ABBY GINZBERG | Producer, Director
Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody award-winning director, has been producing compelling documentaries about race and social justice for over 30 years. Her film, And Then They Came for Us (2017, featuring George Takei), about the connection between the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WW II and the current Muslim travel ban won a Silver Gavel Award and has played in major cities, at film festivals across the country and in Japan. Throughout the course of the last year, she has presented the film to college audiences, community groups and in theaters.
Ginzberg co-produced and co-directed Agents of Change (2016; with Frank Dawson, featuring Danny Glover), which premiered at the Pan African Film Festival where it won the Jury and the Audience Awards for Best Feature Documentary and a Paul Robeson Award from the Newark Black Film Festival. It was supported by California Humanities and broadcast on America Reframed in 2018 and 2019. Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa (Executive Produced by Alfre Woodard, featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa) won a 2015 Peabody award and has screened at film festivals around the world, winning four audience awards. It was broadcast on public television in July, 2016. She was the Consulting Producer on The Barber of Birmingham, which premiered at Sundance in 2011 and was nominated for an Oscar® in the Short Doc category in 2012. The film was directed by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin.
Ginzberg has also produced and directed two award-winning films about little known judges from California. Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson's American Journey (2005) profiled the life and career of one of the first African American judges on the federal bench in San Francisco. Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice documented the story of a son of farmworkers who went on to become the first Latino to be appointed to the California Supreme Court.
Ginzberg's film, Waging Change (featuring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) about the challenges faced by restaurant servers forced to live off tips, will premiere at DOC NYC in November, 2019.
Ginzberg is currently completing Stay Woke: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me (featuring Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Van Jones, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. John Lewis), a documentary about Rep. Barbara Lee, who cast the lone NO vote in Congress against the blanket authorization of military force following 9/11 and who has spent the last 21 years in Congress as a consistent voice for peace and justice.
Ken Schneider | Editor, CO PRODUCEr
Ken Schneider was the editor on Connie Field’s seven-part series on the history of the anti-apartheid movement, Have You Heard from Johannesburg? A documentary film producer and editor, Ken has edited 20 feature-length films, about war and peace, artists’ lives, American history, and contemporary social issues. Films he edited have won an Emmy, a Peabody, a Columbia-Dupont, an Indie Spirit, top awards at Sundance, other major festival awards, and have been nominated for an Oscar and additional Emmys. His film, Speaking in Tongues, about bi-lingual education won the audience award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In addition to co-directing, co-producing, and editing recent PatchWorks' films, SPEAKING IN TONGUES and HAVANA CURVEBALL, Schneider has edited 30 feature-length documentaries for other filmmakers that have been recognized by an Emmy, a Peabody, a Columbia-Dupont, an Indie Spirit, top awards at Sundance and other major festival awards, and been nominated for an Oscar and additional Emmys.
Rick Goldsmith | Consulting Producer
Rick Goldsmith co-produced and co-directed The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010 and won a Peabody Award and awards from both the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH). It was the centerpiece of 2010 POV (PBS series) season and re-broadcast in 2011. He has produced a number of other award-winning films and has collaborated with Abby Ginzberg on several films. Rick is currently in production on a new documentary, Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw.
Alfre Woodard | Narrator, Executive Producer
One of the most accomplished actors of her generation, Alfre Woodard earned an Oscar ® Nomination and multiple Emmy wins in a prolific film and TV career that has spanned over three decades. From August Wilson's Piano Lesson to Miss Evers' Boys; from American Violet to Crooklyn and in Down In The Delta, Alfre Woodard's work entertains with a social consciousness that invites the viewer to a higher level of understanding. Star Trek, Holiday Heart, Grand Canyon are included in a long list of purposeful projects that Woodard feels the audience deserves to ponder. Her latest film is Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave. In particular, HBO's Mandela and Morgan Freeman's Bopha, combined with 22 years of her work as a founder of Artists For A New South Africa, reflect her commitment to the democratic aspirations of the South African people. Alfre's work as a social activist and her drive to preserve the legacy of freedom fighters and protectors of democracy in the new age leads directly to her deep respect for Albie Sachs, the man, and her passion for the film Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa.
JAMES LEBRECHT | SOUND DESIGN
James LeBrecht is an award-winning sound designer for film, games and exhibitions. In 1996, James founded Berkeley Sound Artists, a complete audio postproduction facility, located in the Zaentz Media Center. Berkeley Sound's extensive feature and documentary film portfolio includes Academy Award™ winner The Blood of Yangzhou District, Daughter from Danang, We Were Here, The Devil and Daniel Johnston and The Barber of Birmingham. Game credits include work for Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment of America and Midway Studios-Austin. BSA's involvement in live events has taken them to the Webby Awards, numerous E3 Conventions in Los Angeles, the California State Capitol Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. LeBrecht is a frequent lecturer on the subject of audio for film.