Board of Directors

Officers

Kathryn Omarkhail Artistic Director

Kathryn is a clinical social worker employed by Tarrant County Mental Health Diversion Court Program Manager and as an Assessment Clinician at Baylor All Saints Medical Center. She also moonlights in private work conducting adoption social studies and adoption placements. Kathryn has served her community for three years as vice president of her neighborhood association, board member of Fairness Fort Worth, member of Code Blue COP (Citizens on Patrol), member of the Community Mobilization Committee and as member of the Fort Worth Community Resource Council. Kathryn began working behind the scenes with QCinema in 2003 helping set up before and after films. This work moved into other areas of service such as membership director, fund-raising, advertising and playing host to visiting filmmakers and producers. During the 2007 film festival, that hosting led to a move from behind the scenes to on the screen in a featured documentary film, Truths & Transformations.

Jerel Murrah Treasurer

Charlie Womack Secretary

Board of Directors

Craig McNeil Board President
Fort Worth attorney Craig McNeil is a graduate of Fort Worth's Southwest High School, New Mexico Military Institute, Texas Christian University and Baylor University's School of Law. Craig practiced law in Burleson, Texas, with Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter until being recalled to active Army service in early 2003. Craig is an Iraq war veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star and the Army's Combat Action Badge. Craig is also a published contributor to the Village Voice and has been featured in interviews by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and NPR. A former deputy chief special prosecutor for the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Craig currently serves as a special prosecutor in Dallas for the State of Texas.

Denise Bennett

Denise is an educator of science and has been in the field for more than 20 years. She has been selected by her students and peers several times to be honored in the Who's Who of Educators in both Kansas and Texas. An opportunity in 2003 with QCinema's need for volunteers helped her to get more involved in serving the lesbian and gay community. Since 2005 she has served QCinema as a board member in different positions such as Membership Director and Fund-raising Director. Volunteering also opened the door for Denise to be featured in a documentary Truths & Transformations which premiered during the 2007 film festival. Denise has enjoyed the many opportunities to discuss educational issues with producers and filmmakers worldwide provided by her involvement with QCinema. Since 2013, she has served as treasurer for Fairness Fort Worth.

Todd Camp Non-Executive Chairman
Todd used his journalism degree from Texas Christian University to begin a newspaper career that spanned more than two decades, beginning with two years at the Denton Record-Chronicle as a graphic designer, film critic and editorial cartoonist . He then spent 18 years at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he helped define the paper’s ground-breaking section for young people, Class Acts, and served in multiple roles over the years as a critic, reporter, section editor, copy editor, humorist, vocal performer and punching bag. Outside of his journalistic endeavors, Camp has written, directed and starred in three features; reviewed film for KXAS/Channel 5; written and illustrated three graphic novels; written and illustrated seven long-running comic strips; and was a prolific stage performer in various Metroplex community theaters. In 1998, he co-founded QCinema, the Fort Worth Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, for which he served as Artistic Director for more than 14 years. He is currently the marketing communications analyst for American Airlines Federal Credit Union and as the Executive Director of QLive! Camp was recently named the Community Advocate of the Year by the Tarrant County Stonewall Democrats and the first LGBT Person of the Year by the Dallas Voice.

Beverly Fletcher

Doug Hopkins Non-Executive Chairman

Doug co-founded Q Cinema along with his partner, Todd Camp, and Shawn A. Moore. He has served as the festival's technical director since its inception, managing all the behind-the-scenes workings of projection, lighting and sound. In addition to his techie skills, he's also an accomplished artist, choreographer, dancer and video editor. Doug studied sculpture and dance at Texas Christian University, performing with several area dance companies, including Contemporary Dance Fort Worth, Ballet Concerto and Heels and Knobs. For nine years, he was a dancer for the critically acclaimed Bruce Wood Dance Company. Doug has also contributed three-dimensional illustrations for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and other publications, worked behind-the-scenes at the Irving Arts Center and as a partner in GatorDuck Ltd., a vintage/upcycling boutique.

