Attending Filmmakers & Special Guests

Hall will be discussing WHERE THE YELLOWSTONE GOES.
 
Sarah produced Where the Yellowstone Goes (2012) and the upcoming film WALTER (2013), a documentary about the world’s oldest people. She is a writer and producer with a background in Television Productionn and Marketing. She spent eight years in Minneapolis working for Hubbard Broadcasting. Sarah produced Where the Yellowstone Goes (2012) and the upcoming film WALTER (2013), a documentary about the world’s oldest people. She is a writer and producer with a background in Television Production and Marketing. She spent eight years in Minneapolis working for Hubbard Broadcasting.

Hayes will be discussing EARTH DAYS.
 
As President of the Bullitt Foundation for the last 20 years, Denis Hayes has promoted urban ecology in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, BC.  Going well beyond metaphor, he has sought to help reshape cities to actually function as ecosystems. Toward that end, he recently completed the world’s greenest office building, the Bullitt Center, which will open on Earth Day, 2013.

During the Carter Administration, Denis directed the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, and a Silicon Valley lawyer.

At age 25, Hayes was national coordinator of the first Earth Day.  In 1990, he was the full-time chair of Earth Day as it expanded from the United States to 144 nations. Today, Earth Day is the world’s most widely-observed secular holiday.  After an absence of six years, Denis recently resumed the chairmanship of Earth Day Network as it begins the countdown to the 50th anniversary in 2020.

Denis has received the national Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Public Service as well as the highest awards bestowed by the Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the United States, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Council of America, the Global Environmental Facility of the World Bank, the interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the American Solar Energy Society, and the Commonwealth Club.

He has served on dozens of governing boards, including those of Stanford University, the World Resources Institute, the Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation, Children Now, the National Programming Council for Public Television, the American Solar Energy Society, Greenpeace, CERES, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Hi solar energy book, Rays of Hope, was a major influence on the renewable energy program of the Carter Administration.  (In real dollars, America's renewable energy budget only returned to Carter era levels in the second year of the Obama Administration.)

Hays will be discussing BOTTLED LIFE (NESTLÉS GESCHÄFTE MIT DEM WASSER).

Mark Hays has conducted research, campaign development and advocacy for a wide range of environmental and social change organizations, and spent six years as a campaign strategist, researcher and policy analyst for Corporate Accountability International.  There, he led development of the award-winning Think Outside the Bottle Campaign, which has worked to pressure bottled water giants such as Coke, Nestle and Pepsi to change irresponsible practices that are impacting the environment and people's access to water. The campaign is part of a broader effort to protect and realize the human right to water around the world.
 
He currently serves as coalition coordinator for the Democracy Initiative, a new project convened by the Sierra Club, NAACP, CWA and Greenpeace that seeks to bring together a wide range of environmental and social advocacy organizations to support efforts by allied organizations to protect voting rights and push back against the negative influence of big money in politics.  However, he remains actively engaged on water and corporate accountability campaigns as well.

Hayward will be discussing VISION: THE PORTSFUTURE PROJECT.

Casey Hayward is a documentary filmmaker and Professor of Documentary Production at Bentley University. He began his career working in the camera department on feature films in Hollywood, before turning his attention to independent documentary production. Because of this, Hayward approaches audiovisual storytelling with special attention to lighting and novel approaches to camera work. His films have varied in subject matter from a blind auto mechanic, a world-renowned sculptor, and five families living with a rare form of cancer. Hayward enjoys drawing on his professional experience while teaching classes in video production, documentary, the art of video editing, and cinematography. 

Howe will be discussing VISION: THE PORTSFUTURE PROJECT.

In her current role, Stephanie is responsible for organizational operations functions including securing, allocating, and managing fiscal and human resources for the School;  ensuring fulfillment of external contract obligations; implementing University policy; interfacing with University offices involved in administering the work of the School; and assisting Project Managers as needed with project development, resourcing, and project execution. Stephanie is also involved in developing and administering large programs for the Voinovich School and she serves as the Project Director for a multi- year, multi-million dollar grant with the U.S. Department of Energy. This grant provided funding for  the PORTSfuture outreach activities and the film and also funds many other ongoing applied-environmental projects with DOE at the federal site. Prior to her appointment as Associate Director in 2005, Stephanie served at the School for eight years as a Senior Project Manager focusing most notably on developing and executing a 29 county collaborative technical assistance partnership grant and also a statewide project with the  Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for the purpose of implementing welfare reform laws at the local level. Prior to coming to the Voinovich School in 1997, Stephanie worked for private non-profit organizations focused on sexual assault/domestic violence advocacy, and behavioral healthcare. Stephanie has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master’s of Public Administration, both from Ohio University. 

