The indieWIRE Team

J.D. Ashcraft - Director of Brand Development
J.D. serves as Director of Brand Development for indieWIRE, as well as General Manager for the Orlando based GMD Studios. He has been instrumental in the success of several online properties, including ReveNews.com, a leading online news source for the Affiliate and ROI Marketing communities. ¤ ¤

Brian Brooks - Managing Editor (NYC)
As Managing Editor at indieWIRE, Brian Brooks is part of the editorial management team planning the publication's news and feature content. Additionally, Brian writes and edits daily for the site, including biz, interviews, events and other material, including photography at events in New York where he is based, and at film festivals around the world. In addition to reporting from festivals, both in the U.S. and abroad (including Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, Pusan and Reykjavik), he has moderated panels both in New York and on the road and served on festival juries in Cleveland, Seattle, Sarasota and NewFest, in addition to serving on an advisory committee for the National Endowment of the Arts. A native of California, Brian worked in music video at Elektra Entertainment after spending a year-and-a-half living in Japan following graduation from UCLA. He moved to New York City to join indieWIRE as an assistant editor in May of 2000.

Chris Campbell - Web Developer (Orlando)
Chris is a Production Supervisor for GMD Studios. Chris graduated from University of Central Florida in 2006 with a degree in Digital Media. He has a passion that spreads from Web, Film, and Television. Chris started his career with his own design company, Dyna Interactive. Some of his work includes original screenplays, film and radio production, and a sleuth of web/graphic designs for businesses all across Central Florida.

Brian Clark - Producer / Manager (Orlando)
Brian Clark is the co-founder and President of Orlando-based GMD Studios, an online media development firm with a speciality in entertainment hybrid projects. He was the Executive Producer of the feature Nothing So Strange, which premiered at the 2002 Slamdance Film Festival. He is also an outspoken advocate for how Internet and new media technologies empower independent artists (and is a frequent presenter on the topic at film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival). ¤

Andrew Cowan - Publishing Systems Manager, indieWIRE.com (Orlando)
Andrew lives in North Carolina with his wife Suzanne, 2 children and 10 cats. Of the 14 inhabitants he is at the bottom of the food/decision-making chain, but he doesn't mind all that much. In 1992 he graduated from UNCG with a BA in Economics and has spent the years since trying to clear that nonsense from his brain. In 1998 he again graduated from UNCG, this time with an MA in Mathematics with an interest in Computer Science. He spends his time now programming for GMD Studios, maintaining a website devoted to multi-user gaming called The Mud Connector and tending to his flock (kids, cats, wife).

Eugene Hernandez - Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder (NYC) [blog]
As the Editor-in-Chief, Eugene Hernandez manages indieWIRE, a company he co-founded in 1996. Eugene has served as an instructor at The New School in Manhattan and participated as a juror and panelist at international film festivals including Sundance, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, and many others. As a reporter he has contributed to The Wall Street Journal Online, Variety, Screen International, FILMMAKER Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter. He has served as a consultant to non-profit film and arts organizations, including the Creative Capital Foundation, and as a funding panelist for the NEA and ITVS. He is also a member of selection committees for the annual Independent Spirit Awards. Eugene spent 5 years at ABC-TV, ultimately working in its emerging Multimedia division as a producer of websites for ABC News and the annual Academy Awards. While at UCLA, he headed of the Campus Events Commission, overseeing a film program, lecture series, and concert promotion.

James Israel - Marketing and Operations Manager (NYC) [blog]
James has been involved with indieWIRE since 2001, when he served as Managing Editor for indieWIRE's On The Scene coverage of the Sundance Film Festival. Currently he is the Marketing and Operations Manager, where his duties include advertising sales and managing operations in New York. He also produces the popular event series at Apple Store Soho, indieWIRE Presents, which features indie film professionals discussing various aspects of the filmmaking process. Recent speakers including filmmakers Michel Gondry, Darren Aronofsky, screenwriter Neil Gaiman, and actress Amy Sedaris.

James previously worked at the Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers (AIVF) and has written for The Independent Film & Video Monthly. He has also acted as a script reader for Global Film Initiative, the IFP Gordon Parks Awards, and has screened films for The Tribeca Film Festival. James is also a filmmaker with Back and Forth Films, where he makes short narrative films and is developing various feature length projects. His films have screened at numerous festivals, venues, (and pubs), including South by Southwest, the Hamptons International Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival, and on a giant outdoor video screen in Times Square. His short film THE TOURIST was recently published on the DVD anthology The Journal of Short Film.

Tammy J. Kearns - Director of Operations / Manager (Orlando)
Tammy J. Kearns is the co-founder, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of GMD Studios, headquartered in Orlando, Florida. She also serves as Tax Matters Member for indieWIRE LLC, and Managing Member for Florida based Czar of Bizarre, LLC and California based Unsharp Mask, LLC. Additionally, Ms. Kearns was Executive Producer of the feature film Nothing So Strange, winner of the New York Times Claiborne Pell Award for Original Vision.

Peter Knegt - Assistant Editor
As Assistant Editor at indieWIRE, Peter Knegt assists the editorial management team and writes and edits daily for the site, including biz, interviews, awards watch and coverage of film festivals. He has been working with the indieWIRE team since September 2006. A native of Ontario, Peter holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in film and semiotics. In addition to indieWIRE, he has contributed as a writer to several print and online magazines, newspapers and academic journals. He has also worked for the Reel Asian International Film Festival, the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and co-programmed the inaugural year of the Reel Out Film Festival, a queer fest in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He currently resides in Montreal, where he is finishing his Master's thesis at Concordia University.

Karol Martesko-Fenster - Manager (NYC)
Karol Martesko-Fenster is part of the executive management team of Palm Pictures Entertainment Properties, co-founder and president of RES Media Group, co-founder and manager of indieWIRE, former President of Rising Tide Studios, and the Founding Publisher of FILMMAKER: The Magazine of Independent Film. In 1994 he co-produced and launched filmmag.com - The Online Resource for Indie Filmmakers and was the editorial director of the maverick Virtual FilmFestival (1996). Over the last 15 years Karol has kept busy producing electronic communities, fiction features, documentary films, television specials and live satellite programs. ¤

Jim Rhoades - Webmaster, indieWIRE.com (Orlando)
Jim Rhoades is Senior Production Supervisor for GMD Studios and is largely responsible for the look and feel of indieWIRE.com. His work helped indieWIRE receive a Webby award for Best Film Site in 2000. He is also part of the creative force behind a number of innovative projects for clients such as Ford, Audi, Sharp, Levi Strauss, Alltel and others.

Ken Tabachnick - Manager (NYC)
Ken Tabachnick is a member of indieWIRE LLC. Ken graduated from Fordham Law School where he concentrated on media, intellectual property and European Community law. He also has an extensive background in both the management and the creative sides of the arts. Ken was the resident lighting director at New York City Opera and served as the Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival, and as Corporate Relations Director and Gotham Awards Producer at the Independent Feature Project. Currently, Ken is the General Manager of New York City Ballet.