Home > About Us

 

SIMON KILMURRY

Executive Director

Simon served as chief operating officer of American Documentary for six years before assuming the role of executive director in Fall 2006. Since joining AmDoc in 1999, he has played a key role in helping to set strategic direction for the organization and implementing new initiatives, including the Diverse Voices Project, POV's co-production initiative in support of emerging filmmakers; POV's Borders, PBS' Webby Award-winning online series; and True Lives, a second-run series for independent documentaries on public television. In addition, he worked to secure pioneering partnerships with both Netflix and Docurama to expand the distribution opportunities for POV filmmakers and enhance branding for POV Previously, Simon was associate director at Teachers & Writers Collaborative, a nonprofit literary arts and education organization and publisher, where he is now a member of the board of directors. He has also served as a board member and treasurer for Elders Share the Arts and East Harlem Block Schools, and as an informal advisor and funding panel member for other organizations including the New York City Center for Arts Education, the Association for Independent Video and Filmmakers and New York State Council on the Arts. Simon attended the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Columbia University Business School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.

 

CYNTHIA LÓPEZ

Vice President

Cynthia López is the vice president of the award-winning POV documentary series.  Serving as communications director before being appointed in 2004 to vice president for American Documentary, Lopez is responsible for programming content, broadcast distribution, community engagement activities, communications and marketing, online initiatives and overall strategic development of the organization. Since 2006, POV has been honored with a Special Industry Emmy Award, 2 Emmy Awards, two Academy Awards nominations, two George Foster Peabody Awards and three Webby nominations.

Under her leadership as communications director, national media coverage of POV programs more than tripled and she has forged strategic partnerships with Harpo Studios, Netflix, ABC News' Nightline, WNYC New York Public Radio, Pentagram, Inc., Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Ms. Magazine, among many others. The promotional campaign López spearheaded for the POV film, Farmingville, won the prestigious EPPSilon Award.

Before joining POV, López spent four years at Libraries for the Future as Advocacy Director, developing innovative strategies to serve some of the nations poorest libraries. Her previous experience in public media includes stints as Acting Executive Director of Deep Dish TV Network and Executive Producer of Satellite University Network. Her production credits include serving as executive producer on Beyond the Browning of America (PBS) hosted by Maria Hinojosa, and as senior producer for The Qunicentenary, a Television Espanola, Canal+ and BBC co-production.

López is the founding chair of the board of directors and a trustee of NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) and is an advisor to REEL New York (Thirteen/WNET New York). She has been an advisor for the Heinz Awards, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Fellowships, Independent Television Service (ITVS), Americans for the Arts, the Banff Centre in Canada and AIVF. She has been a presenter at a variety of venues including: Medimed (Spain), Prague Eastern European International Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs (Canada), SilverDocs, Independent Feature Project, Hofstra University, White House Conference on Libraries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, United Nations Women's Conference, Channels for Change (Scotland) Center for Democratic Communications (South Africa) and the international media alliance, Videazimut (Peru), among others.

JILLIAN AYALA

Communications Coordinator

Jillian joined POV's communications team in 1999 as temporary messenger/runner. She was later promoted to communications assistant and recently assumed the role of communications coordinator. In addition to working closely with POV's filmmakers, Jillian is responsible for assisting in the development of press materials and distributing them to thousands of print, radio, television and online media outlets nationwide. She also produces products for the marketing and promotion of POV films and the POV brand.

 

ANNE DEL CASTILLO

Director, Development and Business Affairs

Anne has been active in the independent media arts and public television as a producer, programmer and fundraiser for over 15 years. As director of development and business affairs for American Documentary | POV, she manages fundraising activities, program licensing, and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the AmDoc staff in 2002, she was a production associate at American Masters in New York and then series coordinator for Frontline in Boston. In 1997, she moved to Austin, Texas, where she served as associate director of the Austin Film Society, and worked on several documentary and narrative film projects. She was vice president of the board of Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers and has served as a panelist and advisor for numerous arts organizations and film festivals. She graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Mass Communications with honors and attended the Arts Leadership Institute at Columbia University. She is currently pursuing a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

 

ANDREW CATAURO

Coordinating Producer

Andrew is the coordinating producer in POV's Production and Programming department. Prior to joining us, he was with the National Hockey League and also at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. His work and studies in Italian Cinema earned him the Immersion Award from the Milan International Film Festival and his filmmaking resume includes documentary work with Alexandra Kerry. Andrew has a dual bachelor's degree from the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

BETTY CORDERO

Manager of Finance and Operations

Betty was the operations manager at the Kingsbridge Women's Assessment Center in the Bronx for over five years. In 2000, she was hired as POV's office manager, and she has since expanded her role. As a member of the administrative team of AmDoc, Betty manages the organization's financial activities, administers employee benefits and oversees all aspects of AmDoc's operations. In addition, she coordinates POV's annual mailings and special events.

