Meet The Team
Our board and staff are dedicated to bringing the best of Asian and Asian American cinema to audiences of all ages. As one of the oldest Asian film organizations in the U.S., we believe in the importance of preserving the historical aspects of films while enhancing the growth of AAPI youth today.
Board Of Directors
Daniel Chen
Daniel Chen is a real estate developer and broker in New York City. He is the co-founder of My Friends Place NY, a non-profit with a mission to educate and empower underserved youths in the Asian community through mental health programs and workshops.
With an M.B.A. in International Business, Daniel has volunteered and worked with multiple NGOs all around the world. Activities include building a library in rural China, managing an orphanage in Nepal, and teaching English to migrant workers in Hong Kong. He would like to focus on providing opportunities and new career paths for the growing youth of immigrant families and first-generation Americans.
Phil Lam
Philip is a former Product Development Executive at Facebook. He is a 20+ year veteran of the information technology and interactive media industries and has played critical roles in numerous ground-breaking initiatives involving personalization technology, e-commerce, social media and computer/console gaming.
Philip earned his B.S. in Operations Research from Cornell University and his M.B.A. from New York Universityʼs Stern School of Business.
Judy Lei
Judy Lei is an actor, performer, writer, producer, filmmaker, and Voting Rights Organizer at the AALDEF, where she works with the Democracy Team to organize the nation’s largest Asian American Exit Poll. She wrote/performed two one-woman shows – “The World’s Greatest” (dir. MC Jin) and “28: Still Fucked Up.” She recently completed her first feature film, The World’s Greatest.
She has been involved with Asian CineVision since 2009, and hopes to spend the rest of her life telling stories about the NYC Asian American experience through comedy, television, film, and community organizing.
John C. Woo
Founder & Executive Director, WOO ART INTERNATIONAL, Inc.,
Executive Director, ASIAN CINEVISION, Inc.
John Woo is co-founder and Executive Director of Woo Art International, a New York based creative services and visual communications studio founded in 1980. Woo Art creates award winning visual media for a diverse base of clients in the communications, broadcast promotion, exhibit, and entertainment industries.
He is the Board Chair for Asian CineVision (ACV), the New York based not-for-profit media arts organization and presenter of the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF). In 2007, he became Acting Director of ACV and in 2010, Executive Director.
Cecilia R. Mejia
A first-generation Filipino-American born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Cecilia has worked in development for non-profit organizations, including NGOs at the United Nations. She has a master’s degree in Public Administration and Affairs and is a graduate of the Columbia Business School’s Emerging Nonprofit Leaders Program.
She’s worked with several grassroots organizations focusing on underrepresented communities, which led to her working in film. Cecilia has produced a number of short films focusing on critical social impact issues. She’s the lead producer of the Award-winning, Sony-acquired feature film, Yellow Rose, a Social Impact Producer of the award-winning documentary, Call Her Ganda, and Co-Producer for Array Studios-acquired Lingua Franca. Cecilia is combining her love of film and social impact work with under-resourced youth through her non-profit organization, Art of Me, as the Creative Director. She was recently featured in Forbes Magazine for her work.
Wynn J. Salisch
Chairman and CEO of Casablanca Ventures, LLC
Wynn J. Salisch is a senior media and entertainment professional with entrepreneurial strategy, corporate and business development, and operations experience. He is able to adeptly analyze complex situations and develop appropriate actions to achieve positive resolutions. Detail oriented, versatile, and committed, he combines strong interpersonal and problem solving skills with his unique understanding of the Asian American market.
Managers
Kayla Wong
Associate Director
“Dishonor. Dishonor on your whole family. Dishonor on you. Dishonor on your cow.”
– Mulan (1998)
David Rances
Associate Director
“It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others…will help you become whole.”
– Uncle Iroh
Elizabeth Bigelow
Administrative Director/National Tour Coordinator
“Don’t tell me…the offside rule is when the French mustard has to be between the teriyaki sauce and the sea salt.”
– Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Young Chen
Development Director
“Coffee is the lifeblood that fuels the dreams of champions.”
– Kicking and Screaming (2005)
Kris Montello
Programming Director
“You know what I want to do when I grow up? I want to tell people things they don’t know. Show them stuff they haven’t seen. It’ll be so much fun.”
– Yi Yi (2000)
Murielle Hsieh
Creative Director
“I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also so much more than that. So we are all.”
– James Baldwin
Tiffany Bai
Operations Director
“Ever since I turned 13, I’ve been doing my own thing and making my own moves. 24/7. 365.”
– Turning Red (2022)
AJ Sita
HR Manager
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present!”
– Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)
Wendy Chen
Editorial Manager
“Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.“
– Stephen King, On Writing
Michael Mejia
Operations Manager
“You know, Quasimodo predicted all this.” – Bobby (The Sopranos)
Lily Chu
Development Manager
“You’re not just Minions. You’re my family.” – Gru
Siena Koh
Marketing & PR Manager
“I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something.”
– Before Sunrise (1995)
Jenny Xing
Website Manager
“In war, there are no winners, only widows.”
– Arrival (2016)
Jihyun Paik
Production Manager
“But don’t forget, in the meantime, that this is the season for strawberries.” – Clarice Lispector (The Hour of the Star)
Leezum Regensburg
Interim CineVue Editor-in-Chief
“They say the best blaze burns brightest, when circumstances are at their worst.” ― Howl’s Moving Castle
Asian CineVision Staff
Leadership
John Woo, ACV Executive Director
Kayla Wong, ACV Programs / ACV Associate Director
David Rances, ACV Associate Director
Chen-Yi Wu, Festival Coordinator
Elizabeth Bigelow, Administrative Director / National Tour Coordinator
Catherine Gumarin, Legal Manager
Development and Community Partners
Development Manager
Young Chen
Associate Development Managers
Betty Chen
Lily Chu
Development Associates
Fangda “Helen” Cao
Bella Hoang
Nidhi Kalva
Peter Tan
Sponsorship / Events Coordinator
Joyce Chan
Marketing & Public Relations
Marketing Manager
Siena Koh
Communications Associate Manager
Lily Chu
Newsletter Lead
Susanne Wong
Newsletter Coordinator
Jungsuh Kim
Press Lead
Amanda La
PR Coordinator
Yuming Zhang
Social Media Lead
Sowang Kundeling
Social Media Coordinators
Destiney Cantzlaar
Lina Hoang
Anson Li
Sadia Sharif
Yu Hai Shen
Scarlett Wang
Operations
Operations Manager
Tiffany Bai
Operations Associate
Nicole Yap
Print Traffic Coordinator / Video Editor
Jason Cheung
Production Manager
Michael Mejia
Production Assistants
Tyler Chen
Cindy Ji
Jihyun Paik
Vincent Tsang
Shengtong Yuan
Box Office Coordinators
Dayoung Lee
Lauren Lee
Ambhikha Maharaj
Editorial Coordinator
Elizabeth Bigelow
Copy Editing Assistant
Yuhe “Wendy” Chen
Hospitality Coordinator
Linan Chen
Guest Services Assistant
Brian Lau
Events Coordinators
Kate Chen
Dasom Sohn
Special Events Coordinator
Charissa Isidro
Creative
Creative Manager
Murielle Hsieh
Lead Designer
Priscilla Young
Graphic Designers
Fion Fong
Miko Marfori
Graphic Designer / Photographer
Steven Lew
Motion Graphic Designer
Siwen “Candy” Sui
Graphics Consultant
Harmonie Tsai
Photo/Video Lead
Elena Dagan
Photo Editor
William Mun
Photographers
Romsae Choi
Melanie Hyde
Kyle Lui
Theresa Shim
Photographer / Videographer
Junaid Arif
Wonsik Choi
Jessie Curneal
Jenny Zhang
Video Editor
Yena Oh
Trailer Editor
Raymond Tisch
Program Book Editors
Shay Santos
Jessica Taghap
Website Data Entry
Alexxa Dussault
Lead Software Engineer
Dennis Hu
Web Lead
Jenny Xing
Product Designer
Lauren Chun
Web Developers
Victor Cheng
Timothy Chiu
Carvey Hor
Gary Hor
Yu Lee
Genn-Hong Lin
Alisa Promthep
UX/UI Designers
Mieko Tominaga – UX Designer
Matthew Thien – UX Designer
Lauren Chun – Product Designer
Arnold Bustamente – UX Design Consultant
Programming
Programming Manager
Kris Montello
Programming Coordinator
Julie Zhao
Programmers – Documentary Features
Suzanne Knop
Henry Thong
Programmers – Narrative Features
Kimberly Han
Jackson Lee
Programmers
Raymond Chow
Janis Hong
Seyoung Kim
Anson Li
Michael Mejia
Wanxin Tang
Peggy Tseng
Charlotte Wittmann
Raina Yang
Screenplay Programmer
Samantha Toy Ozeas
Special Exhibition Programmer
Hai-Li Kong
CineVue
Editor-in-Chief
Leezum Regensburg
Staff Writers
Isabella Tecson
Shay Santos
Helen He