Transitional Working Group

For over a decade Art House Convergence has operated as a program of the Michigan Theater Foundation. In order to establish clear, transparent governance, financial oversight, and mechanisms for collective decision-making, Art House Convergence has transitioned out of the Michigan Theater Foundation and begun democratic processes for membership cultivation and incorporation as an independent 501(c)3. To facilitate this process, Art House Convergence has entered into a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Sundance Institute.

The Transitional Working Group (formerly known as the Provisional Board) will play a crucial role in guiding this process and will help recruit members, shape membership, cultivate future board members, and steward the extrication of Art House Convergence brand and assets from the Michigan Theater Foundation. The Transitional Working Group will assume legal and financial responsibility for the Art House Convergence until a governing board is elected, at which point the Transitional Working Group will dissolve. Members of the current Transitional Working Group will remain available for non-voting advisory support as needed for a length of time as directed by the inaugural board.

For the latest updates regarding this process, please head over to the AHC Blog.

Camille Blake Fall

Camille Blake Fall is an attorney who’s been involved with film and media since 2006 beginning with her stint as a Workshop Leader for Image Makers, a program sponsored by the Washington, D.C. chapter of Women In Film & Video where high school students learn how to write, direct, edit and produce a 30-second public service announcement. Camille has since worked with many film festivals in the mid-Atlantic including the Maryland Film Festival where she currently serves on its Board and as a screening committee member.

Brett Bossard

Brett Bossard currently serves as the executive director of Cinemapolis, an art house cinema in Ithaca, NY. He’s spent the past two decades in arts administration, working for community organizations such as the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, the Hangar Theatre, and the Cayuga Museum of History and Art. He holds a B.S. from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and an M.A. in Popular Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University.

Chris Collier

Christopher R. Collier is the Executive Director of Renew Theaters, a nonprofit management company that operates four nonprofit, member-supported theaters in the Greater Philadelphia Region (The Ambler Theater, County Theater, Hiway Theater, and Princeton Garden Theatre.) He has worked at Renew since 2007, starting as a manager of his hometown Ambler Theater. Over his 10+ years working at Renew, the company has doubled in size, both in staff and number of theaters. He served as the 2018–2019 AHC Conference Co-Chair along with Taylour Chang.

Gina Cuomo

Originally from Queens, Gina landed herself in Colorado in 1997. She paid her dues working for theatre chains such as Regal and Landmark before she landed a spot working the Denver Film Festival in 2006. She quickly moved her way into a management position and currently sits as the Director of Operations for Denver Film. Aside from her love of the cinematic experience, Gina is an avid baseball fan and a loyalist to the hit television phenomenon LOST.

Ira Deutchman

Ira Deutchman has been making, marketing and distributing films since 1975, having worked on over 150 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He is one of the founders of Cinecom, Fine Line Features, and Emerging Pictures. Currently Deutchman is an independent producer, consultant in marketing and distribution of independent films, and a Professor of Professional Practice in the School of the Arts at Columbia University, where he was the Chair of the Film Program from 2011-2015. Deutchman is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he majored in film. His personal archive is part of the University of Michigan Screen Arts Mavericks and Makers Collection, which also includes the archives of Orson Welles, Robert Altman and John Sayles.

Rebecca Fons

Rebecca Fons is Director of Programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center, a public program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and serves as the Development and Programming Director for the historic Iowa Theater in her hometown of Winterset, IA. Rebecca previously served as Programming Director for FilmScene in Iowa City, IA; Director of Film at the John and Nancy Hughes Theater in Lake Forest, IL; and as Education Director for The Chicago International Film Festival for nearly a decade. Rebecca received her MA from Columbia College Chicago and BA from the University of Iowa. She is co-founder of the Chicago event series Destroy Your Art, and proudly serves as a member of the Screening Committees for SXSW and the True/False Film Festival.

Jessica Green

Jessica Green is the artistic director of the Chromatic Black Collective. She was the artistic director of Houston Cinema Arts Society from 2019-2022. Currently she is also an independent film curator, currently working on projects with the Weeksville Heritage Center and the Museum of the City of New York. She was the cinema director of the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem, founded by legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles, from 2008-2018.

Eugene Hernandez

Eugene Hernandez is the Director of the New York Film Festival, Deputy Executive Director of Film at Lincoln Center and is publisher of the award-winning magazine Film Comment. Hernandez was the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of IndieWire, which he built over nearly 15 years as it became the leading editorial publication for independent and international films, filmmakers, industry, and audiences. Hernandez was named on Out magazine’s OUT100 list in 2015 and has served as a juror at Sundance, SXSW, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. He has also worked extensively as a consultant for several nonprofits, including the Creative Capital Foundation; written for major print and online publications; serves on the board of advisors for SXSW and SeriesFest; and as a programmer of the Key West Film Festival.

Dan Hudson

Dan Hudson is the Executive Director of Images Cinema, a beloved community art house in Williamstown, MA that has been in operation as a movie theater for over 100 years. He was mostly recently the Executive Director of the National Film Festival of Talented Youth (NFFTY). After working and programming the festival for a few years, he joined NFFTY full-time in 2018 and lead the organization for four years. A graduate of Seattle University’s MFA in Arts Leadership program, he has over eleven years of professional experience working with arts nonprofits. He primarily has worked with theatre and film organizations—including Intiman, ArtsWest, SIFF, Northwest Film Forum, and Scarecrow Video—in a variety of marketing, development, and operations roles. He programmed Seattle’s Grand Illusion Cinema—where his programming was twice profiled by The Stranger—as well as Art House Theater Day, a nationwide event.

