Coretta Scott King

The sad closing of this 155 year old liberal college on June 30th, 2008 is a national tragedy. Founded by educator Horace Mann Antioch led the way in the civil rights and Vietnam anti-war movements with alumni that includes Rod Serling, Steven J. Gould, Coretta Scott King, and me. I filmed this documentary during the final alumni meeting this past June that chronicles Antioch's past, present, and questionable future. The passing of this institution says something about the changes in students and the direction of our country over the past 40 years.

Trailer for Case 219, which screened at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2010. Through the eyes of a Los Angeles Times journalist, the story of a high school shooting rampage unfolds in a series of tense and suspenseful documentary style interviews. Case 219 penetrates the everyday lives of the shooter s best friends and family in the pursuit of learning what triggered the violent acts. These provocative and haunting interviews leave the audience with the dilemma of who is really to blame. Film is based on Walter Dean Myers' novel Shooter. Walter Dean Myers is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 85 books for children and young adults. His award-winning body of work includes Sunrise Over Fallujah, Fallen Angels and Monster. He has received two Newbery Honors and five Coretta Scott King Awards. He is the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award as well as the first recipient of Kent State University's Virginia Hamilton Literary Award.

The trailer for Soundtrack for a Revolution which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. A young black man sits politely at the 'whites only' counter in a diner as white men berate him, throw food at him, and eventually beat him. But when he hits the floor, another man takes his place at the counter. Watching this ghastly footage, captured during the bitter days of segregation, it seems impossible to imagine anyone willing to endure such senseless brutality. But pair images like this with soul-stirring folk songs like 'I'm Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table,' 'Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,' and 'We Shall Overcome,' and suddenly anything seems possible. Soundtrack for a Revolution tells the story of the American civil rights movement through the music that fortified protestors as they struggled for equality. Directors Dan Sturman and two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag (codirectors of Nanking, TFF '07) pair provocative vintage footage with emotional interviews with the men and women who endured the threats, the dogs, the night sticks, and the fire hoses, among them Georgia congressman John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Coretta Scott King, and many more. But ultimately the filmmakers want the music to do the talking, so they've also gathered Wyclef Jean, Joss Stone, John Legend, TV on the Radio, the Roots, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and others to let loose on modern renditions of those timeless songs.