The Florida Room - What's Next - Documentary Film Festival

Staff - The Florida Room

Rhonda L. Mitrani, Co-Founder , A BFA graduate of the University of Michigan, Rhonda went on to study film at Middlesex University in England and NYU’s, Tisch School of the Arts. Rhonda started her career in New York City working for Miramax Films where she concentrated in post-production. Her first feature film as an editor premiered at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and aired on SHOWTIME. Rhonda continued working as an editor on projects including MTVLA, ABC and Oxygen Media. In 2002, Rhonda directed her first feature film, the award-winning documentary, “Cuba Mia”, which premiered at the Miami Film Festival and aired on PBS. She went on to co-produce and edit “Once there Was a Country, Revisiting Haiti”. In 2001, Rhonda co-founded The Florida Room and launched The Florida Room Documentary Film Festival effort to help grow the film industry in Miami. She was recently invited to participate in the Complement Exhibition for the South Florida Art Center and Omni Art for Art Basel as a video artist, using footage from a documentary she is set to direct. Rhonda is currently completing a script after being accepted to the NALIP Writer’s Lab. Visit www.cubamiathefilm.com for more information on "Cuba Mia".

Juan Carlos Zaldívar, Co-founder completed both his BFA and a Masters Fine Arts at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he has also taught as an adjunct faculty. His work has been screened at many festivals worldwide and has received awards from The Jerome Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York Foundation for the Arts, The Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund, Tiger Tail Productions and has been commissioned through initiatives of The National Endowment for the Arts, The Florida Dance Festival, The Public Broadcasting Service and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, among others. His student film works received kudos from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Mr. Zaldivar has served as a Juror for the Sundance Film Festival and for The Miami Int'l Film Festival and has served in several boards of directors for arts organizations. He is a Sundance Film Institute Fellow. He is an experienced media outreach strategist. He is president of Phonograph Films LLC, where he has directed "90 Miles," a feature documentary airing on PBS's award-winning series, "POV"; "The Story of the Red Rose" (Showtime), "Palingenesis" and the controversial "Soldiers Pay," co-directed with David O. Russell and Tricia Regan, which was aired by the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and is distributed by Cinema Libre as well as prime-time shows for ABC and WE. His art work has been exhibited at Scope Miami, Deluxe Arts Gallery, Marina Kessler Gallery, Dot Fiftyone Gallery and Chelsea Art Space in London, among others. He is getting ready to direct his first dramatic feature film. More info at www.Zaldivar.info

Lisa Chariff Better, Press Relations is a native Floridian, who acquired her Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree at Barry University with a focus on Social Welfare. She also has a certification in Substance Abuse counseling which has been her profession for the past 15 years. Lisa moved back to Miami six years ago. She has lived and worked in New York City, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii. While in New York City, she worked in the TV/film industry as a freelance production coordinator. She was a Chyron operator on several soap operas such as "All My Children", "Ryan's Hope" and "One Life To Live." She has also worked for Windsor Total Video, National Video Production Company and the Japanese Television station Entel. Lisa was also worked with The Miami International Film Festival 2005 as an associate in the marketing and sponsorships. Her real passion is the documentary film world, where individuals get to tell their story. She is thrilled to continue to work with Florida Room team this year.

Rebecca Mandelman, Production and Outreach Manager, is the newest addition to The Florida Room team. Bringing entertainment public relations and events experience from her tenure with the National Basketball Association in New York City, Rebecca is also a lifelong appreciator of documentary film. She is especially passionate about local cultivation of the arts wherever she happens to be living at the moment - Costa Rica, Spain, Miami or her native New York City – and is ecstatic to directly participate in its growth in Miami with The Florida Room. Rebecca studied government and art history at Georgetown University and has volunteered at several film festivals, most recently the 2005 Miami Film Festival.

Alicia Dean, Production Coordinator , is a recent University of Miami graduate, majoring in Film and Political Science. She has combined her love for both fields by selecting to focus on documentary films. While she attended UM she traveled to London to work as assistant director and editor on a short documentary about street performers. During her senior year she interned with The Florida Room and was later hired to work as assistant editor for Once There Was A Country: Revisiting Haiti, a documentary film The Florida Room co-produced. Last year she also volunteered at The Florida Room Third Annual Documentary Film Festival. Alicia also works part time bartending at a local South Beach hot spot.

Andrea Franco, Graphic Designer, studied Communications in the University of Lima in Peru, and then transferred to finish her film and art studies at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. She worked in several student films and documentaries, to later work independently on the feature documentary "Quiero Volver", which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Besides New York, the film has screened in Toronto, Miami and several times in Peru.

Andrea is currently working on the production of her second feature. www.quierovolver.com. As well as co-producing and editing for television networks like MTV Latin America, she joined The Florida Room on it's thirs year, as production assistand and graphic designer. This year Andrea joins the 4th annual Documentary Film Festival as our graphic designer.

Advisory Board (alphabetical):

Robert Behar; La Bella LLC

Nicole Betancourt; Independent Media Advisor

John Biaggi; Human Rights Watch Int'l Film Festival

Beth Boone; The Miami Light Project

Harvey Burstein; Burstein Family Foundation

Michael Cohen; The Miami New Times

Kathryn F. Galan; National Association of Latino Independent Producers

Kimberly Green; The Green Family Foundation

Mitchell Kaplan; Books & Books

Susan Kaplan; filmmaker

Dana Keith; Miami Beach Film Society

Karol Martesko; Palm Pictures

Albert Maysles; Maysles Films

Sandra Ruch; International Documentary Association

Claire L. Tomlin; The Market Company

Robert West; www.WorkingFilms.com

Debra Zimmerman; Women Make Movies