STAFF
Ben Fowlie is the Executive Director of the Points North Institute, and the Founder of the Camden International Film Festival. He is a co-founder and co-programmer of The DocYard, an award winning screening series in Cambridge, MA and has served on juries at the Silverdocs Film Festival, Hot Docs Festival, Dokufest Kosovo, IFFBoston and for IFP’s Gotham Awards. Ben is currently the Nominee’s Chair for the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, and a member of their Industry Advisory Board and Nominating Committee. He serves on the Maine Film Commission, and is an adjunct instructor at Unity College’s Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities.
Sean Flynn is the Program Director for the Points North Institute and has helped design and produce all Points North programs since 2011. Sean received a master’s degree from MIT’s Comparative Media Studies department, where he worked as a researcher at the MIT Open Documentary Lab. Sean began his filmmaking career as a producer and cinematographer working on two feature-length documentaries, BEYOND BELIEF and THE LIST, both of which had their premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on national television. In 2012, Sean was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Mumbai, India.
Shannon Herring is the Operations Manager for the Points North Institute. She comes from a diverse background in performing, arts management and production. A native Mainer, Shannon received her BFA in Classical Ballet from the New School University in NYC and her Master’s in Arts Policy and Practice at the Houston School for Film & Digital Media in Galway, Ireland. She has worked throughout the US and Europe under several scopes within the nonprofit sector and within commercial events in Australia. Shannon is passionate about community focused arts initiatives, festivals in particular. She has recently relocated back to Maine from Sydney, Australia.
Samara Grace Chadwick is a documentary filmmaker, programmer, and scholar who has spent over 15 years working in the field of non-fiction, in Germany, Denmark, Vanuatu, Brazil, Italy, the US and Canada. She has a PhD in Cultural Studies, and has programmed films and conferences for HotDocs in Toronto, the 2ANNAS Film Festival in Rīga, the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro (MAM), and the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art / 7th Berlin Biennale in Berlin. For the past two years, she curated Doc Circuit Montréal: the Market, Conference, Talent Lab and Kino VR programmes of the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM).
Jonathan Laurence is an artist, photographer, multimedia producer, consultant, and teacher, currently living in his native lands of midcoast Maine.
In addition to working, he gets a kick out of eating and cooking good food, travel, adventure, design, films, art, music, looking, making, assembling, learning, and generally anything positive. find more: jonathanlaurence.com
Nicole Fowlie has been a dedicated supporter of the festival since year one and has enjoyed working as an official member of the team for many years. She lives in the midcoast area where she is raising her two sons. In addition to crunching numbers for Points North, Nicole is proud to work with local youth, both in the school system, and as a behavioral health professional.
Alexandra Marvar is a writer, strategist, and producer focused on helping creators build relationships with their audiences. She has worked on several record-breaking crowdfunding campaigns, recently co-producing the highest grossing doc film campaign to date. She’s participated in panels on film distribution and audience engagement for Hot Docs Doc Ignite labs, the Geena Davis Institute, the Sloan Foundation, IFP, and a pile of great film festivals. In 2010, she co-founded non-profit arts festival O+, where participating artists and musicians exchange art for free healthcare services from art-loving healthcare professionals — now in four U.S. cities! She loves helping bring other people’s great ideas to fruition, and also lobster rolls, so she’s over the moon to be part of CIFF for her fourth year running.
Sita Hellerich recently relocated to Maine after 11 years in NYC. Originally from Germany and India, she moved to the U.S. to study at Vassar College in upstate New York. She holds a BA and an MFA in Political Science and Art History. She has worked in the restitution department at Christie’s in London and Berlin, and spent her time in New York in various creative arts fields, including the museum and art world, event production and coordination, and prop styling for photo shoots. An avid lover of all things Maine in general—and CIFF in particular—she is thrilled to be joining the team for her second year.
