Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are the filmmaking team behind Meru and Free Solo. Vasarhelyi has additional solo directing credits on other films including Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love, Touba, A Normal Life, and the award-winning Incorruptible. Chin is also a professional climber and has an accomplished career as a photographer for […]
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert are the filmmaking team behind American Factory; the Oscar-nominated short The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant; and the feature A Lion in the House. Reichert was Oscar-nominated for her documentary feature films Union Maids and Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Her first film was Growing Up Female, […]
Dan Cogan is one of the most prominent non-fiction producers working today. Both an Academy Award®- and Emmy Award®-winner, Dan founded Story Syndicate with Liz Garbus in 2019. Previously, Dan was the founding Executive Director of Impact Partners. He has produced more than 100 films and series, including Icarus, which won the 2018 Academy Award […]
Tom Quinn’s career spans 20 years in distribution with a notable streak of acclaimed documentaries. He recently launched a new film company with Jason Janego and Tim League that will distribute Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next. As co-founder of RADiUS, Quinn championed documentaries such as The Hunting Ground and Oscar winners 20 Feet From Stardom and Citizenfour. At Magnolia […]
Molly Thompson is senior vice president of Feature Films at A+E Studios. In 2005, she founded A+E Studios’ feature documentary production arm, A&E IndieFilms, which under her leadership has gained an unprecedented track record, garnering three Academy Award nominations for Cartel Land, Jesus Camp, and Murderball, Sundance wins in several categories for Life, Animated, Cartel […]
Cara Mertes is the director of the JustFilms initiative at The Ford Foundation. JustFilms works globally to support artist-led films and new media projects, strengthen organizations and networks for artist-driven content, and develop new leadership and resources in this field. Prior to leading JustFilms, Mertes also served as director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film […]
Tabitha Jackson has served as the Director of the Documentary Film Program at the Sundance Institute since 2013. She previously worked as the Head of Arts and Performance at Channel 4 Television in London. [Biography from 2018]
Cynthia Lopez is the Executive Director of New York Women in Film & Television. She is the former Commissioner of the New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Prior to working as Commissioner she was Executive Vice President and co-Executive Producer of the award-winning PBS documentary series American Documentary | POV, and was […]
Orlando Bagwell’s directing credits include Citizen King, A Hymn for Alvin Ailey, Malcolm X: Make It Plain, and two episodes in the landmark Eyes on the Prize series. Serving as a program officer at the Ford Foundation for nearly a decade, Bagwell established the $50 million JustFilms fund. He is currently finishing a documentary on […]
Wim Wenders directed the Oscar-nominated documentaries The Salt of the Earth, Pina and Buena Vista Social Club, along with nonfiction titles such as The Blues and Room 666 and celebrated fiction films such as Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire. His latest documentary is Pope Francis: A Man of His Word. [Biography from 2018]