FILMMAKERS BIOGRAPHIES

BARRY J. HERSHEY – DIRECTOR

Barry directed and co-wrote THE EMPTY MIRROR (www.EmptyMirror.com), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, was released theatrically by Lions Gate Films, broadcast on HBO and distributed by 1091 digitally. He also directed CASTING ABOUT (www.CastingAboutMovie.com), a lyrical documentary about the auditioning process, which was distributed in theatres and on DVD by Kino International.

Barry previously directed a number of award-winning short films (www.SoundofPeace.com): ODYSSEY, FILMMAKER, UNTITLED 1987, LUCIFER: GOD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL ANGEL and SOUND OF PEACE, assembled into a compilation DVD titled QUINTESSENSE. Among the many honors the films received were a Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival and a CINE Golden Eagle.

Barry studied filmmaking at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Southern California (USC), where he received his MFA in Cinema.


MARC GROSSMAN – EDITOR

Marc has edited many feature films, television shows and commercials since attending film school at UCLA. He previously collaborated with Barry J. Hershey on THE EMPTY MIRROR, CASTING ABOUT, and SOUND OF PEACE. His association with Zalman King includes stints as editor of the Showtime series RED SHOE DIARIES as well as the feature films WILD ORCHID, TWO MOON JUNCTION and DELTA OF VENUS. Marc also cut TUFF TURF with James Spader and Robert Downey Jr., ONCE BITTEN starring Jim Carrey, and FAR FROM HOME with Drew Barrymore. Marc has received two Emmys for editing of the reality series STARTING OVER.


LEWIS D. WHEELER – PRODUCER

Lewis has been working in film and television production for 17 years as a producer, production manager, assistant director, editor, and cameraman. Previously he produced CASTING ABOUT, also directed by Barry J. Hershey. He co-produced THE BLUE DINER (LA FONDA AZUL), a bilingual dramatic feature for WGBH/PBS/CPB, and has worked on such films as Looking for Richard, directed by Al Pacino, Siege at Alta View, directed by Peter Levin, No Room for Opal (WCVB Boston), This Boy’s Life, A Shock to the System, and Our Father, produced by Sandra Bullock. Lewis received his BA from Cornell University and an MFA from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His undergraduate thesis film, Sing Praises to the Poisoned Arrow, screened at nine international festivals and won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Melbourne International Film Festival.


BETH STERNHEIMER – PRODUCER

Beth has worked for 10 years as a documentary producer and researcher for independent films and museum projects. She is currently the Coordinating Producer for the PBS documentary, THE CALLING, a four-hour series about the experiences of Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Jewish seminarians as they prepare to enter the clergy. Recently, she was the Associate Producer for SECRECY, an independent documentary on government secrecy. Beth was also the Associate Producer for UNFINISHED SYMPHONY, a film documenting a 1971 Vietnam Veterans’ anti-war march in Massachusetts, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Her museum work includes producing exhibit videos for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, National Archives and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. Beth holds a BA in history from Oberlin College and an MA in American Studies from UMass/Boston.


ELLIE LEE – CO-PRODUCER

A graduate of Harvard University, Ellie is a director of documentary, fiction, and animated films that have screened in over 120 film festivals worldwide. Her charcoal-animated documentary, REPETITION COMPULSION (1998 Berlin Film Festival) was the first animated film broadcast on the PBS documentary series, P.O.V. It was nominated for Best Short by the 1998 International Documentary Association and for a 1998 National Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary Achievement. Her fiction short, DOG DAYS, premiered in International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand and won top awards at the 2000 Hamptons and Florida Film Festivals.

Ellie has received 36 international fellowships and awards, and is a 2004 Rockefeller/Ford Foundation Emerging Artist Media Arts Fellow. At the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival, she won the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award for her feature screenplay, THE ROAD HOME. She was featured as one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in the summer 2004 issue of Filmmaker magazine. As a Producer and Director for PBS, she was a 2005 and 2006 National Emmy Award nominee for Best Children’s Series for her work on the educational series, POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER.






[link to a PDF of this page]