Katie is a Director / Producer / Cinematographer from London. After co-producing a handful of short social justice focused films in the UK, Katie was commissioned to travel to Mississippi and Louisiana to film some interviews solo. Learning how to direct, produce and shoot in the field she fell in love with the American South and eventually moved stateside to co-direct her first feature with Carlye Rubin. They set up Smoke & Apple Films and their directorial debut ‘The (Dead Mothers) Club’ was acquired and broadcast on HBO in 2014. Now with over 12 years of directing and producing independent documentaries from conception to completion together, they have co-directed and produced ‘The Family I Had’ and ‘1275 Days’, and continue to collaborate on future work.

Carlye is a Director / Producer / Writer passionate about telling stories that break taboos, highlight injustice or give insight into a unique individual. After working in various capacities on documentaries including Capitalism: A Love Story and The Swell Season, she co-founded Smoke & Apple Films with Katie to make her directorial debut with The (Dead Mothers) Club (HBO, 2014). In addition to S&A films, Carlye enjoys collaborating with other filmmakers as a story producer and researcher.

Olivia Ahnemann, producer of the Oscar-nominated film Porcelain War (Sundance 2024 Grand Jury Prize), has over two decades of experience crafting bold, impactful documentaries. Her credits include Youth v Gov (Netflix), Under the Gun (Sundance), Racing Extinction (Discovery), and The Cove, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. She is known for championing character-driven films that illuminate global crises.

Emmy-winning writer of Netflix Originals The Social Dilemma and Chasing Coral, Vickie makes her directorial debut with Comparsa. Her work explores the systemic roots of social and ecological crises, and the artists and activists working to rebuild. Vickie’s storyte ling spans award-winning documentaries including Searching For Amani (Tribeca), We Are Guardians (HotDocs, Netflix LatAm), Greener Pastures (POV), and Anbessa (Berlinale, Arte). After years studying theatre and education, she brings a colaborative ethos to each project.

Kristi Tethong is a Canadian filmmaker from Toronto whose work explores the transformative power of storytelling and storykeeping. Working with intimate access and across extended periods of time, her films honour the lives of people whose stories might otherwise be forgotten. Her documentaries include Don’t Pass Me By, My Mother’s Life, Becoming, Into the Woods. Short documentary The Visit, received awards Best Experimental Short and Best Editor, screening at many international festivals. Tethong holds two Fine Arts degrees and is finishing an MFA in Film at York University, Toronto. Far From Home marks Kristi’s feature documentary debut.

Brittany Hart and Maggie Hartmans are the award-winning filmmaking duo behind Farsighted Creative. Brittany is a producer and director whose credits span documentaries, short films, episodic series, and commercial content for purpose-driven brands. Together, they are committed to authentic storytelling that builds empathy and leaves the world a little better.

Maggie Hartmans is an award-winning filmmaker with a lifelong dream of using cinematic storytelling to shift culture and change the world. With a strong background in indie filmmaking, she has worn several hats, from writing to editing and producing a diverse array of films, including narrative features and documentaries.

Maureen began her career as a director in Chicago, Munich, Vienna and New York City directing for the stage where she honed her skills working with production crews and directing actors. She transferred her skills to filmmaking in 2020 having made three short films in Denmark, and is currently working on her first feature film. She found Writers Innovative Network in order to co-develop original storylines. Her first two short films, BRUME and BELINDA, won multiple awards including Best First Time Director, Best Ensemble, Best Screenplay and Best Director. Praestens Dilemma is her first short film in the Danish language.

Trish Dalton and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are award-winning documentary directors whose work explores injustice, resilience, creativity, and women’s empowerment. Their HBO Sports film *Student Athlete* examined exploitation in U.S. college sports and helped encourage legislative change. Their Emmy-nominated documentary *Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge* celebrates the designer’s life and influence. Dalton’s other films include *One Night Stand*, *Bordering on Treason*, and *Southmost USA*.

Dena Fisher is a Baltimore-born social worker and filmmaker whose work lives at the intersection of art, healing, and social justice. Guided by the belief that care is a revolutionary act, Dena integrates her clinical practice and creative storytelling to illuminate the struggles and triumphs of those often pushed to the margins.

Amy Scott is an independent documentary filmmaker and senior correspondent/host at public radio’s “Marketplace.” Her 2015 documentary “Oyler” screened at film festivals internationally and was distributed by American Public Television. Her reporting has earned several national honors, including a 2025 Edward R. Murrow Award. She’s based in Denver.

Susan “Sasha” Alpert is an award-winning television producer, film producer, and casting professional. Based in Los Angeles, California, she is widely recognized for her extensive career in unscripted television and documentary filmmaking, earning three Primetime Emmy wins and over 20 nominations. She is currently a Founder at Hope Street Projects and previously served as the Executive Vice President of BMP Films, the documentary division of Bunim/Murray Productions.

Irene’s documentaries have shown theatrically, at film festivals and on television worldwide. Her first feature film, Hear and Now, a documentary memoir about her deaf parents, won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival in 2007, and went on to win numerous Jury and Audience awards around the world, a 2008 Peabody Award, and a nomination for Documentary of the Year by the Producer’s Guild of America. Her next film,The Final Inch, a short film about the global effort to eradicate polio, was nominated for an Academy award, multiple Emmys, and won the IDA’s Pare Lorentz Award.

After the 2010 Gulf oil spill, Irene followed the life of a single bird found coated in oil, and with HBO made Saving Pelican 895 which won an Emmy for its affecting music. In 2014, she directed One Last Hug: Three Days at Grief Camp, which won the 2014 Prime Time Emmy for Best Childrens Programming. In 2016 she released with HBO Beware the Slenderman, a haunting exploration of an internet Bogeyman and two 12-year-old girls who attempted to kill for him and Open Your Eyes, her short film following one Nepali family’s struggle to regain their sight.

Irene has also worked as a journalist with CBS News, made numerous television documentaries, and for 10 years worked as a Himalayan mountain guide. She is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She founded Vermilion Films in 2006.

Emily Harrold is a documentary filmmaker from Orangeburg, South Carolina. Her films have screened at festivals including Tribeca, DOCNYC and Telluride. She was in DOC NYC’s 2021 40 Under 40 Class and is a member of Film Fatales, the DPA and The Filmshop Collective. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has an MA in Film and Media Studies from Columbia.

Luchina Fisher is the Emmy-Award winning director of “The Dads” (Netflix), which won the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program and GLAAD’s Special Recognition Award. Her feature directorial debut, “Mama Gloria”, was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS. She has also directed several award-winning documentaries, sits on the board of New York Women in Film and Television, and teaches film at Yale and Fairfield University.

Maia Wikler (Director) is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Ecology at the University of Victoria, as well as a writer and filmmaker. Her reporting appears in Teen Vogue, VICE, Vogue, Atmos, High Country News, and Canada’s National Observer, among many others. In 2020, she was selected as a National Geographic Explorer. Maia’s directorial debut, the short documentary Walking Two Worlds, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022. Maia was recently selected for the 2024 Woodstock Filmmakers Residency to work on Wild East.