Shirley Moore
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Shirley Moore worked as a journalist for CBC Radio for several years and specialized in environmental, political and cultural stories. She was also an associate producer, fill-in newsreader and host, and has produced her own programs for community radio.
Shirley has worked as an editor and writer, and has been published in university magazines and small and independent creative publications. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English and a bachelor of journalism. Shirley holds Dutch and Canadian citizenship and has lived in Sudbury, Halifax, Waterloo and Montreal. She currently resides in Toronto.
Danilo Milovanović, Neža Knez,
Toni Poljanec & Luka Erdani
Award-Winning Filmmakers
The film is a collective project directed, shot and edited by a group of four artists (Neža Knez, Toni Poljanec, Luka Erdani and Danilo Milovanović) that decided to spend a month traveling in an old Yugo car. Neža and Danilo are visual artists, Toni is a film maker and Luka is a creative mechanic and social movements initiator. For the purpose of this film they act as one.
Andrea Marcovicchio
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Andrea Marcovicchio, Italian director and photographer born in 1989.
After earning a master's degree in photography at the renowned John Kaverdash academy in Milan, he began his career as a photographer and filmmaker. He collaborates with important Italian and international brands creating video and photographic contents.
He also works as a director for television commercials for Swiss television. He has made 3 short films obtaining awards in various international festivals.
In 2020 he starts working on his first documentary, in which he wants to tell an all-Italian story, and precisely a story of his land, of his lake, producing Last of Us: the last fishermen of the lake.
Anne Ward & Chip Williams
Award-Winning Filmmakers
We are Chip Williams and Anne Ward, a husband-and-wife documentary production team, married for more than two decades. We moved to Appalachia from the Chicago area in 2011 and want to share the story of their Appalachian county. We are the creatives behind Coneflower Creative, our production company.
Chip is a photographer, award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator. Over the span of his career, his work has been published in numerous national and regional magazines and his corporate and commercial clients have included Fortune 500 companies, design firms, government agencies and educational clients. He is currently an associate professor in the Commercial Photography program at Appalachian State University. You can find samples of his work at www.chipwilliams.com.
Anne is an award-winning writer, documentary producer, editor and educator. Her client list includes Fortune 500 companies and communication firms. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Appalachian State University.
Our documentary production and photography projects have taken us across America and to countries around the world.
When we are not working, we can often be found on the sideline of a pool, cheering on our children at swim meets.
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Martin Krafft
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Martin Krafft studied Creative Writing and Economics at Emory University. He is currently completing a Master's of Fine Arts in Photography, Video, and Imaging at the University of Arizona. He uses the experimental documentary form to document the experiences of those often overlooked by our society. His video project, Cassandra 2020, was recently awarded a Student Innovation in Imaging award by the Society for Photographic Education.
Iqbal Barkat & Maree Delofski
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Iqbal Barkat is a digital artist and filmmaker. He also teaches screen production at Macquarie University, Sydney. Iqbal was born in Singapore and began his career in theatre as Artistic Director of Gung Ho Theatre Ensemble, the company he founded. After his move to Australia he became a proponent and practitioner of community and participatory arts.
Maree Delofski began filmmaking with the London based film workshop Cinema Action during the 1970s. Her films reflect her deep interest in a cinema of mutuality and social issues. She has also made audio documentaries with the Australian Broadcasting Commission and has taught at Macquarie University and at the Australian Film and Television School where she was Senior Lecturer in Screen Studies and Head of Documentary. Her films and audio work have won awards and nominations and have been screened at national and international festivals, on national and international television.
Malte Philipp Kaeding
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Dr Malte Philipp Kaeding is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in International Politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. He is the co-founder of the Hong Kong Studies Association. Malte researches emotions and international relations and is the director/writer/producer of Black Bauhinia 香港本色.
Malte has been a cinephile since his teenage days and an admirer of the Hong Kong cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. He studied Comparative Literature with the late Esther M.K. Cheung and Film Studies with Mette Hjort during an exchange year at the University of Hong Kong and completed the BFI Creative Film Skills Evening Class Programme on documentary film making.
Jenna Contreras
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jenna Contreras is an award-winning filmmaker who believes storytelling is about more than capturing an audience. Jenna strives to create engaging, meaningful, content that adds value to our society. Her work has been viewed over one million times across multiple ESPN platforms and programs.
Jenna produced and co-directed ESPN Films critically acclaimed film, 144. She was embedded in the 2020 WNBA bubble on a project that was intended to capture an unprecedented time in sports. Instead, Jenna and her crew of only two people captured the raw and courageous effort of the women of the W to use their platform to fight for social justice and wrestle with the racial inequalities that have defined our time. With Jenna's knack for appealing to humanity and open story telling, she gained the trust of the players to tell the story of one of the most poignant collisions of sports and society.
Other long-form projects directed by Jenna include two, hour-long, documentary films that launched an “All Access” brand for women’s sports on ACC Network. Through her earnest approach, Jenna was granted unparalleled access to the closely guarded world of college athletics. The first film followed the final pre-season for legendary Notre Dame basketball coach, and two-time national champion, Muffet McGraw. A second film featured an imitate look at the University of Miami’s hoops program as they battled through the middle of their NCAA season.
Jenna’s first New York Festivals medal winning project, “the Art of Inspiration” proved truly life-changing for artist Kendrell Daniels. A young painter who was born without arms, Daniels and his work inspired quarterback Dan Prescott. Jenna directed and produced the short feature about Daniels and Prescott which went on to be nominated for a National Sports Emmy. Over a million views later, Daniels has been selling his artwork including one piece that fetched over $25,000.
Since starting at ESPN in 2012, numerous other projects have decorated Jenna’s career. As a director and producer, she is a one-time Emmy award-winner, four-time Emmy nominee, and a two-time New York Festivals Silver Medal recipient. Jenna credits her success to the subjects who are willing to share their stories and a passion to make content that matters.
Annette Juergens Busbee
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Annette Juergens Busbee is an Iowa journalist and writer and executive producer of the documentary trilogy, “The Collins Story: From The Moon To The Earth.” The series brings to life the story of a small Iowa radio communications company that was an early pioneer in space communications and led the development of groundbreaking communication, tracking and navigation technology for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. She weaves together research, archival images, 16-millimeter film footage, and interviews with former Collins Radio engineers to tell this little-known story. All three documentaries have been recognized with festival awards and screenings.
She worked in collaboration with the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association, the sponsor of the series, and movie editor Eric Dean Freese. Eric is senior editor and videographer at Wired Production Group in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he produces regional and nationwide corporate and live event video. He has special interests in documentary production and motion design and is a jib operator and certified drone pilot. Eric is also an independent film enthusiast, both as a crew member and filmmaking organization volunteer. He is married with two sons who have started making their own films.
Zani Wilson
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Zani Wilson is a documentary filmmaker from Annapolis, MD. Her work explores social issues and political movements through family narratives. Her goal is to bring awareness to issues centered around mental health, civil rights, and human rights through a personal and intergenerational lens. Zani is an Annapolis High Performing and Visual Arts alum and is currently a senior at NYU Tisch School School of the Arts pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in film and television and psychology.
Hannah Schweier
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Hannah Schweier was born in Munich in 1980. From 1999-2001 she studied philosophy, psychology and theater, before enrolling in the film direction program at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg from 2003-2010. Her third-year film "aufrecht stehen" opened the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” at the Berlinale in 2007. In 2008, she won the Scholz&Friends Scholarship for Creative Excellence. Her 2009 short film "ausgestossen" premiered at the Hof Film Festival. Subsequently, Hannah wrote and directed her first feature film "Cindy liebt mich nicht" (Cindy doesn't love me) with ZDF Kleines Fernsehspiel. Following another Berlinale slot in 2010, her debut was in theatrical release.
After graduation, she concentrated on screenwriting, earning a scholarship for the 2013/2014 DrehbuchWerkstatt Munich.
In 2019 Hannah wrote the script for the fictionmovie „Into the Groove“, which will be released in 2020, besides finishing her shooting for her first documentary feature "80,000 Schnitzel" financed by ZDF Kleines Fernsehspiel. Hannah Schweier lives as a writer-director in Berlin. She is represented by the agency henschel SCHAUSPIEL.
Christopher Saint Booth &
Philip Adrian Booth
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Award winning filmmakers the Booth Brothers as seen on Syfy, Sony and Discovery. Known for Death Tunnel (Sony), Dead Still (Universal), Exorcist File (Discovery) and Spooked (Syfy).
Anna Lee Ackermann
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Anna Lee Ackermann is an award-winning filmmaker and freelance Chicago-based content creator and documentarian in both visual, audio, and written forms. Through her time pursuing a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Documentary (December '20) with a dual focus in film and journalism and a minor in Social Media and Digital Strategy at Columbia College Chicago, and serving as an intern at Kartemquin Films, she has sharpened her storytelling skills working on a number of documentaries and professional projects. In her free time, Ackermann enjoys cooking, playing board games, and going skydiving!
Johnny Holder
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Johnny Holder is an MFA candidate for Science and Natural History Filmmaking at Montana State University. After serving eight years in Army Special Operations across Africa and Latin America he finished a B.S. in Earth Science before committing full-time to documentary filmmaking. He completed two production internships with NASA and multiple others focusing on ranching in the western US and Indigenous Storytelling with the Crow and Blackfeet reservations. Fluent in Spanish, Johnny has focused much of his attention on the Latin American Region and currently works with Native American Wildland fire crews in the Western U.S.
Pedro McCardell
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Pedro McCardell is a documentary filmmaker born in Brazil and has studied English Literature at Oxford University. He worked on countless projects, from photography and communications to complex algorithm development. He always craved outdoor activities and in 2017 he rode from Brazil to California on a motorcycle alone.
Jessica Gould
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jessica Gould enjoys a multifaceted career as writer, soprano, artistic director, and award-winning filmmaker with over 60 laurels to her name, including Best Original Script from the London International Monthly Film Festival, and Best First Time Director from the Silk Road Festival Cannes, 1st Monthly Film Festival Belgrade, and Dreamer's Film Festival Bucharest, all for Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance, and Modern Oblivion.
Ms. Gould’s program notes include essays for Carnegie Hall, the Clarion Society (New York City), the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia), the Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), NYU Villa La Pietra (Florence), Palazzo Grimani (Venice), and Villa Finaly La Chancellerie des Universités de Paris – La Sorbonne (Florence), among many others. Her creative nonfiction, satire, and essays have been published in the literary journals Belle Ombre, The Blue Nib, Exquisite Pandemic, and Months to Years. A soprano, artistic director, Italian translator, and researcher, she performs and records in Europe and the United States. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, based in New York City, her original projects have received grants from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation (no relation), the DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, the Charles Schwartz Foundation for Music, the Krumholz Foundation, and NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, among others, generous support which has enabled the series to blossom into one of the more significant presenters of historical performance in New York City and beyond.
She holds a BA from Macalester College in Art History, Music, and Political Science, and studied Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design, and the National Academy of Design. Ms Gould studied film history and theory under Joel Doerfler and Linda Schulte-Sasse in the United States and Maria Grazia Bucchioni and Vito Tobbia in Italy.
Wojciech Lorenc
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jayro was produced and directed by a Houston based husband and wife creative team. Valentina Trevino (producer) is a Mexican-born multimedia artist whose films screened and won awards in international festivals, and whose work has reached over 20 million people online. Wojciech Lorenc (director) is a Polish-born filmmaker and professor. Wojciech has taught filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago, University of Hawaii West O’ahu, Columbus State University, and currently Sam Houston State University where he serves as the Chair of the Department of Mass Communication, and coordinates the BFA in Film and Television Production.
Dina Jane Rudick
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Dina Rudick is a documentary filmmaker with deep roots in journalism and a passion for telling critical and complex stories.
Dina has won 4 Emmy Awards for her video and documentary work, as well as dozens of national photography awards during her decades-long career as a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. She is the owner and director of Anthem Multimedia, a video production company in Boston that specializes in short-form cinematic documentary work.
During her 16 years as a staff photojournalist at The Boston Globe newspaper, Dina has done extensive documentary work around the globe, including in Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bolivia, and Haiti, and the Americas. View Dina’s photography portfolio here.
She was instrumental in starting The Boston Globe’s video department in 2008, and led the Globe to its first Emmy win in 2009. Dina went on to win 3 more New England Emmy Awards including ‘Outstanding Documentary’ for her first documentary “Practice: Change - The Africa Yoga Project Story” in 2012.
