VIDIOTS STAFF

Maggie Mackay (she/her), Vidiots Executive Director/Vidiots Board Member, developed her interest in film as a child at her local NYC video store, Rare Bird Video, and independent movie theaters including Film Forum and The Quad. For thirteen years she served as Senior Programmer of the Los Angeles Film Festival and Director of Nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards. She has held positions at Sundance Institute, AFI Fest, and Aspen Film, among other arts organizations, advocating for filmmakers and connecting audiences to cinema. Mackay returned to her video store roots when she joined Vidiots in 2016 as its first Executive Director.

Robbie McCluskey (he/him), Director of Video Store + Volunteers. What Robbie has is a very particular set of skills, skills acquired working behind the Vidiots counter since 2013, skills that make him very helpful at finding the perfect recommendation for people like you. He was put on this planet for one reason, to watch movies (and quote them). Hailing from the state of Maine, a graduate of Cal State LA, Robbie is also the co-creator and host of Vidiots Movie Trivia and has worked as operations manager and coordinator of events all over the greater LA area, including TCM Classic Film Festival, Outfest LA, Primetime Emmy Awards, AFI Fest, and Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Saila Reyes (she/her), Director of Marketing, is an L.A. native writer, director, and content creator who has worked both internationally and domestically across mediums. An inaugural fellow in Universal Pictures’ Emerging Writers Fellowship Program, she moved on to work in feature writing rooms in Hong Kong, TV in Mexico City, video games in Korea, and independent and studio productions in New York and LA. In addition to her creative work, Saila is a NYU Tisch grad who served as the Director of Content Creation for Broadway for All and as a film teacher for her alma mater LACHSA (L.A. County High School for the Arts). Vidiots was her childhood video store and she’s delighted to be back.

Boris Ibañez (he/him), Technical Director, started his tech career at American Multi-Cinema where he worked for over 10 years — in his time there he worked his way to Digital Cinema Manager and managed one of LA market’s largest multiplexes with 30 screens. In that role, he assisted in several film festivals, including Austin Film Festival, Vietnamese Film Festival, & OC Film Fiesta. Boris later became a Preventative Maintenance Technician where he traveled the Western U.S. PMing projectors. Additionally, Boris worked remotely for the company at the Network Operation Center (TOC) where he would assist over 600 sites and over 10,000 screens on day-to-day technical issues, assisting in opening new theaters and theater closures. Boris is now a proud Vidiot.

Amanda Salazar (she/her), Programming Director, is a film curator and arts advocate with a background in film festival programming, theatrical booking, arts organization administration, and digital distribution. She is the Director of Programming at Vidiots. Concurrently with her role she is a Programmer with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, a short film Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival and a Senior Programmer of Narrative Features at the Sonoma International Film Festival. Additionally, she is the co-Director of Camera Obscura, a yearly pop-up cinema held in Petaluma, CA that showcases obscure and experimental films. Her passion for serving independent artists led her to collaboratively co-found the Bay Area Media Makers Summit, a yearly gathering that focuses on the needs of makers in the Bay Area. Previously she was a Programmer at SFFILM, the Cinema Programmer at the Northwest Film Forum, and oversaw acquisitions at independent streaming companies Fandor and Argo. She holds a B.A. in Film Studies from Chapman University.

VIDIOTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Patty Polinger, Vidiots Founder/Vice Board Chair, established Vidiots in 1985 with Cathy, her childhood friend, with a mission to open a different kind of video store: a cultural and community film hub offering a unique and diverse library.

Cathy Tauber, Vidiots Founder/Vice Board Chair, opened Vidiots in 1985, after she and her childhood friend Patty saw a need to make available for rent more interesting, independent, foreign, cult, and documentary films, which were not available anywhere at the time.

Mary Rohlich, Vidiots Board Chair is a film, television and documentary film producer. Rohlic is Head of Film and TV at Purple Pebble Pictures, and she serves as an Executive Producer on the acclaimed Netflix series Atypical. Rohlich has produced hit comedies including Four Christmases, Horrible Bosses, and Identity Thief, and several notable and award-winning documentary features, including Gleason and Print the Legend.

Susan Garbett, Vidiots Board Treasurer, is an arts and entertainment leader with experience in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, she has held positions at the L.A. Film Festival, Outfest and the American Film Institute. From 2014-2019, Garbett led the Theatre at Ace Hotel, developing standard operation procedures for the new venue and programming initiatives with partners such as CAP UCLA, The David Lynch Foundation, and Goldenvoice. In December of 2019, she joined Meow Wolf as the General Manager of The House of Eternal Return.

