In 2017 Alex debuted their first feature documentary, Susanne Bartsch: On Top, which premiered at Hot Docs and went on to win the John Schlesinger award at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Alex has received multiple Webby Awards, Vimeo Staff Pick and featured on Netflix, Hulu, MTV, VH1, Vogue, Dazed, HuffPo, Rolling Stone, Paper Magazine, Bullett, Out, and Vice.
Alex co-produced the Topic Studios/Magnet Releasing film Wrinkles the Clown (2019), directed an episode of the documentary series Pride for FX (2021), field segments for Queer Sports on Vice (2023), and most recently finished filming a feature documentary about Tina Burner and Blake Allen staging their original musical, Farmyard Follies.

Blake Pruitt is an editor, filmmaker, film festival director and activist living in New York City. He's a proud Motion Picture Editors Guild Local 700 member. His feature editing debut, the documentary A House is Not a Disco, premiered at SXSW 2024.
Blake’s vision for MIX is to create a platform for artists to showcase their work and create art beyond the constraints of traditional film ‘industry’ or ‘market’ demands. He approaches MIX as a filmmaker first, aiming to foster a supportive environment where artists can freely express themselves.

Octavia Leona Kohner is an anarchist, transexual, lover, and artist. In that order. She believes in DIY and hates selling out. Director, DP, Technical Director, and Script Doctor. Allergic to melons. Contact: Octavia@MIXNYC.org

Kneaku is Director/Writer and DJ affectionally known as Sp3cialK. They have an expansive background in film production, live performance, project coordination and arts administration with experience in independent and institutional settings. They hold a Bachelors in Digital Media & Video Production and Theatre Arts and indefinites as storyteller of many mediums. With ten years of experience in the fast-paced environment of NYC, they have a wealth of knowledge and skills to offer the arts sector.

Damon Beirne is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, whose work amplifies the artistic practice of LGBTQ+ performers. His short film Lavender Outlaws, about LGBTQ americana music, screened at Americanafest, OUTSouth, Gaze International, and won the audience award at TRANSlations. He is a member of DCTV, The Gotham, Filmshop, and serves as the director of archival for MIX NYC. Look out for his upcoming feature, Notes On N.O.P.E.

Tia Wong is an artist, designer, and community organizer residing in Ottawa, Canada (unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation). She was born and raised in Toronto, where she began practicing fine arts and filmmaking. Tia works as a graphic designer and communications professional for arts, climate science, and community solidarity organizations. Her love of parties and cinema led her to MIX in 2024.

LaTefy Dolley is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He holds a BFA in painting with a minor in art history from the Memphis College of Art (2014) and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts (2019). A Brooklyn-based curator, archivist, and multidisciplinary artist, he explores Black queer histories through exhibitions, digital archives, and community-driven projects. He has curated for Visual AIDS, the High Line, and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (The Center) and currently works at Sikkema Malloy Jenkins. As a chosen cohort member, he is a participant in the 2025 Curatorial Seminar at Independent Curators International (ICI). His archival work includes projects with Other Countries, a Black gay men's writing collective founded in 1986 in New York City, as well as the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Visual AIDS collaborative archival project Last Address. Through research, curation, and preservation, he utilizes innovative archival strategies to ensure alternative queer cultural histories remain visible and accessible.

Nico Meyer is a Brooklyn-based film industry plant working in publicity. They also dabble in programming (I Wanna Look Like What I Am: Transfaggotry in Moving Images at Starr Bar and trans/gressions at Life World, both in 2023) and poetry.

Since moving from Venezuela to the U.S. in 2014, Diego Leon has been driven by a passion for his community and the film industry. With experience in marketing, production, and outreach, he brings a unique mix of creative and strategic expertise to MIX NYC. Believing in the power of film to amplify queer voices, he sees MIX NYC as the perfect platform to engage new audiences and celebrate LGBTQ+ artistry. His commitment to visibility and cultural impact drives him to build strategic partnerships and secure sponsorships, fostering collaborations that expand resources, elevate queer filmmakers, and keep the festival a vital space for groundbreaking storytelling.

Ariel Ottey (they/them) is a Black, queer, and non-binary artist, curator, and producer born and raised in New York. As a documentarian, they explore the intersection of personal identity and community relationships. Ariel is passionate about BIPOC representation, using film as a platform for social change, and is currently working on their first feature film.
After years in production, they transitioned to film festivals during the pandemic. They've programmed for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and now program for Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Ariel supports MIX with programming and leads festival operations.

Jac Renée Bruneau is a writer and film programmer based in NYC (Lenapehoking). After nearly a decade working in contemporary art and moving image, they attained their MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU. In 2024, they won the Green Violet Award for Climate Storytelling in Film for their feature length eco-thriller, Fire Season. Alongside ongoing writing projects for the screen, they work as a project manager, provide script coverage and consultation, and continue to publish criticism and commissioned texts on film and moving image.

Sasha is a part-time writer, archivist, grad student, bartender, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY.

Aster Ryan is a DJ, producer, and designer based in Brooklyn.

Sadie Meadow is a filmmaker, game developer, and sound artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She is interested in ecological histories, futures, and the bounds of virtual cinema. She has worked as an educator, an engineer,  a contracted technician, and a commissioned artist.
Sadie has created experimental films, digital instruments,, sound effects, games, prototypes, live and pre-recorded musical scores, 3D&2D animations, title designs, interactive music videos, analog video art, live A/V systems, VJ performances, music events, film events, livestreams, and more.

Evan Silver aka Tiresias is a hybrid writer, director, composer, performer, puppeteer, curator, producer, mythmaker and ritualist based in Brooklyn. Recently called “a rara avis of experimental theatre” by The New Yorker, their projects have been presented at Joe’s Pub, MoMA PS1, Ars Nova, the cell, The Brick, HERE Arts, La MaMa, Postmasters, Ballhaus Berlin, Agung Rai Museum of Art,  IKLECTIK Art Lab, MaHalla Berlin, House of Yes, and the Edinburgh Fringe. They have received residencies and grants from MacDowell, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Jim Henson Foundation, the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, The Puffin Foundation, The Mercury Store, and Awesome NYC, among others.

Jessica Dunn Rovinelli is a film director, editor, colorist and critic based in New York. She is the director of two award-winning feature films and several shorts, which played at festivals including New Directors/New Films, Berlinale, FIDMarseille, and IndieLisboa. Rovinelli is also a recipient of grants from the Centre national des arts plastiques (Paris), New York Foundation for the Arts, and Film Independent. In 2019, she was selected as one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film.