Bios

Katherine Cecil
Director, Producer, Videographer
Katherine Cecil began her film career as a researcher and field producer. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, and living in New Orleans since 2001, she has worked on programs and news shows for PBS, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, National Geographic, Associated Press, Greek public television, and Democracy Now!, and was Field Producer and Associate Producer on the documentary LINDY BOGGS: STEEL & VELVET. She formed CecilFilm Productions after Hurricane Katrina. Katherine is a member of the National Press Photographers Association, the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, and the Press Club of New Orleans, and holds degrees from City and Guilds of London Art School, University College London, Tulane University, and the University of New Orleans.

Miranda Yousef
Editor
Miranda Yousef worked for the Sundance Film Festival’s programming department for several years, before moving into a career as a feature documentary editor. She has worked as an editor on several features, including Academy Award nominee Kirby Dick’s OUTRAGE (theatrical release May 2009); 2008 Sundance Film Festival favorite I.O.U.S.A (dir. Patrick Creadon, theatrical release August 2008); and 2008 IDA Audience Award winner FOOD FIGHT (dir. Chris Taylor). Miranda received a BA from Harvard in Comparative Literature before going to the University of California, Los Angeles for an MFA in Film Directing / Production.

Brock Stoneham
Assembly Editor, Associate Producer
Brock Stoneham recently returned home to Louisiana after a stint in Paris running a tour company and works as an editor for CecilFilm. Brock began his editing career in Austin, Texas, on the daily 90-minute morning broadcast for the ABC-affiliate KVUE News. In Los Angeles, he worked as apprentice editor on ABOUT A BOY (dir. Chris and Paul Weitz, theatrical release May 2002). He has since been involved on a number of freelance productions. Brock received his BS degree in Radio, Television, and Film from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the intensive production sequence.

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) and The Remembering Song, with Bucky Pizzarelli (Arbors Records 2009).

JUSTIN SHIELS
Graphics and Web Design
Justin Shiels began his freelance design career in 2005. He has worked as interactive director for EC Advertising and currently is a graphic designer for the prestigious New Orleans firm Peter Mayer Advertising. Justin has worked with a variety of different clients, from New Orleans Tourism, Louisiana Tourism, Louisiana Economic Development, the Urban League of New Orleans, and the World Trade Center of New Orleans. He started his own design business, Curious Tribe, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Justin graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans, and now calls the city home.