Our Team
Yelena Demikovsky, Founder
Yelena Demikovsky is founder of Red Palette Pictures. Born in Russia, she has lived in the United States since 1995. She is a documentary and narrative filmmaker with a broad theatre background in the United States and Russia.
Demikovsky has directed the award-winning documentaries Unity, The Story Of Fenist, Happy To Be So, and Vera. An Intimate Sketch as well as narrative shorts Shell and Through The Door.
She is in post-production of the documentaries, Then Comes the Glory, about famed ballet star Rudolf Nureyev, and Black Russians - The Red Experience.
In addition, she has written five short scripts, two feature scripts and a two-act play.
Demikovsky has produced two symposia about Rudolf Nureyev — one in New York (1997), the other in St. Petersburg, Russia (1998). She also contributed interviews and translations to four authors of Nureyev biographies. She was guest director of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and directed for Soho Rep in New York City.
Demikovsky has two masters degrees, one in theatre (Moscow, Russia), and another in video (Boston, USA) and had taught theatre directing in Moscow.
Piero Basso,
Director of Photography
Born and raised in northern Italy, Piero studied Cinema and Art Studies at the University of Turin. There he developed a deep interest in visual storytelling. Piero began building a career as a director of photography while also working as a Steadicam operator. He photographed a number of award winning films and documentaries as well as four feature films and several shorts.
After moving to New York in 2008, Piero has worked on numerous projects including documentaries and narratives. He is now a part of several projects with Red Palette Pictures. In addition, he teaches at the New York Film Academy. www.pierobasso.com
Fatima Benbrahim, Editor
Born in Morocco, Fatima Benbrahim was editor of Red Palette Pictures shorts Shell and Through The Door as well as the documentaries Happy To Be So and Vera. An Intimate Sketch.
Her experience working for various international television stations — PBS/WNET Thirteen, TV5, France 2, France 3, Al-Jazeera, MBC, Abu Dhabi TV and Morocco’s 2M TV — and renowned film directors has given her universal exposure. She has worked in many formats and editing systems.
Sara Martinez
Visual Artist/Graphic Designer
Equadorian Sara Martinez is a graduate of Pratt Institute's Film and Media Arts Program and is a photographer.
Sara has a fundamental artistic interest in many aspects of still and moving imagery and is committed to working with Red Palette Pictures in their mission.
Sara is involved in various administrative and creative tasks.
Marlaina Martin, Intern
Marlaina is a recent Brown University graduate working on her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology. Previous research internships were with the Center for Urban Community Services, the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, the Providence Children's Museum, coLab Arts, and the Cortes Foundation. Marlaina has traveled extensively, including trips to Mali, West Africa, and Gozo, Malta, where she conducted research for her senior thesis.
Jacquelyn Christie, Intern
Jacquelyn, currently a student at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, has experience in journalism, theatre, and sociology. At 17, she interviewed Barak Obama during the 2008 Presidential election.
Nancy Sifton, Project Assistant
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Nancy has worked with Yelena Demikovsky since 1997, assisting with the first Rudolf Nureyev Symposium in New York and in 1998 with the St. Petersburg, Russia symposium.
She served as Project Assistant on The Story Of Fenist, and has provided administrative assistance for numerous projects at Red Palette Pictures. Nancy completed her Certificate in Arts Administration from New York University and has written reviews for several publications and is a regular contributor to ballethotline.com.
Francesca Mor, Editor
Born in Brescia, Italy, Francesca graduated from the Instituto D'Arte Caravaggio as a graphic designer. Her post-graduate degrees include “Expert in Stage Installation” and “Junior Executive of Directing and Film Editing.”
Beginning in 2003, Francesca has worked as a film editor on numerous documentaries for Rai (Rai Educational, RaiCinema) and edited several other award-winning documentaries. Since moving to New York in 2009, she has collaborated with Red Palette Pictures on Through the Door, Black Russians - The Red Experience, and other works in progress.
Katarina Nemcova,
Social Media/Assistant
Slovak-born, Katarina Nemcova received her BA and MA degrees in Mass Media Communication from Slovakia and Denmark. She has diverse work experience in media, HR, sales and marketing from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Taiwan and China.
Prior to joining Red Palette Pictures, Katarina worked for TBWA, a Top 10 global advertising agency, as a Communications Mananager in Shanghai and was a journalist at the Shanghai Business Review Magazine.
Sophia Harvey, Intern
Sophia studied in France and is currently a film and television major at New York University. She has extensive experience in journalism and politics.
Elaina Crockett, Intern
Elaina is a senior at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in New York City
Yesenia Gonzaga, Intern
Yesenia is a graduate of St. Francis College in Brooklyn majoring in film.
Christina Larkin, Intern
Christina is an economics major at New York University providing additional assistance for various Red Palette Pictures projects.