DAN GELLER & DAYNA GOLDFINE (PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS)
Photo: Chris Hardy |
For over twenty-five years, Emmy-award winning directors/producers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have jointly created critically-acclaimed, multi-character documentary narratives that braid their characters’ individual personal stories to form a larger portrait of the human experience. Their most recent film, the award-winning SOMETHING VENTURED (2011), premiered at SXSW, went on to play at festivals internationally, and was broadcast nationwide on PBS. Geller and Goldfine’s work also includes: BALLETS RUSSES (2005) which was recognized as one of the top five documentaries of 2005 by both the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review and appeared on a dozen critical “10 Best Films” lists, including those of Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, the San Francisco Chronicle and Slate; NOW AND THEN: FROM FROSH TO SENIORS, which premiered theatrically in October 1999 and aired on PBS in October 2000 as the lead program of the Independent Lens series; KIDS OF SURVIVAL: THE ART AND LIFE OF TIM ROLLINS + K.O.S. (1996), a feature-length documentary about the South Bronx-based art group Tim Rollins & K.O.S., which aired on Cinemax in September 1998 and was the recipient of two national Emmy Awards; FROSH: NINE MONTHS IN A FRESHMAN DORM (1994); and, the award-winning ISADORA DUNCAN: MOVEMENT FROM THE SOUL (1988). |
For the filmmakers’ production notes about the making of the film, see our press kit.
Read an interview with the filmmakers in the San Francisco Chronicle.
BILL WEBER (EDITOR)
Bill Weber cut his editing teeth with a broadcast Emmy, an MTV Music Video of the Year Award and a successful career in commercial work. He soon discovered his love for documentaries by editing and co-directing THE COCKETTES (2002), which premiered at Sundance and Berlin and won the LA Film Critics Documentary of the Year award. Most recently Weber edited and co-directed WE WERE HERE: THE AIDS YEARS IN SAN FRANCISCO (2011), which also opened at Sundance and Berlin, screened theatrically and aired on PBS’ Independent Lens. Other work includes the Academy Award-nominated documentary, THE FINAL INCH (2009), the Emmy nominated films LAST LETTER HOME (2004) and ALZHEIMER’S CAREGIVERS (2009) for HBO, the Telluride premiering documentary feature HATS OFF (2008), and numerous specials for HBO and The History Channel.
Read an interview with Bill Weber on SFGate.com.
LAURA KARPMAN (COMPOSER)
Four-time Emmy award-winning Laura Karpman has been named one of the most important women in Hollywood by Variety. In addition to creating and recording the original score for Geller and Goldfine’s documentary SOMETHING VENTURED (2011), Karpman’s other credits include the miniseries TAKEN (2002) executive produced by Steven Spielberg, ODYSSEY 5 (2002–2003) for Showtime, MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION (2007) for ABC, CRAFT IN AMERICA (2007–2012) for PBS, MAN IN THE CHAIR starring Christopher Plummer (2007), THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH starring Lynn Redgrave and James Earl Jones (1999) and THE TOURNAMENT (2009) for The Weinstein Company. Equally at home in the concert hall, Karpman has received commissions from The Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, The Juilliard School, The Czech National Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her multimedia opera ASK YOUR MAMA (2009), commissioned by Carnegie Hall and written for Jessye Norman, The Roots, Nnenna Freelon and d’Adre Aziza, from a text by Langston Hughes, premiered to critical acclaim.
JONATHAN DANA (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)
Jonathan Dana has been a pioneer in the independent film business since 1971. He served as President of Motion Pictures and Television at Atlantic Releasing Corporation and as President and CEO of Triton Pictures, supervising such films as A WORLD APART (1988), STORMY MONDAY (1988), TEEN WOLF (1985), PATTY HEARST (1988) and HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE (1991). Dana has also served in a production capacity on over 26 fiction and non-fiction films, including STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN (2002), THE SPITFIRE GRILL (1996), TOM DOWD AND THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC (2003), YOU KILL ME (2007) and KILL THE IRISHMAN (2011), and directed the ground-breaking documentary SANDSTONE (1975). His recent credits as producer's representative include the 2012 Spirit Award nominee WE WERE HERE and 2013 Oscar nominee THE INVISIBLE WAR. Dana was an initial investor and supervised the launch of indie film community Withoutabox.com, now an operating division of IMDB. This is his third collaboration with Geller Goldfine, having served as consulting producer and producer’s representative on BALLETS RUSSES (2005), and as production consultant on SOMETHING VENTURED (2011).
ROY WALDSPURGER (SOUND DESIGNER/MIXER)
Roy Waldspurger has been a sound editor, designer and mixer for nearly 20 years. His most recent credits include Sophia Coppola’s THE BLING RING (2013), SOMEWHERE (2010) and MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006), David Mamet/HBO’s PHIL SPECTOR (2013), and Curtis Hanson’s TOO BIG TO FAIL (2011).
MARGERY SIMKIN (CASTING DIRECTOR)
Over the past thirty years, Margery Simkin has cast films for major directors such as Guillermo del Toro, James Cameron, Steven Soderbergh and Terry Gilliam. Among many others, her credits include: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (2013), AVATAR (2009), TWELVE MONKEYS (1995), MARLEY AND ME (2008), ERIN BROKOVICH (2000), FREEDOM WRITERS (2007), FIELD OF DREAMS (1989), TOP GUN (1986), and most recently, PACIFIC RIM (2013).
CELESTE SCHAEFER SNYDER (PRODUCER/WRITER)
Celeste Schaefer Snyder also co-produced and co-wrote SOMETHING VENTURED (2011), and associate produced and co-wrote BALLETS RUSSES (2005).
