Michelle Kantor is the Executive Director and Co-founder of Cinefemme, a non-profit dedicated to empowering female filmmakers since 2002. She is an award-winning director, producer, writer and editor dedicated to advancing women in the professional ranks of cinema. She often hires all-female crew and supports other women filmmakers through her community advocacy work. Michelle does casting work for advertising agency BBDO, has numerous producing credits in the indie feature world, and frequently collaborates with artists, rock bands, and circus performers. In 2014, she won Best Music Video at LA Femme Film Festival. She worked for World of Wonder Productions as casting editor and talent handler on “Gay for Play Starring RuPaul.” Other industry credits include HBO, FYI, Logo, OWN, The History Channel, Sony, Universal, MJA Advertising, and NASA. Michelle's distinctions include the Best Music Video at LA Femme Film Festival, Goldfarb Award for Best Student Film, Thunen Memorial Scholarship from the Illuminating Engineers Society, and funding from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for Cinefemme. She holds an MFA in Cinema from SFSU, and BFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Michelle is also a certified paralegal, artist, mother and monthly contributor for Ms. in the Biz. The youngest daughter of political refugees who fled Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960’s, Michelle is currently producing two projects about her family's historic escapes: Red Star (her debut feature film) documents her father's return to the former Eastern Bloc on the 50th anniversary of his escape, and The Rebel is a narrative feature now in development.