James Johnston
Johnston has been making independent films for about eight years, primarily as a writer, producer and director. His works include Merrily, Merrily; Deadroom; GDMF; and the feature Ciao, on which he served as co-producer. Recently, James wrapped production as producer on the feature film St. Nick and he is preparing to direct a new short and a music video for the Theater Fire and Bosque Brown. He did not attend film school and took his first fateful step toward filmmaking by volunteering to work on an ultra low-budget film. From there, he kept working on films in various roles and this is how he collected a great group of friends and collaborators that he works with on a regular basis. In addition to the QCinema board, James is on the advisory board and programming committee for the Lone Star International Film Festival. When not working on films and festivals, he is executive chef for his wife Amy McNutt’s award-winning vegan restaurant, Spiral Diner & Bakery.

Michael McDermott
A lifelong resident of Fort Worth, Mike graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in Television and Film, so naturally he went straight into landscaping. He’s worked at KXAS/Channel 5 for almost two years, running studio camera and doing news writing. In 1983, he started his own landscape design businessand has been doing that ever since. A self-described “volunteer-aholic,” Mike has helped out a variety of organizations from the Fort Worth Zoo to the Fort Worth Historical Society. He began volunteering for QCinema in 2003 and has been instrumental in fund-raising activities and film procurement as well as bringing Leslie Jordan’s one-man show, When You Swish Upon a Star, for a sold-out engagement at Casa Manana. He’s also happily joined at the heart to his partner, Stan.

Curtis Smith
Curtis Smith has been an active member of the Tarrant County LGBT community serving various groups. Besides being a Board Member for QCinema, Curtis is also the Pastoral Leader of Trinity Metropolitan Community Church in Arlington. Curtis continues close affiliations with the Fort Worth chapter of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Imperial Court de Fort Worth/Arlington, the Tarrant County Gay Pride Week Association and all of the local AIDS service organizations.

Susan Steel

Joel Timmer Entertainment Legal Counsel
Joel was born and raised in Ohio, but left “the heart of it all” for warmer weather after his college graduation. He lived in Los Angeles for several years, where he studied communications law at UCLA and worked for a consulting firm that provided business and regulatory advice to major media companies. He also spent time in Washington, D.C. working at the Federal Communications Commission. Currently, Timmer is an associate professor in Texas Christian University’s Radio-TV-Film department, where he teaches classes focusing on the legal and business aspects of the film and television industries. He has also published a number of scholarly articles dealing with the regulation of sex and violence in the media.

Kyle Trentham

Kyle has had a hand in show business since childhood when he appeared as a regularly occurring character on the popular TV series Wishbone. He studied radio, television and film at the University of North Texas where he created his own short films. He has extensive stage experience, doing theatre in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and throughout North Texas. And he has also appeared in a number of television show and films, including Walker, Texas Ranger, Saving Jessica Lynch and Fright Flick. Since beginning with QCinema as a volunteer, he has also served as the Director of New Media, helping usher the festival into the digital age, and currently serves as Event Director. Kyle has served on the advisory board of the Lone Star International Film Festival and the board of the Metrognome Collective. He currently serves as Artistic Director of QLive!.

Dr. Carlos Vasquez

Dr. Vasquez is an educational consultant with more than 15 years of teaching and administrative experience in the Fort Worth ISD. In addition to his work as a consultant, Dr. Vasquez serves as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education at Texas Wesleyan University, where he teaches leadership and curriculum courses to Master students seeking Principal certification. As a teacher and administrator in FWISD, Dr. Vasquez received many honors and awards, including selection as Region XI Principal of the Year by the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association in 2007 for his work at McRae Elementary School. Dr. Vasquez received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, his Masters of Education degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his Doctorate in Education Administration from Baylor University. He’s served with a number of organizations, including as former president of the Texas Association of Hispanic School Administrators and Fort Worth Association for Bilingual Education and former vice president of the Fort Worth Public School Administrators Association and the Fort Worth Area Council for the Social Studies.

Bruce Wood

Wood is a former professional dancer who started his training at Julliard and started his professional career at 18 with New York City Ballet. From there he worked and performed all over the world working with every major choreographer of his generation including George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor. After retirement, he returned to Fort Worth where he worked on a ranch for several years. While working on a movie in Austin he choreographed a small piece for the production and that reintroduced him back to the world of dance. He quickly stopped working on the ranch and moved to Austin full time where he started a professional dance company. He then moved Bruce Wood Dance Company to Cowtown where it became a critical success and nationally recognized performing more than 60 original Wood ballets. After 11 successful years, the company closed. Wood is now a freelance choreographer and director. His newest dance company, the Bruce Wood Dance Project, is currently the toast of the Dallas arts scene.