AICE’s New York Chapter, which will host this year’s AICE Awards Show, has elected a new president, VP and secretary, representing a slate of new leaders for the association’s largest chapter. The new president of the chapter’s board is Gloria Pitagorsky, managing director and partner of Heard City. She succeeds David Gioiella, editor and partner at Northern Lights, who remains a board member. Pitagorsky steps up to the top position at the board after a two-year term as VP.
Also elected to top leadership posts are Tina Mintus, editor and founder of KYLE nyc, the editorial and postproduction boutique, who succeeds Pitagorsky as VP of the board, and Adam Barone, managing director and co-founder of the audio post and music house Sonic Union, who will serve as secretary. He succeeds Rosemary Quigley of Hooligan.
Joining the new leadership slate are three new board members: Robin Hall, executive producer at Northern Lights; Mark Valentine, founder/creative director of ANATOMY; and Celia Williams, executive producer of Freefolk.
“I can speak for the entire AICE community when I welcome Gloria, Tina and Adam to their new positions as leaders of our New York chapter,” said executive director Rachelle Madden. “All of them are committed industry movers who are no strangers when it comes to volunteering their time, passion and knowledge to the association and its many activities. They’ll have a huge impact on the chapter, and we’re all going to benefit from their vision and their increased involvement.”
Madden also took the opportunity to thank Gioiella and Quigley for their service to the chapter. “David and Rosemary have been great assets to our association, and have led the way as the New York chapter has worked to increase member involvement, offer new events that help our members succeed and flourish and continue to keep an eye on the next generation of talent. We owe them a lot.”
A member of both the New York chapter board and AICE’s international board, Pitagorsky is also a producer, philanthropist, activist and 18-year veteran of the industry. She serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the Food Bank for New York City, a hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs. Aside from her day job, she’s committed to mentoring and supporting women in technology, film and advertising roles, and is a member of New York Women in Film & TV, The Ad Club of New York, The One Club, New York Women in Advertising. She’s also a patron of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Mintus is a star editor whose work for a range of brands has been hailed as energetic and trend-setting. She launched KYLE Edit in 2011 after having worked for over a dozen years at V2 Editorial, previously Vito DeSario Editing. While there she grew from an assistant to a sr. editor, and was mentored by DeSario himself. Her company recently rebranded as KYLE nyc and has expanded its services to include production, visual effects and color grading.
Barone launched Sonic Union in 2008 with partners Michael Marinelli and Steve Rosen, both mixing engineers. A native of western New York, Barone is an honors graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. After graduating he worked for one of the leading companies in the cinema advertising industry (which was eventually acquired by Technicolor), then transitioned into postproduction at Buzz, a Manhattan audio post and video finishing boutique, before co-founding Sonic Union. A dedicated volunteer, Barone sits on the international board of Compeer, a social service organization that provides companionship and support to people with disabilities.
The companies represented by the chapter’s new board members–Northern Lights, ANATOMY and Freefolk–represent a cross-section of the industry, coming from an integrated editorial house with effects and design wings, a broadcast promotion specialty studio and an effects and color grading shop with roots in the UK.
Hall’s career in post spans over four decades. In addition to his work at NL, he’s served in EP roles at Crew Cuts and Chickonkey and was a producer at BlueRock. He brings an expansive knowledge of the industry to the board and clear ideas on what member companies can do to diversify, grow and succeed in today’s challenging landscape.
Valentine brings an extensive background in broadcast promotion via his work at Anatomy, adding important new perspective about this category to the board. An editor, he launched Anatomy 16 years ago, and has launched, branded and marketed media and entertainment companies for nearly two decades. An alumnus of the iconic broadcast branding studio Lee Hunt Associates, Valentine continues to run Promax/BDA’s annual Hot Spot Seminar, which is often the highest-attended event of the conference.
Williams’s resume reflects her depth of experience on the ad agency, post production and audio post sides of the business. She’s held EP or head of production roles at such agencies as DDB, Arnold Worldwide, mcgarrybowen and The Martin Agency (and freelanced at several other top shops), and spent several years at the music and sound design studio Endless Noise. Freefolk, which opened its local office just a few months ago, focuses on 3D, VFX, color grading and finishing, and is the first US office of a London-based post boutique formed from the merger of Finish and Realise Studio.
Kennedy Center head warns staff of cuts and “skeletal” staffing during renovation closure
As the Trump administration prepares to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation, the head of Washington's performing arts center has warned its staff about impending cuts that will leave "skeletal teams."
In a Tuesday memo obtained by The Associated Press, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told staff that "departments will obviously function on a much smaller scale with some units totally reduced or on hold until we begin preparations to reopen in 2028," promising "permanent or temporary adjustments for most everyone."
A Kennedy Center spokesperson declined comment Wednesday.
Over the next few months, he wrote, department heads would be "evaluating the needs and making the decisions as to what these skeletal teams left in place during the facility and closure and construction phase will look like." Grenell said leadership would "provide as much clarity and advance notice as possible."
The Kennedy Center is slated to close in early July. Few details about what the renovations will look like have been released since President Donald Trump announced his plan at the beginning of February. Neither Trump nor Grenell have provided evidence to support claims about the building being in disrepair, and last October, Trump had pledged it would remain open during renovations.
It's unclear exactly how many employees the center currently has, but a 2025 tax filing said nearly 2,500 people were employed during the 2023 calendar year. A request for comment sent to Kennedy Center Arts Workers United, which represents artists and arts professionals affiliated with the center — wasn't immediately returned.
Leading performers and groups have left or canceled appearances since Trump ousted the center's leadership a year ago... Read More