Dina taught photography and video for years at Boston University College of Communication and Harvard University Extension, and has lectured widely at institutions in the United States.
With a background in science and decades in journalism, Dina gravitated to telling complex medical and scientific stories, with special focus on rare diseases. Her films have been screened and won awards at dozens of film festivals around the world, and her series about cystic fibrosis was the centerpiece of a months-long international advocacy and education campaign.
Dina’s technical and interpersonal skills, her ability to manage complex projects and multi-disciplinary teams, and her deep conviction to tell the hard stories combine to create a powerful leader committed to creating positive change.
Marissa Dingman
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Marissa Dingman is a filmmaker based in Portland, OR with roots in TN, KY, and GA. Her background comes from her experience as an animator and multimedia journalist where storytelling is central to design. Her second film in her short series "Speaking About Suicide" is currently in festival submissions for 2021 to continue to normalize the conversation around mental health and suicide prevention.
Paul North
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Paul North is the founder of Meet the Ocean - an educational nonprofit creating interactive experiences and conservation media that advocate for the marine ecosystems of planet Earth.
As host of Meet the Ocean’s podcast, North chronicles the variance of human interaction with the saltwater and produces films, podcasts, and outreach campaigns that visit schools and children’s hospitals internationally.
Lucas Figueroa
Award-Winning Filmmaker
As a film director, producer and screenwriter, Lucas Figueroa has created a groundbreaking career throughout his three decades of commercial and artistic productions in more than 20 countries. He is known for winning more than 500 international awards and receiving the Guinness World Records award for the Most Awarded Short Film in the World "Because there are things you never forget" (2008).
His first feature film "Viral" (2013) is considered the first European branded content featured film with the collaboration of Vodafone, Samsung and Canon, among others. "Dismissal" (2017), his latest feature film, is now available in over 190 countries through Netflix.
Lucas is the founder of Mr. Monkey, a production house which has worked with Universal Studios, Fox, Disney, Paramount, MTV, Nickelodeon, SYFY and AMC Networks among others. He also has established New Frequency, a production company who focuses on Documentaries.
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Abdul Stone Jackson
Award-Winning FilmmakerFor the past 23 years, Abdul has worked as an Editor, Producer, Director, and Director of Photography in the television and film industry. His professional repertoire includes working with the European Broadcasters Union as a video editor with foreign journalists during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. Abdul edited world news sports segments for journalists from several foreign networks including England, Croatia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, and Sweden.
Abdul has worked as a producer and director of photography for Secci Films U.S.A./ Italy and Backdoor Films NY/LA. Abdul served as the Director Of Photography on the short film ”WHOA” for Backdoor Films. It was accepted into twenty international film festivals including SUNDANCE and The Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival in Cannes France. Abdul also worked as The Co-Director & Director of Photography on the factory sanctioned Documentary on Lamborghini Sports Cars with Secci Films. He also had the pleasure of producing two commercials for the Benetton Clothing Brand. Later, Abdul left his post as a format producer for MTV Networks and worked as an Editor, Director of Photography and Post Producer for Lionsgate Entertainment. Under Lionsgate, Abdul photographed and edited DVD & BluRay content for the TV Series MAD MEN. After working on two seasons of MAD MEN, Abdul returned to the East Coast and worked as a Producer/Editor for CNN New York. After a year, Abdul returned to MTV Networks as a Post Producer while concurrently starting his production company “The Story Teller Corporation”. Abdul currently works on the Multimedia Production team at BMW’s North American Corporate Headquarters as he continues to grow The Storyteller Corp with his business partner.
Abdul’s work as a Director of Photography was won him first & second place awards at Temple University, the Cinecitta Film Festival in Rome and Sardegna’s International Film Festival in Italy.
Abdul studied Radio, Television and Film & Temple University and Studied Creative Writing at Harvard. He currently resides in New York City.
Sruthi S Menon & Sajesh Mohan
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Sruthi S Menon and Sajesh Mohan are journalists working with Onmanorama, the English News Website of Malayala Manorama. The short documentary 'Greener Pastures - Three Unique Farmers, 1 Story' is their first documentary production for Onmanorama.
Roger Maunder
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Roger Maunder was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He has independently produced, written, and directed a number of films including the political thriller Between Two Walls and the award winning film Swallowed.
He has also directed many music videos for bands/musicians that have become YouTube sensations such as Shanneyganock’s “Home Boys Home” and Amelia Curran’s mental health awareness video “This Video”.
He currently runs his own production company Up Sky Down Films.
In 2007, Maunder’s debut novel Mundy Pond was published by Creative Book Publishing. It is currently in the development stages as a feature film.
Jason Harney
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Documentary Filmmaker whose credits include "Voices of the Blue" (2020), "The Wounded Blue" (2019), "Repeat Offender" (2018), and "The Basketball Family" (2017).
Connor Hopkins
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Graduate of Luther College with degrees in Communication Studies, Visual Communication and Journalism.
Current multimedia journalist for Driftless Multimedia in Decorah, Iowa.
Borit Yannick
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Born in 1972 near Paris, France, Yannick Borit spent his childhood on Ré island. He has a strong connection to Asia. He lived for more than 20 years on the shores of Inle Lake in Burma. He is today in Cambodia for his next movie. His poetic outlook and his love of people and images brought Yannick on the long road of cinema.
"The world is a giant inkwell, the people living in it are the feathers of the inkwell; their stories are books that I would like to write tenderly and poetically with my lens... "
Nuno Martini & David André
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Nuno Martini is an award-winning cinematographer from Lisbon based in Berlin.
David André is a camera operator from Lisbon, with experience on diversified content for television.
Abes Borhan
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Abes Borhan is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. His latest long documentary film "Secret of Survival" is in the post-production stage and is expected to premier in festival circuits in 2021. He has worked on several documentaries as a director and producer, with "Maria", a short documentary on Iranian trans-genders becoming an official selection at the Rotterdam Film Festival. He has an extensive repertoire of skills and experience in TV and Broadcast, including but not limited to editing, producing, AD, and cinematographic work. His work is centered towards searching for truth within communities living on the outskirts of society, exposing themes and portrayals contrary to stereotypical beliefs.
Arturo Dueñas Herrero
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Arturo Dueñas (Esguevillas de Esgueva, Valladolid, Spain, 1962). Bachelor of Arts, Qualified in Cinematography and Filmmaking Course at the New York Film Academy. Full member of the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain. Actor, director, producer, editor and scriptwriter in several short films, he has produced and directed the feature films Amateurs (Aficionados, 2011), selected and awarded in over 30 international festivals, Corsairs (Corsarios, 2015), Mission: Sahara (Misión: Sáhara, 2016), Built lands (Tierras construidas, 2019) and Pessoas (Pessoas, 2020).
Taha Ovacı
Award-Winning Filmmaker
He was born in Istanbul in 1995. He was involved documentary works in different countries of the world. He continues for undergraduate education at Istanbul University, Department of Public Relations and Publicity and also a student on film art. He lives in Istanbul. He continues advertising, promotion, short film and documentary works.
Abed Ahmed
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Abed Ahmed is a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist from South Africa. He's currently based at TRT World in Istanbul, Turkey where he works as a Senior Editor and documentary filmmaker.
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Carolyn Wilson
Award-Winning Filmmaker
A first time award winning film-maker, best selling author, and international motivational speaker Carolyn Wilson, is the Fearless Magnified Educator. A survivor of Sexual Child Abuse and Domestic Violence who intentionally created a new narrative for her life. She demonstrates to others how to tap into the power of positive thinking to live and create their best life (especially after trauma & abuse). Carolyn is the creator of Magnify Your Essence, the Celebrating YOU Women’s Conference & Expo, Beacon's Light Retreat and is the author of Magnified Thoughts.
Eduardo Baggio &
Juslaine Abreu-Nogueira
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Eduardo and Juslaine are professors in undergraduate and master's degrees in film at Unespar (State University of Paraná). PhD researchers in the groups Cinecriare: Cinema - creation and reflection (Unespar/CNPq), Kinedária: art, poetics, cinema, video (Unespar/CNPq) and GILDA - interdisciplinary group in language, difference and subjectivation (UFPR/CNPq). Directors of the following documentaries: The Truths of Ale in Us (Juslaine Abreu-Nogueira, 2017), João & Maria (Eduardo Baggio, 2016) and Santa Teresa (Eduardo Baggio, 2014).
Nicholas Manting Brewer
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Nicholas Manting Brewer is an award-winning documentary storyteller and film editor. His films explore complex social topics through a humanistic, lyrical lens.
He is a founding partner at Standard Deviation Productions. The company’s film Lumpkin, Georgia premiered on the PBS documentary series Reel South in 2019. His work has screened at festivals including South By Southwest, IndieGrits, Sidewalk Film Festival and Sundance.
Nicholas received his MFA from University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. He's an alumnus of New College of Florida, where he received his B.A. with a focus in Anthropology.
Nicolette Swift & Matt Swift
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Nikki and Matt Swift are Columbus, Ohio artists and filmmakers who produce works in almost every area of media production from digital installations to documentary, art, and narrative films. Together they own and operate Nicolettecinemagraphics, an art-based media production company that provides services to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and the general Columbus, Ohio community. They both individually received a GCAC Media Arts Fellowship in 2014 for their work in moving-image art and Nicolettecinemagraphics, their production company, received the State of Ohio Governor's Award for Small Business Supporting the Arts in 2020.
Zixin Zhang
Award-Winning Filmmaker
(Cindy) Zixin Zhang is an artist, filmmaker, and screenwriter from Beijing, China, who is a current graduate at American Film Institute. She graduated from the MFA in Documentary Media program at Northwestern University and she has a BFA degree in the School of Art Institute of Chicago with focuses in Film, Painting, and Sculpture as a merit scholarship recipient. Her exhibitions about film, painting, and sculpture installations have been seen across the world, including the United States, Spain, China, India, and Russian, etc. She is interested in making nonfiction and narrative films that reveal truth, challenge bias, and uncover underrepresented stories. While feeding her lifelong curiosity about film and media, she believes she can make films while challenging boundaries and provoking changes.
LUKA RAUBENHEIMER
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Luka Raubenheimer is an established film maker and artist with a passion for wildlife.
Amy Taylor
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Amy Taylor studied environmental science and marine biology before completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago. As an independent filmmaker, she is driven by the potential that storytelling has to open windows into different worlds, reveal the truth, and create positive change.
Amy has spent over 20 years working with non- profit organizations, helping to shine a spotlight on environmental and social justice issues. Combining her love of the natural world with a creative skill set, she focuses on stories exploring connections between people and nature.
Her first feature-length documentary, Soul in the Sea, premiered at NZIFF, won awards internationally, and was nominated at the prestigious Jackson Hole Wildlife film festival.
Clea Cullen
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Clea Cullen is a documentary filmmaker and sound designer from Atlanta, Georgia with a passion for nature, culture, and exploration. Her recent documentary, "The Fruit of the Fungi", follows a mushroom farmer in south Georgia and how he turned his passion into profit.
Ashkan Soltani Stone
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Ashkan Soltani Stone is an Iranian-American director and producer known for Long Struggle (2005), White Manor (2012) and I Know You Well (2015). In his films, Soltani explores a wide range of topics such as affordable housing, immigrant workers, indigenous land rights, and subversive music. His films are known for their humanistic perspective on the social issue and the hardships of the impoverished, and underrepresented.
Binyamin Haneman
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Binyamin Haneman has just completed four years of full time study at the Maaleh Film School. His third year documentary about his special needs brother, "What You're Going Through," has screened at the Jewish Film Festival of Tel Aviv (Makor Rishon) and the Miami Jewish Film Festival. "Psagot Ramallah" is his graduating documentary.
Celia Tewey
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Celia Tewey is a filmmaker, producer, and visual artist based in New York City. She is a graduate of New York University where she received a major in Film and Television Production with quad-minors in Journalism, Bioethics, Entertainment Producing, and BEMT (business, entertainment, and media technologies). Celia has been creating content from a very young age and hopes to use her skills in storytelling, film, animation, and producing to create content aimed at mental health and social justice stories.
