The Team
LIZ MARSHALL - Director / Producer / Writer / Cinematographer
Liz Marshall is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker. Her work combines a poetic, visually stylistic, intimate, character-driven approach with a strong commitment to social justice. Liz has directed documentary projects shot all over the world: in Central and West Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and North America. She has focused on censorship issues for writers, war-affected children, globalization, gender, sweatshop labour, education, refugees, HIV/AIDS, popular culture, music and the written and spoken word. Additionally, since 1995, Liz has created a body of arts-based films, music videos and music documentaries featuring acclaimed dancers and musicians.
Visit Liz's website: www.lizmars.com
SHELLEY SAYWELL - Executive Producer
Shelley Saywell is a Canadian documentary filmmaker whose films focus on social political issues. She has won numerous international awards including an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and been short-listed for the Academy Awards. In Canada, her work has garnered three Hot Docs! and three Gemini Awards. One of Saywell's most recent film is Martyr Street, a feature length documentary shot over five years, focusing on life in Hebron, the West Bank. It won Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs! 2006. Her films include Generation Of Hate (Iraq), A Child's Century Of War, Out Of The Fire, Crimes Of Honour, Legacy Of Terror: The Bombing Of Air India, Kim's Story: The Road From Vietnam, Rape: A Crime Of War, Fire And Water, No Man's Land: Women Frontline Journalists, and Shahira.
DEBORAH PARKS - Executive Producer
Deborah Parks is a veteran documentary producer and cinematographer. She has worked with Shelley Saywell since 1987, when they made their first documentary Shahira (for which she became the first woman in Canada to win the Best Cinematography Award from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers). Deborah also shot the award-winning documentary TALK SIXTEEN, which was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1991 and later released theatrically. As a dedicated professional Television Producer, she has earned numerous Producer credits with some of Canada's top Documentary Directors such as John Kastner, John Walker and John Zaritsky. As well, she continues to work with a number of Production companies as a consultant.
SUSAN MCGRATH - Co-Producer
Susan McGrath has been bringing award winning productions in on schedule and on budget for over a decade for series and documentaries airing on A&E, CBC, Court TV, CTV, Discovery, HGTV, History, Oxygen, SunTV and W. Susan's previous work experience includes organizing financing and budgets as well as acting as traffic controller on production schedules and crews. Susan has Line Produced seven series, among them "Urban Legends", "Style Dept" and the Yukon/Ontario co-production "Out in the Cold". Susan has also Production Managed/Line Produced eight documentaries, "SPAM The Documentary (Gemini nominated) and "First Person Shooter (Gemini nominated) among others.
JEREMIAH MUNCE - Editor
Jeremiah Munce is a dramatic and documentary picture editor who has been working in Canada since 2000 after having completed a BFA in film production at Ryerson Polytechnic University. In 2008, Munce edited Bruce McDonald's 'Pontypool', starring Steven McHattie, and the film was picked up by Maple in Canada and IFC in the U.S. Munce was also the lead editor on McDonald's multi-frame experimental feature narrative 'The Tracey Fragments' - for which Munce was Genie nominated for best achievement in editing in '07.
STEVE COSENS, CSC - Cinematographer
Steve Cosens is from the prairies - wide open and still and inspiring boyhood visions of the animal kingdom dancing above the horizon. For years up north he ran wild on the tundra, mesmerized by the northern lights like a scarf in a blender. In adolescence he hid in corners, a shadow too shy to shine out loud but an imagination like thunder. Later he made films at Emily Carr College of Art in Vancouver where he grew his hair long, smoked pot and fought his demons with a bolex like a revolver: images of beauty were flowers for the departed. Toronto called his name and so he came and was scared and elated and the projects have sometimes been gristle and sometimes been sunshine but always he grew a lot - from Africa with Liz to Durham County. He pushed at the edges and tried to be brave from Flower and Garnet to fragments with Bruce MacDonald. He's most passionate about docs these days - passport full and fuelled by fluid intuitive wonder and now the lines on his face say he's a little more wise but always he's known that life is in the poetry, not the aiming for a prize. (visit stevecosens.com)
JASON MILLIGAN – Location Sound Recordist
Jason Milligan started volunteering in the Toronto film industry in 1999 as a boom operator and began recording sound for short films soon after. In 2000, Jason started working in television on the documentary series "Skin Deep,"; Since 2002, Jason has recorded sound for the feature length documentary films "Dying at Grace" by Allan King, "The Take" by Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein (nominated for a Best Sound Gemini), "Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company" by Allan King (nominated for a Best Sound Gemini), "EMPz for Life" by Allan King, "Inside Hana's Suitcase" by Larry Weinstein and "The Young Romantic" by Barbara Willis Sweete. In early 2008, Jason traveled with The Stephen Lewis Foundation to South Africa and Swaziland to document the Canadian grandmothers trip to Africa. Recently, Jason has worked on the documentaries "Mom's Home" by Maureen Judge, "Science of the Soul" by Bruce Thorson, "The Experimental Eskimos" by Barry Greenwald, "Badge of Pride" by Min Sook Lee, "My Toxic Baby" by Min Sook Lee, "Cat City" by Justine Pimlot, "Cat Ladies" by Christie Callan Jones, "When We Were Boys" by Sarah Goodman, and "Water On The Table" by Liz Marshall. (http://www3.sympatico.ca/locsound/)
JENNIFER MOORE - Composer
Originally trained in the Western Classical vocal tradition, Jennifer has developed a style that integrates Western Classical elements with various world music and jazz influences. Jennifer has performed and/or recorded with the Art of Time Ensemble, The Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, Justin Haynes, Lee Pui Ming, Laurel MacDonald, Maza Mezé, Pirate Jenny, Suba Sankaran, Jane Siberry, Andy Stochansky, Kurt Swinghammer, Maryem Tollar and David Wall. Jennifer and bassist/composer Mark Shannon formed New Moon Music together and they have composed music for documentaries for the History Channel, MTV, and films by Andrea Cohen and Liz Marshall. Jennifer has also sung on several film soundtracks by composer David Wall, filmmaker John Greyson, as well as soundtracks by John Gzowski, Nicholas Sperling and Andy Stochansky. For more information, visit jennifermoore.ca.
