filmmakers
SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY Scott’s journey as a filmmaker began when he majored in theater with a concentration in directing at Skidmore College, where he was also a DJ at WSPN. He spent his junior year abroad in London, which included being awarded an internship as assistant to the director at London’s Theatre Royal. Soon after graduating, Scott began directing film by raising money to shoot an AIDS P.S.A.. His first music video (for Def Jam artist Nikki D) garnered him a Gold Prize at The Houston Film Festival, and was followed by several number-one internationally aired music videos including Jimmy Cliff’s remake of “I Can See Clearly Now”. Scott went on to establish himself as a director of music videos, commercials, and promos for clients ranging from Tony Bennett, CBS, and Mattel. Scott directed second unit on the Showtime movies “Last Exit to Earth” and “Sea Wolf.” Scott then had the unique opportunity of being hired by the low-budget legend, Roger Corman to direct four TV features all shot in six days each. Scott’s debut documentary, OT: our town, tells the amazing underdog story about the first play in twenty years at Dominguez High in Compton, California, and their attempt – with no stage, money or theatre experience – to produce Thornton Wilder’s American classic OUR TOWN. OT garnered rave reviews, and was included on several ‘best of’ lists, including Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times. OT was an official selection and won awards at some of the top film festivals in the world: Toronto, LAFF (best documentary), Tribeca, SXSW, Palm Springs Int’l (audience award), Aspen (audience award), Santa Barbara FF, Heartland Film Festival (Crystal Heart Award). OT was also honored by being ‘short listed’ for an Oscar nomination, as well as a being nominated for Best Documentary from the Independent Spirit Awards. OT, along with the teachers and students of Dominguez, was awarded a Human and Civil Rights award from the National Education Association (NEA). Scott produced, directed, shot and co-edited OT: our town. Scott’s latest feature-length documentary The Garden, about the struggle of farmers in South Central Los Angeles to keep their 14 acre community garden, the largest in the U.S., was nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. (thegardenmovie.com) At its world premier at the prestigious AFI Silverdocs film festival, The Garden won best documentary, and went on to garner rave reviews from the likes of Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times who wrote: “Excellent! Its lessons about the levers of power and politics, and how easy it is to get co-opted, are relevant everywhere. The Garden is a potent human drama.” Presently Scott is in post-production on a documentary entitled Fame High, about the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA). Fame High follows five freshman and five seniors through a school year as they try to become successful actors, singers, dancers, and musicians. Scott is also developing several narrative projects including an adaptation of The Garden. His feature script Up River, a children’s adventure movie set on the Los Angeles River, went through the highly competitive FIND Directors Lab, and is currently in development.
JULIE BERGMAN SENDER Julie Bergman Sender has a unique mix of experience—from producing feature films and documentaries to producing and directing groundbreaking national media campaigns that focus on politics and social issues. Julie began her career as a film Executive at Warner Brothers producing movies with director Sydney Pollack as well as working at Disney, Universal and partnering with Jodie Foster. She has produced a number of well known feature films including the Agneiszka Holland directed “Washington Square” starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney and Maggie Smith; the Ridley Scott film “G.I. Jane” starring Demi Moore; and “Six Days, Seven Nights” starring Harrison Ford. Julie Bergman Sender is a partner with her husband Stuart Sender in Balcony Films, Inc., a Los Angeles-based media production and consulting firm. Balcony Films specializes in creating feature and documentary films and television programs and distributes visual content and large-scale campaigns for theaters, television, on-line, radio and whatever comes next. Balcony Films works with for-profit companies and non-profit organizations to create both content and distribution strategies that allow their clients to market their media and causes and brand themselves in innovative ways. Balcony Films award-winning content and public service campaigns often feature well-known actors and performers, including: Will Ferrell, Jason Alexander, Helen Hunt, Felicity Huffman, Rosario Dawson and Stevie Wonder. Their work and campaigns have been featured on all major network and cable networks, including programs such as Good Morning America and The Today Show. They’ve been written about in the NY Times, Washington Post, NY Post, The Times of London and extensively on the web. Balcony Films work has helped register literally millions of new voters and the tracking and placement company NBN confirms that their recent campaigns have created over 300-million media impressions and earned millions of dollars in free and earned media for their clients. STUART SENDER In addition to his work as a partner in Balcony Films, Stuart Sender has an eclectic background as a broadcast journalist and war correspondent, a screenwriter and Academy-Award nominated documentary filmmaker. Stuart has written, produced and directed award-winning news and documentary programs for public and network television in the United States and internationally. These credits include Prisoner of Paradise (prisonerofparadise.com), which received Academy Award and Directors Guild nominations as well as wining the prestigious Grierson Award in the U.K. Stuart Sender also directs many of Balcony Film’s political commericals and public service announcements which have featured well-known actors such as Felicity Huffman, Marg Helgenberger, Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jason Alexander. He is currently producing and directing two feature documentaries: “Harmony” a global environmental documentary; and The F Word, which focuses on stories of Forgiveness (the other F word) from combat zones around the globe. He is also adapting the acclaimed book, The Golden Spruce as a feature film in collaboration with the author John Vaillant. These are also being produced with Julie Bergman Sender and Balcony Films.
