Charlie Ebersol (producer, Ithuteng) knew he had to make this film when he first met young Victor at the end of his first trip to Soweto. Victor requested an on-camera interview, in which he looked directly into the camera and said, “I am going to change the whole world.” It was the truth. After the completion of the principal photography in August 2003, Ebersol got back to the United States with a daunting 55 hours of footage to edit. There he found an invaluable resource in his mother, Susan Saint James, who joined him to help shape the film and gave him the necessary momentum to turn the raw footage into the film it has become.

At the age of 16, Willie Ebersol (director, Ithuteng) traveled to the other side of the world to tell a story about how love grows in a place where most people can only think about survival. He'd known for a long time that he wanted to be a director. In mid-July of 2003, he was invited by his brother Charlie and friend Kip Kroeger to direct a documentary about the Ithuteng Trust. Though challenging and terrifying, he accepted and was soon flying to another hemisphere to begin the 17-day shoot. The honesty and vulnerability revealed in the film’s young subjects is a testament to his ability to connect with them on the most personal level.

Scott Galloway (producer/director, A Man Named Pearl) is an Emmy-award winning producer who has worked on more than 800 hours of television programming for networks such as ABC, A&E, Court TV, ESPN, Food Network, HGTV, History Channel and the Travel Channel. Galloway graduated from the University of Tennessee and lives with his wife and three children in Davidson, North Carolina.

David George’s (producer, Secret of the Cave) formative years were spent in the mountains of North Carolina where his father worked for the local CBS affiliate. George learned the basics of production and editing by watching his father produce packages for the evening news. He graduated with a B.A. in broadcast journalism from Southern Adventist University, later earning his M.F.A in video and film at the Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2000, George accepted a teaching position at Southern Adventist University and has since been the program coordinator of the film program, overseeing the production of Guilty, Angel in Chains and Secret of the Cave.

With interests spanning animation, programming and filmmaking, Zach Gray (director, Secret of the Cave) also co-wrote the script and served as visual effects supervisor. The film, a flagship project of Southern Adventist University’s film program, was shot on location in Ireland during the summer of 2005 with a professional and student crew. Gray’s additional film credits include rigging grip and actor for Angel in Chains, and art director for the short Lesser Light. Zach earned his B.A. at Southern Adventist University and his M.F.A. in Character Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Bob Hercules (producer/director, Forgiving Dr. Mengele) is an independent filmmaker and co-owner of Media Process Group-a Chicago-based television production company. Hercules’ work has been seen widely on PBS, the Discovery Channel, the Independent Film Channel, The Learning Channel and through television syndication nationwide.Forgiving Dr. Mengele won the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival ans was recently at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Frank Kelly (writer/director, Emily's Song) was born and raised in Drogheda, a port town on the east coast of Ireland with a population of about 25,000, which, in Euros, also happens to be the budget of Emily’s Song. Kelly attended a local college for a year to study Art and Design, later winning bronze in the 2004 National Environmental Photography Awards. He then went on to study Animation at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin. He spent a summer in San Francisco, another in Los Angeles and a year in Australia, and during this time he decided to return to his first love – film. Upon his return to Ireland Kelly struck up a successful partnership with Thomas Kennedy that has lasted over five years.

Kip Kroger (producer, Ithuteng) never expected to be a filmmaker. A biology major and son of a doctor, he discovered – like the students of Ithuteng – that what you are meant to do is not necessarily what you planned to do. Kroger was shocked to find himself leaving the United States for the first time in his life to make a film in South Africa. What changed his destiny was simply a story in which he believed.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Ryan Little (director/producer, Outlaw Trail) spent most of his childhood learning about photography. After high school he went on to attend film school, focusing his studies on cinematography. In 1999, Little directed and shot the short film The Last Good War, which received Best Dramatic Film at the 1999 Academy of Arts and Science College Awards as well as a Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival. Little’s feature film debut was Saints and Soldiers, which he took on the dual roles of Director and Cinematographer. He is currently working with Adam Abel on a Rugby sports film entitled Forever Strong.