Dorinda G. Dallmeyer
Award-Winning Filmmaker
A native of Macon, Georgia, Dorinda G. Dallmeyer holds bachelor's and master's degrees in geology and a law degree from the University of Georgia. For 21 years she was the associate director at UGA’s Dean Rusk Center for International Law and then directed the Environmental Ethics Certificate Program until her retirement in 2018.
Her professional life has gone hand in hand with her lifelong curiosity about the natural world. Dorinda helped recover whale fossils in middle Georgia, sampled streams across the southern Appalachians, worked as research diver including a week-long stay in the Hydrolab underwater habitat, and, for ten years, served as a lecturer-naturalist aboard expedition cruises worldwide including more than twenty visits to Antarctica.
She is an award-winning photographer, radio producer, and writer. She is co-producer, executive producer, and writer for the documentary film "Cultivating the Wild: William Bartram's Travels" about the pioneering 18th century naturalist whose descriptions of the South call on us across the centuries to save this glorious landscape.
Changhee Chun
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Professor & Filmmaker
(Morgan Woodward Distinguished Professor in Film)
Department of Art + Art History
The University of Texas at Arlington
Since the first moment I saw the effect that a film can have on an audience, I have been intrigued by filmmaking. I was accepted to film school in Korea during a time of economic, social and political crisis, so studying the arts was not encouraged. After graduating from Hanyang University in Korea, I established myself with freelance production companies, and eventually was chosen to be a producer and director at a major broadcasting station in Korea. I produced over fifty television commercials, music videos, fiction films, documentaries and also produced the Korean broadcasting of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The organizational and leadership skills I acquired early in my career have strengthened my ability to communicate and effectively produce my own independent films and video arts.
From my graduate studies, I was able to focus on melding the conventions and discipline I learned from the media industry to the free, creative process required for independent film. The product of this process is evident in most of my film works. I have also received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to work on a documentary, as well as shown my work at many film festivals and screenings. In short, I have actively built my career through numerous different professional visual projects. Many of these professional projects were also awarded funding for development, production or completion. In addition to these creative projects, I was invited to present various films and related topics at over twenty different international and national conferences.
In the area of commercial and client-based productions, I also produced, photographed, and/or directed numerous film/video projects. As a working Director of Photography (DP) outside of my own independent projects, I have been on a journey to create films that not only tackle tough social issues, but also leave a lasting impression visually. My flexibility and ability to apply my knowledge of cinematography for different genres and filmic styles is what I attempt to display as a professional DP.
My personal production and work experience in the film industry is what gives me the unique perspective and skill base I have to offer to students in the academic world, beyond theories and textbook definitions of technique and film art. Without constantly challenging myself through independent productions, I would not gain knowledge of new technology, and I don’t think that I would be able to answer the question I ask my students at the beginning and end of each course: Why do you want to be a filmmaker?
After extensive experience in the media industry and independent productions, I’m really interest in creating visually stimulating films that directly incorporate current and prevailing issues including social justice, discrimination, diversity, and environmental issues.
As a filmmaker, I believe that no socially minded films are entirely successful without true human interaction with the issues tackled; I also believe that filmmakers cannot request viewers to become involved in some of the multiplicity of social movements in the world without first setting the example ourselves. I am always searching for ways to incorporate social responsibility into my film projects. A film allowing unique contribution to mankind as well as art itself often only comes after a film artist has tried to overcome the new challenge. I strongly believe that the privilege to create a valuable film is granted only to those who can rise to challenge. I accept this challenge with creative enthusiasm.
Hallie Haller
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Hallie Haller is a South African creative who cares about media, the future and you. Currently based in Johannesburg, Hallie is interested in cultural production that creates opportunity, fosters community and examines how we may live more meaningful lives. She has written a multitude ofunpublished pieces, received hundreds of rejection letters, invested unwisely in passion projects and lost itall for love - more than once. For love andmoney, she is a writer, director and creative strategist.
Hallie is proudly a ForCreativeGirls mentor, a One World Media documentary fellow for 2020 and a representative of Girls in Film's South African chapter.
SPOTLIGHT
DOCUMENTARY
FILM AWARDS
Vincenzo Schioppa
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Vincenzo Schioppa is an Italian film director and photographer born in Naples.
Starting his career in film direction, today he is the co-founder and creative director of nss factory and nss magazine, a creative studio based in Milan.
Anna Rawls
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Anna Rawls is a visual anthropologist and photographer based in Washington, D.C. Driven by her deep curiosity, social awareness and aesthetic understanding, she works alongside individuals and communities to create work that expands analysis, communication, and interpretation of the human experience. Thematically, her work explores concepts of identity, belonging, and narratives that exist at the margins.
Joel Bryant
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Joel Bryant is an actor, comedian and host and has been ever since graduating Pepperdine University with degrees in Theatre Arts and Telecommunications. However, when the pandemic emptied out his calendar and shut down his career, he pivoted into being a documentary filmmaker capturing the shutdown of America over the first few weeks of the coronavirus crisis. His film has since gone on to win awards at numerous festivals and is currently available for free on YouTube in an attempt to create a call-to-action to help Covid relief charities. His "other career" has finally started again and he just completed a two-month standup comedy tour in Europe, currently stars in "LA Macabre" streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi and is once again hosting events for the NFL at this year's Super Bowl.
Paolo Magris
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Paolo Magris, writer, director and screenplayer, was born in Trieste on December 31, 1968, lives and works in Trieste.
In 2011 he wrote, together with Giorgio Pressburger, the screenplay for the film “Dietro il buio” (critical award for best soundtrack) presented at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.
In 2016 he worked as assistant director in Pupi Avati's TV movie “Le nozze di Laura”.
He wrote and directed the following short films: "A te sola", (presented at the Rome Film Festival in 2016), "Su questa panchina", "The challenge", "Fiorellino", "Ho chiesto alla notte ".
Pete Murimi
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Peter Murimi is a multiple award-winning Kenyan TV documentary director focusing on hard-hitting social issues, from extra-judicial killings to prostitution. He recently won the 2019 Rory Peck award for news feature camerawork. His first win was the CNN Africa Journalist of the year award for his intimate documentary about Female Genital Mutilation among his Kuria community, “Walk to Womanhood” (2004). Another ground-breaking project was the film “Slum Survivors” (2007) where he lived with residents of Kibera - one of Africa's biggest informal settlements - to film their most private moments, from robbery to giving birth. Produced for the United Nations news agency IRIN, it won global recognition, including an award at the Czech Tur Ostrava film festival. Peter was a producer/ director for Al Jazeera's Africa Investigates strand exposing crime and corruption, including "Spell of the Albino" (2011) and "Zimbabwe's Child Exodus" (2011). "Kenya's Enemy Within" (2015), also for Al Jazeera, revealed the terror threat posed by homegrown al Shabaab Somali militants to Kenya. Pete, now based in London, currently works for the BBC's Africa Eye investigative unit, for whom he has filmed and directed stories about suicide and sex trafficking. Ongoing projects continue to focus on unearthing secrets and rooting out injustice in the world's most complex and exciting continent. "I am Samuel" is his feature directorial debut, filmed verite style over the last five years in his home country of Kenya.
Atanas Kiryakov
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Atanas Kiryakov was born on March 22, 1939 in Varna, Bulgaria. He graduated from the Higher School of Film Arts in Paris in 1963. He has worked at the BNT (1966-70) and at Vreme Studio (1970-82). He is the author of more than 100 films. Selected filmography: Let's Save the Air (1977), Equal to All (1983), For Official Use (1989), Case No 30 (1989), Survivals - Stories of the Concentration Camps (1990), The Condemned (1993), Eyes (1993), Remedy (2000), Boris Sarafov - the Man with a Star on His Brow (2003), Joel's Flying People (2007), Hell in Paradise (2006).
Lauren Stowell
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Since joining ESPN in 2006, Lauren Stowell has produced and directed a variety of short and longform features and documentaries for programs and platforms across ESPN, including SportsCenter’s storytelling brand SC Featured, College GameDay, ESPN Films, and The Undefeated.
In 2013, Stowell received her first National Sports Emmy award for the short feature, “Drive,” the story of a motorsports engineer who designed cars for the most successful team in NASCAR, despite being born without arms. In 2015, she received an Emmy for the short documentary, “No Excuses,” the story of a seven-year-old wrestler’s special bond with a coach and mentor. Most recently, in 2020, Stowell received an Emmy for the long feature, “Unstoppable,” a young man’s road to college football after narrowly surviving a housefire.
In 2020, Stowell produced and directed “America’s Son,” a one-hour documentary exploring the many ways Tiger Woods’ historic Masters win in 1997 – becoming the first African-American to win a major – influenced perceptions about race in America. The film was touted by USA Today as “one of the best documentaries ESPN has ever done.”
In 2019, Stowell produced, “Together,” a short film detailing Lauren and Jrue Holiday’s journey to parenthood after receiving a devastating medical diagnosis. The film is shown daily, inside Walt Disney World’s NBA Experience attraction in Disney Springs.
In 2018, Stowell received the AOPO (Association of Organ Procurement Organizations) Crystal Heart Award for her documentary, “Restart,” the story of a racecar driver’s donated heart saving the life of a retired Army war veteran, and the emotional journey as both families met for the first time. The award recognizes one member of the media that has made extraordinary strides for organ, tissue and eye donation and transplantation. “Restart” received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short Sports Documentary.
Along with her contributions to SportsCenter, Stowell produced features for ESPN’s “My Wish” series for six-consecutive years, (2012-2017.) The annual series chronicles the granting of sports-themed wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions, in a collaboration with Make-A-Wish.
Stowell is a five-time Emmy award-winner, a four-time National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) award recipient, a three-time National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Salute to Excellence award recipient, a three-time New York Festivals Gold Medal recipient, a two-time Russ Catlin Motorsports Journalism award recipient, and a two-time Telly award recipient.
Stowell joined ESPN as a studio production assistant, providing content for SportsCenter, NASCAR event and studio coverage, and golf live events before moving to Features.
Stowell is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where she received a B.A., in Journalism, with a concentration in Pathobiology in 2006.
Jamie Roberts
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jamie Roberts is an award winning film, commercial and television writer, producer and director. He has managed and produced television and Netflix documentary series in the U.S. and U.K. and produced and directed commercial content for global brand giants such as Toyota, Samsung, General Mills and Bimbo Bakeries.
Violet Du Feng
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Violet Du Feng is an Emmy winning independent documentarian. Her producing credits include CONFUCIAN DREAM (Karlovy Vary Special Jury Award, DocEdge Special Jury Award, Chinese Documentary Academy Award), MAINELAND (Jury Winners of SXSW and IFF Boston, NYTimes Critic's Pick), and PLEASE REMEMBER ME (IDFA premiere, GZDoc Best Documentary, Chinese Academy Documentary Award nomination, Doc Impact Hi5). Feng directed the most recent PBS/CPB special program HARBOR FROM THE HOLOCAUST, which had a national premiere in Sept, 2020 with music performed by Yo-Yo Ma. Feng started her career as a co-producer on the critically acclaimed 2007 Sundance Special Jury winner, Peabody and Emmy winner NANKING, which was the highest grossing documentary in China.
Eric Breitenbach
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Eric Breitenbach has been a still photographer for more than forty years and a filmmaker for more than twenty-five. His still photographs have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Details, and Doubletake, and are held in the permanent collections of the Duke University Center For Documentary Studies, The Carpenter Center at Harvard University, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Ogden Museum of Art.
He has produced documentaries for National Geographic Television, The Sundance Channel, Lifetime Television and both regional and national PBS.
In 2012 he exhibited his short film Little Monks, a documentary shot in a Buddhist monastery school in the Indian Himalayas, across the US festival circuit.
In 2014 he produced and directed Hoppin’ Rattlesnakes, Oral Histories of Beach Racing In Volusia County 1903-1958, a feature documentary on the history of beach road racing in Florida.
In 2019 he completed, with Dorinda Dallmeyer and Scott Auerbach, Cultivating The Wild: William Bartram’s Travels, a documentary profiling six individuals following in the 18 th century naturalist’s footsteps.
He is currently at work on a feature documentary on the life and legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
Eric Breitenbach is a Senior Professor at Daytona State College, where he has taught since 1981, and currently resides in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Evey Wilson Wetherbee
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Evey Wilson Wetherbee is a documentary filmmaker and journalist in Macon, Ga. She is driven to create nuanced stories in her home state of Georgia that illuminate the experiences of real people often overcoming injustice. Wetherbee's short films and cinematography have been published with the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
FRANK CHEN
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Chen Shi, a young director, who graduated from the TV production MFA in the Communication University of China in 2016. The documentary work Reds in Taiwan has been nominated with the tenth FIRST Youth Film Exhibition "Spirit of Freedom" Award. The documentary work The New Generatiaon has been nominated with the tenth TIEFF.
