Cheryl Hess, Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood, Trip Jennings, Todd Dayton, Lars Larson, Chelsea Richer, Rob Jackson, Scott Markowitz, Angelique LaCour, Rachel Edwardson, Davis S. Vadiveloo

Cheryl Hess was bitten by the doc bug while working for the United Nations in Cambodia and has been making films every since. Her work has screened at festivals all over the world including the Tribeca Film Festival, Silverdocs, the Tampere Film Festival, and the Cork Film Festival.

In order to support her doc habit, Cheryl works as a producer and cameraman for television and has filmed everything from Santeria rituals in Cuba for Showtime’s Dreaming a New Cuba, to a street basketball tournament for MTV’s Harlem Hoops, to the New York City vice squad for ABC’s Emmy-nominated NYPD 24/7.

She currently resides in Philadelphia where she is rehabbing a Victorian row house. She proudly adds “built a closet” to her list of accomplishments.

Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood have co-directed and co-produced several documentary films. Their film ON COAL RIVER (2010), premiered at AFI/Silverdocs, screened on Capitol Hill, and was nominated for an IFP/Gotham Award. ON COAL RIVER won Best Documentary at the Appalachian Film Festival, and the Koronisfest Award at Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival, and the Spadaro Documentary Award, presented by the Appalachian Studies Association. The film was also shortlisted for the Ridenhour Documentary Prize. Previous to this, they co-directed BOOM – The Sound of Eviction (2002), about the social repercussions of San Franciscoʼs dot-com boom and bust. Adams began making documentaries in the Idaho wilderness in 1996, and Francine found her way to film through theater and dance in 1999. They live in Asheville, NC.

Other work samples: Cavanaugh Wood Films

Trip Jennings is an award winning filmmaker, adventurer and activist. His work has taken him around the world fighting for wild places, wild animals and climate justice both through documentary production and community organizing. In 2007 Jennings was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Honoree. His films have helped lead to sweeping conservation victories with international significance. Still, he’s happiest and most comfortable occupying a tree sit to stop a clear cut.

Other work samples: balancemedia.tv

Todd Dayton is a San Francisco-based filmmaker whose award-winning work has aired on HBO, Showtime, PBS, MSNBC, Bravo, and other networks. He has produced both independent and television documentaries, garnering awards from film festivals and broadcast recognition from the CINE Masters’ Series and the Chris Awards. He is co-founder of Fallout Pictures, a documentary production company with offices in New York and San Francisco. He received a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Check out falloutpictures.com for more of Todd’s work.

Lars Larson is an award-winning and passionate cinematographer with thirty years of experience.

He has been a Director of Photography on many full length and short narrative feature films and has done extensive documentary work and many music videos. Exploring art, science and human endeavors through film is at the center of his work.

To see more of his work, visit http://www.larslarsondp.com/

Born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI, Chelsea has a BFA in Video Art and Production from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. A filmmaker first and a teacher at heart, she believes education should nurture the soul. When Chelsea is not in her editing cave or behind the camera, she is actively engaged in sparking discussions among college students who are interested in leading more grounded lifestyles. She is the Director of Creative Operations at Tuning the Student Mind, a non-profit that addresses the sociological and cultural impacts on identity and aids in introducing students to their most authentic self by way of practices such as meditation, yoga, healthy eating and sustainable living.

Work Samples: www.freetobe.tv

Rob is a Colorado-based documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Free to Be TV. He focuses on environmental, social and educational subjects. Rob has produced two films about the rivers of Chilean Patagonia and the fight to keep them free. He also edited 45 minutes of DVD extras for the acclaimed 2012 documentary, Chasing Ice. And he stays busy producing, shooting and editing educational yoga content with internationally known yoga teacher, Amy Ippoliti . Rob’s cinematography and editing work has appeared in numerous film festivals around the world as well as on National Geographic, PBS, Outside Television and more.

Work Samples: www.freetobe.tv

Scott started his career collating scripts for the CNN newsroom nearly 20 years ago.  It wasn’t long before he was a full-time editor for Headline News and he hasn’t had time to look back.

Also an accomplished Visual Effects Artist, Scott has worked on motion pictures including Shadow Boxer, Happy Tears, and Teeth.

The development work Scott has done for television programs is what he’s most known for, however.  He engineered the foundation for Food Network’s Dinner Impossible as well as numerous other pilots for networks including HGTV, Destination America, and Discovery.

Angelique LaCour founded Discover Films Video in 1989, and has produced a collection of more than forty award-winning health and guidance youth-focused videos. In 2010 she co-produced a five-part series on addiction, Highway to Healing: Re-Thinking Addiction in Louisiana with Louisiana Public Broadcasting. After a two year sojourn in Ojai, California, Ms. LaCour has returned to her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana to continue producing videos that inspire, motivate and educate.

Check out the Ojai Valley Green Coalition and more of Angelique’s work.

Rachel Renee Nutaaq Ayalhuq Naninaaq Edwardson is an Iñupiaq/Norwegian-Sami-American filmmaker from Barrow, Alaska. She has been making films since 1997. Her films have screen around the world. Uncivilized Films (also Naninaaq Productions), her company, also run storytelling and multi-media workshops aimed at capacity building in remote areas and strengthening traditions of storytelling for and with young generations. She has worked across Alaska, Australia and in Northern Norway. Rachel has directed and produced documentaries and narrative dramas and her company is developing the first International Indigenous Media Hub based in Alaska.

David Selvarajah Vadiveloo is an Australian human rights lawyer and multi-awarded screen Director and Producer. For over 25 years he has worked in partnership with Indigenous and marginalized communities to enhance capacity and facilitate positive change in their social, educational and economic well-being. His company Community Prophets facilitates long-term educational, socio-economic and media development programs in many regions, including a 5 year program with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) in the Northern territory of Australia. David was nominated for AFI and Director’s Guild awards for his 34 minute docu-drama, Burn, created with high-risk youth from over a dozen ethnic minority groups in inner city Sydney.

John Fiege is a director, cinematographer, and photographer whose films have played at the Cannes Film Festival, SXSW, Museum of Modern Art, and Hot Docs, among many others. His latest feature film, Above All Else, is a documentary about the Keystone XL pipeline that premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, with an international premiere at Hot Docs. The film won Best North American Documentary at the Global Visions Festival and a Special Jury Prize at the Dallas International Film Festival, and the Houston Film Critics Society nominated it for the Texas Independent Film Award. Mississippi Chicken, his intimate portrait of immigrants working in the poultry industry, was nominated for a Gotham Award for “The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.” He recently directed a short documentary about Evangelical climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and her husband, called Climate of Love, for Earth’s Facebook page. His short documentary, Slow Season—about a Native American fishing family in the wake of the BP oil spill—premiered at the 2014 Austin Film Festival. He recently photographed the 2014 Sundance documentary selection, No No: A Dockumentary. He holds a B.A. from Carleton College, an M.S. in cultural geography and environmental history from The Pennsylvania State University, and an M.F.A. in film production from the University of Texas at Austin, where he has also worked as a lecturer.

Want them to turn your story into a film?

Are you a filmmaker interested in working on the project?

Send us a message