KATHERINE CECIL | Director, Producer, Videographer
Katherine Cecil began her career in film as a Field Producer and Associate Producer on the documentary “LINDY BOGGS: STEEL & VELVET” (dir. Bess Carrick, 2006). She formed CecilFilm Productions after Hurricane Katrina and since 2005 the complex subject of New Orleans in recovery has been at the forefront of much of her production and documentary work. Cecil was Co-Producer on the education documentary “THE EXPERIMENT” (dir. Ben Lemoine, 2011), and has worked as a Producer and videographer for clients including PBS, LPB, National Geographic, Associated Press, Soledad O’Brien’s Starfish Media Group, Greek Public Television, and Democracy Now!. Cecil coordinates conferences for The New York Review of Books (Oslo, Paris, New York, and Hong Kong), and is currently developing “THE CLAIBORNE AVENUE HISTORY PROJECT” (CAHP), a multi-platform documentary project exploring the rich history of the Claiborne Avenue corridor in New Orleans. Cecil is a member of the National Press Photographers Association, the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, and the Press Club of New Orleans. She is a founding board member of WIFT Louisiana, an advisory board member of the New Orleans Film Festival, and holds degrees from University College London, Tulane University, and the University of New Orleans.
MIRANDA YOUSEF | Editor
Miranda Yousef is a feature documentary editor with credits on films that have screened at the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals and on PBS and HBO. Recent credits include Academy Award winner Jessica Yu’s 2014 film “MISCONCEPTION”; “INEQUALITY FOR ALL,” which screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize and was acquired by the Weinstein Company for theatrical distribution; “BURN,” which won the Audience Award at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival; and Academy Award winner Morgan Neville’s “TROUBADOURS,” which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, played on PBS’s “American Masters,” and was nominated for an Emmy award. Other projects have included Academy Award nominee Kirby Dick’s 2009 release “OUTRAGE,” 2008 IDA Audience Award winner “FOOD FIGHT,” and 2008 Sundance Film Festival favorite “I.O.U.S.A.” Miranda Yousef received a BA from Harvard in Comparative Literature and an MFA in Film Directing/Production from the University of California, Los Angeles.
BROCK STONEHAM | Assembly Editor, Associate Producer
Brock Stoneham is a Louisiana-born photographer, video producer, and journalist now based in New York City. Brock reported from Lebanon on the Syrian refugee crisis for GlobalPost, and his writing, photography, and videos have appeared with MSNBC, City & State, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, City Limits, Voices of New York, and Open City. He spent four years as a video editor in New Orleans working in documentary, film, and television at CecilFilm Productions and elsewhere. He is a Magnum Foundation fellow with a BS degree in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree from the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism.
ROYCE OSBORN | Consulting Producer
Royce Osborn has worked as a writer and producer for network and public television for over twenty years. His professional credits include FROM TRAMPS TO KINGS (Producer), a historical documentary currently in production about the 100th anniversary of the Zulu organization; WALKING TO NEW ORLEANS (Writer/Producer), a documentary about New Orleans’ cultural traditions post-Katrina, and ALL ON A MARDI GRAS DAY (Writer/Producer), a one-hour documentary on black Mardi Gras traditions, winner of New Orleans Film Festival award, and broadcast nationally on PBS. Royce Osborn has been a member of the Writer’s Guild of America since 1987.
ALI DUFFEY | Consulting Producer
Ali Duffey has been a Producer for over twenty years, based in New Zealand, Australia & the USA, producing dozens of hours of programs, arts documentaries, travel shows and music-related productions, most destined for international markets. Since moving to New Orleans in 2001 her positions have included: Director of the New Orleans Film Society; Development Associate on HURRICANE ON THE BAYOU, for MacGillivray-Freeman Films, Los Angeles, and Field Producer on NEW ORLEANS, a two-hour PBS American Experience documentary, for Insignia Films, New York. She graduated from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, with a B.A. in English and Classical Literature.
EVAN CHRISTOPHER | Music Composer and Arranger
Evan Christopher left his native California for New Orleans in 1994, where he quickly became an important member of the local music community. He combines virtuosity, immaculate taste, and enthusiasm with a deep commitment to exploring the full range of possibilities of music anchored in the traditions of New Orleans. As a composer and clarinetist, his role as an ambassador for the New Orleans clarinet style is reflected in his appearances and recordings with New Orleans artists, including Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Tom McDermott. Critically acclaimed recordings featuring his original compositions include Delta Bound, with Dick Hyman (Arbors Records 2007); The Remembering Song, with Bucky Pizzarelli (Arbors Records 2009); and recordings by his group Django à la Créole, including Finesse, which was the #1 Jazz CD of 2010 in The Times, UK.
JUSTIN SHIELS | Graphics and Web Design
Justin Shiels is a creative director, graphic designer and web strategist.. He began his freelance design career in 2005, starting his own design business, “Curious Tribe” shortly after Hurricane Katrina. He has worked as interactive director for EC Advertising; a graphic designer for the prestigious New Orleans firm Peter Mayer Advertising; and with a variety of different clients including New Orleans Tourism, Louisiana Tourism, Louisiana Economic Development, the Urban League of New Orleans, and the World Trade Center of New Orleans. By day, he helps build brands through his boutique design studio “This Creative Lab”. Through public speaking, his media company goINVADE.com, and his creative work he hopes to express his passion – creative culture – and encourage people to live a well-designed life. Shiels graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans, and now calls that city home.
MELANIE INNIS | DVD and Website Design
Melanie Innis spent her early design career immersed in the world of print & editorial design before entering the world of advertising in Chicago, where she began specializing in interactive media on campaigns for a variety of clients ranging from Disney to Kashi to Miller Beer. In 2010, after returning home to New Orleans, she started Mac Stanley & Co., a tiny creative studio along the Mighty Mississippi specializing in custom-tailored interactive, print & editorial design, brand identity, content strategy and digital project management/producing. The studio works closely with non-profits, small businesses and startups as well as consulting and collaborating with other creatives and agencies near and far.
