EDDY MARTINEZ
Mr. Eddy M. Martinez is the Minister of the Center for Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD), the government institution that promotes national strategic export and foreign investment opportunities and works hands-on with local and foreign enterprise to facilitate business activity.

Before assuming his position at CEI-RD in August 2004, Mr. Martínez worked as the Director of Science, Technology, and Innovation at the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), a not-for-profit think tank founded and headed by Dr. Leonel Fernández, current President of the Dominican Republic. While at the Global Foundation, Mr. Martínez led applied research efforts and drafted national policy proposals for numerous projects. During this time, he also launched his own entrepreneurial venture, Expansion Consulting Dominicana, S.A., a consulting firm which provides advisory and marketing services to foreign and local firms Prior to the creation of Expansion and his tenure at the Global Foundation, Mr. Martinez served as the founding Executive Director of the Dominican Republic’s Office for the Promotion of Foreign Investment (OPI). During his tenure at OPI, Mr. Martínez vigorously promoted the policy changes and modernization efforts to help transition the Dominican Republic from a predominantly agricultural and light manufacturing-based economy towards a higher value-added, service-oriented one. He successfully championed the Dominican Republic’s first entirely science-and-technology-focused industrial project, CyberPark/ITLA.

Mr. Martinez has also served as the Executive Director for the Association of Free Zones in the Dominican Republic (ADOZONA), been an Economic Advisor to the Technical Ministry of the Presidency focusing on international trade and investment, and spent six years with the Dominican Republic Center for the Promotion of Exports (CEDOPEX), holding positions both in the Dominican Republic and in New York.

Mr. Martinez’s academic background includes a Masters of Arts in Economic Development and International Relations and a Bachelor of Economics and has had extensive training in the area of FDI from institutions such as IDI in Ireland, MIGA, TSG and the promotion agencies of Chile and Argentina, among others. He has written and published several articles, presentations and research papers on the subject of economic development and the international competitiveness of the Dominican Republic.

NINA STREICH
Nina Streich is director of the Peace Film Festival, which was established in order to make the most of the power of film as a medium to achieve peace. The festival’s mission is to take the definition of peace beyond activism or particular causes and instead offers a more personal message which can be seen in the lives of individuals and communities worldwide. The festival brings together filmmakers, special guests and local activists to discuss their work.

ARTURO RODRIGUEZ
Arturo Rodríguez Fernández was born in Santo Domingo and did his high school in Gijón, Spain. He graduated from law school from National University Pedro Henríquez Ureña, and has two masters in Compared Law, from Strasburg, France, and from Chieti, Italy.He has published several books with short stories (“La Búsqueda de los Desencuentros”, “Subir Como una Marea”, “Espectador de la Nada”), an experimental novel (“Mutanville”) and a film essay (“Homenaje al Cine”).

Arturo has received some thirty national and international literary awards. His plays, collected under “Dramas y Comedias en Ocho Obras Teatrales” was extensively acclaimed, and won the Talía Award and three Casandra Awards. For the last 36 years has been publishing film criticism on the main papers and magazines of the country and has been member of countless juries in different international festivals. Arturo has promoted the film culture through the “Lumiere Film Club” and has been distributor and screener of art films.

He is the Film Commissioner under the Ministry of Culture and director of the Muestra International de Cine de Santo Domingo, which will soon celebrate its ninth edition. With Armando Amánzar, Arturo produces a daily radio show on cinema “A la Hora Señalada.” He writes for the daily “Hoy” and for the magazines “Estilos” and “Mercado.”His present project is a book with short stories “El Sabor de las Hormigas” and collaborates in the script for his play “Parecido a Sebastián”, a production under the direction of César Rodríguez.