Gender Reel is committed to providing an art space that is inclusive of people from all background and experiences. To do this, the Festival Planning Committee also needs to be as diverse as possible. If you are interested in joining Gender Reels Planning Committee contact genderreelfest@gmail.com.
Listed below are the names and bios of the 2013 Festival Organizers:
National Organizers:
Joe Ippolito (Founder & Chair)
Joe is an activist, organizer, researcher, educator, coordinator and filmmaker. Joe is also a Doctor of Psychology, a Community Faculty Member, and the Director & Project Coordinator of "Growing Old Gracefully: The Transgender Experience," a multi-media program exploring the issue of transgender aging. Joe transitioned his gender from female-to-male 11-years ago and has been organizing in the transgender community ever since. Over the years, he has been on the forefront of the transgender movement, working as a cultural compentency trainer and as an organizer for groups such as The Philadelphia Trans-health Conference and The American Psychological Association.
Sam Richman (Graphic Designer)
Sam is a native Philadelphian currently residing in Plymouth Meeting. He possesses a BA in English, and is now an administrative assistant & graphic designer for a custom clothing company in Ardmore, PA. Sam enjoys playing acoustic guitar, watercolor painting, dancing, video games, vegan food, beer, and toying with gender. He has been in transition (female-to-male) since late 2008
Evelyn Friel (Webmaster)
In my real job I do administrative work but my passion is with computers. Its a long way off from back in my days when I would put a small block Chevy into anything that rolled. Nowadays my days are kept busy with work, my two kids Patrick and Russell, and my partner… mix that in with some volunteer work and I keep busy.
West Coast Organizers:
Vega Darling (Oakland, CA)
Vega Darling is a community organizer, activist, artist, doula, health care worker and transgender man. He has spent the past 10 years participating in community organizing and outreach within the trans community, with an emphasis on the needs of youth. Vega served on the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference Committee from 2004-2009 as Programming Coordinator, Youth & Family Programming Coordinator and organizer of the Child Activity Center. He has worked on several LGBT themed films (Godspeed, Maggots and Men, Valencia). Vega is committed to raising awareness, both locally and nationally, to assist transgender individuals and their allies in need of recognition, public health care, and civil rights. Vega resides in Oakland, California.
Zander Keig (Oakland, CA)
Zander is a Bay Area social worker, trans* community volunteer and co-editor of the 2012 Lambda Literary Award Finalist Letters for my Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect (www.lettersformybrothers.com).
Shawna Virago (Oakland, CA)
Fresh White (Oakland, CA)
Cheryl Pineapple (Oakland, CA)
Hugh Jassoll (Oakland, CA)
Jetta Rae Robertson (Oakland, CA)
Leeroy Joyce (Oakland, CA)
Rey Drew (Portland, OR)
By morning, Rey is an overworked and underpaid college graduate who continually works a never-ending slew of low-paying but curious dead-end jobs including construction and data entry of porn. By late afternoon Rey is a nature enthusiast, blogger, and world-renoun vegetarian home chef who likes cats and whittling hiking sticks. By late evening, Rey is a genderqueer performance artist and creative manipulator of words and images. By night Rey goes on covert missions to overturn tyrannical gender rule. A horoscope Rey once got pretty much sums it up: Aquarius: There will be a brief cease-fire in the age-old war between the sexes as both sides cooperate in hunting you down and trying you for war crimes. A graduate of The University of the Arts, Rey was a shorts programmer for Philadelphia's 2009 Qfest and has worked on numerous film projects. Rey is absolutely honored to put forth his time, experience, talent and energy into making Gender Reel a success!
East Coast Organizers:
Evelyn Manlove (Philadelphia, PA)
Evelyn is a multi-media artist currently producing work in a number of mediums. She is most active today as a disc jockey under the moniker evil v. Her creative approach to deejaying, which is rooted in her background as an experimental musician, results in a unique listening experience for her audience regardless of the genre in which she is working. evil v can often be found in service to the queer and transgendered communities providing an inspiring soundtrack for parties and community events that frequently benefit LGBTQ organizations.
Tammyrae Barr (Philadelphia, PA)
Tammyrae is a life-long advocate of fairness and justice for all people; an organizer/activist in the Philadelphia LGBT community, she spans beyond gender, race, religion, and politics and tries to connect the dots to form a path to equality for everyone. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University, and believes that the power of visual media transcends the population and is a strong vehicle to mainstream the existence and understanding of transsexual and gender variant people.
Midwest Organizers:
Laura Brodie (Minneapolis, MN)
Gender Reel Board Members:
Jayden H.C. Sampson (Secretary)
Cody Poerio (Treasurer)
Wallace Burchette (Chair & Technical Director)