Tell Me Cuba

Megan Williams — Director/Producer.
Megan Williams is an independent documentary film producer and the recipient of numerous awards including an Academy Award Nomination, Short Subject Documentary for Language Says It All; and the Alfred I. duPont - Columbia University School of Journalism Award for TVTV's Lord of the Universe. Williams' work covers events such as the Democratic and Republican Conventions; the Super Bowl, the Oscars, Bob Dylan's Hard Rain Concert, HIV/AIDS and childhood deafness. Tell Me Cuba is Williams' directorial debut. She recently directed Where Did You Sleep Last Night, a promotional short for SRO Housing, a supportive service agency in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.

Williams was adjunct professor at the University of Southern Californiašs School of Cinema-Television (1996-2000). She produced No Distance Too Far (2002) an official selection of IDA's 6th Annual Documentary Showcase. Her work in the 1970's as co-founder and partner of TVTV - one of the first independent documentary video organizations - is featured in Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited by Deirdre Boyle, Oxford University Press, 1997; and was showcased in a major retrospective at the Museum of Television and Radio, New York City, April 2004. The TVTV archive is in the permanent collection of the Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley.

In 1982, in response to her then infant son's diagnosis of profound hearing loss, Ms. Williams founded TRIPOD, a non-profit organization for deaf children and their families. During the 16 years she served as TRIPOD's CEO and President of the Board of Trustees (1982-1998) she made several educational videos for parents and teachers on issues surrounding deafness. For her work on behalf of deaf children, Ms. Williams received many awards among them the Woman of the Year, Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness and the Distinguished Service Award from the National Center on Deafness, CSUN. Today, the TRIPOD school founded by Ms. Williams has become a part of the Burbank, California Unified School District and serves as a model program worldwide.

Deborah Irmas, Producer.
Producer Deborah Irmas is also a photo-historian. In 1990 she wrote and produced the documentary High Heels and Ground Glass, a short film featuring five women photographers, including Lisette Model, Giselle Freund and Louise Dahl Wolfe, whose careers thrived during World War II. Irmas has curated many exhibitions for private galleries and public institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is the co-author of The Camera I: Photographic Self Portraits, Abrams, 1993 which features a collection of photographs that she assembled over a twenty year period. This collection was also the basis of her 2006 exhibition Masquerade which was presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2006, she also facilitated the English language version of Inside Cuba (Taschen).

In 2007 Irmas wrote Where Did You Sleep Last Night a short promotional film for SRO Housing Corporation, a supportive service agency in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. It was produced with Megan Williams who directed the short, Irmas' partner in their company Mermaids on Fire.

Ben Sutor, Writer-Editor.
Benjamin Sutor was born and raised in New York City and attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television. He is set to begin shooting his debut feature as a writer-director this fall for executive producers Traction Media (Hard Candy, Half Nelson).

Jon Dunham, Cinematographer.
Jon is a graduate of the University of Southern California's prestigious School of Cinema-Television. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2002 Telly Award for No Distance Too Far, his directorial debut, a film about the 600-mile California AIDS Ride. He recently completed his second feature documentary Spirit of the Marathon, which follows six runners are they prepare for and attempt to complete a marathon. Spirit of the Marathon premieres October 2007 at the Chicago International Film Fiestival. As a cinematographer, Jon was principal cinematographer on Tell Me Cuba and the forthcoming Keepers of Memory: Stories of Hidden Children as well as the short Where Did You Sleep Last Night.

Paul Goldsmith, ASC, Cinematographer.
Paul Goldsmith work on features, documentaries, television and commercials includes Academy Award winning When We Were Kings (contributing DP); Bob Dylan's Renaldo and Clara; National Geographic's Don't Say Goodbye (Emmy for Cinematography) and Four Americans in China. His work is included in many TVTV productions including Lord of the Universe (recipient of the Columbia University School of Journalism Alfred I. duPont Award), TVTV Looks at the Oscars, Superbowl, The Good Times are Killing Me and the National Democratic and Republican Conventions of 1972.

Jody Sibert, Creative Consultant-Writer.
Jody Sibert is an artist and video pioneer whose work has been shown nationally. She was a creative consultant and writer for Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner. Her credits include HBO's Appearing Nightly starring Lily Tomlin, ABC's 88 Vote and TVTV's ground breaking documentaries produced during the 1970's which are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Broadcasting, NYC. Jody designed and illustrated the books The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Jove Press/MCA Publishing and Birth and Death and Cybernation, Gordon & Breach Publishers. Jody was born in the United States but lived with her family in Cuba from the ages of 7 to 17. Her family left the island six months after Fidel Castro's revolution of 1959.

Masha Vasilkovsky, Animator.
Masha Vasilkovsky studied experimental animation in Russia and the US and holds degrees from the Stroganov School of Design, Moscow, Cal Arts, Valencia California and the Rhode Island School of Design (R.I.S.D.). Her films: Fur and Feathers (2000), At Home (1998), Gemini (1995), Before Tea (1994), and This Ain't No Sunday School (1994) incorporate various animation techniques such as direct paint on glass, 3D computer, drawn and cutout and have screened at numerous international film festivals. Mama (1994) co-directed with Eun-Ha-Paek received the David Rosenberg memorial award from R.I.S.D. Ms. Vasilkovsky currently works as an instructor and a freelance animator.

Eleanor Bingham Miller, Executive Producer.
Eleanor Bingham Miller is president of Cumberland Gap Productions which has funded numerous independent film projects including Mustang Sally (2000), Expanded Consciousness (2000), Dumbarton Bridge, The Wil Gus Trilogy, Star Maps and Once Around. Ms. Miller co-produced "The Kentucky Quilt Project:" a traveling exhibition for the Smithsonian Institute. She has been involved in the production of public affairs programming for WHAS — TV of Louisville, Kentucky and several documentaries, including The New Klan: Heritage of Hate and numerous TVTV productions. Ms. Miller is a member of the following boards: Bingham Board of Trust, Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky; Pediatric Endowment Board, University Pediatrics Foundation, University of Louisville; Muhammad Ali Center Board of Directors, Louisville and the Louisville Science Center.