Hue will be discussing SHARK LOVES THE AMAZON.
 
Cidney Hue graduated with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in film & television production. She has experience working on over 50 films and projects, ranging from commercials to documentaries to narrative shorts. Cidney has also studied directing and filmmaking at the Film and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU), one of the oldest film schools in Europe, and the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. In addition to film, Cidney designs and builds websites for filmmakers and production companies.

Huston will be discussing The Art of Falconry Program and The John Huston in Africa Program.
 
Tony Huston is John Huston’s eldest child, the grandson of Walter Huston, brother of Anjelica, and father of Jack, the latest member of the Huston family to become a star on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, the HBO series produced by Martin Scorsese. Tony himself worked in a number of different capacities in the film business before becoming an assistant director and screenwriter.  His greatest success was "THE DEAD," an adaptation of the short story by James Joyce, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.  It was also the last picture his father directed.

For nearly fifty years Tony has been a passionate falconer.  He learnt falconry in  Ireland, where the Huston family had a home for eighteen years.  Subsequently he flew his hawks at partridge in Norfolk, England, and red grouse on the Scottish moors before moving to Taos, New Mexico fifteen years ago where he started duck hawking and making pilgrimages across the American west, camping in the wilderness and pulling his Airstream trailer from the Mexican to the Canadian border.

Irvin will be introducing and discussing The Endangered Rivers Program and Rivers Lost, Found and Turned-Around.
 
Bob Irvin has been President and CEO of American Rivers since July 2011. As President, Bob leads American Rivers in its mission to protect and restore our nation’s rivers. He is responsible for management of the strategic, programmatic, and financial operations of American Rivers.

Before becoming President of American Rivers, Bob was Senior Vice President for Conservation Programs at Defenders of Wildlife.

Bob has also served as Director of U.S. Conservation for World Wildlife Fund; Vice President for Marine Wildlife Conservation and General Counsel for the Center for Marine Conservation; Senior Counsel for Fish and Wildlife on the Majority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; Counsel and Director of the Fisheries and Wildlife Division, National Wildlife Federation; Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; and was in private legal practice in Portland, Oregon.

Bob is an expert in biodiversity conservation, wildlife law, and the Endangered Species Act. He has written and lectured extensively on biodiversity conservation issues. He is the co-editor, with Donald C. Baur, of the American Bar Association’s deskbook on the Endangered Species Act, ESA: Law, Policy, and Perspectives (2nd ed. 2011). He co-authored, with Michael J. Bean, the chapter on the Endangered Species Act and marine species in Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy (American Bar Association 2008). He was a member of the IUCN’s Red List Criteria Review Working Group which revised the standards for listing threatened species globally. He has taught Biodiversity Protection at Vermont Law School for nearly 20 years and has also taught at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Bob graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. degree in Forest Science from Utah State University in 1980. He earned a J.D., Order of the Coif, in 1983 from the University of Oregon School of Law. He has served as co-chair of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Section of the District of Columbia Bar and on the board of directors of the Environmental Law Institute.

Jackson will be discussing REVOLUTION.
 
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson leads EPA’s efforts to protect the health and environment for all Americans. She and a staff of more than 17,000 professionals are working across the nation to usher in a green economy, address health threats from toxins and pollution, and renew public trust in EPA’s work.

As Administrator, Jackson has pledged to focus on core issues of protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination in our communities, and reducing greenhouse gases. She has promised that all of EPA’s efforts will follow the best science, adhere to the rule of law, and be implemented with unparalleled transparency.

Jackson is the first African-American to serve as EPA Administrator. She has made it a priority to focus on vulnerable groups including children, the elderly, and low-income communities that are particularly susceptible to environmental and health threats. In addressing these and other issues, she has promised all stakeholders a place at the decision-making table.

Before becoming EPA’s Administrator, Jackson served as Chief of Staff to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and Commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Prior to joining DEP, she worked for 16 years as an employee of the U.S. EPA.

Jackson is a summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University and earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University. She was born in Pennsylvania and grew up a proud resident of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jackson now resides in Washington D.C.. She is married to Kenny Jackson and is the proud mother of two sons, Marcus and Brian.

Kelley will be discussing GO GANGES!
 
