The Maine Film Association’s mission is to advance the art, craft, and business of filmmaking in Maine. Our vision is to make Maine a great place to live and work as a media-maker.
The Maine Film Association brings together media professionals, students, and production companies working to create better business, educational, and networking opportunities for people working in the film and media industries in Maine.
As our organization grows, our goals are to:
Promote and advocate for the Maine film industry, the talented individuals working in it, and mediamaking as a career.
Foster connections across the mediamaking community and broader business community in Maine.
Provide professional development and skill-building opportunities for Maine mediamakers.
Expand MFA membership and establish strong fiscal support for current and future initiatives.
Increase organizational capacity for sustainable success.
Join the Maine film and media-making community!
Your membership supports efforts to better connect media professionals in our state, provide engaging and interesting professional development and networking opportunities, and promote the media industry of Maine.
Your membership entitles you to free or reduced admission to MFA events and workshops, special offers from vendors and our business members, and opportunities to showcase your work through MFA channels.
Business packages and student discounts are available.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
After fifteen years of working in Los Angeles, Geoffrey moved Leighton Images, a high-definition digital production facility, to an 1810 farmhouse in Durham. He has produced numerous short documentaries for Apple Computers, and was the cinematographer, editor, and producer of a feature film based on the painter Marsden Hartley’s epic poem “Cleophas and his Own.” He co-produced and edited There Ought to Be a Law, winner of the Maine International Film Festival Activist award. Leighton Images produces documentaries for such clients as the City of Boston, L.L.Bean, Education Connection, Hilton Hotels, and Veterans Administration. Geoffrey also teaches Special Effects and Animation at University of Southern Maine, and has shared his wealth of knowledge and experience by teaching at at MECA and SMCC.
Geoffrey Leighton, Co-President
Louise Rosen serves as an editorial and business consultant, producer, and sales agent. Her projects include Oscar, Emmy, and Sundance award-winning films. Louise began her career in film and television at WGBH-TV as Director of International Sales and Co-productions. She later launched her own distribution company and sales agency. She has raised financing for and distributed landmark projects such as Eyes on the Prize, as well as the Oscar winner Anne Frank Remembered, and Oscar nominee Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern. Louise is a credited producer on films such as The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition, and the feature documentaries Killing for Love, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Prodigal Sons, and Holy Water-Gate. Louise tutors annually at Germany’s Documentary Campus Master School and has been a speaker and moderator at conferences and film festivals including Sheffield DocFest, DOC NYC, & HotDocs. In other roles, Louise was the Founding Director of the Points North Documentary Forum at the Camden International Film Festival; from March 2022 to March 2023 served as Senior Consultant, Programs & Strategy and then Interim Managing Director for the International Documentary Association (IDA) and was Program Director for the 2023 Progress History Summit.
Louise Rosen, Co-President
Ian Carlsen
Ian Carlsen is a Line Producer, Production Manager, Production Coordinator, Copywriter, and Voiceover Artist with more than a decade of experience in media production. Ian started his journey as an actor, but have since transitioned over to film and commercial production. (Every now and then he can be convinced to come out of acting “retirement” for the right gig.) Ian has lived in the great state of Maine for 30+ years, and is a husband and father. In his limited downtime he enjoys traveling, looking at birds, making music, and playing tabletop RPGs.
Alessandro Chillé
Alessandro Chillé is a filmmaker, actor, and marketing professional. With over 2 billion views online and recognition from festivals such as Dances With Films, The Big Apple Film Festival, and The Phoenix Film Festival, Chillé brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to the board. He was an executive producer on the Cinequest feature film “Continue.” His acting credits include popular shows like “Black Jesus” (Adult Swim) and “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” (FX). He has worked with industry leaders such as Amazon Fire TV, Dolby, ATTN: and Shots Studios.
Barbara Cray
Barbara Cray is an attorney practicing in Maine and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the owner of Barbara Cray Entertainment which produces diverse film, TV, and media projects. She brings over two decades of legal expertise in the entertainment industry, and is an accomplished litigator with over twenty years of successful first-chair jury trial defense of complex commercial matters. As a passionate Maine filmmaker, she has participated in the Maine Film Association’s Winter Film Challenge for the past three years.
Emma Gregg
Emma has spent her whole career in the film industry. She attended Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications to study television and film production. On top of studying the ins and outs of the “industry”, she learned to rock climb, lived in Santiago, Chile for a year and spent a semester in Los Angeles working on productions such as Dallas Buyers Club and Don Jon. After graduating in 2014, she moved out to Los Angeles and spent 2 years working for a variety of reality television studios and freelancing as a production assistant. But she missed the seasons and could never get used to the way Angelenos were happy all of the time. In Maine, Emma has been a successful freelance commercial producer for in-state production companies and out-of-state clients, and now serves as the Director of Production for P3. However, her first love will always be narrative filmmaking and she is ready to drop everything when the right project comes to town, such as with Blow The Man Down, Little Women and Allagash (now titled Blood & Money). On most weekends she is in White Mountains sport climbing or making short films with the fantastically creative Portland film community. Her directorial debut, Fix It In Post!, premiered at Damnationland in 2018 and she currently has another short in post-production.
Manette Pottle is an Emmy-nominated documentary film producer whose feature documentaries include The Arc of Oblivion (2023), Picture a Scientist (2020), and Behold the Earth (2017). She has served as the producer of the Camden International Film Festival and as President of the Board of Directors for the Rock Coast Rollers, Rockland's roller derby league, as well as developing and producing the Future of Science Film Fellowship, a program for emerging filmmakers to develop new documentaries about making science more equitable and inclusive.
Manette Pottle
Dan Stevenson
Daniel Stevenson currently serves as the Economic Development Director for the City of Westbrook, Maine. He has extensive experience in the field, with over 25 years spent working in economic and community initiatives at the state and municipal levels, and a strong passion for seeding community growth through the arts.
Erik Van Wyck
Erik Van Wyck is an actor, writer, and filmmaker. He has appeared in numerous commercials, TV series and films, as well as globe-trotting travel show host. His work has screened at various prestigious festivals, and recently he produced the Maine-set (and filmed!) “Holly Star” (Netflix). He is president and co-founder of Picture Maine, an organization working to promote media making production in the state.