Claudia Puig, Vidiots Board Secretary, is President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, a longtime critic on NPR’s Film Week and a nationally recognized film journalist. She is currently Program Director for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and for the CASCADIA International Women’s Festival. Claudia has a film consulting business specializing in cultural consulting and teaches a college class on Diversity in the Media.

Norma Manzanares is a marketing executive and longtime Vidiot. Her client roster has included: The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Focus Features, FX, STARZ, ABC, PBS and Nickelodeon, among others. Norma has also held marketing and strategy roles at FUSE, G4/NBC Universal and DreamWorks.

Lela Meadow-Conner is the founder of mamafilm, a non-profit arts organization at the crossroads of art & advocacy – where storytellers, changemakers and nurturers come together to champion humanity through a maternal gaze. mama.film centers stories that foster empathy and connection to women, identity and human experience. She is a co-founder of the rePRO Film series (a program of mama.film), dedicated to showcasing reproductive healthcare, and is currently producing several projects.

Rachel O’Connor is the President of Film and Television at Pascal Pictures, a production company based at Universal Studios. O’Connor is a Producer on the upcoming film, Challengers (Directed by Luca Guadagnino, Starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist), as well as an Executive Producer on Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and a Co-Producer on Spider-Man: Homecoming. O’Connor was a Co-Producer on Steven Spielberg’s Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated, The Post, and was an Executive Producer of Greta Gerwig’s reimagining of the beloved American classic, Little Women. Before making the move to Pascal Pictures, O’Connor worked as an executive for Sony for over 15 years. O’Connor was raised in Los Angeles where she currently resides with her husband and son.

Naomi Ramsey, is an Experiential Marketing Consultant with over twenty years of experience at national and international branding companies, advertising agencies and non-profits. Ramsey has served as Experiential Brand Marketer at Moët Hennessy, Director of Events and Experiences at the Shryne Group in LA, and she has crafted promotional product focused advertising, events and sponsorships for Bacardi Rum, Stella Artois, Waterford Crystal and Volkswagen. Ramsey has traveled extensively, she attended the historical Black College, Virginia Union in Richmond, and is trained as a crisis hotline worker for women facing domestic violence.

VIDIOTS ADVISORY COUNCIL

Yemi Adegbonmire, General Council, The Bail Project

Tara Aquino, Creative Strategist + Writer/Producer

Joel Arquillos, Education, arts, and nonprofit leader

Dilcia Barrera, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Simon Barrett, Filmmaker + Writer

Winona Bechtel, Director of Partnerships, Bob Baker Marionette Theater

Bret Berg, Theatrical Sales Director, AGFA

Emily Kelleher-Best, CEO + Founder, Seed & Spark

Claire Brooks, Writer + Executive Producer

Keith Calder, Snoot Entertainment

Jess Wu Calder, Snoot Entertainment

Henry Cheung, Senior Project Designer, Bestor Architecture

Mike Dougherty, Director of Festival Programming, Outfest

Joshua Adam Fu, Marketing Consultant

Pete Galindo, Business Owner/Arts Consultant

Jess Graham, Graphic Designer

Shipra Gupta, Publicist, A24 Films

Kate Hagen, Director of Community, The Black List

Maori Holmes, Director, BlackStar

Marcus Hunter, African American Studies, UCLA

Jenny Jacobi, Cross-functional Leader + Strategic Facilitator

Divya Kaushik Kohli, Corporate Partnerships, Sundance Institute

Justin LaLiberty, Film Archivist, Vinegar Syndrome

Christy Lamb, Director of Development, Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Sarah Lang, Senior Business Project Analyst, Capital Group

Franklin Leonard, CEO + Founder, The Black List

Martine McDonald, Outfest/Practice Wonder

Katie Manley, Executive Producer + Brand Strategist

J. Pauline Mauro, CFA, Research Coordination Specialist, Capital Research Global Investors

Tess Ornstein, Director of Publicity, Magnolia Pictures

Caumera Parhm, Social Media + Community Manager

Jason Paul, Creative Technologist, JMPaul Development LLC

Leonora Pitts, Filmmaker + Actor

Dayna Richards, Entertainment Attorney

Sav Rodgers, Filmmaker + Founder, Transgender Film Center

Rachel Rosen, Independent Film Programmer + Consultant

James Emanuel Shapiro, XYZ Films

Anam Syed, Creative Producer

Anjelica Triola, Brand Marketing + Creative Consultant

Rachel Walker, Film + Special Events Programmer

April Wolfe, Filmmaker + Writer

Kim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival