Kristian Salinas | Executive & Artistic Director

Kristian’s involvement with QFest dates back to 1996 when he served on the Festival’s first Advisory Committee. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin's Radio-TV-Film program, Kristian has been involved in nearly every facet within the arts and entertainment industry, having spent valuable time with MFAH Films, Landmark Theatres, Angelika Film Center, Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP). and Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts. From 1999 to 2001, Kristian was the Artistic Director of Rice Cinema. Moving to LA in 2003, Kristian served as Senior Programmer for Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, then spent time with AFI as a Senior Publicist, then transitioning to online marketing full time as an Account Manager for Crew Creative, working with clients such as Paramount Pictures, Discovery Channel, and Nickelodeon. In addition to QFest, Kristian currently serves on the MFAH Films Committee and is an Advisory Member of Aurora Picture Show.

Stephanie Saint Sanchez | Shorts Programmer

Raised in Beaumont and corrupted in Houston, Stephanie Saint Sanchez is a “by any means necessary” media artist, movie maker, and instigator. She is the founder of La Chicana Laundry Pictures and has made over 25 award-winning, genre-bending shorts. She also started the Senorita Cinema Film Festival, the only all-Latina Film Festival in Texas. Saint Sanchez is a recipient of both The Southwest Alternate Media Project’s (SWAMP) and Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship and Lawndale Artist Studio Program and created and directed the official QFest trailers for our 2013 and 2014 festivals.

Mel Petersen | Media Tech

A multimedia technician and filmmaker, Mel Petersen has worked in almost every sector of media. Including producing the world’s first live on-stage multimedia sci-fi Camera Drone play with her colleagues, Stephanie Saint Sanchez and Koomah, with a generous grant from The Idea Fund in 2016. Currently, Mel enjoys working in Public Access TV and spending the rest of her time creating crazy art projects with the community.

Rosario Pena | Publicity & Media Relations

Early in Rosario's career, an internship at the film commission and as a producer of a local live radio show set her path in motion to work in entertainment. Starting out as a promotions assistant at Reinhart Marketing and Public Relations, she quickly learned all facets of regional publicity and public relations to become a regional publicist for feature films here in Houston and throughout the southwest. With 12 years of film publicity experience, clients included Miramax Films, Dimension Films, Picturehouse, Lionsgate, FilmDistrict; films included Monster, The Rum Diaries, Spy Kids film series, Saw series, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, La Vie En Rose, Chicago and with personal appearance tours of John Grisham, Jane Seymour, Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, Alexa PenaVega, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.

The next chapters of her career included the Director of Media Relations for Comicpalooza (2012 - 2016) and Fandemic Tour Houston (2018), two celebrations of pop culture, handling interviews, and convention event publicity. Under Reinhart Marketing, Rosario was the publicist for Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (HGLFF) and later became Director of Media Relations for QFest.

Jasmine Jones | Social Media Manager

As Film Curator for the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC), Jasmine Jones has curated and marketed a successful film series while managing strategic partnerships with QFest: The Houston International LGBTQ Film Festival, and the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. While at HMAAC, she launched and served as the Co-Director of the Houston African Film Festival, the first African film festival in the city of Houston.

In addition to film curation, she has led regional marketing campaigns for major motion pictures such as Straight Outta Compton, The Jungle Book, Peanuts: The Movie, The Boss, and many others. She is also the creator of Film Jones, the premier source for reviews, news, and coverage of film, television, and digital content by and about people of the African Diaspora and is currently directing a documentary about the history and current state of Black beach communities.

Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Central Florida.

Kelsey Gledhill | Website & Graphics

Kelsey is an all-around creative with experience in copywriting, graphics, website design, and more. She is also the co-founder and creative director of Spectrum South, a Houston-based online LGBTQ publication that brings visibility to the diverse and resilient individuals, groups, and personalities of the ever-growing queer South. Prior to launching Spectrum South, Kelsey worked in the advertising industry as a copywriter, executing various advertising campaigns for AIRIA Development Company, Baker Nissa, Caldwell Companies, Johnson Development Company, Mercedes Benz of Sugar Land, Urban Student Housing, and more.

Kelsey holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Texas A&M University as well as a Master of Arts in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin.

Oscar Davenport | Festival Volunteer

Through QFest 2021, Oscar Davenport is dipping his toes into the water that is the cinema industry. He graduated from Energy Institute High School as part of the class of 2021 and will explore his interests in filmmaking and film analysis at Oberlin College this fall.