HEMAL TRIVEDI - Director / Producer / Editor Hemal Trivedi is a Mumbai and New York-based documentary filmmaker/editor, whose editing work has won an Academy Award, three Emmy Awards, and seven Emmy Award nominations. Her most recent feature, Among the Believers, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and then travelled the world. It was nominated for an Emmy Award in Outstanding Documentary in Government and Politics, a Cinema Eye Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. It also won over 30 prestigious awards and honors. Other credits include Outlawed in Pakistan (editor, Emmy 2014), Saving Face (editor, Academy Award 2012), Shabeena’s Quest (director/editor), and Beyond Mumbai (director/cinematographer/editor). Trivedi’s work has been showcased in film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, IDFA, Full Frame and AFI and venues including the United Nations and the US Department of State.
JONAH MARKOWITZ - Co-Director / Producer / Director of Photography Jonah Markowitz is a photojournalist, and filmmaker who focuses on character driven narratives that hold power accountable while capturing the beauty of a shared humanity. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, where he conceived and executed one of NYT's largest visual pieces during the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC entitled: Transit Workers Were NYC's Pandemic Lifeline. Jonah’s editorial clients include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, VOGUE, USA Today, and Newsday, among others. His motion work has appeared on PBS, ESPN, Netflix, Tribeca Film Festival, DOC NYC, Fusion Network, and others.
JACK McGOVERN - Co-Producer Jack McGovern is a New York City based documentary filmmaker and cinematographer graduating from NYU's film program in the fall of 2020. Jack co-founded the video team for New York Gridlock, the city's first professional womxn’s* ultimate frisbee team, which produced six short docs since 2019. He is also the DP for the upcoming docu-series Passing, which examines what we are willing to sacrifice about our identities in order to feel like we belong. Jack joined Keystone Docs in 2017 as an intern and proved himself into the roles of co-producer, camera operator and assistant editor. He was an integral part of the production process for three years and was instrumental in helping the filmmakers gain access to the closed world of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party Movement.
*The term womxn is used to be inclusive of all women and non-binary people.
CHRIS McCUE - Editor Chris is an editor based in Cleveland and New York City. He edited Insha’Allah Democracy with Hemal Trivedi, which was featured at IDFA, Sheffield, DOC NYC and Human Rights Watch Film Fest. He was an Assistant Editor on Among the Believers, and at Viceland for the acclaimed nonfiction programs Black Market with Michael K. Williams, Noisey, and other shows. He also had the privilege of working with Direct Cinema originator Albert Maysles for six years at Maysles Films, Inc., and was Assistant Editor on documentaries such as The Love We Make starring Paul McCartney.
ANDI BERNSTEIN - Executive Producer Andi is the founder and CEO of Beach Walk Media, a diversified media company that produces content across multiple platforms including film, television, theater, and podcast. Andi served as Consulting Producer on HBO’s True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, and on Jim: The James Foley Story, which won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and was nominated for an Academy Award. Previously, Andi was part of the senior management team that launched Compass, a real estate technology company. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President of Oxygen Media and was part of the management team that launched the network.
MONA SUTPHEN - Executive Producer Mona Sutphen served in the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Obama, and on the staff of the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration. Mona was a Consulting Producer on HBO’s Jim: The James Foley Story, which won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and was nominated for an Academy Award. She also was a script consultant for Warner Brothers TV. She serves on the boards of several corporations, as well as on the board of the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights First and the Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College. Mona is co-author of numerous articles on public policy and democracy and co-author of The Next American Century.
SAVANNAH BIRNBAUM - Associate Producer Savannah is the Associate of Project Development at Beach Walk Media. Prior to joining Beach Walk, Savannah held research and curatorial positions at the Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art and Debra Force Fine Art Gallery. Prior to that, she was a production assistant at Jigsaw Productions, where she worked on The Clinton Affair, a limited series for A&E. Savannah is also a writer and filmmaker, and her work has been shown at the George Town Theatre Festival in Penang.
ANAND GAUTAM - Additional Editor / Finishing Editor Anand Gautam is an India-based Filmmaker/Editor. A masters in Media & Cultural Studies from TISS Mumbai, his major credits include The Half Truths (Editor, Manjusha Films, IDFA); Faith In Friction (Editor, Manchester Art Gallery); Price of a Goddess (Editor, Manjusha Films); Tamburra Naadam (Editor/Sound Design/Writer, Sahapedia); Balasanthula (Editor/Sound Design, Sahapedia); AirProducts (Editor, Manjusha Films). His work has been selected for IDFA; RAI Film Festival, Bristol; IDSFF Kerala; SAFF Nepal; and TOTO Short Film Awards, Bangalore.
CHRIS HASTINGS - Executive Producer Hastings was a founding team member in the development and production of Black Entertainment Television’s award-winning BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley. A 14-year veteran at WGBH, Hastings began with the children television’s program ZOOM and eventually evolved to his New England Emmy award-winning work at the WGBH Lab, an innovative incubator for up-and-coming filmmakers. Hastings is now the Executive Producer and Editorial Manager of Content for WORLD Channel and WORLDChannel.org. He oversees content development, acquisition, and production, as well as executing the day-to-day operations of the channel under the leadership of the general manager. As Executive Producer he is co-curator of the award-winning documentary program “America Reframed,” and “Local, USA” and “Your Voice, Your Story.” “America ReFramed” has already won three Telly Awards and a Gracie honor for “outstanding series” featuring programming for and by women. The series has been nominated for a national News and Documentary Emmy and by the International Documentary Association for Best Curated Documentary Series.
HEMANG LAVANA - Executive Producer Lavana is an IT professional with 20+ years of experience in solid architecture and design experience in developing modular, extensible, asynchronous, distributed and collaborative cloud based software for workflow automation. He is currently a Lead Architect of commit automation infrastructure group at Cisco Systems that designs and develops tools for internal use by several thousand development engineers. He has contributed to several open source software including Tcl/Expect and Opengrok. Lavana has passion for filmmaking and often advises and consults on various documentaries and films.
MARY DICKEY - Producer Mary Dickey is an award-winning writer and marketing communications expert, with vast experience in all facets of communications, public relations and marketing campaigns, including social media, web, and video, bringing strategic thinking and creativity to each project.
KAITLIN PACLISANU - Associate Producer Kaitlin Paclisanu is a Communications major at SUNY Brockport. Growing up overseas, she has a love for trying different types of food and traveling. Having studied Journalism and Film Production, she finds utmost importance in both hearing and telling people's stories. She currently works for Keystone Docs as a Researcher. She hopes to continue giving a voice to people and issues through film.
Marga Varea - Impact Producer Marga Varea is the founder of Twin Seas Media, a Boston-based impact distribution boutique agency working with documentary films and documentary film festivals. With over twenty years of experience in film and television, Marga has a deep understanding of the industry and believes in the power of storytelling to engage, educate and transform.
Marga has worked with dozens of documentary films and film festivals over the years in a variety of positions from screenwriter and script consultant to line and consulting producer.
TARA SURI - Associate Impact Producer Tara Suri is a graduate student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a New York-based filmmaker and researcher, she has contributed to several documentary productions in a variety of roles. Tara is also currently developing a practical thesis that brings ethnographic film to inaccessible judicial spaces, highlighting the importance of documenting audio-visual evidence in the interest of promoting public advocacy.