J.J. Kelley is a distinguished filmmaker and adventurer.  A producer at National Geographic Television (NGT), Kelley has been contributing to the production of original content for The National Geographic Channel, NOVA, and PBS. Some of his shows include The President’s Photographer, Darwin’s Darkest Hour, and an upcoming one-hour special investigating the illicit trade in elephant ivory, Battle for the Elephants.

He is also the co-creator of the adventure production company, Dudes on Media.  His award winning feature documentaries have aired NBC Universal Sports, PBS, Outside TV and 10 international television networks, in addition to winning over 20 film festival awards including The Spirit of Independence at the 2012 Fort Lauderdale Int’l Film Festival. Paddler Magazine called his Emmy nominated second film, Paddle to Seattle “the best feature film about paddling produced in the past decade.”

Kerns will be discussing MEERKATS 3D.

He takes care of a diverse array of animals, including meerkats. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from American University and is currently pursuing a master's from George Mason University with a concentration in Zoo and Aquarium Leadership. He started as a volunteer at the National Zoo, worked his way up to a keeper position at the Small Mammal House, and is currently the president of the National Capital chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers. Kenton has a fondness for meerkats because their curiosity often gets them in trouble!

Kitchell will be discussing A FIERCE GREEN FIRE.
 
Mark Kitchell is best known for Berkeley in the Sixties, which won the Audience Award at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Academy Award, and won other top honors. The film has become a well-loved classic, one of the defining documentaries about the protest movements that shook America during the 1960s. In the twenty years since that film he has worked in non-fiction television, made films for hire, taught at UC Santa Cruz, done freelance production and developed A Fierce Green Fire. He went to NYU film school, where he made The Godfather Comes to Sixth St., a cinema verite look at his neighborhood caught up in filming The Godfather II – for which he received another (student) Academy Award nomination.

Kramer will be discussing The Urban Community Gardening Program.
 
Brandon is a documentary filmmaker, educator and a co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures. Brandon has focused his career and education on producing documentary films and teaching youth and adults how to create their own films. With Meridian Hill Pictures, Brandon is currently directing the feature-length documentary Green Corps and facilitating media education programs with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Ford's Theatre and Frederick Douglass National Historic Sites. Prior to forming Meridian Hill Pictures, Brandon taught documentary filmmaking to youth at ten middle schools across the country with the Kennedy Center's 'On Location' national tour. Brandon holds a Bachelors Degree in Film Production and Cultural Anthropology from Boston University. He has worked for arts, nonviolent and cross-cultural education programs with the The Story Pirates, Nonviolence International and the State Department-sponsored Youth Exchange & Study Program.

Kramer will be discussing The Urban Community Gardening Program.
 
Lance is a documentary filmmaker, educator, journalist and a co-founder of Meridian Hill Pictures. He has focused his career on using non-fiction storytelling to advance environmental concerns, community-building and cross-cultural dialogue. At Meridian Hill Pictures, Lance produces the studio's documentary films and media education projects, spearheads development, social media, outreach and engagement strategy, and curates Washington DC's PictureHouse pop-up public film screening series. Lance has participated in a variety of successful projects with emerging digital technologies, including his most-recent participation in the Mozilla/ITVS/BAVC LivingDocs 'Hackathon' project at Silverdocs 2012. Lance co-designed the Meridian Hill Pictures media education curriculum, an award-winning standards-based approach for teaching community video storytelling and media literacy to diverse populations.

In 2009, Lance served as associate producer of the environmental documentary Hope in a Changing Climate. In addition to international broadcast on BBC World, Lance led a digital and grassroots outreach effort to screen the film in over 20 countries by more than 40 organizations. As a journalist, Lance has written on news, music, film, arts and culture, for a variety of publications. Lance holds a Bachelors Degree in History from Dartmouth College. He is the author of Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself, a children's book selected to the American Bookseller's Association Fall 2008 Indie Next List. Lance serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Docs In Progress, a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to building community through the power of documentary film and is a Humanities Council of Washington DC humanities scholar.

Kucinich will be discussing HOT WATER.
 
Elizabeth Kucinich is the director of public and government affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nationwide organization of physicians and laypersons that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research. As director of public and government affairs, Ms. Kucinich helps shape PCRM’s initiatives to reform federal nutrition policies and to promote alternatives to the use of animals in medical education and research.

