About US
Main Team Members
JULIE RUBIO | DIRECTOR, producer, writer
Julie Rubio is a multifaceted and award-winning film director, producer, writer, and actor known for her dynamic storytelling and passion for bringing to light the narratives of those often overlooked. As the president of Women in Film SF Bay Area, Rubio dedicates herself to empowering and elevating women in the film industry, fostering a supportive community for female filmmakers.
In 2002, Rubio founded East Meets West Productions, a venture that has since become a pillar for impactful filmmaking. Her most notable work, the critically acclaimed "East Side Sushi," won accolades at 16 film festivals and garnered nominations for Cinema Tropical's 2016 Best Latino Film of the Year and Mexico's Diosa de Plata award for Best Picture. The film, a compelling narrative of a single Latina mother's pursuit of a better life, achieved widespread distribution through Samuel Goldwyn Company, Sony Home, HBO North America, and Netflix, where it became a trendsetter in popular and drama categories.
Rubio's artistic prowess extends to her other projects, including "Too Perfect," "Six Sex Scenes and a Murder," "Soledad Is Gone Forever," "Oakland B Mine," the comedy "Del Cielo," "Everything Is Temporary," and "Impression," a film inspired by the struggles of female Impressionist painters. These films have not only received acclaim but have also been featured in numerous prestigious film festivals worldwide, such as the Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Cinequest, Miami International Film Festival, Napa Valley Film Festival, CAAMFest, San Francisco Latino Film Festival, and the World Film Festival of Bangkok.
Rubio's directorial finesse is also evident in her distribution accomplishments, with her films being available on platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Apple TV, reaching audiences both domestically and internationally.
Rubio has embarked on a new journey, channeling her long-standing fascination with the art and life of Tamara de Lempicka into a definitive documentary, "The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival." This film premiered to sold-out crowds at the prestigious Mill Valley Film Festival and was included as part of the groundbreaking 2024-2025 Tamara de Lempicka retrospective exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, where it also sold out. It continued to draw crowds with sold-out screenings at the Roxie and Orinda Theaters, and a New York premiere at the prestigious 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center, where it also sold out. The film will be showcased at the incredible San Diego Jewish Film Festival, Aspen Film, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for the 2025 Tamara de Lempicka retrospective exhibition, and will move on to the Baker Museum in Naples Florida, Estonia MoeKunstikino Fashion Film Festival, Tel Aviv LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Paris A Shaded View on Fashion Film Festival, Maine Jewish Film Festival, National Center for Jewish Film's Film Festival, and the Jewish International Film Festival in Australia. The documentary is coming soon to the River Oaks Theater in Houston, where Tamara de Lempicka used to enjoy movies, and is slated for additional showings at numerous festivals, museums, and a forthcoming release in theaters and on streaming platforms, expanding its reach to a global audience.
AMY HARRISON | CREATIVE producer, writer
Amy Harrison is a San Francisco based filmmaker of scripted and unscripted films who is passionate about socially relevant storytelling that feature strong female protagonists and underrepresented communities. Her work has screened at venues such as New York’s Film Forum, LA Film Festival, London’s BBC Short Film Festival, Slamdance, NY’s Museum of Modern Art, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and more. Her documentary Guerrillas In Our Midst, about the art activists the Guerrilla Girls and their critique of bias against women and artists of color in the blue chip art world, has screened at hundreds of festivals, colleges, and museums world wide, and is distributed by Women Make Movies. She co-produced the feature A Girl Like Grace, which starred Meagan Good, Raven-Symoné, and Garcelle Beauvais. She directed the short narrative Miss Finknagle Succumbs to Chaos, which won the audience award at Berkeley’s Playground festival, and she directed the short Tormenta with the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). She produced work for Comedy Central, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the PBS series In the Life, MTV, and more. She is a committed educator and mentor, and is currently a faculty member in the Media Studies program at Foothill College in Los Altos, California where she is committed to equity and access.
