Meet the New Wave Steering Committee

Mike Audet, Co-Chair

Mike Audet has loved movies for as long as he can remember. Mike first discovered FLC in 2010, shortly after moving to NYC: he knew he had found the right city when he walked into Walter Reade to see Boyfriends and Girlfriends on the big screen as part of a Rohmer retrospective. And in recent years, NYFF has become his favorite event in New York.

For his day job, Mike has worked in private equity at Blackstone since 2010, making investments in fintech, financial services, and industrial companies. He grew up in New Hampshire, studied math at Dartmouth and got an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, he enjoys watching movies, exploring NYC’s restaurants/bars and traveling.

It’s nearly impossible for him to list his favorite films, but he’d probably start the discussion around Yiyi, the Before trilogy and the collected works of Hong Sang-soo.

Brian Gemino, Co-Chair 

Brian F. Gemino is a partner and Senior Vice President at Silvercrest Asset Management Group, where he has been a Portfolio Manager since 2010.  He holds an MBA from the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary as well as a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Media Studies from the Pennsylvania State University.  He grew up in Rockville Centre, New York, and attended Chaminade High School. When he is not seen attending Film at Lincoln Center, he can be found supporting and volunteering with other non-profit organizations throughout the state.

Soleil Nathwani, Co-Chair

Soleil Nathwani is a New York-based writer, magazine editor and former film executive and hedge fund COO with over two decades of experience across media and finance.

Soleil’s Features, Op-Eds and Interviews have been published in magazines including Rolling Stone, L’Officiel, MW, House Magazine and Honeysuckle Magazine. She has profiled Oscar,  Pulitzer, Grammy and CFDA winners and Michelin Star Chefs and elevated rising artists. A longtime Culture Columnist for Rolling Stone India, Soleil covers Arts, Socio-politics, Food, Gender, Media and Tech.

Soleil’s prior film projects have received acclaim at festivals including Sundance and the Berlinale. With a focus on amplifying social impact through film, she ran Distribution and Partnerships for Girl Rising and was a consultant to Gathr Films.

Soleil received her B.A. at Harvard College and began her career at Goldman Sachs where she was a Vice President and co-founded the Capital Introduction Group. She went on to work in Business Development at Third Point Capital and as COO at Alson Capital and Lodge Hill Capital.

In addition to the New Wave Steering Committee, Soleil is also an Ambassador for Magic Bus, a sports-based education program for at risk children.

Soleil grew up in London and Mumbai. Satyajit Ray, Agnes Varda and Pedro Almodovar are amongst her favorite filmmakers. She loves storytelling in all its forms and is working on her first novel.

Sarah Schottenstein, Co-Chair

Sarah Schottenstein has a deep appreciation for the arts and her passion for cinema can be traced back to her childhood years. She is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College and earned a B.A. in Communication Arts. She further completed a specialized training program in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Sarah has worked in Film/TV Development and Acquisitions, and she has evaluated screenplays for top production companies. An engaged New Wave member for years, Sarah proudly joined the New Wave Steering Committee in February 2022.

One of her fondest NYFF memories is attending the opening night of No Country for Old Men and having the privilege to discuss Javier Bardem’s character evolution with the Miramax Films President.

Some of Sarah’s all-time favorite films (in no particular order) include: Goodfellas, Citizen Kane, Back to the Future, Good Will Hunting, Trading Places, and My Fair Lady. NYFF57 was an epic year for Sarah with the release of The Irishman reuniting Martin Scorsese and several cast members of Goodfellas. Additionally some of her 2021 favorites are: The Power of the Dog, tick, tick…BOOM!, Drive My Car, and Azor.

Sarah has been a longtime supporter of the nonprofit Lupus Research Alliance. She has been an active member of their Young Leaders Board for over a decade and was appointed to the Leadership Committee in 2020. Sarah loves Italian food, binge watching new programs, seeing Broadway shows, and connecting with New Wave members.

Jono Abrams

A graduate of Cornell University, Jono has been active in the film, theater, and music industries. He is an avid tennis player, lover of fine dining and not so fine dining, and likes staying up really late. His love of cinema has been life long, and he appreciates the fresh perspective that the New Wave program brings to the conversation on film. He truly believes that the New York Film Festival is New York City’s preeminent cultural event showcasing international filmmakers, their films and the human condition. Favorite directors include Preston Sturges, Bong Joon Ho, Martin Scorsese, Alexander Mackendrick, Sidney Lumet, Orson Welles, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jean-Luc Godard, the list goes on and on… His favorite films of last year include Uncut Gems, Young Ahmed, Parasite, Diane, and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Learn more about Jono in our Member Spotlight!

Dominic-Madori Davis

Dominic-Madori Davis hails from sunny Florida and loves all things Audrey Hepburn. After studying narratives at the University of Southern California, she moved to the Big Apple and sought to connect with fellow film lovers, subsequently finding New Wave in the process. Her favorite films include Cinema Paradiso, Mulholland Drive, and A Clockwork Orange. In her spare time, she’s a business and technology journalist who avidly binges The Golden Girls.

Meg Larson

Meg Larson joined New Wave in 2013 when looking to find some fellow film-lovers in the city. Originally from Connecticut, she grew up going to the movies with her family. She can proudly say her very first movie theater experience was also a selection at NYFF (Beauty and the Beast). She currently works in advertising and when she’s not at the movies or listening to various movie podcasts, you can find her acing the pop culture questions on her weekly trivia team or plotting her next trip.

EJ Paras

After volunteering at the New York Film Festival in the talent liaison & marketing departments over the past few years and meeting a passionate & lovely community of cinephiles, EJ found a home-away-from-home at FLC. He never went to film school, but considers his immersion at FLC a film school in its own unique way.

By day he works in social media marketing, but he’d be lying if he said his mind didn’t frequently wander toward art, film, and creativity throughout the day. He’s written several screenplays & short stories and is a regular participant in NYC Midnight’s writing competitions. He produced his first short film last year and acted in it as well. He’s looking into acting classes and workshops in NYC at the time of writing this blurb to learn new techniques! Some of his favorite films include Frances Ha, Manila in the Claws of Light, The Adventures of Antoine Doinel, Certain Women, and School of Rock. See you at the movies (or at the gig !).

Paola Piaggio

Born and raised in Italy, Paola is a Corporate Development manager with international experience in scouting new business opportunities, executing special projects, and coordinating cross functional teams.

While she has always enjoyed playing tennis and travelling, it was only after she moved to Chicago in 2014 that Paola discovered her love for films and storytelling. Since then, she has embraced her new passion in different ways: from reading screenplays to learning as much as possible about the actors and filmmakers she admires the most; from getting involved with the Telluride Film Festival and Sundance, to producing a short film.

Now a New Yorker, Paola has made Film at Lincoln Center her second home and she considers volunteering in the Talent Liaison Team of the NYFF one of the best experiences of her life.

Logan Skole

Logan Skole was born and raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She attended UMass Amherst and a university in Paris where she studied French, Gastronomy, and Art History. Two years ago, Logan moved to NewYork to pursue acting and is currently enrolled at the William Esper Studio. Logan’s favorite new wave movie is Pierrot le Fou!

 

Additional Steering Committee Members
Allie Carieri
Ella Sahlman 
Marshall Shaffer
Ivan Simic
Alexis Walker