MARK SHANNON - Composer
Mark Shannon is a Toronto based musician, composer and producer. Mark studied music at York University with a focus on Jazz Performance, Electronic Music and Music for Film. Since then he has composed music for several feature films and documentaries, such as Return to Kandahar, Lost In Lost Vegas, The Spreading Ground, and Provocateur as well as many smaller industrial films and jingles. More recently Mark has composed music for MTV Canada's "Girls of Latitude" and the History Channel Series "Finding The Fallen". He is also a regular music contributor to The Real News, a web-based independent news organization.
STEVEN BUDD - Assistant Editor
Steven Budd has been working in editing since graduating from the Post Graduate program in Post-Production at Humber College in 2002. Water On The Table is one of the several projects that he and Liz Marshall have worked on together, the first of which was editing a trilogy of half-hour documentaries for the Stephen Lewis Foundation in 2007. He currently works for Bravo! television, editing various programs such as "At The Concert Hall", "The O'Regan Files", and "BravoFACT Presents". Steven was nominated for a Gemini award in 2008 for best sound.
LORENA ELKE - Researcher
Lorena Elke studied film, women and gender studies, and history at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. She has a passion for documentary and social justice issues. She is an animal rights activist, environmentalist, and teacher of earth-based spirituality. Lorena works at the University of Toronto as a Medical Educator for the Standardized Patient Program, Department of Community and Family Medicine. She teaches patient centered communication to healthcare professionals and students, and is part of a team involved with curriculum development and research. She is versed in the methodologies of experiential learning and principles of Adult Education. Lorena has presented work internationally at conferences and workshops.
GARRETT KERR - Sound Designer, Editor
After graduating from the film program at NYU in New York City, Garrett's career began as a location sound recordist and sound designer for theatrical productions. He worked in NYC, Minneapolis and then Phoenix, dipping into even more audio applications, including live dance performance, installation audio art and public radio. In 1996 Garrett moved to Toronto and began working in audio post production for the film and television industry. He has since been recognized with many awards and nominations for his work in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, including an Emmy, Genie and Gemini, for a variety of projects. Garrett also teaches aspiring filmmakers at Humber College, opening their eyes and ears to the powerful and subtle potential hidden in a film's sound track.
WARREN BROWN - Title Designer/Animator
The former Creative Director of Cuppa Coffee Studios, Canadian Film Centre alumnus Warren Brown designed and directed award-winning broadcast design packages, commercials and special event programming for a wide range of clients including Cartoon Network, MTV, MuchMusic, LifetimeTV and many others. An independent creative director, designer and animator since 2006, Brown created the on-stage motion graphics for David Cronenberg's operative adaptation of The Fly which debuted at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Other recent projects include the signal film for the Planet in Focus Environmental Film & Video Festival, opening titles for Liz Marshall's short film Mawal Saba and the title sequence for David Cronenberg's feature film Eastern Promises. Brown also recently completed the on air graphics package for VisionTV's upcoming series I Prophesy and has the role of creative director for the Bell New Media Fund supported I prophecy online experience set to premier in 2009.
MICHAEL MILLARD - Researcher
Michael Millard works in London UK as a filmmaker and writer. He grew up next to water, swims in water, lives on water, drinks water; is water.
KATE HEMMING - Production Assistant
Kate Heming is an independent filmmaker, performer, arts marketer, and event organizer from Huntsville, ON, Canada. A graduate of the U of T Arts Management Program, Kate's thirst for adventure and ardent desire to perform for, write about and connect to cultures outside her own has brought her, her camera and a backpack around the globe.