OUR TEAM

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/WRITER

     Ellen Moore is an award winning screenwriter and playwright. Winner of a Chesterfield Fellowship at Amblin Entertainment and a California Arts Council Screenwriting Award, she has written numerous screenplays and stage plays and her work has been produced at the American Conservatory Theater, Encore Theater Co, Word for Word, Teatro Zinzanni, NYU Tisch and more. She worked in feature film production on Bugsy, American President, Love Affair, Mars Attacks, and Richard III as assistant to Annette Bening. In the field of animation, Moore has written English adaptations for Japanese anime and on the groundbreaking Animatrix, and she has assisted Voice Director and Casting Director Jack Fletcher on numerous animated productions and games. Moore assisted writer Amy Tan on the recent documentary by the late James Redford, Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir and on the Emmy winning PBS/Sesame Workshop animated series Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat. They also collaborated on the SF Opera production of The Bonesetter’s Daughter and on the related documentary film, Journey of the Bonesetter’s Daughter which aired on PBS. She holds an MFA in Acting from ACT in SF.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY/CONSULTING EDITOR/PRODUCER

     Andy Lawless is a 30 year veteran of theater, film and television arts. His recent documentary, Idaho Experience: Out of the Shadows received Emmy nominations for editing and producing. Andy joined Idaho Public Television in 2014 directing, editing and shooting for Dialogue and Outdoor Idaho. He serves as content creator for the American Graduate: Getting To Work initiative as well as Director, Videographer, and Editor for Idaho Experience. Under his own production company, Hipshot Productions, Andy has made documentary films on global health issues in South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Mozambique. Other professional credits include Shoot Supervisor for animation on Wes Anderson’s film The Life Aquatic: With Steve Zissou; First Assistant Director on the Warner Brothers’ animated series, Phantom Investigators; Assistant Camera Operator on Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace, and Monkey Bone; Camera and Lighting Technician on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and on the Wim Wanders film, Until the End of the World; Assistant Camera Operator and Lighting Technician on Disney’s animated feature James and the Giant Peach.

EDITOR

     Catherine Hollander is a documentary editor with almost twenty years experience, skilled in both short and long form works. She edited Dalya’s Other Country, which premiered at LA Film Fest, was featured on POV and adapted for NYT Op-Docs. She worked with director Julia Meltzer previously on the award-winning We will live to see these things, and Adele Horne's The Tailenders, which also screened on POV and was an Independent Spirit Award winner. She worked with Grace Lee finish editing Off The Menu: Asian America, a CAAM/PBS production. She co-edited Ellie Parker, directed by Scott Coffey and an Official Sundance selection. She has special interest in what it means to be an awake person in the modern world, editing the feature doc When The Iron Bird Flies: Tibetan Buddhism comes to the West and other projects that investigate spirituality. She has also previously worked with Debra Granik, Lawrence Schiller, Laura Nix, Rea Tajiri, and Joanna Demetrakas. Her passion is to craft intelligent and striking media that that pushes conventional genres, engaging mainstream and niche audiences alike.

EDITOR

     Michaelle has been a professional film editor for the past 12 years, collaborating with influential filmmakers such as Vivien Hillgrove, Marc Smolowitz, Pratibha Parmar and Jacqueline Olive. Her work has screened all over the world including, SXSW, PBS, MTV, and Disney+ and she is a Sundance Art of Editing fellow. Michaelle knew she would become an editor as soon as she got a hold of the family’s camcorder and VCR at the tender age of 14. From there it was a straight shot to film school at the University of Utah, where she learned how to shoot and edit 16mm film and master early digital video editing. After a few years as a vagabond and an amateur archeologist in southeastern Turkey, Michaelle moved to the Bay Area and found her way into a Product Designer position at Apple, Inc. There she used her filmmaking background to help make Final Cut Pro one of the most popular editing platforms in the world. After her pet project (aka Final Cut Pro 7) was released, she left Apple to go back to editing full time. When she’s not working on passion projects for documentary filmmakers, Michaelle cuts for clients such as  Disney/Pixar, Google, Cisco and Masterclass. Her latest work for the documentary series, Inside Pixar is set to premiere on Disney+ in 2020.  Michaelle lives in the Bay Area with two adorable kids, her graphic designer husband, a weird dog and some chickens. 

COMPOSER

    Peter Erskine is a drummer and composer whose work appears on 700 albums and film scores. He has won 2 Grammy Awards plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music. Fifty albums have been released under his own name or as co-leader. He’s played with the Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson big bands, Weather Report, Steps Ahead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, John Scofield, et al. Peter graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and studied at Indiana University. He won an LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Original Score for "A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” He has scored theatrical productions in San Francisco (ACT), Santa Maria (PCPA), Los Angeles (Matrix Theatre, Westwood and Pasadena Playhouses). He’s also composed the music for the Japanese anime series “Gunsmith Cats.” Peter has written several books including “No Beethoven” and “The Musician’s Lifeline.” He is a professor at USC and lives in Santa Monica.

Nels Bangerter, Editor Cameraperson, Dick Johnson is Dead

James Redford, Director/Producer, Co-Founder The Redford Center  

   (5/5/62 – 10/16/20)

Mary Trunk, Director/Producer, Ma and Pa Films

Katherine Michiels, Cool Camp Founder and Open Mind Board President

Annette Bening, Actor

Jack Fletcher, Director, Animation and Games

Cool Campers, young and old