VIVIANNE NACIF Vivianne is the daughter of a Greek Orthodox Mexican-Lebanese father and a Jewish Russian-American mother. Born and raised in Mexico City and educated in the French, Mexican, and American educational systems, Vivianne was destined to be different and borderless. She always knew she wanted to make a difference, and it was clear that her passion for acting and production would facilitate this dream. She got her BA from Pepperdine University, where she majored in television production and minored in theatre. Vivianne has worked as an actor in theatre and television for the past twelve years. Her passion is also in looping and voice-overs and you can currently hear her voice in many films and commercials. She has had the privilege of teaching theatre to �at-risk� kids for the past nine years in wonderful institutions like The Old Globe Theatre, The Shakespeare Festival, The Virginia Avenue Project and The Unusual Suspects. She has also been a volunteer for Make a Wish Foundation for the last five years. Behind the scenes, she has worked at various companies, including the Berkley Group, where she worked on the making-of documentary for Paramount’s Clear and Present Danger and as an assistant publicist for Fair Game and Dangerous Beauty. Her work as an associate producer for a series of educational videos for LAUSD combined her love of production with her passion for under-privileged youth. Currently, Vivianne is in post-production for the 16mm short film Unknown which she co-produced with the union of Flip Films. Vivianne was thrilled when producer/director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (OT: our town) asked her to co-produce his latest documentary The Garden. DOMINIQUE DERRENGER Dominique brought a broad range of filmmaking credentials to his job as Co-Producer of The Garden. Dominique’s mix of experience combines the financial know-how of a Line Producer with the story skills of a creative producer. Rising through the ranks at Disney Studios, and breaking into the creative side at Columbia Pictures, gave him a ring side seat to the making of films like Alive, Desperado, & Higher Learning, and the opportunity to work with filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Alan Parker & Milos Foreman. As an executive for Jim Henson Pictures he got hands-on training developing books and scripts, and working with the writers and directors of films like Buddy and The Muppets In Space. Dominique has worked on several documentaries over the years, including films by Academy Award® Nominated Filmmaker’s Rhyena Halpern & Les Blank. Behind the camera, he Produced and Directed All For One: In The Spirit Of The Race, which follows coach Stephen Gladstone and his University of California Crew Team in their quest to rebuild the once dominant rowing program. The feature film premiered at the iconic Wheeler Auditorium at UC Berkeley, was highlighted at the Hot Springs Film Festival in 2002, and continues to have a very loyal following around the world. Dominique re-joined the work force as Co-Producer of the TLC reality television series Faking It, and as a production accountant on films like Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Poseidon, the Academy Award® Nominated Frost/Nixon. Today, his career continues to break new ground as he enters the visual effects arena. As the Associate Visual Effects Producer on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, he currently works with Academy Award® Nominated Filmmaker’s Boyd Shermis & Rhonda Gunner, who supervise and produce some of the top visual effects in the industry. The movie will be exploding in a few thousand theaters near you this summer. Witnessing The Garden grow from it’s humble beginnings in 2004 in the dirt of South Central, to being the local underdog on the red carpet at the 2008 Academy Awards® in Hollywood, has filled provided Dominique with enough life lessons to last a lifetime. For this, and so much more, he is very thankful. ALEX BLATT & TYSON FITZGERALD Alex Blatt has worked with critically acclaimed filmmakers such as Gregg Araki (Splendor, Mysterious Skin, Smiley Face), Victor Nunez (Coastlines), Larry Clark (Wassup Rockers, Imaled). Alex also edited David Munro’s Full Grown Men, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. Since then, Alex edited A Beautiful Life, a film by acclaimed filmmaker Alejandro Chomski (Hoy Y Manana, Feel The Noise). Tyson FitzGerald was born in Atlanta, GA, and moved to Los Angeles to attend film school at USC. He has edited a wide variety of projects from reality television to music videos. This is his first time cutting a feature length documentary. His other accomplishments include speaking Japanese and playing classical piano. GABRIEL TENORIO & DOUG DEANGELIS Gabriel Tenorio is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer from Los Angeles. He has toured internationally with his group Domingosiete and has worked in a wide array of styles with many artists including Alejandro Escovedo and Vincio Capossela. His work can be heard on current films such as Wassup Rocker by Larry Clark and The Garcia Girls by Georgina Garcia. He’s a Leo and likes to workout at the gym. Mmmm…. Doug DeAngelis began his career in Boston where he recorded the Nine Inch Nails hit Head Like A Hole with world-renowned producer Flood. In 1991, he moved to New York City where he amassed over 300 album credits including 31 #1 Billboard Chart singles with artists like New Order, Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, Love and Rockets, Alicia Keyes, and No Doubt. As a composer, his music has appeared in CSI, Studio 60 Live On The Sunset Strip, Dirty Sexy Money, Men In Trees, Alias, Cold Case, Smith, Blades Of Glory, Employee Of The Month, ER and Species – The Awakening. ABOUT KATAHDIN PRODUCTIONS ABOUT IMPACT PARTNERS
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