Portfolio — Marketing & Communications
I've spent 15 years building the public voice of cultural organizations — from a film festival in Istanbul with 1M+ social followers to a global documentary nonprofit with members in 88 countries. Along the way I've placed stories in the New York Times, IndieWire, Variety, and Teen Vogue; produced TV spots that ran on broadcast; and grown festival audiences by 40%.
This page shows how I think, what I build, and what changes as a result. Work is organized around campaign strategy, audience frameworks, brand execution, toolkits, partnership materials, PR, live events, and advocacy. Some materials are redacted for confidentiality.
Global Campaign Planning & Alignment
I lead early alignment across stakeholders — kickoff → brief → roadmap → guardrails → regional feedback loop — so campaigns stay cohesive while resonating locally. The case study below shows how I structure planning, simplify decision-making, and keep teams connected across regions.
Case: IDA Membership Program Relaunch
In 2024, I led the IDA Membership Relaunch—a global repositioning effort designed to strengthen the “International” in International Documentary Association. With ~65% of members based in the U.S., the campaign focused on growing non-U.S. membership, with a 2–3 year priority on Latin America (Spanish/Portuguese-speaking markets). I built the messaging and visual system, aligned partners on consistent positioning, and delivered localized campaign materials for international adoption.
This campaign is a snapshot of how I operate as a global planning partner: clarify the strategic problem, define regional priorities, create scalable tools, and ensure teams/partners can execute consistently—while leaving room for local resonance.
1) Context
Legacy international membership org founded in 1982
As of 2024, ~65% of members were U.S.-based.
Priority growth region: Latin America (Spanish/Portuguese)
2) Objectives
Build a global-facing membership campaign that actually travels
Create a system (visual + messaging) that partners can adopt consistently
Increase membership with non-U.S. growth emphasis
3) Strategy & Planning
Positioning: Reasserted “International” as a practical benefit (global community, cross-border solidarity, access and resources).
Regional prioritization: Built Spanish + Portuguese as the first localization layer to support a 2–3 year LATAM growth focus.
Scalability: Created a repeatable headline/value-prop structure + template system so partners could publish consistently.
Partner alignment: Delivered ready-to-run assets for festivals and institutes to place across print and digital collateral.
Feedback loop: Used early partner placements and audience response to refine emphasis and clarify messaging.
4) Result
Campaign adopted by partner organizations across Chile, Brazil, Spain, and Catalonia within the first program year.
DocsBarcelona Film Festival Program Guide (2025). Text in Catalan and Spanish.
São Paulo Documentary Film Festival (DOCSP) Program Guide (2025). Text in Portuguese.
Membership collateral — new palette + typography + templates
My role: Defined look-and-feel and reusable template approach. | What changed: Cohesion across member-facing materials without reinventing the wheel each time.
Audience Framework
Every campaign decision I make is grounded in a clear picture of who we're speaking to, what they need from us, and what we want them to understand or do over time. The framework below was built for IDA — but the approach is consistent across every organization I've worked with.
Audience taxonomy used to align messaging and channel strategy
This taxonomy mapped IDA’s core audiences—filmmakers, industry stakeholders, academia, and documentary audiences—so we could clarify priorities and tailor messaging accordingly.
How it was used
The taxonomy was the starting point: it gave us a shared map of who IDA serves and how different audiences relate to the organization. From there, I expanded it into a working framework that was usable day-to-day—layering in audience location, languages, and demographic context, while clarifying the purpose of each audience relationship (what we needed them to understand, feel, or do over time).
Most importantly, it helped us make priorities explicit—so content decisions weren’t “everything for everyone.” In that period, our north stars included membership growth, an elevated public profile that supported fundraising, and a clearer Latin America strategy (audience development, partnerships, and storytelling) alongside ongoing field-wide communications. The framework became a practical tool for planning: it shaped messaging pillars, channel choices, editorial cadence, and what success looked like across different audiences.
How it guided decisions
Priorities: named primary vs. secondary audiences by initiative (so we didn’t dilute the message).
Messaging: created audience-specific framing (same values, different entry points).
Channels & cadence: aligned each audience to the channels most likely to reach them, consistently.
Editorial planning: informed what we put on the calendar—and what we intentionally didn’t.
Feedback loop: made it easier to spot gaps and adjust based on performance and real-world response.
Scale: stewarded a multi-list email ecosystem and a high-volume publishing cadence across web, newsletters, social, press, and in-person moments.
Regional context layer
Designed messaging entry points with language/region in mind (not as a last-step translation).
Adjusted channel priorities and cadence based on how each audience actually engages.
Built consistency across markets while leaving room for local resonance.
Festival Audience Growth — NOFF (2018–2022)
At the New Orleans Film Festival, I led marketing and communications through four years of growth, a pandemic pivot, and organizational expansion into year-round programming.
Festival TV spot (2020) — produced and voiced for New Orleans Film Festival's "Fest at Home" pandemic programming
1) Context
Regional film festival serving the American South, with national industry ambitions
Year-round programming, including Southern Producers Lab, WarnerMedia Narrative South Pitch, South Summit, and New Orleans French Film Festival
2) What I Built
Full campaign strategy for the annual festival and all year-round programs
$1M+ in annual in-kind media sponsorships — secured and managed relationships with broadcast, print, and digital partners
Festival TV spots (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) — produced and delivered for broadcast
National and regional press strategy, resulting in coverage in the New York Times, IndieWire, Teen Vogue, TimeOut New York, and OffBeat Magazine, RogerEbert.com
3) Result
40% increase in festival occupancy over tenure. NOFF appeared on MovieMaker Magazine's "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" and "25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World" every year under my tenure.
