The following freelancers are partnering at YCN

Cheryll Hildago

Seattle (USA)
chidalgo@seattleacademy.org

After art school, Cheryll’s travels took her away from film to becoming a machinist, a political activist, mother, and going back to school for a degree in computer science.  After a 12 year, successful career as a software developer, Cheryll returned to film, joining the staff at Seattle Academy, where her daughter attended school, to build the high school’s film/video program into a highly successful, and well-regarded program for 15 years. 

As president of The Media Educator’s Excellence Team (MEET), Cheryll is also a coordinator of The Northwest High School Film Festival, a central focus of activity for the organization that supports the work of media teachers in the region.

Leomary Rodriguez

New York (USA)
info@directedbyleo.com

Leomary Rodriguez is a Dominican-American photographer, award-winning cinematographer, and seasoned film festival judge. With a background in documentary filmmaking, content acquisitions, and cinematography, she has traveled the world judging films at festivals and sharing her knowledge with emerging filmmakers. Leomary is a graduate of the University at Buffalo's Media Studies program and currently resides in The Bronx, New York. She has a passion for storytelling through both photo and video, with a focus on highlighting stories in her community. She has been a member of various filmmaking and photography collectives, where she provides portfolio reviews for up-and-coming creatives. Throughout her career, Leomary has garnered extensive experience in the film industry and is always eager to share her expertise with others.

Lina Yannopoulou

Athens (Greece)
linayannopoulou@gmail.com

Lina Yannopoulou has been a part of the audiovisual industry since 1994, contributing to various aspects of film production and development for both Greek and international projects, including the multi-awarded Theo Angelopoulos' "Ulysses Gaze" (1995)and many more. In November 2021, she joined Argonauts Productions S.A., a leading production company in Greece. Most recently she produced the Giornate degli autori-selected film "The Summer with Carmen"(2023). From 2014 to 2018 she led the documentary film critique & analysis workshops of OIFF with children and youth juries. Since 2017 she has been one of the tutors of the “Olympia Creative Ideas Pitching Lab”, which aims to boost the production of films for children and young people in Greece. Lina is dedicated to nurturing emerging talent and collaborates with young filmmakers worldwide,so she is always in search of bold voices, fresh narratives and projects for young audiences. She is a member of the Audiovisual Producers’ Association of Greece (SAPOE).

Marija Ratkovic Vidakovic

(Sweden/Croatia)
marijaratkovic@gmail.com

Marija graduated Film, TV and Performing Arts Production at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. She has more than 10 years’ experience in the festival/event management and film industry and she is specialized in youth film and developing new talents. From 2012 to 2017 she was employed at the Croatian Film Association as a producer and manager of festival programs. From 2015 to 2017 she has been managing director of CFA.

In 2018 she finished her first film as director: mid-length documentary “IKEA for YU”, which was screened at more than 25 festivals throughout the world, among others: Sarajevo Film Festival and DokLeipzig. Marija lives in Sweden now and works as a film and media teacher and freelance producer.

nandor grosch

Budapest (Hungary)
gyerekszemfesztival@gmail.com

Nandor has been leading dramatic filmmaking groups combining child psychodrama method with filmmaking in the framework of Kids’ Eye Public Art Association for the last 18 years, producing more than 400 short films with children living in fostercare. He graduated at Kossuth Lajos University Faculty of Arts and has MA degree in History and Tecahing. Furthermore, Nandor is a film producer with diploma obtained at the University of Theater and Film Arts with the method based qualification as a child-psychodrama leader.

Apart from working for the Kids’ Eye Association, he works full time as a legal guardian at the Child Care Centre in Budapest, providing the legal representation for 30 children who were removed from their original families and are being raised at foster families or in children homes. He himself has been raised in various foster homes for 13 years. Today he is married and has three children

pete moles

Limerick (Ireland)
pete.moles@gmail.com

Pete has been working with Young Filmmakers for over a decade and has recently established a Youth Film Organisation in his home city - Emerging Limerick Filmmakers. He is the Technical Manager for Fresh Film Festival too, so he has watched lots of short films made by young people. He has also worked with the Richard Harris International Film Festival as a shorts programmer.

Pete is always looking for opportunities to develop meaningful projects that facilitate young filmmakers in developing their creative voice, take risks and make movies. Having graduated with a Master's Degree in Film Studies and Film Production from University College Dublin, Pete still self-identifies as a philosopher thanks to his undergrad degree.

FREDRICK OCHIENG

Nairobi (Kenya)
semaochieng@gmail.com
https://semaochieng.co.ke/

Fredrick Ochieng is a freelance photographer and a cinematographer based in Nairobi, Kenya, a Canon Certified Trainer and the Director of the SEMA Ochieng Pictures LTD. He has a great focus on Documentary, Wildlife, Events and Lifestyle. Fredrick’s interest in photography and filmmaking started when he was just 9 years old using a point-and-shoot camera and film rolls to shoot pictures of his mother and other family members. The challenges he went through growing up with a single mother in the slums of Nairobi gave him a great motivation to use the powerful tool he had that is the camera to tell stories around him to change his situation in life and also contribute in telling positive stories that never get to be told. Fredrick is now running a series of film workshops in Kenya through “Stories from our cities”, a participatory filmmaking workshop targeting the youth both in urban and rural towns in Kenya between 18-26 years. This is a space to learn the entire process of filmmaking, learning how to shoot, edit and produce films and videos, to develop storytelling skills and understanding the technical aspects of video production to tell their own stories and share them to the world, but most importantly a chance to learn, create, share and connect. Over a decade now SEMA has been running film workshops, photography and mentorship programmes in different cities in Kenya for creatives to try to find and develop career opportunities.