Colin Kelley has made a career helping artists realize their visions through technology. He couldn’t imagine a better gig. An experienced digital projectionist and content creator, he frequently freelances for print, broadcast and independent film. He lives down the coast a bit with his wife, their awesome tiny human, two feuding cats and an overly ambitious dog.
Ethan Kiermaier is a freelance builder, event producer, educator, dj, installation artist and native of Midcoast Maine. He holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his work has been supported by Assets for Artists, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Berwick Research institute. He is still largely in disbelief that he gets to throw parties for a living…
Sarah Rogers comes to CIFF with a love of anything that involves production and volunteers. When she is not working for CIFF she can be found organizing the flat- track chaos of Rock Coast Rollers roller derby league; the bit and pieces of the First Universalist Church in Rockland; and all the important data for WindowDressers, a non-profit dedicated to reducing fossil fuel consumption. She is also a mother and secretly addicted to painting murals.
Stevie excited to be joining the CIFF special events team for the second year in a row. He currently works as a musician, artist, archivist, and jack of all trades. He recently moved to Los Angeles. When he’s not on the road, that’s where he lives.
Erin grew up a Downeast Maine girl and now resides in the wilds of Brooklyn, New York. She is a recorder of light and shadow, a jewelry designer, a metalsmith, a painter and drawer, a writer and editor of words, and an organizer of events. She is proprietor and maker of things at owl&bone in Brooklyn.
Eileen Level is a film festival trotter with a New York City mind and San Francisco heart ,searching for the key ingredients to improve the engagement of the cinema culture. She features different movie theaters on her blog, spotlighting what makes each one unique. She also focuses on the importance of supporting movie theaters in our communities. Her dream is to own and manage the finest movie theater this world has ever known. Besides cinema, she loves Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and anime!
Erinne is a Maine-based freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications like The Washington Post, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post and the Bangor Daily News. To learn more visit: www.erinnemagee.com.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Elizabeth Noble – Chair – Lawyer
Jula Sampson – Vice Chair – Co-Owner and Sales Manager, AE Sampson & Son
Rick Rector – Treasurer – Vice President, United Publication’s Inc.
Paul Cavalli – Secretary – Former Marketing Executive, Community Activist
Dick Costello – Former President, Strategic Marketing for Universal Studios
Mazie Cox – Trustee of the Farnsworth Art Museum & MPBN
Jake Dowling – Owner, Dowling Walsh Gallery
Des FitzGerald – Consultant, Three Corner Pond LLC
Michael Grillo – Associate Professor of Art History, University of Maine, Orono Mary
Mary Lampson – Award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor
Tim Messler – Assistant Editor, Ark Media
Emily McDevitt – Educator, Outdoor Enthusiast, Community Advocate
Polly Saltonstall – Writer and Editing Professional, Maine Boats Homes and Harbors
Robert Shotwell – Business Executive
Doug Stradley – Technologist, Data Evangelist, Former Director of MMW Film Program
Susan Williams – Artist, former Partner/Creative Director, Swans Island
Lucinda Ziesing – Screenwriter, Producer, Community Activist
INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARD
Charlotte Cook – Field of Vision
Daniel Chalfen – Naked Edge Films
Lisa Kleiner Chanoff – Catapult Film Fund
Marshall Curry – Filmmaker
Kristin Feeley – Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Alex Hannibal – CNN Films
Ryan Harrington – Discovery Communications
Ingrid Kopp – Tribeca Film Institute
Lyda Kuth – LEF Foundation
Mary Lampson – Filmmaker / Editor
Jennifer MacArthur – Borderline Media
Andrea Meditch – Back Allie Entertainment
Robb Moss – Filmmaker / Harvard University
Brian Newman – Sub-Genre Media
Sierra Pettengill – Producer/Director
Dawn Porter – Producer/Director
Nancy Schafer – Independent Producer
AJ Schnack – Filmmaker / Field of Vision
Sue Schardt – AIR
Louis Venezia – Pilot
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