THE Team
Director, Writer & Producer: Sam Ball
Sam directs, writes and produces films for the nonprofit documentary production company Citizen Film (founded in 2002), which specializes in serving as the storytelling partner to coalitions working to inspire and activate civic reflection, dialogue and action. Sam also creates documentary art installations that engage audiences in public spaces. His work has been showcased widely on public television platforms and at many of America’s most prestigious venues, from the Sundance Film Festival to the MoMA-NY.
Consulting Producer: Kate Stilley Steiner
Kate heads production and editorial for Citizen Film, which she co-founded. Her editing credits include documentaries for PBS, The Learning Channel, ABC and Fox. She has produced many films designed to foster important conversations. Respect for All—an acclaimed set of classroom films—sparked discussions about bullying nationwide.
Editor & Writer: Jeff Boyette
Jeff has worked as an editor since 2008 after receiving his BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. His work has played on HBO, PBS, Netflix and Amazon Prime, earned two regional Emmy nominations, and screened in film festivals around the world including Sundance and DocNYC.
Cinematographer: Garland McLaurin
Garland won a Peabody Award for the PBS program 180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School. Among other credits, Garland is cinematographer/director of the groundbreaking PBS digital series Pops, and he has filmed extensively as a documentary journalist for BET, NY TIMES VIDEO and the BBC.
Visual Effects: Raffi Simonian, NAU
Raffi is the Founder and Executive Creative Director of Nau, which designs graphics, titles and effects for television. His work has been seen in many prominent films, at the Academy Awards, and in many high-profile commercials.
Sound Design, Mix & Additional Music Composition: Outpost Studios
Dave Nelson’s career spans over twenty years in the film, sound and recording industry. His work involves an interesting mix of documentaries, feature films, shorts and albums (many of which have been nominated for Academy, Emmy and Grammy Awards). Dave, and his son Karl Nelson, are the principles behind Outpost Studios.
Associate Producer: Manish Khanal
Manish is a filmmaker whose work has appeared on the BBC, screened at festivals nationwide, and received institutional support from the Center for Asian American Media, Mountainfilm, the Knight Foundation, and SFFILM. He earned his master’s from the UC Berkeley School of Journalism.
Post Production Coordinator: Zoe Hertz
Zoe Hertz is a multimedia artist and Citizen Film’s Post Production Coordinator. Zoe’s photography has been featured at the Art Institute of Chicago, and she has been a resident artist at the Blue Sky Center in New Cuyama, CA and Gate 44 in Milan. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.