Ms. Kucinich is an experienced policy analyst and legislative advocate. Before joining PCRM, she was an advisor and congressional liaison for the president of the United Nations General Assembly. She also organized the American Monetary Institute’s first international conference on monetary reform.

A longtime global health advocate with a commitment to child development and education, Ms. Kucinich has directed the Village Education Project in India and taught secondary school in rural Tanzania. She now advises several education and community-building projects in East Africa.
Ms. Kucinich is actively involved in the Congressional Human Rights Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives. She received her master’s degree in international conflict analysis at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom.

Kucinich will be discussing HOT WATER.
 
Dennis John Kucinich was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio's 10th district from 1997-2013.

He was born on October 8, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio. He is eldest of seven children by parents Frank and Virginia Kucinich.

Kucinich first ventured into politics while still a student at Cleveland State University, winning a seat on the Cleveland city council in 1969. In 1973, Kucinich received a master's degree in communications from Ohio's Case Western Reserve University.

In 1977, Kucinich became the youngest mayor in Cleveland, Ohio history. In addition to being Mayor of Cleveland, Dennis Kucinich has served as a Council Member for the City of Cleveland (1970-75, 1981-82), as the Clerk of Courts for the Cleveland Municipal Court (1976-77) and as an Ohio State Senator (1994-96).
In 1996, Kucinich was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a congressman, Kucinich has been a progressive proponent of environmental initiatives, sustainability practices, human rights issues and the social and economic interests of his Ohio constituents, including the troubled steel industry. In 2001-2003 Kucinich was Chairman, and later Co-Chairman (2004), of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Dennis Kucinich is known for his idealism, activism and indefatigable spirit. In 2003, Kucinich began his campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination with a platform largely dominated by human rights and environmental initiatives. In his campaign for the 2008 presidential nomination, he called for universal healthcare and an immediate withdraw from Iraq.

Kucinich was the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He was also a member of the Education and Labor Committee.

Larrauri will be discussing OUR BACKS TO THE SEA (DE ESPALDAS AL MAR).
 
Armando follows his passion for filmmaking while working on visual-branding identity, marketing and communications and creative production. His training in different Latin American countries has given him a unique perspective that he brings in his photography and audiovisual production. With Our Back to the Sea, his first environmental production, won the Premio Globo Verde Dominicano Award in 2012, during the II Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, and places him at the lead of young Dominican filmmakers concentrating their interest in documentary production and environmental subjects in particular.

Linezo Hong will be discussing MY LOUISIANA LOVE.
 
Sharon Linezo Hong is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Cambridge, MA. Sharon experientially learned filmmaking through her five-years of directing, producing, and co-writing My Louisiana Love, her first full-length documentary. Sharon’s mentors and advisors for this film include Julie Mallozzi, Fernanda Rossi, Robb Moss, and Judith Helfand. Sharon augmented this learning experience by taking classes on film theory and technical training at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. My Louisiana Love has been screening at festivals, museums, and universities, and will be broadcasted on Public Television (2012). Sharon founded Within A Sense, LLC, an independent production company aspiring to create portrait documentaries reflecting on social and environmental issues through personal perspective.

London will be discussing SHARK LOVES THE AMAZON. 

Mark London, who practices law full time in Washington, DC in the area of commercial litigation, is the co-author of Amazon (1983: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Editora Record) and The Last Forest: The Amazon in the Age of Globalization (2007: Random House, Editora Martins Fontes). Along with the Amazonas Sustainabiltiy Foundation and Marriott International, Mark helped create the Rio Juma Reserve in the State of Amazonas, a revolutionary project tying the sale of environmental services to carbon avoidance. In 2011, Mark wrote and produced Shark Loves the Amazon, a 60-minute documentary about his personal view of the history of the Amazon region, highlighting perennial problems and providing ideas for solutions that have shown success.

Lopez will be discussing HEART OF SKY, HEART OF EARTH.

Juanita Cabrera Lopez is Maya Mam from the Western highlands of Guatemala. The Mam Nation is one of the largest indigenous nations in Guatemala and their territory is comprised by the departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, Retalhuleu, San Marcos, and Chiapas, Mexico. Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, Guatemala has facilitated a process for mineral exploration and exploitation. Per official statistics by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, they have granted a total of 117 exploration licenses and 8 exploitation licenses since 1997. Indigenous peoples have not been consulted in these development initiatives and their rights to lands, territories and natural resources have not been respected.  Juanita works with her community and traditional authorities in defense of their lands, territories, and goods of their earth by helping to bring international attention to the struggles of her people.