Jan Klingelhofer

Jan Klingelhofer has worked in movie distribution and exhibition for over forty years.  Since 1992 she has advised independent theater owners with her own consulting service, Pacific Film Resources. In 1985, she co-founded the first ON SCREEN: A Celebration of Women in Film, a film festival devoted to feature films directed by women. Her current goal is to make historic buildings commercially viable in the coming years by providing a movie-going experience that can not be duplicated in the home.

Stephanie Silverman

Stephanie has been Executive Director of the Belcourt in Nashville, TN, a three-screen non-profit film center dedicated to presenting the best in contemporary and repertory cinema, for over a decade. Throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee, Stephanie is an admired arts leader—deeply engaged in local and regional civic conversations about the arts, and garnering accolades and awards that have included Nashvillian of the Year (from The Nashville Scene) and CEO of the Year (from Nashville’s Center for Nonprofit Management). Prior to her tenure with the Belcourt, Stephanie worked for many arts organizations including the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and The John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

Dylan Skolnick

Dylan Skolnick is Co-Director at the Cinema Arts Centre, Long Island’s leading venue for alternative film. He maintains the Centre’s forty-plus year focus on using film to expand the awareness and understanding of Long Islanders to the vital local and global issues facing our society. Dylan is also the Programming Director for the Lake Placid Film Festival, as well as a Film Buyer for a number of independent cinemas, including the Circle Cinema (Tulsa, OK), Rodeo Cinema (Oklahoma City, OK), Old Greenbelt Theatre (Greenbelt, MD), and the Appell Center for the Performing Arts (York, PA).

Emily Long

Emily is the Director of Development at Kartemquin Films in Chicago. Areas of expertise include grant writing, membership, special events and strategic planning. Emily was one of the Art House Convergence Track Heads for Development for the 2020 annual conference. Prior to Film at Lincoln Center, Emily was the Director of Development and Communications for an education startup in New York City. She holds an M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Script Development from Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn.

Ronnie Ycong

Ronnie Ycong is the Executive Vice President & GM for Digital Cinema United Americas, a global technical content services company serving the motion picture industry. With 25+ years of leadership experience in the theatrical exhibition industry as an exhibitor, cinema vendor and distributor, Ronnie is also a principal in CineMarketing Consulting Group. He served as Executive Vice President for Spotlight Cinema Networks where he led their exhibitor relations and operations initiatives, and was head of distribution for CineLife Entertainment. Prior to that, he worked for Screenvision Media as Exhibitor Relations Director and managed multiple theatres for Mann Theatres as Managing Director. In 2013, Ronnie was recognized as one of Box Office Magazine’s “40 Under 40” young executives shaping the future of the exhibition industry.

Art House Theater Day

Dan Hudson, Co-Chair

Dan first started with the National Film Festival of Talented Youth (NFFTY) in 2015, and has programmed the animation and music video categories since NFFTY 2017. He joined NFFTY full-time in 2018, and has been NFFTY’s Executive Director since January 2019. A graduate of Seattle University’s MFA in Arts Leadership program, he has over nine years of professional experience working with arts nonprofits. He primarily has worked with theatre and film organizations—including Intiman, ArtsWest, SIFF, Northwest Film Forum, and Scarecrow Video—in a variety of marketing, development, and operations roles. He programs Seattle’s Grand Illusion Cinema—where his programming was twice profiled by The Stranger—as well as Art House Theater Day, a nationwide event. He also serves on the board of TeenTix, an arts access and youth dev organization.

Rocío Mesa,  Co-Chair

Rocío Mesa is the director of LA OLA – Independent Films From Spain, a showcase of the best contemporary Spanish cinema in Los Angeles (American Cinematheque), New York (Anthology Film Archives) and Mexico City (Cineteca Nacional), celebrating its 5th edition in 2019. Mesa has worked as Associate Programmer for the LA Film Festival and has collaborated with art house theaters including the Echo Park Film Center and Now Instant Image Hall.

Community Forum Google Group

Dylan Skolnick, Moderator

Dylan Skolnick is Co-Director at the Cinema Arts Centre, Long Island’s leading venue for alternative film. He maintains the Centre’s forty-plus year focus on using film to expand the awareness and understanding of Long Islanders to the vital local and global issues facing our society. Dylan is also the Programming Director for the Lake Placid Film Festival, as well as a Film Buyer for a number of independent cinemas, including the Circle Cinema (Tulsa, OK), Rodeo Cinema (Oklahoma City, OK), Old Greenbelt Theatre (Greenbelt, MD), and the Appell Center for the Performing Arts (York, PA).

AHC Staff

Kate Markham, Administrative Coordinator

Kate is a non-profit Arts Administrator with a passion for the arts, education, and finance. She currently provides contract accounting services to non-profit organizations and previously served as the Development Director of Riverside Theatre, Iowa City; Director of Operations for FilmScene, Iowa City; and has over a decade of experience in restaurants, hospitality, and event planning in Chicago, North Carolina, and Iowa. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa in Art and Art History with additional post-baccalaureate coursework in Accounting and Museum Studies from Northwestern University and Entrepreneurial Management from University of Iowa.