2018 Producers Fellows

Shane Boris

Shane Boris is a creative producer, focusing on films that push the boundaries of conventional forms in order to tell timeless stories. Most recently he produced the narrative film, WALDEN: LIFE IN THE WOODS starring Demián Bichir and featuring T.J. Miller and is in post-production with the Sundance and Tribeca supported feature documentaries IMPEACHMENT and THE SEER AND THE UNSEEN. ALL THESE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS (2016) premiered at Sundance where it won Best Directing in the International Documentary Competition. The creative nonfiction, OLMO AND THE SEAGULL (2015), premiered at Locarno and won Best Documentary at the Rio International Film Festival. FUCK FOR FORCAST (2013), screened at festivals such as Rotterdam and SXSW, won Best Documentary at the Warsaw International Film Festival, and was the most screened Polish Documentary of 2013. His first feature documentary as a producer, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ME LIKE I LIVE HERE AND I DON'T (2010), appeared on several seasons of PBS's Independent Lens and was called a “transfixing television experience” by The New York Times. In addition to making movies, Shane has been a startup cofounder, served as a writing consultant for authors, academics, and musicians, and has worked in strategy for a global healthcare technology business, Native Alaskan non-profit, and Indian social enterprise. He received his B.A. from Oberlin College and M.A. from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Charlotte Cook

Charlotte Cook is a producer, curator, and writer from London, based in New York. Charlotte is a Co-Founder and Executive Producer of Field of Vision, a film unit that commissions filmmakers and artists to make short form, episodic and feature length creative visual journalism. Prior to Field of Vision, she was the Director of Programming at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. In London, Charlotte was the Head of Film Programming and Training at The Frontline Club, an organisation dedicated to championing independent journalism and freedom of expression. She has also worked with BBC Storyville, the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation’s Puma Creative Catalyst Fund and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where she curated the strand Conflict | Reportage. She has written extensively for a number of different outlets and was the main photographic researcher for the launch of The Times Online (UK) archive project. In addition to her work at Field of Vision, Charlotte is currently a programmer at CPH:DOX and recently produced the films OUR NEW PRESIDENT (Sundance ‘18), THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA (SXSW ‘18) and THE PROPOSAL (Tribeca ‘18).

Jamie Gonçalves

Jamie Gonçalves is a Brasilian-American filmmaker. Work he’s produced has received support from the Venice Biennale, the Sundance Institute, and the Points North Institute, and critical praise from The New York Times, The Village Voice, Los Angeles Times and Reverse Shot, among others. Filmmaker Magazine named him one of the 25 New Faces of Film in 2015, and the True/False Film Fest employed him for five years as a programming associate. He co-founded Sin Sitio Cine with Juan Pablo González, Ilana Coleman and Makena Buchanan, and is producing three feature length films and a short called LAS NUBES (IFFR, Habana) directed by Juan Pablo and one feature length film by Ilana Coleman. He’s photographing and producing an observational film in central Missouri directed by Nick Berardini. Additionally he’s producing a shorts trilogy for Field of Vision, THE WATER SLIDE (BAMcinemaFest, Sheffield) and BALLOONFEST (Oscilloscope, Topic) all directed by Nathan Truesdell. He produced the feature length KILLING THEM SAFELY (IFC Films), which premiered in the World Documentary Competition at Tribeca. He lensed and directed a segment on Jeff Deutchman’s election documentary, 11/8/16 (The Orchard, Netflix).

Marjon Javadi

Marjon Javadi is the Film and Partnerships Executive at Doc Society (formerly known as BritDoc). Based in New York, she works across all international film funds supporting feature documentary stories. Her experience is in development, production, and acquisitions for both fiction and non-fiction features. Prior to Doc Society, she worked in the documentary division at Netflix Originals on series and films including Emmy-award winning CHEF'S TABLE and MAKING A MURDERER, and Academy-Award nominated films VIRUNGA, WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? and WINTER ON FIRE. She previously worked as the development executive for Scott Rudin Productions, and in CAA's Film Finance and Sales Group. More recently she was an associate producer on WAITING FOR HASSAN (Dir: Ifunanya Maduka; Sundance 2017) and co-produced the documentary short CROSSING THE DIVIDE (Dir: Streeter Phillips) for WGBH and Groundtruth, which will broadcast later this year. She started her career assisting documentary director Ross Kauffman

Stephanie Jenkins

Stephanie Jenkins has worked with Ken Burns and Florentine Films since 2010. She is currently a co-producer on a new film about the history of public housing, as well as a biography of Muhammad Ali. She was the associate producer and archival producer for JACKIE ROBINSON, and was the production coordinator on THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE.