Robin Trouillet
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Robin Trouillet, 27, studies media, art and production in Offenburg. With internships in Hamburg and Munich such as cooperations in several projects he gained his experiences in film.
As a filmmaker and director he searches storys and pictures that affect people no matter which genre. Beside his studies he works as a freelancer and is always open for new unconventional ideas.
Preston Chase
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Preston William Chase is a seventh generation African Canadian and a descendant of William Parker. Parker escaped slavery in Maryland, and went on to play a key role in the Christiana Riots in Pennsylvania. It was his friend, the great Fredrick Douglass who convinced Parker to take refuge in Canada.
Born to a single mother in the Black community of downtown Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Chase went on to become a high school teacher. He is also the family historian and a passionate advocate for greater awareness of a historic Black community, time has forgotten.
It was a desire for everyone to know the story of his great great uncle Walter Perry that led Chase to pick up a camera and begin recording the stories about him from the elders in his community.
Mister Emancipation: The Walter Perry story is the result of twenty years of research and five years of production.
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Jeffrey Huang
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jeffrey Huang is a passionate independent filmmaker who focuses on short films with strong visuals to convey a narrative. He owns AREA Studios, which is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Alireza Mirasadollah
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Alireza Mirasadollah is an award-winning director/producer with 12 years experience at the BBC and Iran International TV as a journalist and documentary maker with a total of 24 years in media having begun as an animator in New Zealand 1997.
Pacifica J. Sauer
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Pacifica J. Sauer has been working in the broadcast television industry for over 15 years. She has a broad range of production experience and has a passion for story-telling that is evident in her work.
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Anton Armendariz Diaz
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Director Anton Armendariz Diaz’s directing experience began in short videos at age 17, being a finalist for the production of Serjei in the Barcelona Film Festival. He studied film direction with Eduardo Gil, and his passion for music soon led him to form the company La Rioja Lirica, where he has directed many successful productions including Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, El Barberillo de Lavapies, La Voix Humaine, La Traviata, and Las Heroinas de la Zarzuela. In the U.S., he made his New York debut directing Elisir D ́Amore for Divaria Productions, subsequently presented a successful bilingual version of the zarzuela La Dolorosa for International Women ́s Day, and directed the first opera ever presented at Bay Street Theatre where he has returned for the past 5 seasons. His work has been praised by such publications as: Opera Wire ("magnificent adaptation") Berkshire Fine Arts ("remarkable and accessible evening of opera theater"), La Rioja ("A stupendous invention, an original and well-crafted proposal transferred to a rabidly current era"), Scherzo ("a documentary that will entertain and delight lovers of opera and history alike") Hamptons.com ("Anton Armedariz Diaz is to commend for his imaginative direction") & Voce di Meche ( "with directors like Anton Armendariz Diaz on "team opera", we do not have to worry about opera's future)", among others.
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Jary Nemo
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jary Nemo is director, producer and co-founder of Wind & Sky Productions. He has worked in the media industry for four decades. Based in Australia he has worked across multiple disciplines throughout an eclectic career. His award winning work has screened internationally in cinemas, on broadcast television, at institutions, in museums, galleries and at local and international film festivals.
Garret Morgan
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Garret Morgan is a filmmaker based in Marquette, Michigan. He is passionate about telling human stories through documentary films and spends much of his free time chasing that passion. Mentality is his second feature-film release, following Stigmatic: Our Opioid Crisis, which examined the opioid crisis through a small Michigan community. He is a graduate of Ferris State University, with a Bachelors in Television and Digital Media Production.
Will Twomey
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Will Twomey grew up on a small horse ranch in Petaluma, California surrounded by rolling hills, close-knit neighbors, and ever present wildfires. He has frequently collaborated with cinematographer Chris Kam to capture both fictitious and real-life stories—always searching for unique perspectives on topics like WWII, police brutality, and most recently, the 2020 California fire season. Will has spent time with both the Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and Happy Madison Productions. He is currently a senior at Yale University.
Terry Ayrault
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Terry Ayrault has written everything imaginable. From advertising commercials to television programs, screenplays to children's books. He has won numerous awards for his prose and poetry. He makes his home in Michigan.
Debbie Africa & Mike Africa Sr.
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Mike & Debbie Africa are political activists, former political prisoners, as well as a film director and producers. Michael and Debbie went from childhood sweethearts caring for animals, to picket signs, beatings, arrest, 40 years separated by a prison sentence, to Debbie giving birth to her baby in a jail cell. That baby, Mike Jr., grew up and came back to free his parents from that prison.
Kim Smith
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Kim Smith is a documentary filmmaker, wildlife conservationist, lecturer, photojournalist, author, illustrator, and an award winning landscape designer.
"Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly," a narrated documentary, premiered in August 2020.
Since its premier, "Beauty on the Wing" has received a number of honors and awards at environmental film festivals and children's film festivals. "Beauty on the Wing" was awarded Best Documentary at the Boston International Kids Festival in November 2020, Best Feature Film at the Providence Children's Film Festival in February 2021, and received the environmental award at the Toronto International Women Film Festival in May 2021. One of the greatest hopes for the film is that it would be inspirational and educational to both adults and young people and we are overjoyed "Beauty on the Wing" is finding its audience.
In March 2020 Kim created a series of short films about the Snowy Owl: https://kimsmithdesigns.com/snowy-owl-film/
Kim was recently interviewed by the BBC and PBS for her work in documenting the Monarch Butterflies. She worked with the show’s producers in writing and creating the story, providing film footage from her film "Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly" for the BBC produced show “Autumnwatch: New England.”
In May of 2019, Kim was featured in Audubon Magazine for her work protecting and documenting Piping Plovers, “How Plover Chicks Born in a Parking Lot Spurred a City to Make Its Beach Safer.” Kim leads a group in safeguarding local populations of Piping Plovers and is currently creating a documentary about Plovers.
In April 2018 Kim was honored to receive the Salem State University “Friend of the Earth Award” and to give the keynote address for the University’s Earth Day Weeks events program. In 2017 she was named an Essex National Heritage Trailblazer and became an Essex Heritage Commissioner in recognition of her work connecting people to place.
Her short films, "A Flight of Monarchs," which was created for the Berkshire Museum, and "BomBom Butterflies," have won critical acclaim. Her 45-minute documentary Life Story of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly is an inspirational story that both teaches about butterfly life cycles and reveals the connection between pollinators, plants, and the importance of conserving habitats.
In conjunction with Cambridge Seven Associates architectural firm, Kim designed the award-winning Gloucester HarborWalk Butterfly gardens. She specializes in creating pollinator habitat gardens utilizing primarily North American native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and vines. https://kimsmithdesigns.com/design-projects/
Her book on landscape design, "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities!," which she both wrote and illustrated, was published by David R. Godine, Boston. https://kimsmithdesigns.com/oh-garden/
For more information on Kim’s films and design projects follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, and Twitter and visit her website https://kimsmithdesigns.com Kim Smith's blog has an average daily readership of 12,000 viewers.
Robin van Erven Dorens
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Robin van Erven Dorens is a filmmaker from the Netherlands. His fascination is the magic of filmmaking; A unique creative process of analysis and synthesis of image, sound, concept, rythm, storyline, associations and ideas, which results in films that tell their own story. Stories that shouldn’t be told with just words, just images or just sounds. That’s why these stories are shown in films.
Montgomery Mauro
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Montgomery Mauro is a New York born filmmaker living in LA. His background includes years of acting, directing and producing from independent film to Off-Broadway. He began producing his own original content with his brother, Mackenzie, in 2014 when they established their production company, No2Mauro Productions. With a comedic web series, six short films, various sketches and commercials under their belt, they moved onto their dream of making a feature film, Exposure 36, which is currently making it's festival debut. Montgomery works for First Media, directing and producing ads for Hellofresh, WalmartPlus, Ritual and Caraway.
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Scott McKinnon & Paul Glover
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Scott McKinnon is an Instructor of Innovative Media at Henderson State University, where he also earned his MLA in Art History. His previous documentary "Comics U," which served as his graduate thesis project, examined the field of comics studies and the its growing popularity in academia. It was screened at ComicConway. McKinnon lives in Arkadelphia with his wife and 2-year-old son Finn.
Paul Glover has been a professor of Communication at Henderson State University since 2005 and serves as the advisor for Henderson’s award-winning radio and TV stations, KSWH and HTV. He earned an MFA in Digital Filmmaking from UCA in 2011. Glover's two previous documentaries "Good Luck, Ray" and "An Extraordinary Chance" were official selections of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
Jon Osaki
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jon Osaki is an emerging filmmaker who has directed and produced promotional, educational, narrative, and documentary films. His initial interest in film grew from his desire to share the stories of the Japanese Community Youth Council, where he has served as Executive Director since 1996. Over the past few years, he has had films screened at film festivals and community events across the country. As a filmmaker, Jon views this genre as the next step in his lifelong pursuit of social justice and equity.
Evan Michael Gering
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Evan Michael Gering is respected by colleagues for his imagination, ever-growing technical skills, energy and professionalism. He first discovered his passion for filmmaking as a teen volunteer at the closed circuit television station at Motion Picture Television Fund. In the years since, Evan has amassed a diverse body of work in narrative, documentary, feature and experimental films, as well as music videos and commercials.
Evan is drawn to projects that aim to tell stories that are not often shared. He revels in employing classical techniques inspired by cinema, photography and other artwork. Evan utilizes experimental tactics to create a unique feeling and immersive sense to his work.
He loves to be behind the camera using filmmaking and photography to capture and evoke emotion, provoke thought and entertain. At every opportunity, he hones his cinematographic skills and creativity through filmmaking and photography.
Ryan Mekenian
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Ryan is an Armenian-American filmmaker based in his hometown of Los Angeles where he is a proud M.F.A. Graduate from the U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts.
In 2021, his screenplay, The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair, won the Screenwriting Discovery Award Grand Prize from the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF).
His film, Spokespeople, won Best Short Doc First Prize at RIIFF, Best Film for Change at the BAFTA-qualifying Bolton International Film Festival, & awards at the Virginia Dares Cinematic Arts Awards for Decolonizing/Re-Indigenizing Media, Filmed By Bike Film Festival, & Better Cities Film Festival. The short has been selected for festivals worldwide including the Oscar-qualifying Edmonton International Film Festival, Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival, Yellowknife International Film Festival, among others.
Ele Mun
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Ele is a Malaysian architectural designer and occasional filmmaker based in London. He recently graduated from the Architectural Association where his design thesis was nominated for Diploma Honours. He is currently working as an Architectural Assistant at David Chipperfield Architects.
Having been under the tutelage of Brussels-based Rotor for two years, his expertise lies in material reuse, the circular economy, as well as sustainable material procurement. His other interests include art, bookmaking, writing and literature, and meditation. His documentary for the exhibition 'Placeholders' has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the London Design Festival in 2021.
Conrad Kaczor
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Conrad “Icon” Kaczor is known as one of the most innovative Poppers that specializes in the geometric shape-shifting dance style called Tutting. As a filmmaker, In 2008 he started to record himself dancing and posting on the internet beginning of the Youtube era. self-taught and exploring deeper into editing and camera work, he ended up going to film school at NW Film Center. A 2 year program gaining his certification in 2016. His graduation short film "We're From Here," about three Portland dancers, toured the film festival circuit and picked up two Best Documentary awards along the way. Later on His dance film "What Is Real?" was awarded "Best Cinematography" at the Portland Dance Film Festival in 2018. In 2020, Conrad started his video business Lone Heron Films and just came out with his first feature documentary film "Transcend: A Boogie Frantick Story"
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Quinn Early
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Quinn was born on Long Island, New York. He grew up in the theater where his mother, Dr. Ann Early, was a playwright. Quinn got an education in acting at a very young age. He always knew that he wanted a career in the performing arts but took a detour along the way. After graduating from the University of Iowa, The NFL became his stage. In 1988 Quinn began a 12-year career playing wide receiver in the NFL.
After retiring from football, Quinn worked in the sports nutrition industry and worked with kids helping them achieve their athletic goals. In 2011, Quinn was inspired by his mother to return to acting and stunt work. Quinn has appeared in more than 45 films and television shows. Most recently, Quinn has transitioned to being behind the camera as a writer/producer of the short film titled, “JUST BAKE COOKIES.” This film is also the directorial debut of Quinn’s son, Cameron Early.
The Shoulders of Giants is Quinn’s latest project heading into 2021, which promises to be a big year. Quinn is in full production mode. After the completion of this project, his plan is to enter both this documentary project as well as Just Bake Cookies into various national film festivals as well as utilize his contacts to procure distribution.
Jillian Li
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Storytelling is a vital part of Jillian’s life, as manifested in her film and photography work. Her interest in both mediums began in high school, when she attended an intensive film program in Spoleto, Italy. During the program, she wrote and directed a short film about love and the theory of multiple universes. As she got older, she began to notice the power film has in advocating environmental justice, which inspired her to get involved in documentaries.
Along with storytelling, she has developed a global perspective through her international studies major at the University of Michigan. She is bilingual in Chinese and English and looks for opportunities to work with people from around the world. Through her experiences, she has not only developed her communication skills, but also an ability to understand situations through a multitude of different cultural perspectives.
Jason Head
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jason Head is a filmmaker based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Jason is best known for his documentaries that focus on stories of overcoming adversity and recovering from tragedies. He directed the short docudrama, Stronger Than Carr, which won Catalina film festival for "Best Documentary" in 2019 as well as "Audience Choice" from Sundial Film Festival. Jason hopes to continue to tell stories that inspire courage, hope, humanity.
Rodney Roldan
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Rodney Manuel Roldan was born and raised in New York, NY. After high school, Rodney joined the U.S. Navy where he served as an Electricians Mate on several sea going commands as well as shore duty for special detachments for ten years, rising to the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class. His Navy service included two sea service deployments in the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas, several humanitarian operations in the Caribbean Sea, humanitarian operations in the Ukraine and Black Sea, and a member of the inspection teams that enforced the blockade of weapons into Iraq.
After serving ten years active duty in the U.S. Navy, Rodney joined the U.S. Army Reserve in Los Angeles, CA while pursuing a career in performing arts. He attended Defense Information School at Ft Meade, MD where he became a U.S. Army Broadcast Journalist. Shortly after graduating from Defense Information School, he deployed to Afghanistan, as a field reporter for American Forces Network (AFN) Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Rodney also deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve as well as additional assignments in Poland and Germany.
In his civilian life, he is a television, film and stage actor with current membership in both professional acting unions; Screen Actors Guild-American Federation for Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Actors Equity Association (AEA). He can be seen in a number of films and television shows to include, Imperium (2016), Battledogs (2013), and most recently American Detective (2022). He has produced and directed a number of documentaries and a television mini-series.
Rodney’s education includes an Associates in Science from Tidewater Community College, Bachelors of Arts with a concentration in Communication and Web Media Design from the University of Maryland University College, graduate from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting’s 2 Year Conservatory Program in Performing Arts, Master of Arts in Visual Communication and Design from Liberty University, and is currrently working on his Doctorate in Communication (PhD) at Liberty University.
Yang Fei
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Yang Fei is a producer-writer-director. Her first narrative short film, The Poet, is a story of a female factory worker struggling to publish her own poems. Yang also wrote and directed several short films, such as Snails and My Dad Isn’t Superman, which focus on familial relationships and coming-of-age of working-class children in the modern city. Now, Yang’s latest short film, Winter’s Passing, is under post-production.
In addition to a realistic visual style, Yang explores various media forms to tell stories. Her short experimental film, Freud in the Garden of Eden, challenges the male-dominated discourse. EmotionA Journey, a poetic documentary with elements of black box theatre, was screened in the 2019 New England Graduate Media Symposium.
Yang Fei holds a BA in Journalism in Fudan University (Shanghai, China) and an MFA in Film and Media Art at Emerson College (Boston, US). Her industry experience includes positions as an assistant at Management 360 and as a development intern at Atlas Entertainment.
Anil Dhokai
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Anil first started making short films in high school. He knew from then on, that's what he wanted to do with his life. From there he majored in Media Arts at the University of South Carolina. After graduating he started freelancing in the TV/Film industry. He worked various jobs as an editor and camera operator. While freelancing, he formed a production company with his friends called Strawhouse Pictures. Within the production company they make a handful of shorts every year and take them on the road to film festivals. They continually crank out new projects and love to connect with audiences.
Gian Luca Rossi
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Graduated in film direction at ESEC in Paris and in theater direction at CIC in Rome. He has directed theatrical performances, short films, documentaries and television broadcasts. He has also collaborated on productions by other authors as assistant director, cameraman and / or director of photography. In 2008 he made his debut in Italian theaters with the feature film "I killed Berlusconi", written and directed together with Daniele Giometto. He has been the owner of the KOROVA production house for over ten years, through which he has produced, conceived and created numerous audiovisual works, including his documentary "Mare Carbone", awarded as the best Italian documentary at the 18th Turin CinemAmbiente and screened in more than 30 festivals all around the world. He carries out teaching activities within schools and training centers, teaching acting, scenic movement and techniques of cinema and audiovisual.
Guy Pigden
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Guy is a Writer/Director/Editor/Producer who recently completed his second feature film 'Older' distributed by Indie Rights it is currently available through Amazon, Tubi and Google Play. His first feature film 'I Survived A Zombie Holocaust', which he wrote and directed, enjoyed a successful international festival run premiering at London’s Frightfest. It won the Independent Spirit Award at Sydney's Night of Horror International Film Festival.
His production company most recently produced, wrote, and directed 'Harrow', a 5 part Web series for NZME's Watchme online video platform and 'Immi The Vegan', a serialised feature which recently won best film and audience choice award at the Vegan Film Festival in Adelaide Australia.
His latest work is the Documentary feature ‘Glimpses’ exploring the effects of M.S.A(Multiple System Atrophy) as seen through the prism of someone suffering from the illness. He hopes the new film will raise awareness for the condition and provide context and empathy for people living with the disease.'
Cynthia Matty-Huber
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Raised north of Boston, I discovered early on a love for photography and film, particularly human interest stories that cast a light on the diversity of people's experiences. I wanted to make films and to this end I obtained a BA in film and photography and will finish my MFA in Film/Science at MSU Bozeman in 2021.
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Peter Stein
Award-Winning Filmmaker
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Arts, City College of New York 1964 Master of Arts, Hunter College, New York 1966 (ABD)
DIRECTOR FRED STEIN ARCHIVE:
Organizing Exhibitions, providing prints for museum and galleries, cataloging archive, currently producing and directing documentary film about Fred Stein
GRADUATE LEVEL TEACHING:
Professor of Cinematography, New York University, Graduate Film Program, 2002-2015 Head of Production, New York University, Graduate Film Program 2004-2015
ADDITIONAL TEACHING:
State University of New York, Purchase, NY, Film Program 1994-1995 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Department of Film, 1993-1994
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
(Director of Photography - Feature Films - Narrative, Theatrical Release)
Landfall, Drama - Tanglewood Entertainment, 2000.
Mr. Nanny, Comedy - New Line Cinema, 1993.
Missing Pieces, Comedy - Orion Pictures, 1991
Necessary Roughness - Comedy, Paramount Pictures, 1991 Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift - Thriller, Paramount Pictures, 1990 Ernest Goes to Jail - Comedy, Touchstone Pictures, 1990
After the Rain - Drama, New Century Vista, 1990
Pet Sematary - Supernatural Thriller, Paramount Pictures, 1989 Ernest Saves Christmas - Comedy, Touchstone Pictures, 1988
The Wild Pair - Thriller, Trans World Entertainment 1987
A Great Wall - Orion Pictures, 1986
Billions for Boris - Comedy, Comworld Pictures, 1985
Wildrose - Drama, 1984
C.H.U.D. - Mock horror, New World Pictures, 1984
Reuben, Reuben - 20th Century Fox, 1983
Friday the 13th, Part 2 - Horror, Paramount Pictures, 1981
TELEVISION MOVIES:
Cold Feet, Comedy, NBC
The Con USA Movie, Comedy, USA 1998
A Midwife’s Tale, Period Docudrama, The American Experience - PBS, 1996
Harambee!, Drama PBS, 1996
Desperate Choices, Drama, NBC, 1992
Night Visions, Drama, MGM television for NBC, 1990
The Call, Stand-up comedy, Showtime, 1989
Elvis and Me, Dramatic Miniseries, ABC, 1988
The Last Fling, Romantic comedy, ABC Movie of the Week, 1987
Under Siege, Dramatic Miniseries, NBC Special Event, 1986
The Parent Trap II, Comedy, ABC Disney Movie, 1986
Don’t Touch, ABC, Drama, Emmy Award nomination - cinematography, 1986
Izzy and Moe, Comedy, CBS Movie of the Week, 1985
Mom’s on Strike, Drama, ABC 1984
Private Contentment, Period drama, PBS Playhouse, 1982
Robbers, Rooftops, and Witches, Drama, CBS, Emmy Award nomination - cinematography, 1982
The Color of Friendship, Drama, ABC, 1982
Starstruck, ABC, Drama, 1981
The Mystery of the Morro Castle, Docudrama, HBO, 1980
A Good Dissonance Like a Man, Docudrama, PBS Special, 1977
DOCUMENT ARIES:
Tupperware, The American Experience, PBS 2005
The Politics of Cancer, 1994
Streetsmart Kids, HBO Special, 1985
Laughs, HBO Special, 1981
Just Crazy About Horses, 1978
HONORS, AWARDS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Nominated for two Emmy Awards for cinematography Member Society for Photographic Education
RELATED ACTIVITIES:
Cinematography Workshops internationally
Adam Brooks
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Co-founder of Astron-6, Adam Brooks co-directed the feature films 'Father's Day,' and 'The Editor,' as well as the short film 'Chowboys' before making his first documentary - Cliff: Portrait of an Artist.
2021 AWARD-WINNING documentary
FILMMAKERS in the spotlight
Daniel Castro
Award-Winning Filmmaker
My name is Daniel Castro and I’m a Miami Dade College SEDT film student a few semesters away from graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Film, Television, and Digital Production.
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Deng Wei
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Deng Wei is a director and producer.
He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Film and Visual Arts at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
His graduate work, Home, won the “Thousand Miles” Award and Top Prize for Graduate Works and was collected by the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum.
Other works like Kora, Patākā and Waiting for the Wind: Series of Images were shown in the Today Art Museum, 21 Space Art Museum and Coast Gallery Art Museum, Enjoy Art Museum.
The first feature documentary "Father" was nominated by the 2020 Golden Horse Film Festival for Best Documentary and won Feature Documentary Award at 2021 DOXA Documentary Film Festival.
Jason Brown
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Born on August 9th, 1984, Jason Elliott Brown is a concept artist, writer, producer, and filmmaker. Jason has had an affinity for movies since he was a kid. He grew up watching mostly comedies, sci-fi, and fantasy films. He loved the stories they would tell, but it wasn't until he was studying multimedia arts at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale that his love evolved into a passion and appreciation for all types of film genres and processes in filmmaking.
Inspired by legends like George Lucas, James Cameron, and most of all, Steven Spielberg, as a filmmaker, Jason aspires to achieve greatness in the vast realm of creativity in his art of filmmaking and a frequent positivity in his craft in storytelling.
Melissa Jo Peltier
Award-Winning Filmmaker
A two-time Emmy Award-winning director, writer and producer, Ms. Peltier won her first Emmy for educational programming at the age of 23. Since then, she has accumulated over 50 national and international awards and accolades for her work as a producer, writer and editor. She was director and co-writer (with her mentor, Oscar and 16x Emmy Award winner Arnold Shapiro) of the primetime documentary special, "Scared Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse", hosted by Oprah Winfrey. This multi-network simulcast was hailed at the time as television’s most watched documentary ever, and earned Ms. Peltier the coveted Humanitas Prize among many other awards. Following was the Peabody Award-winning "Break the Silence: Kids Against Child Abuse”. In 1994, she was producer-director-writer of A&E’s four-hour mini-series "Titanic: Death of a Dream" and "Titanic: The Legend Lives On", then the network’s highest-rated programs ever, winning her two National Emmy Awards…and still referenced by historians as the quintessential account of that disaster. Four Writer’s Guild of America nominations for documentary writing followed, as well as five more primetime Emmy Nominations as an Executive Producer of National Geographic Channel’s "Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan”, a 2010 People's Choice Award winner. From 1996-2010, Peltier was a partner and co-founder of MPH Entertainment, which created and produced over 350 hours of award-winning, original documentary and reality television programming, of which she produced, wrote or directed hundreds of hours, including the award-winning, original series “Sea Tales” and the mini-series “Founding Fathers”,“Founding Brothers” ,“History of Sex”, “Palm Beach: Money Power & Privelege” for A&E and the History Channel.
Peltier’s dramatic TV and film credits include writing the Lifetime movie "Nightwaves"; and "The Collector", for the hit CBS series, "Ghost Whisperer". With her MPH partners, she served as an executive producer of the comedy film "Men Seeking Women" (starring Will Ferrell) and as co-executive producer of the most beloved and profitable independent film of all time, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” She produced and was second-unit director of the multi-festival-winning indie feature, "White Irish Drinkers", for Ovington Avenue Productions, of which she is also a principal with her husband, multi-award-winning feature and TV writer/director, John Gray. In 2018 & 2019, she produced four award-winning dramatic shorts with Gray which are now on the international festival. circuit: “The Desecrated” and “Extra Innings”, “Household Demons” and “Exit Package.”
Recently, Peltier has been a sought-after behind-the-scenes as well as credited consultant for numerous documentary projects. She was producer for the 2014 award-winning Ukrainian documentary, “Notes From a Revolution”; co-producer for the festival darling, “Look At Us Now, Mother”, and post production consultant on the critically acclaimed Jen Senko documentary “The Brainwashing of My Dad.” She authored the darkly comic Hollywood novel, "Reality Boulevard" (a Kirkus Review “Best Indie 2013” choice) and is the co-author of eight non-fiction works: including five Random House books with 'Dog Whisperer' Cesar Millan, all of which were New York Times Best Sellers. The first, “Cesar’s Way”, stayed number one for 11 weeks and has sold over a million copies worldwide.
Despite her long history in television and film, "The Game Is Up" is Peltier's first solo feature-length documentary.
David Serero
Award-Winning Filmmaker
David Serero is a critically acclaimed and awards-winner opera singer, actor, director, and producer. He has performed more than 2,500 performances in more than 45 countries, directed and produced nearly 100 theatrical productions, starred in over 100 films and TV series, recorded and produced over 100 albums and, played more than 50 lead and title roles (in several languages) from the opera, theatre, and musical repertoire. In New York, he starred Off-Broadway in iconic roles such as Shylock, Cyrano, Othello, Barabas, Yiddish King Lear, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Romeo, Nabucco, as well as new works such as Napoleon by Kubrick, Queen Esther, Anne Frank a Musical, among others. In his native Paris, he also starred as Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha) and Happy Mac (Beggar's Holiday by Duke Ellington). He entered the prestigious Who's Who America for demonstrating outstanding achievements in the entertainment world and for the betterment of contemporary society. In 2019, he received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, the Morocco Day Distinguished Achievement Award, the Trophy of the Culture of Morocco, and was named among the fifteen most influential Moroccans worldwide by Morocco's airline Royal Air Maroc. David is a member of the Recording Academy and the Television Academy and a voting member of both the Grammys and Emmys. In 2020, David Serero received the UNESCO Award for Diversity in Paris and became an Honorary Member of the United Nations of Arts and Science. In 2021, he won 4 BroadwayWorld Awards for Best Performer of the decade, Best Producer of a Musical of the decade, Best Producer of a Play of the decade, Best Opera singer of the Year. He was awarded the Certificate of Recognition by the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, for his contribution to the City's dynamic cultural landscape, enriching the vibrant performing arts sector, and uplifted and inspired diverse New Yorkers.
Zachary Slingsby
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Zachary Slingsby is a filmmaker and the founder of Human Factor Media, a branded storytelling company. Through HFM, he has worked with leading brands to create stories that resonate and last. He is also a literary writer. His company is based between NYC and Nashville, TN, where he lives with his family.
Zeke Hanson
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Zeke Hanson is a photojournalist, comic book writer, and filmmaker. Having a camera in his hands has taken him all over the world several times over. From over the wire in Afghanistan to Nepal days after the 2015 Earthquake.
Juseung Lee
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Juseung Lee or ‘Ju’, is a composer for film, Video game, and media. He was inspired to begin his career in music from performing jazz guitar at the age of 16 when he listened to Jim hall and Kenny Burrell, He later enrolled in the Berklee College of Music at age 21 to develop his musical muscles. Comfortable writing for both big band and orchestral ensembles, Ju is a well-rounded composer with flexibility adopting several audio styles.
Julia Wall
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Julia Wall is a visual journalist based in Carrboro, NC. She is currently on staff at The News & Observer in Raleigh, NC where she creates both daily and long-form visual content for online and print.
Carinne Leduc
Award-Winning Filmmaker
CARINNE LEDUC embraces every role with enthusiasm, nuance, and an astute emotional intelligence. She won Best Actress at the Whistler Film Festival and the Salento International Festival in Italy, and a nomination for Best Actress in a Feature Film at the Genie Awards. Her voice is used on everything from animated characters to global brands, narration and dubbing.
Her love of story led to the co-writing of the feature film 3 Saisons, which went on to win many accolades at international film festivals. In 2018/2019, Carinne was part of TIFF Writers' Studio. She has two feature scripts ready to film and a TV series in development.
While discovering and exploring the human experience through acting and writing, photography uncovered the vast world of image composition, light variation and the subtle art of bringing the best out of her clients.
It was a natural transition when she decided to direct her first short film. She has since directed many other short films, music videos and commercials. She writes and directs in English and French both and together.
Carinne has found value and meaning in each of these disciplines. Her light-hearted attitude, passion and focus, coupled with her artistic conscientiousness, define Carinne and her work.
Judith Helfand
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Judith Helfand is best known for her ability to use her quirky sense of humor, irony, personal storytelling chops and the power of transparency to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time -- from toxic chemical exposure to climate change to the “politics of disaster.” Three of her films have premiered at Sundance and been nationally broadcast on PBS (POV, Independent Lens), HBO and The Sundance Channel. BLUE VINYL received the 2002 Sundance Excellence Award in Cinematography and two Emmy nominations and its prequel, A HEALTHY BABY GIRL, won a Peabody. Helfand’s other long-form films include EVERYTHING’S COOL, THE UPRISING OF ‘34, and most recently COOKED: Survival by Zip Code , which was released in 2018, on Independent Lens and is now streaming on PBS. Since the first iteration of LOVE & STUFF for the New York Times Op-Doc series, she has started to direct more shorts, also using her unique personal voice and POV starting with Absolutely No Spitting for 23&Me.
Helfand is a field-builder who has helped reshape the documentary landscape by co-founding two critical organizations, Working Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures. As Creative Director she helped design and lead Chicken & Egg Pictures’ mentorship and funding programs for nearly a decade, served as a Producer on the Oscar-nominated, Dupont-winning short, THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM and Executive Producer on the award-winning films SEMPER FI: ALWAYS FAITHFUL, PRIVATE VIOLENCE and HOT GIRLS WANTED. She continues work at Chicken & Egg Pictures as a Senior Creative Consultant. In 2007, Helfand received a United States Artist Fellowship, one of 50 awarded annually to “America’s finest living artists.” In 2016 she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch. In late 2018 she completed and launched COOKED: Survival By Zip Code, an award winning feature documentary about extreme heat, the politics of disaster and survival by zip code, for which she was awarded the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival’s 2019 Freedom of Expression Award. It was nationally broadcast on the PBS Independent Lens Series in February 2020 and is currently being used virtually with many different communities to understand and frame the current COVID-19 crisis with a long view on how and why acute disparity exists in the United States.
Helfand is currently holder of the Bob Allison (Allesee) Endowed Chair in Media at Wayne State University’s Department of Communication and part of the faculty at SVA’s Social Documentary Program. She taught documentary at NYU’s undergraduate film and television program from 1999 through 2007 and was filmmaker-in-residence at UW Madison in 2007 and 2009 where she taught environmental documentary making to non-film graduates and undergraduates, including a class built around leveraging the local environmental film festival. Over the years she’s become an expert pitch-trainer and is known for coming up with great titles.
She lives in NYC with her almost six-year-old daughter Theodora and their betta-fish Maxi Taxi.
Judit Papp
Award-Winning Filmmaker
My name is Judit Papp and I was born and raised in Hungary during the communist era. Ever since I was ten years old, I begged my mother for a camera. My grandfather, who I never met, was a hobby photographer with an enlarger camera in the mid 1900s. My uncle also chose a similar path and became a film technician. Since I was born late into the family, he had no patience for my curiosity about the artistic or technical perspective of the field. After receiving my first camera for my high school graduation, I was self-taught in all types of photography.
I started my formal education and career in the United States at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, where I naturally majored in photography. I became a member of various photography clubs and submitted my work to art shows, where I received awards for my submissions. My biggest achievement was the display of one of my photographs at the Art Takes Time Square event and in the book of the same title released in 2012.
I was honored to receive various scholarships from Seton Hall University, but a dilemma arose when I discovered that the university did not offer an undergraduate major in my field of choice. As always, I believed everything happens for a reason, so I choose broadcasting and film as my major. While pursuing my undergraduate degree, my passion for studying the still and moving image expanded. I learned the multifaceted production process by working with my classmates rotating various roles within the filmmaking. Most of my film making knowledge today is based on the many intricate courses I took at Seton Hall University. I will be always so grateful to my innovative professors. My short film, Edible was made during this time and was viewed at the Garden State Film Festival in 2016.
After graduating, I then received my Master of Arts in cinema and media at CUNY’s College of Staten Island. I became more interested in the documentary genre and the joy of teaching basic filmmaking to the undergrad students as a teaching assistant. I also interned for a small production company which focused on documentary film making.
Simultaneously, I started to learn and practice metaphysics, which had opened another door for me during a visit to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Being among Native American people guided me to the spiritual path I have been following ever since. I interviewed and engaged with many native people, leaders, medicine men and respected “grandmothers”. I made new friends and created strong bonds with members of various tribes.
M.Zournazi
Award-Winning Filmmaker
M. Zournazi is an Australian film maker.
Her multi-awarding winning documentary Dogs of Democracy (2017) was screened worldwide. Her most recent documentary film, My Rembetika Blues is a film about love, life and Greek music. She is the author of several books including Hope - New Philosophies for Change and Inventing Peace with the German filmmaker Wim Wenders.
Mykyta Novokhatskyy
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Mykyta Novokhatskyy is Toronto based film director, he graduated from Seneca -York broadcasting television program and has since been working at Ethnic Channels Group. Mykyta's directed over 10 documentary films so far and now is involved in multiple documentary and web projects.
Elyssa Walsh
Award-Winning Filmmaker
This is Elyssa Walsh's directorial debut. After several years working as an assistant editor and wanting to make a film of her own, Elyssa stumbled upon Dawn's story and knew it had to be told. Elyssa, in collaboration with Lago Studio, is working on a longer form piece telling the story of the New Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Andrew Neylon
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Andrew Neylon is a Director & Writer currently pursuing an MFA in Media Production at The University of Texas at Austin. Andrew's work spans narrative & documentary filmmaking, poetry, music criticism, and beyond. Forthcoming works seek to explore & explode notions of multi-media, genre and gender boundaries, and the sound / vision of our collapsible future.
Qiusi Zhang
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Qiusi Zhang graduated top of her class from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2016 majoring in TV & Film Programming and Directing. Considered among the “Excellent Graduates” from all the universities in Shanghai by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, she produced and directed “Show Time”, a 2014 documentary that shed light on the lives and musical pursuits of autistic children living in China. “Show Time” went on to screen at the Locarno Film Festival where Qiusi was also selected to take part in the Masterclass Documentary Film Programme held by Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI) and Outreach GMBH. She was invited to give a speech at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival sharing her experience and knowledge about “Show Time” and autism. Following work as a Preliminary Judge for the 6th China International New Media Short Film Festival and editor at Zhejiang Satellite TV, she completed her postgraduate at UAL: London College of Communication majoring in Film Practice in 2019 with distinction and subsequently worked on several award-winning short films as editor, producer, scriptwriter and script consultant. Qiusi is currently based in Hangzhou, China working at Jueshi Media, a production company she co-founded with the aim of developing independent films and nurturing local filmmakers.
Brian Johnston
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Brian Johnston has directed the short films Ortus Annabelle and Journeyman. He is currently working on 'The Champ of Champs' boxing documentary about the World's oldest professional boxer. (Photo Credit-Emma Bailey).
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Marek Dojs
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Marek Dojs is an award winning filmmaker and associate professor of Communication at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.
He is an artist who works in multiple media but finds most comfort in nonfiction film - wanting to make films that have purpose and deeper meaning. He is also interested in work in the field of memory studies, focusing on how we remember tragic events and how they shape personal identities through generations.
A life long supporter of Chelsea Football Club, he is married to his wife Madeline and they have 9 children.
Josep Perez
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Josep Pérez (Barcelona, 1970) debued in 1995 with the short film La Excursión, and since then has gone on to make a dozen more short films and four feature films, as well as working as a scriptwriter and producer of TV series, alternating between fiction and documentaries. His last two films, the documentaries Pemba vuelve a Goli (2017) and Los discípulos de Marcel Duhcamp (2019) have participated in over fifty international film festivals and received several awards.
Yo Kohatsu
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Born in Tokyo in 1973.
After working as a graphic designer, Yo made his debut as a feature film in 2009 with the story "Raise the Castle!”.
While directing feature films and corporate branded movies, he released a documentary film "1/10 Listening to Fukushima" that covers 10 years of Fukushima as a life work. He has completed 7 of the 10 series so far. It is shown free of charge nationwide.
In 2020, he started creating the art film series.
Taking advantage of his experience as a director of a wide range of genres, from children's programs such as “be Ponkickies" to the closed-door thriller "JUDGE" based on the popular manga, and the social TV drama "Flame Manager" based on Ryo Takasugi, he is also active as a lecturer and actor trainer for video production.
Aviva Vuvuzela
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Aviva Vuvuzela has been directing performances since a young child persuading her siblings to entertain the company in their family gatherings. She has learned to use her quirky voice to share her different perspectives of the culture at large. A triple thread actress, singer and dancer, she enjoys presenting comedic punches whenever possible. After all, this life is hysterical.
Tom Olsen
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Tom Olsen is a graduate of Chapman University's MFA program in Film & TV Producing. He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker for both short and long-form projects. Previous projects have included POLITICS OF SAND, THE CRIME OF THE d'AUTREMONT BROTHERS, and KILLINGSWORTH. He is a full-time Professor in the Digital Media Arts Program at Clark College (Vancouver, Washington).
Jeff Reilly
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Jeff Reilly brings 20 years of experience as an editor, writer and filmmaker. He has received 2 Emmy awards, - Outstanding Editing and Outstanding Documentary Series, as well as a PRISM Award for Outstanding Documentary. His work has screened theatrically, including Diane, Generation Found, Trial By Fire and The Anonymous People, as well as on network television, including McEnroe/Borg (HBO), Believeland (ESPN), & Rand University (ESPN). His work has also aired on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, EPIX, A&E, History, Discovery, Travel Channel and WeTV.
Steven Hoffen
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Steven Hoffen is 13 years old and lives in New York City. Steven is an eighth grader at Riverdale Country School. He likes playing board and video games with his brother and learning about technology.
JOVI MACO
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Multidisciplinary and self-taught, he has made fiction short films, pieces of video-art, video clips, videobooks, promotional videos for public administrations and companies, etc. His latest work has been directing, recording and editing the feature-length documentary "El efecto mariposa, from Colmenar a la Antartida.
Shonnese C. L. Coleman
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Shonnese C.L. Coleman is an Artist, a Storyteller of multiple genres of Storytelling and a 1st time Filmmaker who was born in Pontiac, Michigan. As a writer, her written, narrated and performed works have been commissioned by numerous organizations including, Deeply Rooted Chicago Dance Theater, Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater, JUBILATION! Dance Co. (Brooklyn, NY), Harlem School of the Arts (NYC) and Mind-Builder's Creative Arts Center (Bronx, NY). Two of her books, "Revelation Art" Poems and "The Stride of Our Walk...The Root of Our Stand" A Collection of Performance Poetry, offer a glimpse into the world this Storyteller has experienced. As an Actor, her stage credits include Calpurnia in "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and Nurse Evers in "Miss Evers' Boys". She has appeared in several independent films, TV and over 30 National Commercials and Print Advertising. She is the Creator, Producer & Host of Radio Theatre For Your Soul, Where Storytellers Gather...Around The Mic. Over 100 broadcasts now available on-line. Ms. Coleman is a graduate of New York University's, Tisch School of the Arts and The American Musical & Dramatic Academy (NYC Campus). She also attended the University of MI (Ann Arbor, MI). Currently residing in Los Angeles, California, she affectionately refers equally to New York City and Pontiac, MI as home.
Chelle Turingan & Riley Sparks
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Chelle Turingan is a Filipinx-Canadian filmmaker and video journalist based in Toronto. They are a National Magazine Award-winning editor and cinematographer and their work has been featured in publications including Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Today’s Parent, and Sportsnet. Small Town Pride is their first film.
Riley Sparks is a filmmaker and journalist from Vancouver, B.C, now based in Toronto. Previously, he covered international and Canadian news as a video and print journalist for publications including The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, before focusing on making documentaries. Small Town Pride is his first film.
Mike Markwardt
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Mike Markwardt received a BBA in International Business in 1981 from Baylor University. Upon graduating from college, he was involved in all aspects of his father’s business, learning the value of hard work and the basics of product development, sales, marketing and above all, building strong business relationships with a growing network of suppliers and customers in Asia and North America.
Under Mike’s leadership as President/CEO of Fort Worth based Encon Industries, he helped build a small family business into the world’s second largest supplier of ceiling fans, selling over 30 million units into 18 export markets around the world. Mike literally created the ceiling fan industry in Europe with his pioneering sales and marketing efforts in the 1990s. He and his family successfully positioned their growing enterprise to strategically sell Encon in 1999 to Philadelphia based Westinghouse Lighting.
After retiring from the consumer products industry, Mike embarked on his lifelong passion to memorialize the Western swing music he had loved since childhood. He founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - THE COWTOWN BIRTHPLACE OF WESTERN SWING - to produce his first ever documentary film - THE BIRTH & HISTORY OF WESTERN SWING. His nonprofit also funds an important annual music festival that features 10 of the world’s greatest western swing bands performing over three days to an audience of well over 3,000 people.
Frances Causey
Award-Winning Filmmaker
I am a documentary filmmaker from a high desert artist village called Tubac, Arizona. I cut my professional teeth at the world’s first 24-hour news network, CNN, where I learned how to tell the world’s most important stories in just two minutes. In the trenches at CNN, I met lifelong friends and colleagues who taught me the value of hard work, integrity and the duty of bringing truth to power and holding that power accountable. Together, we won Emmy’s for our live coverage of the Oklahoma City and Olympic Park Bombings.
Sharpening my management and storytelling skills at CNN made the leap to producing and directing feature documentary films a little bit easier. I seem to make films that stare down the most important issues that we, our nation, and the world must confront. I’ve been fortunate to direct documentaries for television and theatrical release including my latest films, The Long Shadow and Is Your Story Making You Sick?, both of which aired on PBS in 2020. My documentary, Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? which explores the last forty years of economic restructuring in the US that lead to the destruction of the American middle class was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and continues to be seen throughout the world. I was honored to accept the Women's International Film and Television Jury Award on behalf of the Heist team.
When I can, I love making films that benefit my local community. My short film, Ours Is The Land, profiles the Tohono O’odham Nation's fight to prevent an open-pit copper mine from desecrating their ancestral lands in southern Arizona. I also directed the short, There's No Oodham Word for Wall that chronicles the O'odham's opposition to a fortified international border wall proposed by President Donald Trump.
Gemma Capdevila
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Gemma Capdevila was born in 1994. Graduated in Film & Television studies at Blanquerna-Ramon Llull School of Communication and International Relations. She has been specialized in Film Directing at ESCAC and in photojournalism at FUGA.
Her latest works are the shortfilms Grietas and Herencia, the documentary film Generation 94 recorded in Africa, and the road-movie Nothing but road. She is the author of the The Room’s photobook.
She has developed with Filmax the screenplay for a feature film called El Método.
Some of her works have been selected in the official section at the Uruguay Film Festival (CineFem), at the Llanos Film Festival (Venezuela), at the Films In Situ Almacelles and URL ART awards.
She is currently in the process of writing a short film's script and a feature film's script.
Vilma Kartalska
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Vilma Kartalska graduated Fashion Design in 1997. In 2000 she finished her acting studies at Theatre College “Luben Groys” and in 2020 she graduated Film&TV Directing in NBU. Since 2012 she has worked as a producer, director, scriptwriter in the field of short films. Her first projects won multiple international awards. In 2015 she founded the production company “Raiza Vilm Productions”Ltd.
Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama & Pat Josse
Award-Winning Filmmakers
ḺÄWURRPA MAYPILAMA (co-director) is a multilingual senior research fellow at the Molly Wardaguga Research Centre. She is a Yolŋu Elder, Cultural Authority, resident of Galiwin’ku and a passionate advocate of redesigning childbirth health services to meet the needs of Yolŋu. DJÄKAMIRR is her first foray in documentary film direction and writing. Maypilama has a background in primary school teaching and education, with 20 years’ experience in applying Yolŋu research methods and methodologies. She received an honorary doctorate in recognition of this work from Charles Darwin University and has an Associate Diploma in Teaching from Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Training and Education.
PAT JOSSE (co-director) is a multilingual freelance videographer, editor, sound engineer, director, producer and musician. DJÄKAMIRR is his first collaboration co-directing with Maypilama. Josse has more than 30 years multifaceted experience throughout Australia and international work in Asia Pacific and Europe.
Patrick is currently working in the Northern Territory, Australia with a focus in remote areas where he is widely endorsed by colleagues, stakeholders and First Nations Community Elders for his sensitive and respectful approach. This has included community research projects such as Caring for Mum on Country where he has excelled in producing digital resources in a complex, gendered, multilingual cross-cultural environment.
He has a Graduate Diploma in Music Technologies from Latrobe University and a Diploma of Music from Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. Short film and documentary credits include: NDIS Testimony by Elaine Maypilama, Aboriginal Cosmology, Organise a Djäkamirr, Borderlands, Tatts Finke Desert Race Highlights & other documentaries.See More
Kiley Josey
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Kiley Josey graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Multimedia Production. She currently resides in Oklahoma City and has been working as an editor/producer/director for 5 years in the commercial space. Her portfolio of work is vast for a 25-year-old and is part of the reason she was named one of Oklahoma’s Under 30.
Matt Landfield
Award-Winning Filmmaker
A native New Yorker, Matt Landfield is a co-founder of TimeTravlr Creative, a social-impact focused video studio in Brooklyn, New York. Matt is also a writer, director and producer for narrative and interactive content including film, video, and live broadcasting. He has done work for major brands like Google, JP Morgan Chase, Toyota, Microsoft, Amazon, the United Nations and the Associated Press, among many others, and also for non-profits and documentarians, like 3Generations and the documentary film Tricked. The From the Ground Up documentary series about community development in Brownsville Brooklyn that he conceived and developed for JP Morgan Chase won the 2015 Contently Award. Matt lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.
Tela Moss
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Tela is a first-time filmmaker from Colorado.
After receiving her BFA in Film Studies, Tela worked as an independent international videographer before spending two years as an associate producer and assistant editor at a documentary production house in the woods of Maine.
Katie Garrett
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Katie is a filmmaker whose work combines stunning macro cinematography with personal stories of people living and working alongside nature. She particularly loves reptiles and amphibians. As well as producing, shooting and editing her documentaries, she is also an illustrator and animator. She has worked with National Geographic, Science Friday, the BBC, bioGraphic and more, and has received accolades from Jackson Wild, the National Geographic Short Film Showcase and the Science Media Awards.
STEPHEN KOLB
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Photographer, videographer, editor, writer and community organizer, Stephen Kolb has been creating content for governmental agencies and social and political causes since the 1980s.
A member of American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Kolb holds a BA in Political Science from UCLA (1969) and an MPA from USC (1973). He worked in the recording and film industries in Los Angeles before completing a career in California State Government agencies in Sacramento producing communications content for internal and external audiences.
Much of Kolb's career work focused on encouraging and facilitating what LBJ called for in his "Great Society," maximum feasible citizen participation in government at every level.
In 2005 and 2006, Kolb received two Hometown Video Awards (Short Subject and Empowerment) and a Western Access Video Excellence Award (Public Forum/Pro) for his eight-minute "Eyes Wide Open," about the human costs of the war in Iraq. (shorturl.at/zAJP5)
He produced videos and photo projects for Apple, Inc., Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Common Cause, The Humanities Council of DC (HumanitiesDC), The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, Historic Synagogue at 6th and I, US Naval Institute, California Musical Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Washington Latin Public Charter School, California Department of Corrections, CalTrans and dozens of other organizations.
Kolb is also a Certified Apple Trainer, specializing in photography and video, serving as an Apple Creative from 2009 to the present. He is also a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity.
Rex Moribe
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Award-Winning filmmaker from the Islands of Hawai'i now living in Luzern, Switzerland. Specializing in Independent Film-Making, Story-Telling, Photography, Content Creation, Vlogging and Creative Writing.
Kevin McAfee
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Dr. McAfee began his career in 1978 at DISNEY working while working on the first film set of ROCKY II. He would advance to becoming Senior VP of NEST ENTERTAINMENT as a studio executive working with NEW LINE CINEMA. In 2000 he became the CEO of the EVERY TRIBE and produced the award winning feature film documentary BEYOND THE GATES OF SPLENDOR and END OF THE SPEAR with FOX. In 2006 he began his own studio VERITAS MISSION FILMS where he completed five award winning films. He recently was asked to become the CEO of OCEANIA FILMS producing #BUTGOD and now, FINAL WORDS OF WWII.
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Kirk Zeller
Award-Winning Filmmaker
This is Kirk Zeller's first time as a director. Kirk is a producer of the movies #MyCorona, Directing Remotely and Filmmaking During the Pandemic: The Making of #MyCorona, The Picture of Daria Gray, and Finding Aloha as well as the Silicon Prairie Center Series. Kirk has returned to his home state of Nebraska and is the founder of the Silicon Prairie Center Studios where the romantic comedy #MyCorona was filmed. Kirk has a Doctorate of Business Administration from the International School of Management (Paris), MBA from Imperial College London (London), and BA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he spent much of his degree studying at Nanzan University (Nagoya, Japan) and Senshu University (Tokyo). Kirk appeared in a number of commercials and television shows during his time in Japan. Kirk has lived, worked, and studied in the US, Europe and Asia and traveled to more than 50 countries.
Brayton Deal
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Brayton Deal founded Iron House Studios in 2015 with the core conviction that “Genuine People Run the World.” With that, he set out to build a company that would use storytelling to help grow organizations to their full potential. From the beginning, Brayton felt that story was the answer to changing the marketing industry for the better, and inspiring people (students) to make that leap of faith into things they have always wanted to do. He has worked on advertising campaigns from local businesses to national audiences.
Andy Hourahine
Award-Winning Filmmaker
ANDY HOURAHINE (b. 1973) is one of the founding partners of 519 Films and acts as the creative director and technical lead on most projects. Andy began his love for film and multimedia in high school where he began writing and directing plays and short films. He went on to study film at Ryerson University, as well as, architecture and the impact of the media on the community at the University of Waterloo where he graduated with Dean’s List honours. His thesis project and subsequent television show, The Active City, involved the marriage of his multiple disciplines and won him the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013, recognizing him as a distinguished Canadian.
Andy’s ability to weave heartfelt storytelling with commanding visuals has led him to provide sought after content for numerous organizations such as the CBC, Bell Media, Rogers Television, White Pine Pictures, the University of Waterloo, Osteoporosis Canada, and the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
Moe Taylor & Kathryn E F Taylor
Award-Winning Filmmakers
Moe Taylor began his film career as a broadcast journalist in the United States Navy where he had the opportunity to film news stories in over forty countries. After that he moved on to a producer position for NBC before settling into freelance work for his husband and wife production studio BrainDagger Films. He has always been interested in mind expanding documentaries about the secrets of the universe and is proud to add his own voice to the genre.
Christopher W. Hurst
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Multi-talented, ambitious, strong-willed, and focused. This "Philly Phenom" was born & raised in Philadelphia, PA. He gained his love for the entertainment business at the young age of 13. His first attempt was cutting on the 1s' and 2s' as a DJ. Then when he entered high school he wrote his first rap. Enjoying the way his rhymes flowed he started writing more, and soon took his skills to the studio. As time went on his skills excelled as a DJ, M.C., and a producer. Chris started to co-produce his tracks and recorded numerous songs over the years. He later became a "ghost" writer.
As he got older he began to manage, produce, and promote other artists in the tri-state area. He did showcases for unsigned artists and successfully had major labels such as Def Jam, LaFace, and Sony Records attend his events. In the process of creating a forum for unknown artists, he also promoted & booked well known figures in the music business.
His creativity has also led him to create an educational & entertaining board/card game called, "Who?Said".
Chris Hurst has also written numerous feature length scripts over the years & recently finished producing and rebranding his very first script that he's ever written called, "WHY I DON'T DATE". It's a true story about what men go through when they date women. Although he's the writer of this fascinating story he's also a victim of these very circumstances that occur daily. "2022 REASONS WHY I DON'T DATE" takes place in the present & it was filmed entirely in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, & Delaware areas. The story is about four childhood friends and one newly acquired guy who happens to be white. It follows each man & it takes you on a hilarious dating journal in which the sequence of events are unbelievable but definitely true!
Chris is a versatile writer who writes with passion. His scripts are heartfelt & some are cutting edge real that most dare not talk about. He's not afraid to push the envelope and wrinkle a few feathers. Writing is one of his fortes and he pushes himself to be the best at anything he sets his mind to. When asked what makes him so versatile, creative, & motivated he stated, "Dream the impossible. Anything is possible. Make it possible"!
M Kaplan
Award-Winning Filmmaker
A graphic artist for nearly 5 decades, I was exposed to the great work of John Heartfield soon after graduating art school. His pioneering photo montage work against Hitler in Nazi Germany inspired me to take on the rising threat of hate and fascism that was Trump and Trumpism, first using my Photoshop expertise, and then later creating short videos using After Effects. I built a following on Instagram of nearly 14,000 individuals, until my account was deactivated without explanation, or the ability to appeal. This is the story of that journey.
Cheryl Allison
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Cheryl Allison is an Emmy nominated, award-winning actress and director who has performed in broadway, national tours, regional theatre, film and television for over 30 years. She is best known for her starring role in the feature film NO LETTING GO opposite Kathy Najimy, Richard Burgi, and Alysia Reiner. Her performance in the film garnered her 3 Best Actress Awards.
She is the Founder | Director | Producer of WOW FILMS, a production company that strives to create thought provoking stories that deepen our understanding of the human experience. After a successful film festival run, her award-winning documentary feature SHATTER THE SILENCE (2019) made its broadcast premiere on KERA PBS and has recently been distributed on Amazon Prime. Cheryl directed the critically acclaimed short film HIDING IN DAYLIGHT (2019) which was selected into 33 film festivals worldwide including the elite American Pavilion's Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. Her latest documentary feature PIECES OF US (2021) features the only openly gay royal in the world - Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of India.
In addition to Cheryl's regional Emmy Award nominations, she is the recipient of numerous awards including three prestigious Telly Awards. Highlights from her career include performing at the Kennedy Center for President George H. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush, touring throughout Japan and North America in the Broadway tour of The Secret Garden, starring opposite the iconic Ruta Lee in Steel Magnolias and portraying the role of Madame Thenardier in her favorite musical Les Miserable at the historic Casa Manana theatre. She is a proud union member of Sag-Aftra and Equity. Cheryl was accepted into the Alliance of Women Directors in 2019 and is excited to continue making films with a female perspective.
Doug S. Garnett
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Musician, artist, mathematician, and businessman, Doug Garnett brings a range of talents and understanding to the practice of film-making. While Doug's career started as a software engineer working in aerospace on Atlas rockets, he eventually moved to advertising and spent 25 years creating national TV advertising and long form media to drive client business based on his fascination with products. Doug's clients include DuPont, AMD, and Newel/Rubbermaid. His agency, Atomic Direct, created television advertising for Lowe's Home Improvement from 2010 to 2018.
Since closing his advertising company in 2018, Doug has been writing a book about complexity science in business and teaching marketing at Portland State University while also creating this documentary about Tim Ely and his work. Doug is a co-conspirator on Timothy C. Ely's blog at www.APlanetaryCollage.com. See More
AJ Valente & Janice Chung
Award-Winning Filmmakers
AJ Valente
AJ is a motion designer and video editor with a BA in Digital Design from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is a filmmaker by way of motion graphics and design focusing on visual storytelling that helps enable others to tell their story. He is an editor for KoreanAmericanStory.org, documenting and continuing to tell stories with them. He is currently based in New Jersey.
https://ajyval.myportfolio.com/
Janice Chung
Janice Chung is a Korean American photographer and filmmaker born and raised in New York City. Through her work, Chung amplifies and deconstructs her Korean American heritage by capturing moments that are deeply personal to her. She has earned her B.F.A. in photography/video at the School of Visual Arts and has exhibited her work internationally in Seoul and New York. She is currently one of the lead videographers and photographers at KoreanAmericanStory.org, where she has filmed close to 200 individual Korean American stories.
https://www.janicechung.com/
Matthew Lamar Sanders
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Matthew Lamar Sanders Was born January 13th 1984 and raised in Oxnard,California. He grew up playing sports and fell in love with the game of basketball. At the age of nineteen he joined the United States Army. After a short career in the military he relocated to Lima, Ohio. He attended James A. Rhodes State Community College where he received his AAS Degree in the field of Corrections. He’s a proud small business owner of a commercial and residential cleaning company. His most greatest achievements are being a father and a husband. Film making and writing is something he has always had a secret love for and plans on continuing to put more out in the future.
Bill Haney
Award-Winning Filmmaker
Bill Haney is a filmmaker, inventor and entrepreneur.
As a screenwriter, director and producer, he has made 17 narrative and documentary films and won The Gabriel Prize, A Silver Hugo, The Earthwatch Award, A Marine Conservation Award, and an Amnesty International Award.
Chosen as Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, he has won a Humanitarian Award from Harvard Medical School, a Distinguished Service Award from the Senior Olympics, the Slow Food Prize, a Genesis Award, and an Achievement Award from the ACLU. Bill has been repeatedly nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the Pare Lorentz Award.
As an inventor and entrepreneur, Bill started his first company as a college freshman, inventing air pollution control systems for power plants now in use in utilities the world over. He has since founded or co-founded more than a dozen technology companies. Presently, Bill is the co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics, a biotech company developing drugs to cure cancer, and co-founder and CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics, a biotech company developing drugs to cure Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
Bill’s been a founding member of the national environmental advisory board for the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the President’s Circle for the National Academy of Sciences and serves or has served on a variety of non-profit and government boards including for Harvard’s Kennedy School, MIT, State and Federal Government agencies, the World Wildlife Fund, the US DOE, the World Resources Institute, and the NRDC. He is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of World Connect, a non-profit partnered with the Peace Corps and dedicating to improving the health and welfare of mothers and children in the developing world, with programs now launched in more than 1500 villages in 30 countries. Bill is an inventor on more than 100 granted or pending patents, has a BA from Harvard College and served as a Fellow of Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Bill’s portfolio as a filmmaker includes award-winning documentaries on socially important subjects such as coal mining (The Last Mountain, 2011) and worker exploitation (The Price of Sugar, 2007) and his work as writer/producer on Tim Disney’s civil rights drama, American Violet.
Jim Allison: Breakthrough, his new work, celebrates the imagination and resilience that our greatest scientists display on their quest to push the frontiers of knowledge. Featuring the extraordinary journey of immunologist Jim Allison from his childhood in foster support after the death of his mother in Friday Night Lights, Creationist Texas to his groundbreaking achievements in cancer research, Bill plumbs the incredible human drama of a life as a pioneer in the life sciences. Haney was inspired to highlight Allison’s discoveries after hearing his college roommate Tyler Jack’s description of Allison’s amazing life. Made with partner Tim Disney under their Uncommon Productions banner, Jim Allison: Breakthrough was shot across the U.S. in 2017 and 2018, with its final day of filming taking place hours before Allison received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine.