John Chatterton (Executive Producer) started OOBR (“the off-off-broadway review”) in 1993. One of his reviewers suggested that “someone” should start a Midtown theatre festival. Eleven seasons later, the MITF is still going strong. John has also run a rehearsal studio/theatre complex, Where Eagles Dare; produced Off-Broadway; and is a playwright. He also runs the Short Play Lab and Playwrights’ Press and produces CAPTAIN MARBLES AND HIS ACTING SQUAD, a kids’ classic appearing at 45 Bleecker St.

Emileena Pedigo (Managing Producer) Emileena has been working alongside John Chatterton on the festival and more for over five years. She also co-produced Oberon Theatre Ensemble's 9th and 10th seasons on Theatre Row – the company’s most successful seasons to date. For 6 Figures Theatre Company, Emileena co-produced their 14th and 15th seasons at the West End Theatre. She has production stage managed extensively Off-Broadway, opera, national tours, and regionally at length for such companies as TheatreWorks Hartford, The Lamb's Theater, Mirror Rep (NYC); Bailiwick Rep, Shattered Globe (Chicago), TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA), and Teatro Vision (San Jose, CA). She received a B.A. in theatre from Purdue University and completed the Foothill Theatre Conservatory in California, both with honors. Emileena's company, The Show Goes On Productions, has optioned their first production, APATHY, the Gen X Musical for a commercial production coming to New York City soon. APATHY's New York City debut was in MITF '05.

Lisa Dozier (Artistic Director for Plays) Lisa Dozier is thrilled to have joined the MITF team this season. She is a theatrical producer and general manager in New York City. Recent credits include: Into the Hazard (Henry 5) (dir, by Jessica Bauman, Walkerspace); The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall (dir. by Sam Gold, Off Broadway, Theatre Row/Stage 13); To Paint the Earth (NYMF 2008); I Come For Love (NYMF 2008); SA KA LA (dir. by Sarah Cameron Sunde, 45 Bleecker/Oslo Elsewhere); Pure Heaven (Emelin); Jeffrey Hatcher's Murderers (Emelin); The Piper (NYMF 2007); Surface to Air (dir. by Jim Naughton, Off Broadway, Symphony Space); The Polish Play (Walkerspace/ Katharsis); Character (Prospect); Warrior (NYMF 2006); Behind the Limelight (NYMF 2006); Hot and Sweet (NYMF 2006); Ibsen + Fosse 2006 with Oslo Elsewhere at 59E59: Rosmersholm, deathvariations; Manhattan Madcaps of 1924; Jeff Daniels' Apartment 3A; The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde (NYMF 2005). Previously, she was the associate producer at Symphony Space and was on the artistic staff at Manhattan Theatre Club, where she worked on Doubt, Reckless, Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, 5 by Tenn, 

A Picasso, amongst others. She has also worked at the New 42nd Street, American Repertory Theatre and New York Stage & Film. Lisa was also the general manager for the 2008 National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals, and will be returning for their 2009 festival. Lisa holds a BA in theatre management from Florida State.

Jamibeth Margolis (Artistic Director for Musicals) comes to MITF with a strong background and interest in new works and the development of new musicals.  Previously, Jamibeth served as the New Works Program Director at the National Alliance for Musical Theater.  She was also a script reader and evaluator for the Next Link series of the New York Musical Theatre Festival for three years.  As a professional director, Jamibeth is attached to a number of new musicals currently being developed for Broadway including Warsaw and Owl Creek. She has directed readings, showcases and productions of a dozen new musicals in the last three years at prominent New York venues. She also recently served as assistant director to Jerry Zaks on The Caine Mutiny Court Martial on Broadway and A Bad Friend at Lincoln Center Theatre.  Jamibeth is also a professional casting director with twelve years of experience in NYC.  She worked for Johnson-Liff Casting, Margolis-Seay Casting, and is now a freelance casting director with her own office.  Past casting projects include the Broadway and National Touring Companies of such shows as Cats, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and many others.  Member: Society Of Stage Directors and Choreographers, The Casting Society Of America, and Actors’ Equity Association.  She is thrilled to be part of MITF this year.

He was responsible for the original German production of Elton John’s Musical Aida with Disney Theatrical Productions and was the Stage Manager for the original German productions of Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast and Jekyll & Hyde, among others. With Broadway Composer and Lyricist Maury Yeston he collaborated on the German premiere of Yeston's December Songs in 2005/06. He has been working closely with Jason Robert Brown, Bill Russell and other renowned Broadway Artists and Producers on several cross-Atlantic projects.

Productions in 2009 include The 39 Steps by John Buchan and Alfred Hitchcock and Musical Fieber - presented by Aktiv Event Ltd. Daniel is delighted to be with the MITF and thanks John and Emileena for this wonderful opportunity.

SARAH KATE O'HAVER (Marketing Director) is thrilled to join the MITF team this year! She has worked closely with box office guru Joseph Craig for the last four years at Nielsen Research Group and now with his new team at Entertainment Research Marketing Inc. where they have introduced the business of market research on Broadway and Off. Their clients include Disney Theatricals, SPOT Co, Roundabout Theatre Co and more. She has an MFA in playwriting from Rutgers' prestigious Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studied with Lee Blessing.

Joe walsh (Artistic Director of English Shows)

MICHELLE TABNICK  (Publicity) Michelle Brandon Tabnick is a freelance publicist and marketing consultant. She was the Director of Marketing at Signature Theatre Company and at The Pearl Theatre Company. She has also been employed in the Marketing Departments of New York City Opera, Hangar Theatre and Porthouse Theatre. As a publicist, she has worked with numerous companies and organizations, including Parsons Dance, Keigwin + Company, Battleworks Dance Company, Dance New Amsterdam, Gotham Chamber Opera, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Heiress Productions, The Storm Theatre, Parallel Exit, Besch Solinger Productions, The Ateh Theater Group, 3Graces Theater Co., The Moonshine Project, and Propinquity Productions, among others.

David Lefkowitz (Festabill Editor) has been a theater journalist for more than two decades, as well as a playwright and performer. He founded the archival website TotalTheater.com and co-publishes Performing Arts Insider (performingartsinsider.com) theater journal. Former managing editor of Playbill On-Line, he’s a regular contributor to New York Theater News, Theater News Online, Long Island Pulse and Long Island Woman. He’s also the host of the long-running weekly radio program Dave’s Gone By (davesgoneby.org), and his 2007 TV show, Shalom, Dammit!: Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Peace, Love & Acid-Reflux Hour – A Television Miracle continues to air on MNN, L.I. Cablevision and YouTube.  Dave’s play, Kandide, won the Lee Korf Playwriting Award and was produced in Los Angeles. His collection of plays, Marriage, Babies and the End of the World, was published by Holvoe Books and sold at least half a dozen copies. You can catch Dave hosting Stagebuddy.com’s Weekly Night Live Saturday nights at six at the Times Square Arts Center.  Dave received his BFA and MFA from NYU and thinks working with MITF is A-OK. Lefkowitz.dave@gmail.com / www.Totaltheater.com.

John Michael Villa (Webmaster) has been a theater afficionado for many years having experienced New York's vibrant theater scene. He has worked as an IT manager for a midtown agency working on the company's ongoing web development initiatives. John has appeared in shows such as "Ragtime", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Once Upon A Mattress","Carousel", "Miong", "Annie", "South Pacific" and "Alice in Wonderland". John has done stage and film work in the Philippines and is now doing freelance video production and web management. This is John's second year with MITF and currently works as a consultant in Minneapolis.