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Ethan van Thillo, Executive Director/Founder

ethan@mediaartscenter.org

Ethan van Thillo is Founder and Executive Director of the Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD). Since 1989, Ethan’s worked in media arts, programming Latino film festivals for the University of California, Santa Cruz; Cine Acción in San Francisco; Cine Estudiantil at the University of California San Diego; and the National Latino Communications Center in Los Angeles. Ethan has curated hundreds of programs at festivals and/or special events in 45 libraries across California, Mexico City, Morelia, Las Cruces, Nuevo Laredo, San Antonio, Tijuana, Sacramento, and San Diego.

In 1995, Ethan transformed Cine Estudiantil into the San Diego Latino Film Festival. In 1999, to broaden the scope of the festival following four successful years, Ethan established the nonprofit Media Arts Center San Diego in 1999. Under the umbrella of MACSD, Ethan has developed and continues to create innovative community media programs such as the California Digital Story Station initiative, Teen Producers Project, Youth Media & Tech Camps; Mobile Stories, Speak City Heights, The People’s Post, Video Production Services Department, and the Digital Gym community technology center and CINEMA.

Ethan has served on various funding panels including San Diego’s Commission for Arts & Culture, Latino Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Foundation’s 2004 Film and Video Fellowships; California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts’ funding panel for Media Arts. He’s spoken at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, National Association of Latino Arts & Culture, and National Alliance of Media Arts & Culture.

 

Moisés Esparza, Exhibitions Manager

moises@mediaartscenter.org

Moisés is Exhibitions Manager for MACSD where he is responsible for the curation of film-related initiatives, including the San Diego Latino Film Festival and the Digital Gym CINEMA. He graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies with a concentration in Psychology. He is a Master of Arts candidate in the Television, Film, and New Media Department at San Diego State University.

His past professional experience includes internships at Summit Entertainment and other companies, where he assisted development and acquisitions departments with a multitude of tasks.

 

Ryan Kuratomi, Director of Video Production

ryan@mediaartscenter.org

Ryan joined MACSD in 2009, where he leads the Video Production team in producing content for the  YMCA, San Diego Natural History Museum, KPBS, and SDG&E, and others. His extensive background in all aspects of the production process comes from years of working directly with clients from ideation to final delivery in video projects.

 

Juan Lopez, Exhibitions Coordinator

juan@mediaartscenter.org

Juan is MACSD’s Exhibition Coordinator. He attended The Los Angeles Film School where he participated with film crews working on various short films and TV shows. Juan returned to San Diego upon graduating, joining MACSD as a marketing and PR Program Associate for the Digital Gym CINEMA. Juan is responsible for managing our Digital Gym CINEMA as well as curating all of the short films for the annual San Diego Latino Film Festival.

 

Amanda Barcena, Operations Manager

operations@mediaartscenter.org

Amanda has been a full charge bookkeeper for 12 years. She has over 15 years of bookkeeping experience, with the last 7 years performing day-to-day financial operations at MACSD. Her previous experience includes financial management for the San Diego Muscular Dystrophy chapter as well as a local post-secondary vocational school. She’s served Presidents, Executive Directors, Senior Accountants, and CPAs during her career. Amanda recently graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Mark Madero, Cinema Manager

mark@mediaartscenter.org

Mark Madero is the newest member of the team and has over 23 years of managing movies theatres both here in San Diego and Los Angeles. He has a long history with the former Mann Theatre chain which managed the world famous Grauman’s ChineseTheatre in Hollywood.
He also was the Area Manager for the onetime CinemaStar Theatres in San Diego and Riverside County. Mark has a 12-year history with San Diego Theatres, Inc., beginning as the Assistant Front of House Manager and then shortly promoted to a new department in Programming as Contract & Client Service Manager. Mark’s responsibilities include the day-to-day management of the cinema and concessions, including the cinema staff and patron services. A University of Redlands graduate, with a BA in Business Management.

 

Larry Da Silveira, Education Coordinator

larry@mediaartscenter.org

Larry is a veteran educator and avid cinephile. He holds a BA in Social Science from San Diego State University and an MA min Education from Point Loma Nazarene University. Before joining MACSD, Larry taught high school for twelve years before seeking a better work-life balance to care for his son with autism spectrum disorder. Coordinating the Youth Media programs at MACSD combines his love for education with his passion for cinema.

 

Edwin Cruz, Teaching Artist & Education Coordinator

edwin@mediaartscenter.org

Edwin is a film producer and editor based in San Diego, California. He holds a BA in Visual Arts: Media from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In 2014, he co-founded the Buenpaso Collective, a group of filmmakers who sought to address social issues. Alongside this collective, Edwin produced the feature length documentary, Letters from Our Elders, which addressed topics surrounding immigration. He also produced “Del Manantial Del Corazon,” (From the Spring of the Heart) an adaptation of a stage play that documents women’s issues in Yucatan, Mexico. Edwin is currently the creative director of a digital marketing agency and he continues to support the production of content that brings awareness of pressing social issues in his communities.

