QFest - About Us

ABOUT QFEST
The story of QFest begins in 1996, when a group of maverick arts organizations collaborated and created The First Annual Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, better know as The HGLFF. Inaugurated by Loris Bradley of DiverseWorks, Liz Empleton of Rice Cinema, Sarah Gish of Landmark Theatres, and Marian Luntz of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The HGLFF would soon grow to include Steve Buck of The Angelika Film Center and Andrea Grover of The Aurora Picture Show. In its early years as a multi-venue annual event, The Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) served as the festival’s non-profit fiscal sponsor. The first co-presidents of the HGLFF were Gudrun Klein and Andrew Edmonson, followed by Margaret Zigman and Ernie Manouse. In 2005, Margaret Zigman would become the festival’s first solo President.

In 2006, the festival’s tenth anniversary, The HGLFF launched its most pivotal year. The HGLFF consolidated into an independent not-for-profit entity. With consolidation came new leadership. Rob Arcos, formerly of Landmark Theatres, was named Festival Director and Kristian Salinas was named Program Director. Now in charge of its own programming, the festival no longer exhibited programs at multiple venues over a two week period; instead, the festival was condensed into a single location over one weekend. The changes were risky, but brought about dynamic growth, allowing for some of the biggest hits in the festival’s history: Ash Christian’s Fat Girls, Carlos Portugal’s award-winning East Side Story, Andrea Meyerson’s Laughing Matters…More!, and the Spanish comedy Reinas.

The growth of 2006 inspired a whole new direction for 2007. Led by new Executive Director Kristian Salinas, The HGLFF’s 11th year is being inaugurated with a dramatic name change to reflect this new energy - QFest 2007: The 11th Annual Houston Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. The festival’s new name ushers in a new concept, one devoted not only to film, but also to art and music, refracted through a Queer prism. Inspired by the spirit of our maverick founders, QFest aims to be a vanguard for all things Queer: both an incomparable event for the community, and an inspiring experience to be shared by all.

MISSION STATEMENT
QFest is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts as a powerful tool for communication and cooperation among diverse communities by presenting programs by, about, or of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

PO Box 1007
Houston, TX 77251
kristian@q-fest.org

Get involved!
Contact Dennis Draper
volunteer@q-fest.org

QFEST STAFF
KRISTIAN SALINAS, Executive Director Kristian’s involvement with QFest dates back to 1997, where he served on the Festival’s first Advisory Committee. An RTF graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Kristian has worked just about every facet within the arts and entertainment industry. Best-known to fellow Houstonians as the Program Director of the venerable Rice Cinema, Kristian also worked with MFAH Films, Landmark Theatres, SWAMP, Reinhart Marketing, and The Angelika Film Center. Now based in Los Angeles, Kristian was Senior Programmer for Outfest 2003: The 21st Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. He currently enjoys a freelance career as a writer and online marketing guru.
QFEST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DENNIS DRAPER Now serving his third year as a member of the QFest board, Dennis Draper is a vital presence at the festival, managing our box office, recruiting volunteers, and overseeing our opening and closing night events. In addition to being an avid movie watcher, Dennis plays an active role in the community, serving on the boards of The P-FLAG/HATCH Youth Scholarship Foundation, as well as Unhinged Productions, a local GLBT-theatre company. During his regular business hours, Dennis is the Events & Operations Coordinator for the Alley Theatre.
ELLEN HUANG A new member of the QFest board, Ellen Huang is the Founder and Executive Director of Queer Lounge, a Los Angeles-based non-profit supporting the evolution of LGBT films towards reaching, inspiring, and educating broader audiences. Through panels, special events, and media outreach, Queer Lounge leverages high-profile industry figures, celebrities, and press to bring greater awareness to LGBT films by hosting a venue and networking space within such festivals as Sundance and Toronto. A resident of Los Angeles, Ellen previously worked for Academy Award winners Helen Hunt and Hans Zimmer as a feature film development executive. She graduated with an MFA in Film Production from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.
NORMAN KORPI While a new member of the QFest board, Norman Korpi is by no means a stranger to Houston. In 2002, The HGLFF proudly hosted the Houston premiere of his and co-director Clint Cowen’s directorial debut, The Wedding Video, featuring a who’s who from The Real World, the enormously popular MTV reality show from which Norm got his own start in 1992 as one of the first openly gay individuals on national television. Now living in Los Angeles, Norm is an accomplished artist who has also artistically freelanced on productions ranging from the Oscars to Radio City Music Hall’s 30th Anniversary Super Bowl Half Time Show featuring Diana Ross. Norm's paintings have been consistently collected over the years with many on public display around the country within Fortune 500 companies, public art institutions, as well as private collections. Bleecker 56, Whitehall Gallery, Barbara Bratthen Gallery, Rempire and the Paul Bridgewater Gallery in New York’s Soho have represented Norm over the years.
CARLOS PORTUGAL Many will recall new QFest board member Carlos Portugal and his award-winning directorial debut, East Side Story, featured in last year’s festival. Carlos began his career at KQED, San Francisco’s PBS station, where he produced the Emmy Award winning documentary “Frida Kahlo: Portrait of an Artist.” In 2003, Carlos co-created NBC/Telemundo’s international romantic reality sensation “La Cenicienta” (“Cinderella”). The highly rated series received a 2004 GLAAD Award for its fair, accurate and inclusive portrayal of Gay Latinos. Residing in Los Angeles, Carlos is currently working as Co-Executive Producer on “Body of Desire”, a primetime drama series for NBC based on “El Cuerpo Del Deseo”, the hit Telenovela that aired on Telemundo in 2005-2006. This year, he will also direct Lip Service, his second feature, which he also wrote.
SIXTO WAGAN, Board President At five years, Sixto Wagan is the longest serving member of the QFest board. Co-Executive Director and Performing Arts Curator for DiverseWorks Artspace, Sixto has focused attention on the commissioning and development of new work from nationally recognized mid-career and emerging artists. Prior to his association with DiverseWorks, Wagan taught inner-city public high school and co-founded The Queer Artists Collective – a multi-gendered, multi-ethnic performing arts collective. A former member of the National Performance Network Board of Directors, Wagan currently serves as a Hub Site Representative to the National Dance Project, is a Dance Down Under Ambassador, a partner in FUSED (French – US Exchange for Dance) and the Contemporary Art Centers consortium, and is on the Advisory Board for the Texan French Alliance for the Arts, an organization created to celebrate French culture in Houston.
JENNY WALL For over 10 years, Jenny Wall has been an influential powerhouse in the world of marketing. Joining HBO in 1995, Jenny worked with the team that created the landmark “It’s not TV, it’s HBO” campaign. Foreseeing a future in online marketing, Jenny moved from New York to Los Angeles and co-founded GO Marketing, specializing in the GLBT marketplace. But as client demand grew, so did the scope of GO’s marketing mission, and, after having achieved unprecedented success implementing targeted strategies on such campaigns as HBO’s Angel’s in America and Paramount Picture’s Mean Girls, Jenny took the opportunity to head up the new interactive department at top design house Crew Creative Advertising. As President of Interactive Marketing, Jenny’s department has grown from four staffers to 40 in three short years, developing strategic, successful online campaigns for such clients as Discovery Channel, Lionsgate Films, HBO, E!, CNN, Bravo, ESPN, Lifetime, Sundance Channel, ThinkFilm, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers. 2007 marks Jenny’s first year on the QFest board.