Ilkka Matila (producer, Mother of Mine) is a producer and vice president of MRP Matila Röhr Productions. He has a strong track record in film production both in Finland and abroad. Since 1997, Matila has been co-owner of the Finnish MRP Matila Röhr Productions together with Marko Röhr. In 2002 Matila and Röhr started a cinema company called digital Cinema Matila & Röhr.

A Northern California native, Joel Nassan (producer/director, Wednesday) grew up the middle child of three in Santa Rosa, California. Creative passion and story telling were always a huge part of his life growing up in such an inspiring environment as Sonoma County. After working at a funeral home all through high school, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked at West Hollywood's most elite hotel, The Mondrian. While working full-time, Nassan attended Santa Monica College and eventually transferred to Biola University's film program where he currently attends.

Brent Pierson (producer/director, A Man Named Pearl) has worked extensively in non-fiction television since 1991. His most rewarding TV project was Parole Board, an award-winning series he created for A&E that profiled parole-eligible felons throughout the United States. Pierson graduated from UCLA with a degree in sociology and lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two daughters.

Cheri Pugh (producer/director, Forgiving Dr. Mengele) is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in modern European history. She has done extensive research on the Holocaust, the Third Reich and World War II.  Pugh worked for 10 years as a film archivist at WPA Film Library, one of the most extensive in the world. At WPA, Pugh catalogued hundreds of hours of historical footage dating from the 1890’s to the 1970’s. She has also provided research and consulting services for numerous documentaries including The 20th Century Series for MPI Video, A Stitch in Time (a French/U.S. television co-production) and The History of Newsreels.

Born in Burgos, Spain in 1969, Diego Quemada-Diez (producer/director/writer, I Want to be a Pilot) started his career in film working as a camera assistant for British Director Ken Loach. He graduated in 2001 from the American Film Institute, and his thesis film at AFI, A Table is a Table, won the 2001 student award from The American Society of Cinematographers. Quemada-Diez’s film credits include Bread and Roses, The Constant Gardener, 21 Grams, She Hate Me and SFC. I Want to Be a Pilot was shot in Kenya after he finished working on The Constant Gardener.

Matt Ruskin (producer/director, The Hip Hop Project) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and studied filmmaking at New York University.  Previously Ruskin produced and directed The Glen of the Downs, an award-winning film about a national environmental protest in Ireland.  He worked exclusively on The Hip Hop Project for nearly five years and is currently developing both documentary and dramatic feature projects.

Cristine Spindler (writer/director, Sirah) joined forces with the film industry and the FSU Film School in 2002 as an actor. Her first day on set, she knew she wanted to be on the other side of the camera. She volunteered on an array of films that year and continued to learn by working for Tapestry Films in Los Angeles, reading scripts, writing coverage and pouring coffee. She holds a B.S. in Hospitality Administration with a minor in Italian, as well as a M.F.A. in Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts. Spindler hopes to move to Los Angeles and make great movies with great filmmakers.

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Currently co-starring in the hit ABC Television sitcom According to Jim, Kimberly Williams-Paisley (producer/director/writer, Shade) first lit up the screen as the radiant young bride in the comedy feature film series, Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II, and has since appeared in numerous films and television programs, including last summer’s How to Eat Fried Worms and the upcoming We are Marshall. She recently wrote and directed the short film Shade, co-starring Patrick Dempsey, and she is editing a second short, Numero Dos, which was shot last summer in New Orleans.

David Wolstencroft (writer, Shooting Dogs) grew up in Edinburgh and read History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating in 1991. Prior to writing Shooting Dogs (his first feature) he wrote extensively for television.  His first drama Psychos was nominated for a BAFTA and won David the Royal Television Society's "Network Newcomer" award.  In 2002 David created Spooks, the highest rated new drama on BBC One that year. David, along with Howard Brenton, was also nominated for a Royal Television Society Writers' Award. As well as continuing his work on Spooks, David has written two novels published by Hodder & Stoughton: Good News, Bad News and Contact Zero.