HEATHER COURTNEY (she/her) | DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER
Heather is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, and a Guggenheim, Sundance, and Fulbright fellow. Her film WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM won an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SXSW Jury Award. Her films have been funded by Ford Foundation/Just Films, MacArthur, Sundance Doc Fund, and ITVS, and have broadcast nationally on PBS, including POV, Independent Lens and America ReFramed, and streamed on Netflix and the Washington Post. Her short documentary FOR THE RECORD recently premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Fest, and she is currently in post-production on the ITVS, Ford, and IDA-funded feature BREAKING THE NEWS. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her 14-year-old rescue pit Meeps.
PRINCESS A. HAIRSTON (she/her) | DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER
Princess A. Hairston is a director, producer, and Emmy-nominated editor based in NYC. Princess recently wrapped several doc series to be released in 2023. She edited THIS WORLD IS NOT MY OWN, which recently had its World Premiere at SXSW. Her work can be seen on LULARICH, PIER KIDS, FRESH DRESSED and the Emmy-nominated series CAPTURE W/ MARK SELIGER. She is a recipient of the Pano x Ablecine 2023 Cinematographer’s Lab, a 2020 nominee for the Lynn Shelton Of A Certain Age grant, a 2018 Winner of the NYTVF + WEtv Producer Pitch, and a 2018 recipient of the Karen Schmeer Editing Fellowship. Princess is an inclusion activist within the film industry advocating for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled individuals to be a part of storytelling in key positions for documentary films. She is a member of the Alliance of Documentary Editors, ACROSS THE CUT, BIPOC Doc Editors, and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.
CHELSEA HERNANDEZ (she/her) | DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER
Chelsea Hernandez is an Emmy-nominated Mexican-American Director and Producer based in Texas. Named as DOC NYC’s 2021 40 Under 40 Class, she is a 2021 Telly Award Winner for her feature documentary BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM (SXSW 2019) which was also nominated for a National Emmy® the same year. Chelsea’s producing work spans over 15 years in television and film including PBS special, FIXING THE FUTURE, hosted by NPR's David Brancaccio and directed by Ellen Spiro; UNITED TACOS OF AMERICA (El Rey Network series); and THAT ANIMAL RESCUE SHOW executive produced by Richard Linklater (CBS All-Access). Chelsea co-directed/produced the short documentary, AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE (2018 SXSW Texas Short Jury Winner, Field of Vision, Firelight Media). Chelsea is an 8-time Emmy-nominated editor and producer in the Texas region for her work on PBS’ ARTS IN CONTEXT docuseries. BREAKING THE NEWS is her second feature documentary. She is a WarnerMedia 150 Artist for a fiction film in development. Chelsea is a former fellow of Firelight Media Doc Lab, BAVC, Tribeca All Access and NALIP Latino Media Market. She is also a founding member of Tejanas in Film, a collective that aims to empower Latina filmmakers who identify as Tejanas.
DIANE QUON (she/her) | PRODUCER
Diane is an Academy Award-nominated producer who worked as a marketing executive for 17 years at NBC and at Paramount Pictures in LA before moving back to her hometown of Chicago. Diane produced the documentaries: Oscar and Emmy nominated, Peabody and Sundance award-winning film, MINDING THE GAP (Hulu, POV); THE DILEMMA OF DESIRE (Showtime); Emmy-nominated FINDING YINGYING (MTVDocs, SXSW 2020 Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice); FOR THE LEFT HAND (PBS); WUHAN WUHAN (POV 2022); Oscar short-listed BAD AXE (IFC Films, SXSW 2022 Audience Award); SURF NATION (Mountainfilm Telluride 2022) and BREAKING THE NEWS (Tribeca 2023). In addition, upcoming documentaries include AKA MR. CHOW (HBO), the UNTITLED SAM AND OMAR PROJECT and THE FUTURISTS. She is also developing a fiction film based on a New York Times best-seller. Diane is an AMPAS and PGA member, the recipient of the 2020 Cinereach Producer Award and is a Film Independent Fellow and a Sundance Creative Producing Fellow.
JAMIE BOYLE (she/her) | EDITOR/WRITER
Jamie is a two-time Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her work has played at Sundance, SXSW, DOC NYC, and other top-tier festivals. She recently directed, produced, and edited ANONYMOUS SISTER. Co-produced by Big Mouth Productions (DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD, BECOMING) and Vulcan Productions (SUMMER OF SOUL, THE REASON I JUMP), ANONYMOUS SISTER is a personal feature documentary that premiered at DOC NYC in 2021 with support from Sundance, IDA, Fork Films, and others. She was the editor, producer, and cinematographer on JACKSON (Showtime), winner of the 2018 News & Documentary Emmy Award. She was the editor on TRANS IN AMERICA: TEXAS STRONG, winner of the 2019 News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Short Documentary. She was the associate editor and production manager on E-TEAM (Netflix), winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Cinematography Award. She directed, filmed, and edited TAKE A VOTE, a short documentary in collaboration with the ACLU that premiered at DOC NYC in 2020. She taught at the Bronx Documentary Center, as a guest lecturer at Columbia University, and served as a judge for the News & Documentary Emmy Awards. In 2019, she was on DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 list and part of the inaugural Sundance Talent Forum.
KRISTINA MOTWANI (she/her) | EDITOR
Kristina Motwani is an editor, writer, producer and story consultant living and working in San Francisco. She is the 2021 Sundance Jonathan Oppenheim Edit Award recipient, a 2019 DOCNYC 40 under 40 honoree, a 2018 SFFilm FilmHouse Resident and was a 2017 BAVC National MediaMaker Fellow. Her work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW, SFFilm festival and more, and has been seen on PBS, Netflix and the World Channel. She has been nominated for a regional Emmy award and received awards from the SF Press Club, the Tellys and the Society for Professional Journalism. She is a judge for the news and doc Emmy Awards and is currently teaching editing at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She is also a member of the Brown Girls Doc Mafia, a group of women of color who work in Documentary film.
KEITH MAITLAND (he/him) and SARAH WILSON (she/her) | EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Keith and Sarah are the co-founders of Go-Valley. The husband-wife filmmakers are the producers behind the PGA/Peabody-nominated 2016 TOWER and A SONG FOR YOU. Their latest film, DEAR MR. BRODY premiered at Telluride Film Festival in 2020. Keith serves as director and Sarah as cinematographer. Sarah freelances as a cinematographer and photographer for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Texas Monthly, and others. They live in Austin, TX.
JACKIE OLIVE (she/her) | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Jacqueline Olive is an independent filmmaker with nearly twenty years of experience in journalism and film. Her award-winning debut documentary film, ALWAYS IN SEASON, has received numerous honors including winner of the 2019 Sundance Festival Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency and nominations for 2019 Best Writing from IDA Documentary Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. ALWAYS IN SEASON broadcast on Independent Lens on PBS in 2020 and was the highest rated film of the season. In addition to creating the 2022 Peabody Award-winning VR project, ALWAYS IN SEASON ISLAND–Jackie directed, produced, and wrote the documentary film, DEATH IS OUR BUSINESS, which broadcast on FRONTLINE/PBS and the WORLD Channel in February 2021 and executive produced and directed LINCOLN’S DILEMMA, a 4-part 2022 Apple TV series. After teaching film at the University of California, Santa Cruz through 2022, Jackie remains on the Central Coast happily making films and immersive media full-time.
NICO OPPER (they/them) | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Nico Opper (they/them) is an Emmy-nominated director and producer who has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual “25 New Faces of Independent Film”, Indiewire Magazine’s “25 LGBT Filmmakers on the Rise”, and DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” list of documentary talents. Their directorial debut, OFF AND RUNNING (Tribeca Film Festival Audience Favorite, POV broadcast), won nine Best Documentary awards including Outfest, as well as the WGA Award for Best Documentary Screenplay and a national Emmy nomination. Their episodic series THE F WORD was nominated for a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series, an IDA Award for Best Short Form Series, and named a top series of the year by Indiewire. Most recently they produced the ITVS feature documentary TRY HARDER! which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and can be viewed on Independent Lens and Hulu. They also directed and produced WHEN I WRITE IT (2021 Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs, POV Shorts), executive produced the 2021 NYTimes Op-Doc WHAT YOU’LL REMEMBER and line produced Discovery Networks THE KILLER WITHIN.
GIL TALMI (he/him) | COMPOSER
GIL TALMI is an EMMY nominated film composer, sonic activist and recording artist with a passion for socially conscious films. Some of Gil's most recent work includes original music for HARRY & MEGHAN (Netflix/Story Syndicate), BATTLEGROUND (Safe Space Pictures), LEAD ME HOME (Netflix/Actual Films), JACINTA (Hulu/Endeavor Pictures), WHITE NOISE (The Atlantic), ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY (Amazon Studios/Story Syndicate), THE GREAT HACK (Netflix/A Noujaim Films-Othrs Production) and CHAVELA (Aubin Pictures). Gil's score for CHAVELA was nominated for Best Original Film Score by the Music & Sound Awards and his music for TALES OF THE WARIA (PBS Global Voices) won Best Documentary Score.
MEREDITH EZINMA (she/her) | COMPOSER
Meredith Ezinma Ramsay, professionally known as Ezinma [Eh-zeen-mah], is a violinist, film composer, and educational activist. As a performer, Ramsay has worked with renowned artists including Beyonce, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Khalid, Joshua Bell, Yo Yo Ma and Clean Bandit, to name a few. As a composer, Ramsay has scored for both film and TV including the Oscar-nominated documentary-short, STRANGER AT THE GATE (2022). In addition, Ramsay is an advocate for music education. In 2021, she launched Strings By Heart— a youth development program in NYC for children K-5 committed to bringing quality music instruction, workshops, and outreach to children from underserved communities.
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