About GCNP

President

A veteran of the film industry for more than 30 years, Wellington Love began his career in 1989 working at Electronic Arts Intermix, a leading international resource for film, video, and media art. In 1993, he became the Executive Director of NewFest, New York’s international LGBTQ film festival. By 2001, he would go on to found the independent film communications agency 15minutes, planning and implementing worldwide festival premieres, domestic theatrical publicity initiatives, and awards campaigns.

Love co-produced Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday, starring Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee Andra Day. He’s concurrently producing Oscar winner Daniel Junge and Emmy winner Sam Pollard’s documentary I Was Born This Way, as well as Daniel Peddle’s new film Just Me—the follow-up documentary to the groundbreaking 2005 film, The Aggressives, about masculine-presenting queer BIPOC.

He’s also partnering with Effie Brown and Gamechanger Films to produce the thriller Pale Horse, the feature directorial debut of Academy Award-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe. Other projects in development include Peddle’s unconventional love story Rose Moon and the limited series Uncle Bobby, created by novelist Tim Murphy (Christodora). Love is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Treasurer

Longtime advocate and voice for diversity and inclusion within the film industry, Effie T. Brown is CEO of Gamechanger Films, which produces, develops, and finances content by and about women, POC, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities.

Prior to joining Gamechanger, Effie produced such Sundance Film Festival winners as Real Women Have Curves, Dear White People, and Rocket Science. Turning to television, Effie appeared on and produced HBO’s Project Greenlight, as well as executive produced Lee Daniels’ Star on FOX and Disney Channel’s Zombies.

In 2021, Gamechanger Films co-financed Netflix’s Passing, starring Tessa Thompson. Last year’s projects include Amazon’s Run Sweetheart Run and The Inspection, a co-financing and producing venture with A24. The Inspection received three Independent Spirit Awards nominations, was honored at the GLAAD Awards, and won Outstanding Indpendent Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

Gamechanger’s 2023 slate includes climate justice documentary Save Yourself! in parternship with TAZO Tea; Sorcerority, starring and co-produced by Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union; and Haant, a horror feature rooted in Gullah-Geechee mysticism.

As a distinguished member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Effie also serves as an honorary trustee of the prestigious Academy Museum.

Secretary/Executive Director
(non-voting member)

Aaron Heinsman has 20+ years’ experience in nonprofit administration and management and currently serves as the Executive Director of GC Nonprofit (GCNP).

Most recently, he led development, communications, and marketing efforts for Maryland Humanities as Director of Advancement. From March to July 2020, he led the organization during the onset of the pandemic as Acting Executive Director and previously served as Director of Development from 2010–17. Prior to this, he served as the Annual Fund Director for Washington, DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. He began his nonprofit career while serving in several capacities, including Public Relations Director, at Baltimore Center Stage. His tenure there was highlighted by being named one of "Baltimore's 20 Up-and-Comers" by Urbanite.

He trained as a theatrical director at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and did graduate studies in theater history and criticism at University of Texas at Austin. During that time, he also worked on two independent feature films with Effie Brown: Spark and Speedway Junky. He has served in various leadership roles on the boards of three theaters and was actively engaged in migratory bird conservation efforts with Lights Out Baltimore. An inveterate playgoer, film buff, animal lover, tennis fanatic, and out and proud gay man, Aaron is thrilled to once more be a Los Angeles resident, following two decades in Baltimore.

Chris Quintos Cathcart is an actor/writer/producer with a passion for showcasing underrepresented voices in independent film. She has written and performed for various theatres and productions throughout Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Fringe Festival, CBS Comedy Showcase, and Upright Citizens Brigade. She applies all that she has learned on- and off-stage/camera while running her film financing company, Unapologetic Projects. She has served on the board of Killing My Lobster to keep diverse and innovative live theatre and comedy thriving in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is from. Chris is thankful to Gamechanger Films for her latest EP credit, The Inspection, written and directed by Elegance Bratton. She is thrilled to join the GC Nonprofit board.

Silas Howard is an award-winning director, writer, and producer focused on telling honest narratives filled with groundbreaking characters. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker brings both uncompromising vision and emotional insight to each of his projects, profoundly illuminating the experience of those who live outside the norm. His credits include executive producing and directing on FX’s Emmy-nominated series Pose, executive producing and directing on Apple TV+’s Peabody Award-winning Dickinson, and directing Sundance premiere and IFC Films internationally distributed film A Kid Like Jake. His television credits include directing on multiple seasons of Emmy Award-winning Transparent, A League of Their Own, The Fosters, Faking It, This Is Us, High Maintenance, Tales of the City, Quantum Leap, and Josh Thomas’ Freeform show, Everything's Gonna Be Okay. 

Howard’s highly anticipated feature film, Darby and The Dead, premiered exclusively on Hulu in December 2022. The film has an eclectic, cross-genre sensibility that is entirely unique following the protagonist Darby Harper, a teenager who is granted the ability to  see ghosts after suffering a near-death experience in her childhood. To combat the existential boredom of high school, Darby begins a side business counseling local spirits and encounters an unexpected acquaintance in the process. 

Howard got his start in filmmaking by teaming up with artist Harry Dodge to create the feature film, By Hook or By Crook. The two collaborators wrote, directed, and starred in the movie, driven by an overwhelming urge to communicate their experience in San Francisco’s queer community. Released in 2001, By Hook or By Crook premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won a host of prestigious awards (including the audience award at SXSW Film Festival and at Outfest), ultimately creating a powerful cultural impact that still endures today. Howard was also a founding member of the seminal queer punk band Tribe 8, co-founder of San Francisco legendary cafe and performance space Red Dora's Bearded Lady, and a Guggenheim Fellow in 2015. 

James LeBrecht has over 40 years of experience as a film and theater sound designer and mixer, filmmaker, author, and disability rights activist. 

He co-directed and co-produced, with Nicole Newnham, the 2021 Oscar-nominated feature-length documentary, Crip Camp. Crip Camp received the 2020 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for feature-length documentary, the 2021 Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Documentary, and a 2021 Peabody Award.  Jim began his career in the theater in 1978, working as the resident sound designer at Berkeley Repertory Theatre for 10 years. In 1996, he founded Berkeley Sound Artists, an audio postproduction house. His film credits include Minding the Gap, The Island President, The Waiting Room, Audrie and Daisy, and, of course, Crip Camp.  A complete list of his film credits—more than 180—can be viewed at IMDb. 

Jim’s work as an activist began in high school and continued at UC San Diego, where he helped found the Disabled Students Union. Jim is a former board member at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. 

Some of his additional accomplishments include co-founding FWD-Doc, an organization that supports documentary filmmakers with disabilities, and being a character consultant for Pixar Animation Studios for two of their films. He is a member of the Disability Futures Fellowship, an initiative of the Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Stephen Macias is Head of Inclusive Diversity Worldwide for Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network. Macias was previously president of multicultural marketing and communications at subsidiary R&CPMK. Prior to this he founded the LGBTQ+-focused Macias Media Group, which was acquired by MWWPR (MikeWorldWide), after which he led that agency’s diversity and inclusion practice as a senior vice president. He also has served as executive vice president and general manager for Here Media (The Advocate, Out) and entertainment media director for GLAAD, and has been involved in senior leadership roles with multiple LGBTQ+ nonprofits including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the United Nations’ Free and Equal initiative, and the U.S. State Department’s Global Equity Fund. Macias is a California native and is based at the Rogers and Cowan/PMK Los Angeles office. 

With over two decades in PR/marketing for award-winning documentary films, indie features, and broadcast content, David Magdael and his company, David Magdael & Associates, have become an important leader in the field. From Oscar®/awards campaigns to theatrical releases to broadcast premieres, Magdael is one of the top media strategists in entertainment. He’s a longtime member of AMPAS, a Peabody Award recipient, and is the co-director of the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival since 1997. He continues to serve as a mentor at the Sundance Institute Documentary Producers Lab, Global Media Makers, Film Independent, Berlinale, European Film Market, IDFA, Columbia University, Women Make Movies, and with many other media organizations sharing his expertise and knowledge. 

Represented films include: Bad Axe; A House Made of Splinters; Leonor Will Never Die; Midwives; The Accidental Getaway Driver; 20 Days In Mariupol; Twice Colonized; Stranger at the Gate; How Do You Measure a Year; Free Chol Soo Lee; Queendom; The Eternal Memory; TikTok, Boom.; Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry; Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America; The Neutral Ground; Try Harder!; Pray Away; In the Same Breath; Faya Dayi; Ascension; The Mole Agent; Writing with Fire; The Queen of Basketball; When We Were Bullies; Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres; 76 Days; Wuhan Wuhan; Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power; A Thousand Cuts; Mr. SOUL!; Mucho Mucho Amor; Softie; For Sama; 63 Up; Minding the Gap; Abacus: Small Enough to Jail; Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am; Quest; The Distant Barking of Dogs; Science Fair; LA 92; The Square; Midnight Family; The Apollo; Walk Run Cha-Cha; Concerto Is a Conversation; Ernie & Joe; Halston; McQueen; United Skates; Charm City; Mad Hot Ballroom; Trouble the Water; Super Size Me; and more. 

He recently became a first-time Peabody Award recipient for his role as Associate Producer for the award-winning film Mr. SOUL!, directed by Melissa Haizlip. 

In addition to PR/Marketing strategies, Magdael has become involved with films in various producer capacities. These include 76 Days (Co-Executive Producer), Liquor Store Dreams (Associate Producer), Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres (Co-Producer), Try Harder! (Co-Associate Producer), Pier Kids (Associate Producer), Ramblin’ Freak (Associate Producer), and Drops in the Ocean (Executive Producer). 

In 2020 during the Covid lockdown and the killing of George Floyd, Magdael and colleague Vince Johnson created an online film platform called OPEN YOUR EYES & THINK MF (OYEATMF) to support films and filmmakers that may not fit within the current distribution/exhibition system. The goal is to provide access to films that are challenging and changing the landscape of truth telling and story creation. These filmmakers include BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other content creators who are on the margins. OYEATMF provides exhibition opportunities, resources, and the creation of meaningful discussions for and by filmmakers who are challenging us to think. Working with cinemas across the country, they were able to screen films for audiences while everything was in lockdown.   

The Tribeca hit Mr. SOUL! and Sundance award-winner Softie were the first films to be launched on this virtual cinema platform with over 90 theaters collaborating. Mr. SOUL! went on to win a Peabody Award and Critics Choice Documentary Award and IDA Award for Best Music Doc.  It now lives on HBO Max. Softie qualified for the Oscars and went on to live on PBS and received accolades from critics and audiences. 

Kristen Wolf is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and producer dedicated to telling the stories of daring outsiders whose lives spark change. Her debut novel, The Way: A Girl Who Dared to Rise, was hailed by O, The Oprah Magazine as “A Title to Pick Up Now!” and her writing has received numerous honors including the IPPY, IAN, NIEA, BIBA, LesFic Bard Award, IndieReader Discovery Award, and the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award. Wolf’s films include Club Q: The Legendary Dance Party for Women (screened at festivals worldwide) and Sparkle (Winner of Best LGBTQ+ Directed Short Film at the 2023 Phoenix Film Festival). She’s currently preparing to direct her first feature, a passionate queer love story adapted from her second novel. Wolf’s producing credits include the films Nasrin (dir: Jeff Kaufman), I Was Born This Way (dir: Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard), Subject to Change (dir: Daniel Peddle) and the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical, A Strange Loop. Wolf is co-founder of Women Have Wings, a grant-making organization that honors and supports courageous activists around the globe. She also proudly sits on the Board of Directors of GC Nonprofit driven by the mission to advance equity and authenticity in the entertainment industry.