2023 Film Festival Presenters

Peter Venoutsos

Jennifer Idol & Alex Rose

Jennifer Idol, an expert in diving, design, and visual storytelling connects people to the natural world so they can experience its wonder through underwater photography and film. She showcased local waters in her book, An American Immersion, a quest in which she became the first woman to dive 50 states.

Her underwater photography and stories have been shared in periodicals such as DIVER, SCUBA Diving, and Alert Diver. Her connection to local waters led to her being recognized as a PADI® Ambassadiver (2017 and 2018) and as a member of the Ocean Artists Society and The Explorer’s Club.

See more of Jennifer’s work at: https://www.theunderwaterdesigner.com

Alex Rose holds a B.S. in Biology, a M.S. in Aquatic Biology, and has a wide variety of experience in the biological sciences. She is a professional violinist, photographer, and lover of all things aquatic. She is currently working as the Science Editor and a principle writer for Ocean Geographic Magazine and is the Managing Editor of Ocean Geographic Explorers.

She is a free-lance science writer and editor as well. Alex also composes violin pieces for use in ocean-themed films and exhibitions. Her driving goal is to find ways to protect our world’s precious marine habitats through diving, writing, photography, education, and research.

See more of about Alex at: https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.rose.750
Learn about Alex’s Blue Ring company (Benefit Corporation) at: http://www.bluering.blue/

Presenting: "Protected Waters: Exploring Yellowstone"

The world’s first national park inspired the creation of 61 more parks in the United States and hundreds of parks in more than 100 countries. From geysers and hot springs to glacial lakes, water has defined the park and filled it with some of the strangest life forms. Alex Rose and Jennifer Idol dive beneath the waters of Yellowstone Lake to see unusual and lesser-known geothermal features and the strange life they support.

Andrew Martinez

Andrew J. Martinez Photography specializes in images of the natural world. His photos present images of destinations and lifestyles, documenting life on land and underwater. He has traveled and photographed in many of the world’s beautiful tropical islands from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. Martinez has also spent years capturing images of people and culture of many lands. As a lifelong resident of New England he has compiled one of the largest files of high quality images of marine life behavior from New England and Eastern Canadian.

For more than 50 years, Andrew Martinez has been diving in New England waters. Recently he photographed marine life in Indonesia, St. Vincent, the Gulf of Maine and humpback whales in the Caribbean. His work has been published in most nature, travel, and dive magazines in this country and in many other countries. He has led Marine Biology or travel groups to the Galapagos Islands, Cayman Islands, the Bay Islands of Honduras and many destinations in the Caribbean and Indo Pacific.

His photos are used in books or displays in the New England Aquarium and many other aquaria and science centers. His book Marine Life of the North Atlantic, which is considered the best guide to this region, is now in its 4th edition with many more creatures, more than 200 new photos, and an expanded range. His other field guide, Marine life of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is very popular in Canada.

Presentation: "The Beauty of the North Atlantic"

The cold green waters off the northeastern coast of the US and Canada are home too many colorful and fascinating animals. This underwater paradise is easily accessible to scuba divers from shore. From wolffish and torpedo rays to stunningly beautiful nudibranchs and shrimp, this region always delights the visiting divers.

• Visit his work at: http://andrewjmartinez.com/

• View his app on the “Marine Life of the North Atlantic” at: http://marinelifeofthenorthatlantic.com
  (available on the App Store and Google Play)

Danny Rivera

Danny Rivera is an avid local diver, technical diving instructor, Owner of Good Life Divers and, a photographer. I could probably go on and tell you all about writing a book, or getting some pictures and interviews published, but who wants to hear about all that anyway. I’m not sure anyone even reads these. I had a goldfish once, when I was younger. I named him Rocket. I won him or her, not really sure, at a fair that my parents took me to. But, I digress. I bought a boat a couple of years ago and started another business, Boat is Full, inc, where we run local dive charters. Oh, that’s right, this is supposed to be in the third person. Danny bought a boat and has been hemorrhaging money ever since trying to run dive charters on Long Island.

Presentation: THE SUBAQUEOUS MILIUE - "Le mystérieux sous-marin du village de la baie"

Follow Capt. Barbeau of Monaco, the famous aquanaut, explorer, oceanographer, and Chair of the Barbeau Oceanological Aquatic Terrain Society, and renowned filmmaker on the making of his latest undersea documentary. He and his team attempt to uncover the mysteries of what exactly lies off the beach in The Village of the bay.

Visit his website at: http://www.goodlifedivers.com

Michael Salvarezza & Christopher Weaver

Michael Salvarezza and Christopher Weaver have been diving the waters of the world since 1978. In that time, they have spent hundreds of hours underwater and have accumulated a large and varied library of photographic images.

