THE FILMMAKERS

Mary R. Morgan is a psychotherapist, teacher, author, activist, and philanthropist who is founder and president of the Cornerstone Campaign. She has been active in the fields of equal opportunity and equal rights, environmental preservation, safe energy and a sustainable food system. In her work as a psychotherapist and author, she has specialized in the field of bereavement and twins, an interest that emerged from her loss of her own twin. Her book When Grief Calls Forth The Healing (2014) was praised by Ann Belford Ulanov, professor at Union Theological Seminary and author of The Unshuttered Heart: “For anyone who has loved another deeply and lost them to death, this book is a boon. It reaches deep into the psyche and illuminates the soul.” More here.

Andrew Kimbrell is an internationally recognized public interest attorney and author of several books, including Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food. Founder and Director of the Center for Food Safety (CFS), the Center for Technology Assessment, co-founder of Foundation Earth, and president of the Board of Humane Farm Animal Care, Kimbrell has successfully challenged federal agencies on matters of health and the environment.  He pioneered the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court ruling that DNA is not patentable, and a Supreme Court victory forcing EPA regulation of greenhouse gases to limit their impact on climate change.  Kimbrell has also been at the forefront of legal actions against genetically engineered crops forcing the FDA to adopt new food safety regulations and helping maintain the integrity of organic standards, prompting The Guardian named him one of the “50 people who could save the planet.”  Kimbrell served as Executive Producer and writer of A DANGEROUS IDEA.

Stephanie Welch is a documentarian and executive director of Paragon Media, a nonprofit media organization that is the co-producer of A DANGEROUS IDEA. Welch is also the senior producer of the award-winning syndicated program Bioneers Radio: Revolution from the Heart of Nature, She co-produced the radio documentary Biowars: First Do No Harm, which won a NFCB Silver Reel Award. Welch is also audio engineer for Women Rising Radio.

An award-winning film director, interactive producer and transmedia storyteller, Jed Riffe has produced 11 nationally broadcast public television specials, including the series California and the American Dream. Riffe is best known as the director of Ishi, the Last Yahi, Who Owns the Past?, California’s “Lost” Tribes, and the first documentary on the medical marijuana movement Waiting to Inhale: Marijuana, Medicine and the Law.  Most recently Riffe executive produced A New Color: The Art of Being Edythe Boone, broadcast on America Reframed.  Riffe is a 2009 Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Fellow/Alumnus. He was awarded a Gerbode Fellowship for excellence in nonprofit management in 2001. More here.

A documentary filmmaker and editor, Maureen Gosling is best known for her longtime collaboration with independent director, Les Blank (Burden of Dreams, Always for Pleasure). She directed and edited, with Chris Simon, the feature documentary, This Ain’t No Mouse Music. She has previously worked as an editor on several of Jed Riffe’s award-winning films, as well as for directors Tom Weidlinger, Abby Ginzberg, Ashley James and Amie Williams. Her films have been seen in countless film festivals around the world, on national public and cable television, on television in Europe, Australia and Asia, and have been distributed widely to educational institutions.

Sara Maamouri is a documentary filmmaker and editor who has explored a diverse range of topics for over 14 years that has touched on social, educational and political issues. She co-produced and edited A Revolution in Four Seasons, which premiered at Hot Docs 2016 and won an honorable mention at the Margaret Mead Film Festival (2017). She edited Twice Upon A Time, which premiered at Edinburgh Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the Lebanese Film Festival. She’s currently editing and co-producing The Judge, directed by Erika Cohn, the story of the first female Shari’a judge in Palestine.

An award-winning film director, interactive producer and transmedia storyteller, Jed Riffe has produced 11 nationally broadcast public television specials, including the series California and the American Dream. Riffe is best known as the director of Ishi, the Last Yahi, Who Owns the Past?, California’s “Lost” Tribes, and the first documentary on the medical marijuana movement Waiting to Inhale: Marijuana, Medicine and the Law.  Most recently Riffe executive produced A New Color: The Art of Being Edythe Boone, broadcast on America Reframed.  Riffe is a 2009 Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Fellow/Alumnus. He was awarded a Gerbode Fellowship for excellence in nonprofit management in 2001. More here.

Ann Skinner-Jones is the producer and director of award-winning videos for the educational market including The Great Divide on LGBT rights and You Like Totally Have to Talk About It on young people and AIDS. Her film work deals with creatively managing intractable and polarized issues. She holds an MFA from the Art Institute in San Francisco and an MA in Art Education from the University of New Mexico.