One of the IDA's primary goals is to develop a robust community of documentary filmmakers and supporters. To further this effort, each month we'll be spotlighting a group of new(ish) members in the Welcome New Members column.

If you're a new member and would like to be included (or an "old" member who hasn't been featured yet), please send your bio (250 words max) to associate editor Tamara Krinsky at krinskydoc@ca.rr.com. You MUST include "Welcome New Members" and your name in the subject line of the e-mail. Bios should focus on your filmmaking background, interests, experiences, education, accomplishments, etc. If you're a student, tell us about where you're studying. If you're a film fan, tell us what you love about documentaries. Please also include the city, state and country in which you currently reside.

Salvatore Alaimo (Decatur, GA) is a new documentary filmmaker working on his first project entitled What Is Philanthropy?. The film is intended to enhance our understanding of philanthropy and its role in American culture and society. Upon completion, Dr. Alaimo's goals are to secure screenings (and hopefully some awards) at film festivals, pitch the film to public television and have it used as an educational tool in the philanthropic and nonprofit studies programs in high schools, colleges and universities across the country. Alaimo recently accepted a position as assistant professor in the School of Public and Nonprofit Administration at Grand Valley State University. He currently teaches nonprofit management courses as an adjunct professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Alaimo has nine years experience working and consulting for nonprofit organizations, as well as experience serving as a board member and direct service volunteer. His published works include a journal article entitled "Nonprofits and Evaluation: Managing Expectations from the Leader's Perspective" in New Directions for Evaluation and a chapter entitled "Contracting Out" in the forthcoming book Nonprofit Economics and Management. Alaimo earned his Ph.D. in philanthropic studies from Indiana University and his master's in urban studies, concentrating in nonprofit management, from Georgia State University. He enjoys documentaries and some of his favorites include Nanook of the North, Who Killed the Electric Car?, The Corporation and Bowling for Columbine. 

Andrew Amondson (Los Angeles, CA/Berlin, GERMANY) is a director and producer. He started out working as a storyboard and concept artist with his brother Nathan on Legally Blonde and Welcome to Collinwood; he and Nathan co-produced the award-winning short Out of Habit. Amondson associate-produced the documentary series The Residents (RJ Cutler), spending one year in the field with cinematographers Joan Churchill and Alan Barker, following first-year doctors at UCLA Medical Center. He teamed up with Churchill and Barker again on National Anthem (Albert Maysles and DA Pennebaker). In combination with producing, Amondson recorded sound for Freshman Diaries (Showtime), and Heart of Berlin (Frontline World). As sound recordist, he went to Bangladesh and Kosovo with The World According to Sesame Street and worked with Haskell Wexler on Who Needs Sleep?. Most recently, Amondson worked with Wim Wenders on four films, taking him to New York, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo, Brisbane, Rio de Janeiro and The Democratic Republic of Congo for War in Peace. Amondson served on an International Jury for the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) for three years, making the selections for the Talent Campus and special programs, and heading the Garage Studio in its first year. He helped create the studio's online pre-production platform and produced four short films during the week of the Talent Campus. The Prohibition Party is his first feature-length documentary as director; it tells the story of his father, Gene Amondson, and his campaign for President of the United States in 2008. www.amondson.com  

Regina Austin (Philadelphia, PA) is a professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School and the director of the Penn Program on Documentaries & the Law. The program hosts screenings of law-genre documentaries and Q&As with their directors, producers and legal advisors. Recent screenings include Brick by Brick and Tulia, TX. She also conducts roundtables that bring together public interest lawyers and nonfiction filmmakers to talk about matters of mutual concern. In conjunction with community-based Scribe Video Center, Austin and her team hosted a talk by media historian Bonnie Rowan on doing research in video and stills archives. The roundtables generate projects for her students, who engage in the production of visual legal advocacy on behalf of actual clients. Her students produce and direct clemency videos, visual asylum petitions, and videos intended to educate ordinary people about lawyers and legal issues. Particularly noteworthy is a documentary short entitled Shmul Kaplan, which tells the story of an elderly, disabled Ukrainian asylee who courageously sued the government for the restoration of the Social Security benefits he needed in order to survive until he could become a full-fledged citizen. This film was shot, edited and scored entirely by law students. Her students' work can be found viewed on the Penn Law website.

Yohanna Baez (Los Angeles, CA) was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and was raised in Southern California. As a freelance journalist and editor, she has had the honor of working on PBS' award-winning Tavis Smiley Show and writing for the Honduras This Week newspaper. She is an active member of her community and an outspoken supporter of civil rights. Graduating from California State University, Northridge with a BA in journalism and cultural arts, Baez has focused her journalistic interests on politics, travel and tourism issues. She is currently producing the documentary The Other Border: Battle for the Beaches, about the tourism industry in the Dominican Republic. As a citizen of this world, she believes her mission is very simple: to listen, record and share.

Miranda Bailey (Los Angeles, CA) co-founded, in 2001, Ambush Entertainment, a production company dedicated to producing a wide range of original and diverse feature films. Bailey has produced and executive-produced several films including Dead and Breakfast, The OH in Ohio, The Squid and the Whale, Lower Learning, Wonderful World, Against the Current and The River Why. Bailey is currently directing the documentary GreenLit, which explores the film business and its effects on the environment. This documentary reveals that certain films have wrecked havoc on our environment, and asks the question, "What can we do to soften our footprint as filmmakers?" The film follows the cast and crew of The River Why as they bring on a "Green Consultant," and chronicles the consultant's efforts to "Green" the film. This proves to be extremely challenging, even in a town like Portland, Oregon, where one would think that the crew would be receptive to environmental issues. Instead, the audience sees how the crews and the unions feel like there is no place in filmmaking for a Green Consultant. The documentary is filled with humor and very important facts about filmmaking and sustainability.

Richard Chisolm (Washington, DC) is a documentary DP based in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area, with about 25 years experience. He mainly works on high-end TV documentaries and independent projects, but also occasionally operates on dramatic features and TV series. He says, "I love my work and feel fortunate to be able to travel all over and have amazing experiences with real-life filmmaking." www.richardchisolm.com

Wayne Schoenfeld (Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, CA), who trained and practiced as a psychologist, developed an insatiable passion for flying that led him into the airline industry. It was here that he gained the financial acumen that led him into a business partnership in digital cinema that he sold successfully to Technicolor. He later found that his abilities in raising money would be a key skill-set for making documentary films. Last year, Schoenfeld brought a clown from Clowns Without Borders to Ethiopia to, à la Patch Adams, heal the souls of children whose bodies were being repaired by the surgeons. He and Stephen Auerbach co-directed a film of the experience called The Memory Box, which is being distributed by Locomotion Films of Montreal and is a Selected Entry at this year's Boston International Film Festival. He shot another documentary when he traveled to Nepal with the same surgeons and a troupe of performers. Schoenfeld and Auerbach are currently in development with Locomotion Films and the Exeko Project in Montreal on a 13-episode documentary series for Canadian Television about circus performers. An accomplished photographer, Schoenfeld has published his photos in nine books, and has exhibited his work in museums and galleries around the world. www.wayneschoenfeld.com