Panelists Biographies

KATHRYN WASHINGTON
Kathryn Washington is a Programming Manager with the Independent Television Service (ITVS) where she oversees the Diversity Development Fund and the administration of Research and Development projects. She works closely with filmmakers to assist them in the early stages of project development. Kathryn has been a panelist and reader for numerous media arts organizations. She is an award-winning public radio producer and completed her first film with a grant from the San Francisco Film Arts Foundation.

SONIA ROSARIO
Executive Producer, Image Entertainment: Image Entertainment Inc Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: DISK) is a leading independent home entertainment company that acquires, licenses, finances and produces exclusive content for worldwide video distribution in. In 2005 Image acquired Home Vision Entertainment, Chicago-based Home Vision which was a leading producer and distributor of independent and international films, including distribution of the preeminent Criterion Collection. HVE published both contemporary and classic works by directors such as Mike Nichols, Peter Weir and Lars von Trier. HVE titles were widely distributed through Amazon, Netflix and offline retailers such as Borders and Virgin. Total 2005 revenue about $30m.

Seasoned producer and writer with a track record of critically acclaimed and financially successful programming for broadcast, home video and theatrical distribution. Specialist in translating commercial content and creative practices across new platforms. Understanding the viewing interests and spending habits of specialist audiences: family, children, multi-cultural and international Rosario previously worked at Columbia Pictures Television, KCET, PBS affiliate in Los Angeles, WGBH, in Boston, and was the Co-founder and partner of Brightlight Communications, a Los Angeles consulting group specializing in digital media and entertainment business consulting, including developing financing for independent media projects.

GENNA TERRANOVA

Terranova serves as the primary liaison between TWC and IFC Films on their
shared Library Fund, which since its inception in June 2005 has acquired
over thirty titles for video and television distribution. Additionally,
Terranova overseas TWC¹s Latin America Film Fund, created in May of 2006
with Argentina based Costantini Films. Terranova brought the fund its first
Brazilian production, TROPE DE ELITE or ELITE SQUAD directed by Jose Padilha (BUS 174) and is currently overseeing production on the project, now filming in Rio de Janeiro. The LATAM fund will also be releasing Israel Adrian
Caetano's CRONICA DE UNA FUGA.

Previous to joining the Weinstein Company, Terranova worked in Acquisitions
at Miramax Films as well as in publicity and marketing for Cowboy Pictures,
an indie distribution company whose credits include Lynne Ramsay’s MORVERN COLLAR, I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART and Lucrezia Martel’s LA CIENEGA.

ALBERTO GARCIA FERRER
The Argentine Alberto García Ferrer is a professor and consultant to various universities and training centers. At the request of Gabriel García Márquez, one of the founders, he led the International TV and Cinema School of San Antonio de Baños, in Cuba, for four years during which he achieved the solidification of a ground braking experience that has provided a rich and enlightening production. This experience was well documented in his book “Ojos que no ven…Mis seiscientos cincuenta y nueve días en la Escuela de Cine de Cuba.”

IVETTE RODRIGUEZ
Ivette Rodriguez has been the president and founder of American Entertainment Marketing (AEM), a marketing firm specializing in entertainment targeted at the U.S. Latino consumer since 1997. AEM is the agency of choice for Latino productions, filmmakers and talent.

AEM has played an integral part in the revival of Latin filmmaking having worked on the most successful and critically acclaimed Latin American films in recent history. Some of AEM’s campaigns include Maria Full Of Grace, The Motorcycle Diaries, Crash, The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro) Y Tu Mama Tambien, Amores Perros, Frida, El Crimen Del Padre Amaro, The Others, and Before Night Falls, as well as Hollywood blockbusters Spiderman 2, Spy Kids series, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2, Scooby Doo 2, Scary Movie, Hostel, World Trade Center, Crank, and many more.

Currently, Ivette is working on the campaigns for BABEL, Fast Food Nation and Freedom Writers and after 20 years experience in the marketing of films and 10 years specifically in the Latin market, Ivette is expanding into production and is developing film projects.