 

Mizar Martin, Teaching Artist & Community Producer

mizar@mediaartscenter.org

Mizar is a visual artist and anthropologist from Tijuana. Her work includes paintings, cartoons, photography, and sometimes tattoos, of the absurd and dark daily life, with hints of optimism. Teaching art to youth restored her faith in humanity. Mizar is a firm believer in punk rock and social justice. Mizar has been part of the Media Arts Center team since October 2018.

 

Hope Butner, Teaching Artist

Hope Butner is a filmmaker and actor from San Diego, CA. She creates alongside her brother and filmmaking partner, Levi Butner. Together, they co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in their first feature film The Goatman which was released in festivals 2023. The two are continuing to produce films and support their community of filmmakers. Before working in narrative filmmaking, Hope studied philosophy and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz. She then went on to work on the YouTube channel The Physics Girl as an assistant producer and social media specialist.

 


Edwin FrankO, Teaching Artist

Edwin FrankO (Edwin Frank Ortiz) is a Latino filmmaker and actor of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent hailing from Barrio Logan of Southeast San Diego. He graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and is currently prepping for his debut feature film, Fuego.

Edwin began his artistic journey as a break dancer at Point Loma High School before pursuing film. He learned how to dance by watching MTV music videos before the morning school bus rides. The Catalyst in his journey was when a colleague asked Edwin if he could dance in his film and also act. Being new to acting, he loved it and wanted to pursue it ever since. This eventually introduced him to film production and the rest is history. Fuego FrankO looks forward to helping his community grow by encouraging his students to pursue their passions with his knowledge. In his free time, he can be found dancing Salsa or Bachata.

Kellen Ellis, Teaching Artist

Kellen Ellis is an internationally-exhibited artist and art teacher. She is an experimental filmmaker, performance artist, scent designer, director, and collaborator. In a nutshell, she tells stories with the senses. Kellen’s in her eighth year of teaching K-12 and college-level art and media classes. She mentored two groups of students at the All American High School Film Festival’s Complete Film Invitational Experience, a 36-hour film festival in New York City. Her students’ films have been featured at South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival and on exhibition at The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. Kellen studied photography and sculpture at Texas State University and received a Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts & Media at Columbia College Chicago. She’s excited to work with young artists and storytellers at the Media Arts Center. More info about Kellen: https://kellenstanley.com/about


Alara Jones, Teaching Artist

Alara Jones is a filmmaker, editor, artist, and dancer originally from Vancouver, WA. She graduated from Montana State University with a BA in Film Production, a minor in psychology and a business and entrepreneurship certificate. She was a production assistant on a handful of sets in Montana for companies such as Wrangler and Marlboro. The short horror film “Do Not Develop” she wrote and directed her senior year, won First Best Time Director and Best Dark Comedy at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival, as well as being selected in 5 other festivals. She then worked in Montana as a video editor and producer for a year before starting her own business- Alara’s Editing & Productions, and moving to San Diego in the summer of 2022. She is passionate about empowering and supporting other women in film to tell stories that matter. After arriving, she was welcomed into the MACSD teaching family! She is so excited to step into the role of teacher and expand her knowledge as she continues to learn and work with so many other talented teaching artists. Check out some of my work here!: https://www.alaraseditingproductions.com/

Daniel Villasenor, Teaching Artist

Daniel Villasenor is an editor, actor, and filmmaker from Pasadena, CA. Growing up close to Hollywood, and taking plenty of family trips to Universal Studios sparked a deep passion for films and the art of filmmaking. He moved to San Diego around age 8 and in High School, began honing his craft in acting, participating in school plays and then going on to join in 3 Shakespeare productions at the Old Globe theatre and trying a few small roles in some local short films. Daniel studied Video Production at Grossmont College and went on to participate in some film festivals, including the 48 hour film festival where he worked on the short film Off the Deep End. Daniel has also worked on his short documentary Agricultura del Pueblo as a part of a Media Arts Center San Diego internship. Here, he continues to hone himself alongside fellow filmmakers and artists. His free time includes the movie theatre once a week (at least!), and many artistic hobbies such as miniature making, costume and prop making, some guitar and fencing.

Carly Lujan, Teaching Assistant

Carly Lujan is an artist and SoCal native. She attended CSU Monterey Bay to study film production and graduated with a BA in Cinematic Arts and Technology. Starting off her career, she spent a number of years in the Los Angeles film industry, enjoying her role as Prop Master and Set Decorator.

Here in San Diego she has broadened her portfolio as a Visual Merchandiser, Mixed Media Artist and Summer Camp Director. Carly is still active on film projects but is enjoying more time to explore teaching and other creative opportunities, such as joining the MACSD team.

 

Shanna Trenholm, Consultant/Grant Writer

 

Shanna is a writer, consultant, and creative strategist who has worked closely with MACSD since 2010. A San Diego native, Shanna understands the needs of our community and our organization. She assists us with prospect research, fundraising strategy, writing, and grant writing.

 

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