Raised in Manhattan, Stephanie studied ethnomusicology and English at Cornell University. In addition to her interest in non-fiction media, Stephanie enjoys playing banjo and bass in various bands where she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Ursula Liang

Ursula is a journalist-turned-filmmaker who has told stories in a wide range of media. She has held staff jobs at The New York Times Op-Docs, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI, StirTV, the Jax Show, Hyphen magazine and currently freelances as a film and television producer and story consultant. Her credits include: “One October” (Full Frame), “Tough Love” (POV), “Wo Ai Ni Mommy” (POV), “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” (NBC) “UFC Primetime” (FX). She directed, produced and shot the award-winning “9-Man: A Streetball Battle in the Heart of Chinatown” (DOC NYC, America ReFramed) which The New York Times called “an absorbing documentary” and co-produced The New York Times’ first video interview with a sitting president in 2014. Ursula has also worked for the film publicity company, the 2050 Group, is a founding member of the Filipino American Museum, and sits on the advisory board of the Dynasty Project. Ursula is a member of A-Doc, Film Fatales and Brown Girls Doc Mafia. She grew up in Newton, Mass. and lives in the Bronx, New York.

Larissa Rhodes

Larissa Rhodes is a film producer and currently the Director of Creative Development at Exposure Labs, where she develops environmentally and socially motivated projects. Most recently, she produced the Sundance Award Winning CHASING CORAL, a a Netflix Original feature film following a team of adventurers trying to reveal how the oceans are changing. It premiered along with a VR companion film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and won the Sundance Audience Award, a Peabody Award, a Satellite award, and was nominated for a PGA Award. Rhodes previously worked on the Emmy® Award-winning documentary, CHASING ICE. She holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University and a BFA & BA from the University of Colorado in Film Studies and International Spanish for the Professions.

Anya Rous

Anya Rous is a Brooklyn-based producer, funding strategist and the Head of Partnerships at Multitude Films, an independent production company that produces award-winning films by and about women, LGBTQ folks, and people of color. Anya is the co-producer of the Sundance and Guggenheim funded documentary NAILA AND THE UPRISING (IDFA 2017) and co-executive produced CALL HER GANDA (Tribeca 2018). She is currently producing AFTERMATH a follow-up to THE BRANDON TEENA STORY (Berlinale 1988) by Emmy-nominated directors Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir, and is co-producing TRAUMA, a documentary about violence against women in film and TV. Anya brings a combined 10 years of experience in grantmaking and raising funds for media projects supporting movements for racial, economic, and gender justice. She formerly served as the Director of Strategic Relationships at Just Vision, an organization that creates critically-acclaimed documentaries highlighting stories of Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leaders working to end the occupation and inequality. Prior to that she was a grantmaker at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Anya is on the Board Executive Committee at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and is a member of Resource Generation, an organization of young people with class privilege working towards the equitable distribution of resources. She previously served on the North Star Fund's Community Funding Committee. 

William Smith

Upon graduating from the University of Leicester, England, William Smith secured a place on the BBC Production Trainee Scheme. There he worked on a range of different productions sourcing new talent, developing TV pilots, and creating online content. He then moved into BBC radio, producing the 'Tim Westwood Drivetime Show' for BBC Radio 1Xtra, which received a SONY Award for 'Best Entertainment Show'. William has produced content for media networks including ESPN, TNT, SONY and hip-hip radio station Hot 97, as well as producing music videos for the likes of P. Diddy. His work has premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival and South By Southwest. William was born in Lewisham, South London. He graduated as a Dean's fellow from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a MFA in Filmmaking. He is currently in post-production producing his first documentary feature SANCTUARY.

Rebecca Stern

Rebecca Stern is a documentary producer and director. She is the producer of the feature documentary TRE MAISON DASAN (San Francisco International Film Festival 2018) and co-producer of the feature documentary NETIZENS (Tribeca, Hot Docs 2018). She was the associate producer of “the bomb,” an installation and film experience which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and the 2017 Berlinale. Her previous work includes the Academy Award nominated documentary CARTEL LAND, as production coordinator. She directed the short film, WELL GROOMED, which has reached nearly 500,000 viewers across all platforms and is currently expanding the short into her first feature documentary as director. She previously was a staff member of Picture Motion, managing film marketing campaigns for acclaimed documentaries including FOOD CHAINS (2016 BritDoc Impact Award) and THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING.