CIVIA TAMARKIN

DIrector, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, writer

Civia Tamarkin is an award-winning investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and former television news executive. She has produced independent and cable documentaries as well as developed programming content, models and strategies for cable, internet and digital global platforms. Tamarkin formerly was a CNN executive and Executive Producer of CNN’s Emmy Award weekly news magazine show “CNN & Time.” She produced investigative segments and series for ABC World News Tonight, half-hour specials for Nightline and contributed to ABC’s coverage of major news stories. Her investigative reporting led to one of the first exculpatory DNA exonerations in America as well as the exoneration of a death row inmate. She has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers and reported stories in Central America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia, including the fall of Vietnam and its aftermath. Tamarkin has received a National News and Documentary Emmy, National Emmy nominations, National Headliner Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and awards from The Society of Professional Journalists, the Overseas Press Club of America and the Chicago Headline Club.

LUCHINA FISHER

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, writer

Luchina Fisher is an award-winning writer and filmmaker. She has written and produced three nationally broadcast documentaries on Gladys Knight, B.B. King and the history of Title IX, as well as numerous segments for television. Her work has appeared on Discovery Health, A&E, ESPN, National Geographic Channel, ABC and in syndication. She is also the writer, director and producer of two award-winning short films. Fisher began her career as a journalist, reporting for the Miami Herald and People magazine. She was a contributing editor for O, The Oprah Magazine. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Lifetime magazine and Health, as well as online at ABCNews.com where she currently writes about the entertainment industry. She is also the co-author and ghostwriter of several books. Fisher has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Illinois Arts Council.
 

BRAD WHITE

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Through the course of his 25-year career, Brad White has lensed and edited TV commercials, corporate marketing pieces, television specials, and documentaries in over 60 countries. His work has been showcased on National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, History Channel and Travel Channel, and he is the recipient of numerous awards inclusive of a National Emmy Nomination.

INGRID ARNESEN

PRODUCER

Ingrid Arnesen is an award-winning journalist, investigative reporter and documentary producer. Starting in Central America in 1983, she has reported on civil conflicts, human rights and constitutional liberties, covering major international and U.S. news for CBS News, ABC News and CNN. Her work has earned her a Peabody Award for her investigation on terrorism, and the Alfred I. DuPont and Edward R. Murrow Awards for her reporting on Haiti. She is also the recipient of the Royal British Television Society Award for Excellence in Journalism. Ms. Arnesen currently is an independent broadcast and print journalist, contributing to the Discovery Channel, BBC News and The Wall Street Journal.
 

Suzanne D. Johnson

PRODUCER

The former owner and executive producer of an award-winning film and video production company, AZanne Productions, Inc. Suzanne has produced programs for cable and broadcast networks, television commercials, corporate and public service videos, and independent films and documentaries which have aired on PBS. In the 1990s, she created Gnosis, Ltd., an educational arts and humanities non-profit organization through which she produced events and symposia, arts and cultural tours, and books, as well as documentaries. She has been awarded an Emmy, Clios, and Tellys and has been the recipient of numerous grants and corporate sponsorships.
 

BLAKE TAMARKIN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Blake Tamarkin has been involved in various aspects of film and television productions as a student filmmaker, production assistant and associate producer. While working with WME | IMG in New York, Tamarkin developed original content for reality based TV shows and assisted with the production of the 2015 NHL Award Show. In addition, he helped produce the 2015 and 2016 NYC Marathon national broadcast. Tamarkin currently works closely with Red Hour Films, a Ben Stiller company, where he develops projects for film and television.

Joel Futterman & Ike Levin

COMPOSERS

Joel Futterman is an internationally acclaimed jazz pianist recognized as a leading pioneer into the frontiers of jazz rooted creative, improvisational music.  He has been described by the Jazz Times and Village Voice’s music critic Nat Hentoff as “a musical genius who draws from an unbounded reservoir of creativity” and by Howard Reich music critic for the Chicago Tribune as “an artist who is influencing the future directions of jazz and improvisational music.”  All his music is composed entirely “in-the-moment” never relying on preconceived or predetermined musical concepts.  He has performed at a variety of prominent jazz festivals, concert venues, and clubs across North America and Europe for over four decades. In addition to the piano, he plays the soprano saxophone and a variety of Indian Wooden Flutes. 

Ike Levin is a multi-reed instrumentalist and composer who performs regularly across the U.S and Canada.  All About Jazz described Ike’s tenor saxophone playing as “fiery, passionate, with an expressive robust tone, winding soulful lines and shrewd utilization of space.” The Jazz Review commented his “musical ideas pour out effortlessly without succumbing to cliches.”  Ike has a discography of 14 CDs to date.  In 2002, he founded the independent recording label, Charles Lester Music, to promote the musician driven documentation and dissemination of collectively improvised music.