Contact
Terri Conners
Acting Executive Director
Terri was newportFILM’s first Executive Director, leading the program from its inception in June of 2010 until she transitioned to the Board of Directors in October 2017. In June of 2021, Terri stepped back in to temporarily lead the team while newportFILM searches for its next long-term ED. The majority of her career has been spent in the marketing, development and management of films, talent, festivals, and other events. Prior to her position as Executive Director of newportFILM she worked for eight years as a publicist for New Line Cinema, was the Head of worldwide theatrical publicity for Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures in New York and Los Angeles and worked as a unit publicist on a number of small and large budget narrative films shot in and around New England.
Kathryn Sheehan
Marketing Director
Kathryn Sheehan comes to newportFILM by way of North Carolina and New York City. Growing up in North Carolina, Kathryn attended East Carolina University majoring in Business Administration and Communications. After graduation, she packed her bags and moved to New York City to pursue her career in Marketing & Advertising.
Throughout her 10 years in NYC, she held jobs in digital and television media at Pandora Radio, Scripps Networks, and most recently Disney ABC Television Group. At ABC, she worked on Good Morning America and ABC News as a Senior Manager of Integrated Marketing working alongside producers in a live television environment.
Outside of the office, Kathryn enjoys spending time with her family, exercising, cooking, traveling and all Masterpiece Theater shows!
Brendan Keogh
Technical Director
Brendan is a hardworking addition to the newportFILM team with experience in concert production, artist relations & hospitality, and sound design.
In his earlier career, Brendan lived in Vermont from 2006 – 2013, where he was a full-time music performance and composition teacher, local band manager, production assistant at music festivals, and musician in local and regional bands. Since 2006, he’s worked at music and arts festivals, providing him with a strong understanding in special events. Prior to becoming Technical Coordinator at newportFILM, Brendan received his Master’s Degree in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in Georgia, where he worked with the Savannah Music Festival.
He is thrilled to be on the newportFILM team and hopes to see you at upcoming events.
Steve Morotta
Office & Events Coordinator
After graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Media Communications and Film Studies, Steve moved to New York City to pursue careers in Film Production and Advertising. While there, Steve worked as an Assistant Editor for Showtime Networks, a Production Coordinator for a large post-production agency, and then as a Media Analyst for the worlds largest media investment company, GroupM. Five years later, he decided to leave the hustle and bustle of NYC to move back to the Ocean State where he could be closer to some of the best surf breaks on the east coast and spend time playing fetch on the beach with his Australian Shepherd, Byron.
Steve is so excited to be working with newportFILM and is especially looking forward to showing films about the ocean, adventure, and conservation.
Andrea van Beuren
Founder & Artistic Director
Andrea van Beuren is the co-founder and artistic director of newportFILM, and serves on its board of directors.
Through her company, Sustainable Films, Andrea has executive produced several documentaries, including Won’t You Be My Neighbor (director, Morgan Neville), Where’s My Roy Cohn (director, Matt Tyrnauer), Chasing Coral (director, Jeff Orlowski) and The Devil We Know (director, Stephanie Soechtig).
She is currently working on projects with Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman (directors, Weiner), Jeff Orlowski (director, Chasing Coral), Dan Cogan and Geralyn Dreyfous (Impact Partners) and Kate Davis and David Heilbroner (directors, Sandra Bland) among others.
Andrea currently splits her time between New York and Newport, Rhode Island.