In 1994, Salvarezza and Weaver formed a company called Eco-Photo Explorers, a New York based organization to help promote public interest in protecting the underwater environment through knowledge and awareness using underwater photography. Their photo and freelance writing are all utilized to achieve this goal.

They have presented their work in many multi-media presentations, and have appeared previously at Beneath the Sea, Boston Sea Rovers Underwater Clinic, Our World Underwater and the Long Island Divers Association Film Festival.

Mike and Chris have been published in numerous magazines, including National Geographic Adventure, and have authored many articles for the majority of the dive publications the world over. Their work has also been used to support a number of research and educational programs, including the Jason Project for Education, the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium in New York and the Cambridge University and the University of Groningen Arctic Centre work on monitoring the transformation of historic features in Antarctica and Svalbard.

Presenting: "The Channel Islands: California’s Underwater Jungle"

There’s a jungle off the California coast. It is lush, and green, and filled with a marvelous diversity of life. It is every bit a wilderness, with a complex eco-system that is both resilient and fragile. And if you were to look at the islands poking their heads above the water about an hour outside of Ventura, you’d be surprised to be using those words. The islands look barren and dry. Hardly the place for thick jungles of plants and trees. But beneath the waves off these coasts lie the magnificent kelp forests, dense groves of mesmerizing plants swaying with the movement of the water and harboring some of the most beguiling temperate marine life to be found anywhere. Come and let’s explore the kelp forests of California’s Channel Islands.

See more of Mike and Chris' work at: https://ecophotoexplorers.com

Renata Rojas & Steven Peredo

Renata Rojas - Born in Mexico City and based in New York City, Renata Rojas is a Technical Diver who started diving at age 12.  Since then, Renata’s world-wide diving experience includes cave diving, wreck diving, ice diving. She has traveled to some of the most remote places in the world, included Galapagos, Newfoundland,  Iceland, Greenland, the Maldives, The North Artic and Australia’s great Barrier Reefs.   Renata has been fascinated with the RMS Titanic since before it was found and has been dreaming of seeing it for 4o yrs.  Her dream culminated with an invitation to participate the 2012 Titanic Expedition with Deep Ocean Expeditions in the Mir Russian submersibles but was ultimately cancelled not only once but twice.   As she continued dreaming about being able to visit the resting place of the RMS Titanic 12,500 feet in the bottom of the ocean, she overcame obstacles and postponements. She was finally scheduled to take part on an  expedition organized by OceanGate Inc. as a member of the crew.  The company coordinates yearly expeditions to photograph and document the wreck and conduct scientific surveys of the site.   In July 19, 2022 Renata finally got her chance to fulfill her dream.

Last year she was a mission specialist on the first submersible dives to the wreck of the Andrea Doria off the coast of Nantucket with submersible company OceanGate.

She is a member of LIDA and Big Apple Divers  as well as the legendary  Explorers Club where she has been involved in a number  expeditions including the Sedna Epic Proof-of Concept Expedition in 2014 and the Sedna Epic: "Working together"  Expedition in 2016,  2015 Centennial  submersible dives to the wreck of the wreck of the Britannic and Andrea Doria, and to document the  historical wrecks of Newfoundland with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.   Out of the water, Renata works for a Spanish  bank but spends most weekends diving the ship wrecks off the coast of New York and New Jersey aboard the Gypsy Blood.

For more information about Renata, visit: https://www.facebook.com/renata.rojas/
See Renata’s Instagram photos and videos at: https://www.instagram.com/renatarojasss/

Steven Peredo - Shortly after graduating from Lynnwood High School in 1995, Steve Peredo joined the United States Navy where he served honorably for 20 years. Steve has always been passionate about art and creativity ultimately pursuing a degree in Web & Multimedia Designs from the Art Institute of Seattle. He joined the OceanGate Expeditions’ Media and Marketing team in 2016 and became part of the 2021 and 2022 Titanic Expeditions where he met Renata Rojas. Steve is continuing to pursue his passion in media production. In November 2022, he created his YouTube channel @stevennevetsen where he plans to document all of his creative projects.

For more information about Steve, visit: https://www.facebook.com/stevenaperedo/
See Steve’s YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@stevennevetsen
See Steve’s Instagram photos and videos at: https://www.instagram.com/stevennevetsen/
Connect with Steve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevennevetsen

Presenting: "Journey to Titanic"

Renata has been dreaming about visiting and exploring the wreck of the Titanic since childhood. In 2020, her childhood dream was made possible by a new private submersible made by OceanGate Inc. which has opened up the possibility for citizens and scientists to take part and participate as crew members in ongoing yearly expeditions to this famous shipwreck.

Read about Renata’s quest to visit Titanic at:
https://www.deeperblue.com/profile-renata-rojas-and-her-quest-to-visit-titanic/