Simone Nelson, Moderator

Simone Nelson is a producer and filmmaker as well as a marketing, PR, distribution and creative & business development consultant for film, digital media and live performance projects and events. She has worked for many renowned international cultural organizations, producers and filmmakers on both sides of the Atlantic such as: The San Francisco Opera, Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of Drama, The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, London’s famed Royal Court and Shakespeare Globe Theatres, award winning filmmaker Rebecca Miller, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, playwright Arthur Miller, and the former Chair of Disney Studios and Producer of Broadway’s Lion King, Peter Schneider.  Since returning to the Bay Area, Simone both served as COO and Executive Producer for Moving Words Night & Day, Inc. developing new formats for short form non-fiction content in the digital media space for a start up digital media entertainment company as well as more recently worked for several Bay Area based film organizations including: Film Arts Foundation, the Mill Valley Film Festival/California Film Institute and the Global Film Initiative.  She curated and produced the 2006-07 True Stories Documentary Film Series at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and recently served as a Juror for the Arab Film Festival. Simone is currently working on several media and film projects including serving as a Co-Producer on the new documentary CITY OF BORDERS which premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival and as a consulting producer on a new narrative feature film, SALTWATER.  She has Bachelor of Science Degree in Theater from Northwestern University and attended the MFA Producing Program at Yale School of Drama.

Windy Borman, Panelist

Windy is the Creative Director of D.V.A. Productions, of professional experience in film, video, event planning, theatre, and the non-profit sector. As an independent filmmaker, Windy has produced and directed promotional videos, films, and documentaries. She is an experienced researcher, story developer, screenwriter, director, and producer with field and studio experience on large- and small-scale productions in the United States, England, Ghana and Thailand. From 2001-2003, Windy served as the Performing Arts Coordinator for the University of Oregon Cultural Forum, where she negotiated contracts and promoted performances for Margaret Cho and Maya Angelou and directed and produced The Vagina Monologues. From 2003-2005 she dedicated two years to Teach For America, where she taught drama and dance in the South Bronx. She currently lives and works in San Francisco, CA, where she sits on the Board of Directors for Bay Area Women in Film and Media. Her current project, Eyes of Thailand, is a documentary on the staggering decline of the Thai Asian Elephant.

Website: www.dvaproductions.com

Crescent Diamond, Panelist

Crescent is a filmmaker, media activist, teacher, web designer and event producer. Crescent graduated from Hampshire College with a BA in Film/Video and Political Economics. Her thesis was a documentary about women weavers in Guatemala. In the non-profit sector, Crescent worked as Programming Coordinator and Final Cut Pro Instructor at Berkeley Community Media (BCM) for three years. Currently, Crescent serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at BCM. In the Fall of 2008, Crescent began the Master of Fine Arts in Cinema program at San Francisco State University. She is currently producing a feature-length experimental documentary called The Heretics about the Women Art’s Movement of the 70’s in the USA.

Heretics Website: http://helios.hampshire.edu/nomorenicegirls/heretics

Danae Ringelmann, Panelist

Danae is a founder of IndieGoGo, an online social marketplace connecting filmmakers and fans to make independent film happen. The platform provides filmmakers the tools for project funding, recruiting, and promotion, while enabling the audience to discover and connect directly with filmmakers and the causes they support. Danae founded IndieGoGo to democratize the film funding process, and often speaks on DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) Filmmaking. Prior to IndieGoGo, Danae was a securities analyst at Cowen & Co. where she covered entertainment companies including Pixar, Lions Gate, Disney, and Electronic Arts. Danae also focused on cable network, NFL, newspaper and hedge fund clientele while at JPMorgan's Investment Bank and Private Bank. In the wake of 9/11, Danae co-produced a concert reading of *Incident at Vichy*, an Arthur Miller play addressing the politically charged topic of racial profiling. Danae is a CFA charterholder and holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Danae was also a Morehead Scholar and Varsity Rower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

IndieGoGo Website: www.indiegogo.com

Julia Robertson, Panelist

Julia is a Freelance photographer and videographer. She is the founder of Pinch Me Films, a non- profit dedicated to creating media that makes a difference. Robertson was recently elected Chairman of the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission. City of Berkeley Mayor, Tom Bates, appointed Julia to the commission to help create the new Berkeley Film Foundation, a new grant making program for local independent film makers.

Berkeley Film Foundation Website: www.filmberkeley.com/grants.cfm