THE FILMMAKERS
MARTA EFFINGER-CRICHLOW, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/WRITER
Marta Effinger-Crichlow is a filmmaker, whose interdisciplinary projects in the mediums of film, theater, and literature highlight her mission to fuse social issues, culture, and history. Her first produced collage, “The Evolution of Jazz” was commissioned by the late director Vernell Lillie for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Marta is a past recipient of a Pittsburgh Multicultural Arts Initiative grant for her produced multi-media collage “The Kitchen is Closed Startin' Sunday”. For her produced play “Whispers Want to Holler,” Marta collaborated with noted jazz saxophonist Billy Harper. She has also worked as a freelance dramaturg for theater productions throughout the US for 20+ years. She has an interdisciplinary PhD from Northwestern University and is the author of Staging Migrations toward an American West: From Ida B. Wells to Rhodessa Jones published by University Press of Colorado. Marta has appeared on TEDx at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and co-curated 400 Years of Inequality at Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. She was as an advisor on the feature doc. Chocolate Milk (dir. by Elizabeth Bayne) and is a dramaturg for the bi-coastal film adaptation of Black Terror (written by Richard Wesley and dir. by Richard Lawson).
Marta's recognition for LITTLE SALLIE WALKER: Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program, 2023 Black Public Media 360+ Incubator Fellow, 2022 IDA Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund Special Mention, 2022-2023 DOC NYC x Video Consortium Storytelling Incubator, 2022 WIF x Sundance Intensive, 2022 NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music & Theatre, IFP/JustFilms Fellowship, the NY State Council on the Arts grant, Perspective Fund, 2021 Cucalorus Works in Progress Lab, 2021 DOC NYC’s OINY Program, 2021 Athena Works in Progress Lab, 2019 DCTV Works-in-Progress Lab, and 2020 Working Films Impact Kickstart and Grant. Marta, a DC native (and proud Ellington School of the Arts alum) resides in New York City with her family.
Jacqueline Olive, Executive Producer
Jacqueline Olive is an independent filmmaker with nearly twenty years of experience in journalism and film. Her award-winning debut documentary film, Always in Season, has received numerous honors including winner of the 2019 Sundance Festival Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency and nominations for 2019 Best Writing from IDA Documentary Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. Always in Season broadcast on Independent Lens on PBS in 2020 and was the highest rated film of the season.
In addition to creating the 2022 Peabody Award-winning VR project, Always in Season Island–Jackie directed, produced, and wrote the documentary film, Death is Our Business, which broadcast on FRONTLINE/PBS and the WORLD Channel in February 2021 and executive produced and directed Lincoln’s Dilemma, a 4-part 2022 Apple TV series.
After teaching film at the University of California, Santa Cruz until 2022, Jackie remains on the Central Coast happily making films and immersive media full-time.
Elizabeth Gray Bayne, co-Producer
Elizabeth Gray Bayne is the founder of graybayne film/media, a health and social issue-based production company, where she produces films, PSAs and digital content for universities, nonprofits and government agencies, as well as teaches community-based storytelling and documentary filmmaking to high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She is a recipient of generous grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Glassbreaker Films, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.
An award-winning filmmaker, her work centers on the use of storytelling and behavioral psychology to motivate audiences to change behavior and adapt new habits for improved health outcomes. Elizabeth has a Masters in Public Health from Yale University and a Masters of Fine Art from the ArtCenter College of Design. She has produced documentary and PSA content for MIT, USC, the LA County Department of Public Health, and her work has appeared on ABC, the Smithsonian Channel and Magic Johnson's Aspire TV Network.
Elizabeth's short documentary "Continuing A Legacy" about black cowgirl and junior rodeo competitor London Gladney earned Best Documentary Short at the BronzeLens and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festivals in 2021. She recently completed her first feature documentary "Chocolate Milk" about birth and breastfeeding gaps for Black mothers in the U.S. had its West Coast premiere in 2024 at the Pan African Film Festival.
BRITTANY B. MONET FENNELL, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Brittany B. Monét Fennell hails from Silver Spring, Maryland. In her films, she poses questions about identity, society, race, and culture. It is vital to her that under-represented people are shown in film, media, and television. B. Monét received her B.A. from Spelman College and her M.F.A in Film and Television from New York University, where she was granted the Graduate Film Department Fellowship (2014-2015). B. Monét served as an associate producer on "Strings Attached," which has been accepted to Cannes Court Metrage, LA Shorts Film Festival, and Urban World presented by BET. Her short film "Q.U.E.E.N." screened at the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival, premiered on Magic Johnson's ASPiRE, and received Best Production Award and Audience Award (Bluestocking Film Series). She is a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia. B.Monét is in post-production for a documentary about the #BlackLivesMatter movement. She is developing a short film on police brutality for the Bureau of Creative Works, which will be released on VHX in the coming year. Her short film BALLET AFTER DARK is streaming on Hulu and BET Her.
ANNE FRATTO, EdITOR
Anne Fratto is a documentary editor with 15 years of experience working on projects for theaters, television, and streaming services. She has edited films produced and directed by Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple, including Miss Sharon Jones! (Toronto Film Festival premiere) and This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (Sundance Film Festival premiere). She worked on several films for renowned photographer and film director Neil Leifer, including Keepers of the Streak (ESPN Films). Most recently, Anne edited and co-produced the feature-length documentary, In Balanchine's Classroom (The New York Times Critic's Pick), an artistic film about famed ballet choreographer, George Balanchine. Her work has played on ESPN, ABC, Discovery, HBO, Netflix, YouTube Red, Starz, at film festivals and in theaters around the world. Anne was born and raised in Salt Lake City.
KArena Ingram, COMPOSER
Karena is a classical and video game composer based in Baltimore, Maryland. Beginning her musical career at the age of nine with self-teachings in violin and music theory, she is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition in 2016. Most recently, she has been commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra to compose a solo bassoon piece as a part of their Connecting ACO Community virtual series. Her chamber ensemble works have been performed regularly throughout the United States, Europe, and in television and video games. Described as “…stunning” and “…beautiful musical depictions of nature…” by Symphony Number One, Ingram’s music is reputable for its imaginative use of color and textural exploration. Karena actively composes works for mixed chamber ensembles, symphonic orchestras, and interactive media.