 | Lisa Lucas, PresidentLisa Lucas is a professional writer/producer/actor. She graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in French Literature and Theater Arts. For the last 25 years, Lisa has produced, written, and developed over 36 TV series which include the popular ABC series "The Bachelor", "Work of Art" on Bravo, and the Emmy winning "My 1st Time" on NBC. For the last 7 years, she was part of the producing team behind Silver Bullet Productions award-winning feature documentaries, "A Thousand Voices", which debuted on PBS in 2015 as well as another feature, "Defending The Fire" in 2018. Her third film in collaboration with SBP, "However Wide the Sky” debuted fall 2021 on PBS and continues on the worldwide film festival circuit. She is an Executive Producer and principal partner in the Santa Fe-based production company, LikeMinds, LLC, which develops/produces scripted and docu-series for TV as well as independent films, shorts, and documentary features. Lisa co-hosts a weekly life-during-pandemic cooking series, @thecoronakitch (instagram) on facebook live & youtube with actor/writer/producer and fellow NMWIF member, Debrianna Mansini. Their debut cookbook, “That Time We Ate Our Feelings” drops spring 2022 with Apollo Publishers. Current film projects include producing the indie, award-winning short film comedy script, “The Holy Word”, producing/writing the independent feature “Married at Fourteen (WT)” with Terry Borst, and two network docu-series in development.
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| Leslie Fleming-Mitchell, Vice PresidentLeslie Fleming-Mitchell is an actor, producer, acting coach, and documentary filmmaker whose mission is to awaken and uplift hearts and minds through the sharing of great stories. Acting credits include CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, VEEP, HOUSE, CRIMINAL MINDS, WACO, DEPUTY and the award-winning East Meets West. Voice-Over roles include Elea (lead) in the Project Elea video game and audio-guide Narrator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She’s taught at Second City and the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory in L.A., the esteemed Film Workshops, Rockport, Maine;.Sonoma Academy; the American School in Paris; University of Massachusetts, Boston; Boston Film and Video Foundation and Kevin Fennessey Casting. Clients include Elaine Hendrix. Rockmond Dunbar, Maya Stojan, Robert Wahlberg, Laurene Landon, Emile Hirsch. At the suggestion of creators Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan, Leslie introduced The Artist’s Way, a course in unblocking and reclaiming our creativity, to France and Italy, where it continues to support many artists and performers in their creative process. She is co-producing a historical feature about the first female archaeologist, consults in Production and Incentives, serves as Vice President of NM Women in Film and liaison to Women in Film/TV (WIFT) US and WIFT International, and directs/acts in one-act comedies and Improv online while waiting until in-person collaboration is a thing again! |
| Otgadahe Whitman-FoxOtgadahe Whitman-Fox is Mandan, Hidasta, and Arikira from the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation of North Dakota. Otgadahe has worked with several non-profit organizations including Stagecoach Foundation and The Santa Fe Film Festival. Otgadahe served as the Director of Native Cinema of 2018 for The Santa Fe Film Festival. She was then invited to attend The Cannes Film Festival with Women In Film & Television International. Otgadahe works in front and behind the camera. |
| Deborah WakshullDeborah is a Producer, Director and Location Manager all wrapped up into one! Before coming to NM Deborah lived in Paris, France for 14 glorious years where she developed her creative skills and produced “Gallery Tours” for Rainbow Media, “Paris Pleasures” for Channel 5 London, institutional films and an international short film and live performance festival; “Cadvres Exquises”. She also worked on MTV’s reality show “The Real World” which inspired her to create “Les Coulisses du Chef” a reality based cooking show for Cusine TV. In 2005 she moved to Santa Fe and landed her first creative job in NM producing a 12-part short doc series on science and nature for local PBS, KNME and was nominated for a regional Emmy. For the past 13 years Deborah has become a respected location manager and scout for feature films and TV. She has worked for Disney, Lionsgate, WB, LD Entertainment, Alcon, Paramount and Fox Studios as well as many independent productions. Deborah is now making the natural move to producing feature films. Her focus and inspiration are collaborating and working with talented women writers, directors and producers on meaningful projects. Deborah is currently producing “Tucumcari” a local independent “traumedy” feature film with Writer /Director Kristin Goodman and Producer Alexandra Renzo. |
| Sarah GartnerSarah Gartner is a producer, director and editor. Experienced in concept development through to pilot and series. Accomplished in a variety of genres, credits include Sundance Award winning feature film The Tao of Steve, documentaries, narrative shorts and hundreds of episodes of series television for networks that include MTV, ABC, NBC, Lifetime, Style, Travel Channel, PBS, and more. Born and raised in Sherman Oaks, California, and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Business & Finance. Sarah went on to pursue a graduate film degree at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Right out of film school Sarah was hired on her first feature film Young Guns for 20th Century Fox as an assistant editor. She continued on to many feature films as an assistant editor working for such studios as Universal, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros. etc. After many years of working on feature films and becoming an editor, Sarah had the opportunity to work on the ground breaking television series "The Real World". She worked on this series for 17 seasons, becoming an expert in unscripted/reality television. Sarah is an Executive Producer and principal partner in the Santa Fe based production company, LikeMinds, LLC, which develops/produces scripted and docu-series for TV as well as independent films, shorts and documentary features. Sarah is currently producing the comedy short film “The Holy Word” and multiple docu-series in development. |
| Belle AllenBelle Allen is an independent filmmaker and the founder of Mean Mug Films, a minority based film Production Company located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before entering the world of filmmaking, she enjoyed a long career, first as a public relations specialist in the nuclear industry and then as an IT project manager for a global newspaper corporation, where she managed internet technology deployments for both domestic and international clientele. A jack of all trades, she’s held various roles in major TV productions and motion pictures including, assistant locations manager, 1st assistant director, videographer and director. Belle spent four years as an adjunct professor, at Santa Fe University of Art and Design where she specialized in teaching hands-on film production. She’s also traveled internationally to teach film production to students at the Universidad de las Americas in Quito, Ecuador. More recently Belle served as the State Outreach Coordinator for the State of New Mexico Film office where she spread awareness about the financial viability of the film industry, mentored independent filmmakers about the many benefits of state incentive legislation as well as running the film office’s outreach film programs, host of the film office’s weekly talk radio show and social media champion. She served as an advisor to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media, CNM’s Film Advisory Board and the state’s Higher Education Council. She’s a proud member of the IATSE 480 Film Technicians Union. |