CATHY FISHER

Senior Manager, Communications

Cathy is responsible for publicizing POV's programs and initiatives to media and consumers. She joined POV in 2003 after five years as manager of program press relations at PBS. Previously, she served as public relations director at Bravo and the Independent Film Channel; Group W Satellite Communications, where she managed PR for TNN: The Nashville Network; Westwood One Radio Networks; and D.L. Blackman, where she promoted classical music artists and IMAX movies. She was also the manager of press, advertising and promotion for NBC and ABC Radio.

YANCE FORD

SERIES Producer

Yance works closely with POV's executive director and programming director to evaluate films submitted to POV She is instrumental in curating the series, a showcase of acclaimed documentary film on PBS. Yance frequently represents POV | American Documentary at conferences, festivals and markets, procuring work from filmmakers both nationally and internationally. Yance also oversees POV's annual call for entries, which yields upwards of one thousand entries, and coordinates POV's annual programming advisory board. Yance is a Programming Consultant and Pre- Screener for film festivals around the country, including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Black Maria Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, Latino Public Broadcasting, Creative Capital and the Sundance Film Festival. She has served on festival juries at Full Frame and Silverdocs, appeared on panels at Sunny Side of the Doc and DocuClub and served on the IFP Advisory Committee. A graduate of Hamilton College and the production workshop at Third World Newsreel, Yance is a former Production Stage Manager for the Girls Choir of Harlem and has worked as a Production Manager on numerous independent productions for the Discovery Health and History channels. Ford has also worked in various capacities on the documentaries The Favorite Poem Project, Juanita Anderson, Executive Producer, Brian Lanker's They Drew Fire (PBS), and Barry Levinson's Yesterday's Tomorrows (Showtime).

CATHERINE JHEE

Senior Producer, POV Interactive

Catherine joined POV Interactive as senior producer in 2008. Before joining POV, she was the editorial producer for Columbia University's Center for New Media Teaching and Learning. Previously, she worked for the American Museum of Natural History's Science Bulletins, where she wrote and produced weekly multimedia news updates and produced a number of websites for Picture Projects, including 360degrees.org, an award-winning examination of the American criminal justice system. Catherine received her AB from Duke University and a master's degree from the University at Buffalo in Comparative Literature and Media Studies. She has taught courses on documentary video production and filmmaking at the University at Buffalo and interactive design at the Cooper Union School of Art. She recently completed an M.S. at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

JESSICA LEE

Outreach and Development Manager

Jessica assists in coordinating community screenings of POV films, producing educational materials and provides general assistance to the Community Engagement and Education and Development departments.

ELIZA LICHT

Director, Community Engagement and Education

Eliza oversees the development and implementation of POV's national community engagement and education campaigns. She works with public television stations, educators, and community-based organizations to present community screenings of POV films and to develop and distribute accompanying educational resource materials to teachers nationwide. Over the years, she has expanded POV's community engagement activities by nearly 400% and increased POV's educational efforts by over 80%. To further develop these areas, Eliza established a Library Board and a Teachers' Advisory Board, which provide feedback on activities and help produce POV's companion resource materials. Before joining POV in 2001, she traveled extensively in Spain and Mexico, teaching English as a foreign language. Eliza is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University.

DAVID NANASI

Consulting Producer, POV Interactive

David has worked on the POV Web site, POV Interactive, since its infancy, helping to develop and improve it as well as producing special features. David also oversees and administers POV's internal computer network, maintaining hardware and software for the POV staff. Prior to joining POV, David, served on the staff of CyberEd, an 18-wheeler Internet classroom that toured nationwide. Since 1997, David has worked independently as a computer consultant, specializing in systems, networks and Web design and construction.

THERESA RILEY

Director of POV Interactive

Theresa Riley joined POV in 2002 and is responsible for overseeing editorial and production for POV Interactive, POV's Web site. She is an award-winning Web producer and editor whose work has been featured on PBS Online, onmagazine.com and time.com. In 1998, she joined PBS Online as the editor for news, history and documentary film Web sites. She co-produced a number of companion sites for PBS programs including the award-winning Ken Burns' Frank Lloyd Wright Web site, Wonders of the African World with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Conquistadors with Michael Wood and Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure.

CHRIS WHITE

Director, PROGRAMMING AND Production

Chris and his team work closely with the executive Ddirector in the areas of programming, production and PBS station relations. Previously, he worked as associate producer and production office manager on the documentary Blue Vinyl (HBO, 2002). Chris spent a number of years as vice president of sales and acquisitions at Angelika Films International, and at BNN-TV in New York as associate producer on projects for the History Channel and the Smithsonian Museum. He also produced the children's program An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance for the Museo Italo-Americano in San Francisco.

RUIYAN XU

Web Producer, POV Interactive

Ruiyan joined POV in 2006 and works on developing and producing materials for POV's Web site. Before coming to POV, she worked in the Interactive and Broadband department at Channel Thirteen/WNET. Ruiyan was born in Shanghai and graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Modern Culture and Media.

TOP OF PAGE