Audience Development at Scale — !f Istanbul (2011–2018)
At !f Istanbul Independent International Film Festival, I built the festival's digital marketing function from the ground up during a period of rapid platform growth — before most cultural organizations had a serious social strategy.
1) Context
International independent film festival in Istanbul, focused on human rights, LGBTQ+ cinema, and artistic freedom
Operating across multiple languages and politically complex contexts
2) What I built
Grew social audience to 1M+ followers across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
Authored and edited 200+ articles and program notes, generating 200K+ annual blog visits
Festival TV spots (2014, 2015, 2017) — produced for broadcast and digital
Empowered partnerships such as the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Istanbul, a Samsung-powered VR exhibition, and a live-streamed festival screening project !f², which in 2010 and on, with the help of MUBI (a new company at the time), live-projected film screenings & then the Q&As in Istanbul to 60 cities in Turkey, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Cyprus.
3) Result
Established !f Istanbul as one of the most digitally engaged independent film festivals in Europe and the Middle East SWANA during this period.
Toolkits & Guardrails
Longer-form planning artifacts that turn strategy into execution—clarifying scope, reducing rework, and keeping partners and internal teams aligned. Click a cover image to open the full deck. Note: Selected details redacted for confidentiality.
IDA Media Kit
Why it was needed: Partners needed a fast, credible way to understand IDA’s audience, reach, and sponsorship value—without back-and-forth or reinventing the pitch each time.
What it solved: Reduced ambiguity, standardized the narrative, and made partnership conversations easier to move from interest to decision.
My contribution: I wrote the content and structured the story; briefed the design team and guided execution so the kit was scannable, consistent, and reusable.
2025 IDA Documentary Awards Sponsorship Deck
Why it was needed: The Awards required a unified sponsorship story that held up across different partner types—while staying true to the audience experience.
What it solved: Created clear “guardrails” for what sponsors get (and how it shows up) so internal teams and sponsors stayed aligned on scope, tone, and deliverables.
My contribution: I authored the content and brief; partnered with design to translate strategy into a deck sponsors could quickly say yes to.
Internal enablement toolkit
Why it was needed: Staff needed a simple, repeatable system to publish quickly across IG Stories while staying on-brand—especially during high-volume moments.
What it solved: Reduced decision fatigue and rework by standardizing templates, voice/tone guidance, and “how to build” examples.
My contribution: I created the toolkit end-to-end (content + design), and iterated it based on real publishing needs.
Membership Events Sponsorship — One-Pager (Canon)
Why it was needed: A single-page artifact to align sponsor + internal teams on scope and the value exchange at a glance.
What it solved: Prevented mismatched expectations by clarifying program structure, deliverables, and visibility—so execution stayed smooth.
My contribution: I created the one-pager end-to-end (content + design).
Partnership Materials & Sponsorship Alignment
Sponsorship materials need to do two things at once: give partners enough confidence to say yes, and give internal teams enough guardrails to execute without constant back-and-forth. Below are examples of advertising creative and partnership collateral where I balanced those two priorities — work that respected the audience while delivering clear value to partners.
Brand Refresh & Execution
When an organization’s brand evolves, the work is in the execution: keeping every touchpoint cohesive across teams, programs, and vendors. The examples below show brand refreshes and rollouts across print, web, programs, and live experiences—supported by practical guidance and a shared bar for quality. Please click on the images to see what has changed.
PR & Social Media
I approach PR and social as connected campaign surfaces: PR shapes the narrative externally, and social sustains clarity, momentum, and shareability in owned channels. Below are selected PR examples (press placements/announcements) alongside social moments I developed to package key messages in a way that travels.
Selected earned media (Variety, THR, Deadline)
The Hollywood Reporter / 2024 IDA Documentary Awards / Nominees Announcement
Variety / IDA Grantees Announcement / Exclusive
Deadline / New IDA Board Members Announcement
Social narrative moments
Live Events as Campaign Engines
I use live moments as campaign engines—aligning stakeholders early, designing the audience experience, and planning amplification so the event travels beyond the room. These examples include on-camera work, speechwriting, and live-event narrative moments. Outputs: run of show, briefing/talking points, stakeholder alignment, and amplification plan.
Live Event: introducing Sundance 2021 pandemic satellite screenings in New Orleans.
40th IDA Documentary Awards, Run of Show (Excerpt)
Advocacy & Sensitive Moments
In sensitive situations, my approach is to slow the decision-making process just enough to get it right: clarify the risks, align stakeholders on principles, and choose actions that protect people while keeping the organization credible. In these moments, I focus on accuracy, tone, and internal alignment—so advocacy is clear, responsible, and consistent across external touchpoints. Find more written content here.
Me (far left) with the IDA Board of Directors advocating for Turkish filmmaker Çiğdem Mater, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to make a documentary about the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
A moment of public advocacy at the 39th IDA Documentary Awards (December 12, 2023): honoring Palestinian journalists who were killed in the course of reporting, and using the stage to affirm the role—and risks—of truth-telling.
I'm currently open to Director and VP-level roles in entertainment, media, cultural institutions, and purpose-driven brands. If you're building something and need someone with creative instincts and operational range, let's talk.