SVETLANA CVETKO | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, Co-Producer
Svetlana Cvetko is an award-winning cinematographer known for her work on many critically acclaimed documentaries, including OSCAR® winner Inside Job, OSCAR® nominated Facing Fear, the Cannes Official Selection Red Army, and the Sundance US Documentary Special Jury Prize-winning Inequality For All. In addition, she was the first cinematographer on films such as OSCAR® winner O.J.: Made in America and Sundance documentary Miss Representation, setting the look for those films. Svetlana has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2019. Her feature-length directorial debut is the award-winning Show Me What You Got. An ode to Jules et Jim and the rule-breaking French New Wave, the film has been called a “work of courage in search of the meaning of life" by MadMass Cinema in Italy and "a captivating well-acted story with great style" by FilmThreat. Show Me What You Got tells the story of three twenty-somethings, Marcello, Nassim and Christine, who form a ménage à trois and struggle to prove their worth to their families and the world around them. Currently playing in festivals, Show Me What You Got has garnered five awards and one nomination in just eight festivals so far, including being awarded the Grand Jury Prize by Oliver Stone at its world premiere in Taormina, Italy. Svetlana also directed the genre film Deadly Switch starring Dylan Walsh, Teri Polo and Danika Yarosh, currently on Netflix, and she received the Grand Prix du Public at Films de Femmes for her short autobiographical film No War and Best Documentary at LA Shorts Fest for her blend of narrative and documentary styles for Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber.
NEVA TASSAN | Co-Producer
Neva Tassan co-produced From Baghdad to The Bay, which won Best Documentary Feature at its world premiere at Cinequest, screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and won several other awards. Neva is also an associate producer of One, a narrative feature which is currently in pre-production, by East Side Sushi producer Julie Rubio.
Jennifer Wallace | Co-Producer
Jennifer comes from a 20+ year career in Marketing, business development and operations for Fortune 100 and high-net-worth banking. She is active in the independent film community including leading a production company, Thunderbolt Forge Films, which currently has a feature-length documentary, “Who Do We Have Here” in production and "Mexico '85" in pre-production, and includes an active marine services division supporting all aspects of maritime needs during film production. Jennifer is also the President of the Board of Directors for Artists United, a global nonprofit with more than 30,000 members, helping artists connect to ask for what they need help with and offer what they can help with, to work in reciprocity for collaborating, coaching and mentoring.
additional team members
TASHA NESBITT | Associate PRODUCER
Tasha Nesbitt is a producer, director, and writer and is the President of Women in Film San Francisco Bay Area (WIFSFBA). Tasha runs the production company TASHA.MEDIA and coaches clients how to shoot and publish their own videos through her business DIYWEBVIDEO.COM. She has produced a wide range of video productions including documentary, web series, commercials, PSAs, music videos, instructional videos and narrative films in the San Francisco Bay Area. After placing in the Broadcast Education Association’s National Screenplay contest, Tasha earned a certificate in Professional Writing for the Screen through Writer’s Boot Camp LA. In 2004, she co-wrote and produced the feature film Pathogen and from 2005 to 2011 Nesbitt produced and hosted the annual Short Film Showcase for Bay Area Women In Film & Media (BAWIFM). At the heart of Tasha’s success is a love of story and storytelling. She is passionate about uncovering the universal, emotionally resonant message in every story. Tasha lives and works in Oakland and is a Bay Area Native.
alexis hazelwood
Alexis Hazelwood is a creative based in San Francisco. As an experienced video professional, she has worked on large and small scale productions for commercial, documentary, and educational platforms - with capacities for photography, set design, lighting, and sound recording. Post-production skills include long and short-form editing, 2D animating, compositing, rotoscoping, sound design, product coloring/retouching, and motion graphic design.
lisa tanisawa
Lisa Tanisawa supported the production of the award-winning documentary feature From Baghdad to the Bay. She trained in Improv and Sketch at The Upright Citizen's Brigade in New York. Lisa received her BA in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and Masters in Public Health from San Jose State University.
Rachel Gamson
Rachel is a New York-based video editor and researcher. She graduated from New York University with a degree in Film & TV and a minor in art history. Her goals are to promote untold and authentic stories and to help create greater community engagement through documentary film.
nikki hausherr
Nikki Hausherr is an experienced creative who is all about storytelling. She was raised in the woods of Connecticut and received her bachelor's degree in Documentary Production at DePaul University in Chicago. Nikki now lives in sunny Aspen, Colorado.
Passionate about capturing the essence of individuals, experiences, small businesses, and places, Nikki works closely with her clients to deliver a final product they are excited about. Whether it's through photo or video, Nikki believes that everyone has a story, and she has the skills and mindset to genuinely capture and portray these stories.
Nikki has experience with food & drink photography, portraits, commercials, events and interiors. She also helps local businesses build an online presence through web design and social media.