Director

Kelly Duane de la Vega

Kelly Duane de la Vega has a history of making impactful documentaries with a particular focus on the intersection of institutional power, race and class. Her work has screened in film festivals worldwide and has been awarded top prizes from festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival and SFIF. Her films have screened on Capitol Hill, at the Lincoln Center, in US prisons and in the NYMOMA. They have been broadcast nationally on PBS, Netflix and nominated for multiple national Emmys. THE RETURN (PBS/2016), Emmy nominated and a Peabody Award Finalist, has gotten notoriety for its Ford Foundation sponsored impact campaign to help remove barriers for the formerly incarcerated. EL POETA (2014) examined the legacy of the US led Mexican Drug War. BETTER THIS WORLD (PBS/2012), a feature shedding light on a controversial domestic terrorism case, won a Gotham Independent Film Best Documentary Award, won Writer’s Guild of America’s Best Documentary Screenplay Award and an International Documentary Association Creative Achievement Award. MONUMENTAL: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America (PBS 2004) opened theatrically nationwide and was selected to be part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. She has also produced short format work focusing on issues that range from voting rights to mass incarceration for The New York Times, IFC, and The Intercept. De la Vega is a founding member of THREE FRAMES, a non-profit creating films that focus on journalism, art and impact.

Co-Director

Zandashé Brown

Based in New Orleans, Zandashé Brown is a writer/director born-and-bred in and inspired by southern Louisiana. Her work raises a Black femme lens to the tradition of southern gothic horror. Zandashé’s directorial debut, BLOOD RUNS DOWN, was one of five projects selected for the New Orleans Tricentennial Incubator Grant in 2018 and has gone on to screen at dozens of festivals in the US and abroad. Her short film in development, BENEDICTION, was one of five projects selected for the 2020 Through Her Lens: Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. Zandashé’s past narrative and documentary work has been supported by Kickstarter, Create Louisiana, the New Orleans Video Access Center, and the New Orleans Film Society where she now programs for the Academy-Award Qualifying New Orleans Film Festival and serves as Artist Engagement and Programming Manager.

Co-Director

Jessica Anthony

Jessica Anthony is an award-winning producer with two decades of experience ranging from commercials to fiction to hard hitting documentaries. Her film work has largely focused on socio-political and cultural issues such as gender equality and voting rights. She was the producer on Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s Sundance documentary film THE MASK YOU LIVE IN, which explores toxic masculinity in American culture. In 2016, Jessica partnered with Duane de la Vega to direct and produce PROJECT TURNOUT, creating media partnerships with Mother Jones, the Nation and the New York Times. As part of this effort she directed and produced the Op-Doc SUPREME COURT V. THE AMERICAN VOTER, which exposes the strategic and deliberate acts by some to suppress the votes of people of color. She was also a producer on Haitian American director Guetty Felin’s film AYITI MON AMOUR (Toronto 2016) about the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. Jessica’s career began in animation and visual effects where she produced award winning ads and short films for MTV, Disney, Universal, Nickelodeon, BBC, Comedy Central and many more. Anthony is a founding member of THREE FRAMES, a non-profit creating films that focus on journalism, art and impact.