Crew: Learn about the filmmakers

Director/Producer: Natalie Picoe
Natalie Picoe has extensive experience as a producer/director and actress. She has produced several short documentaries for NBC Universal TV/Italy (Studio Universal). Titles include Comics & Cinema about the legendary alliance between comic books and movies with Stan Lee (Spider Man) and Frank Miller (Sin City), 80’s Mania about the “Brat Pack” actors with 80’s era celebrities Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Mare Winningham and others, and most recently Hollywood 10, about blacklisted writers and directors such as Walter Bernstein and Norma Barzman. She recently worked on Oscar-nominated director Oren Jacoby’s, (Sister Rose’s Passion) feature length documentary entitled Constantine’s Sword, based on the award-winning book by James Carroll. As an actress, Natalie played the lead in the independent feature film Nosey Parker (www.noseyparkermovie.com), directed by John O’Brien. She has had principal roles on “Law & Order,” “EXILED,” (movie of the week) and has recorded numerous national voice-overs. She has acted in lead roles in regional theater and holds an MFA in Theatre from Florida State University. A native of South Carolina, Natalie lives and works in New York City.

Producer: Michael Solomon
Michael Solomon recently produced Constantine’s Sword, a documentary feature film about the history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church and the roots of religious violence, based on the book by National Book Award winning author James Carroll.
www.constantinessword.com

Constantine’s Sword debuted at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, won two awards at the Woodstock film festival in October of 2007, and was released theatrically in Spring 2008 by First Run Features. Michael also produced and photographed How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), an award-winning feature documentary about Melvin Van Peebles, which debuted theatrically at the prestigious Film Forum in NYC, and later played on the Independent Film Channel (www.mvpmovie.com). “How to Eat Your Watermelon...” was released on DVD by Image Entertainment. He has produced commercials, shorts, music videos and industrial films, with directors Albert Watson, Spike Lee, and Harry Patramanis, among others. He has also produced and directed numerous TV shows for Italian television (RAI, Canale 5, Studio Universal and Telepiu’), as well as for Bravo and the Independent Film Channel. Michael is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.

Editor: Sarah Devorkin
Sarah has worked as an editor on a variety of independent documentary projects. Her most recent credit was editor of the documentary feature Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, which traces the musical development of the intensely private singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt. Before that, she edited the special features section of Academy Award nominated director Edet Belzberg's documentary feature, The Recruiter, which portrays a top U.S. army recruiter and his relationship with four of his recruits as they complete high school and go through basic training. It was broadcast on HBO July 2008. Sarah has worked as an assistant editor on films such as Burning the Future: Coal in America, directed by David Novack, which aired on the Sundance Channel, May 2009, and An Interview with Simone Weil, directed and produced by Julia Haslett. She is currently editing a documentary on feminist electronic punk band Le Tigre.

Camera/Sound: P.H. O’Brien
P. H. has extensive experience as a cinematographer and sound designer. For four years he was DP on John Pierson’s TV show Split Screen, which aired on the Independent Film Channel. He was DP and producer for the documentary series How’s Your News that has won the awards at the South by SouthWest film festival and has aired on HBO, PBS, BBC and MTV. Other feature film credits are DP for Nosey Parker, which made the festival circuit in 2003 and screened in Art House theaters nationwide. P.H. with John Pierson, traveled to Fiji to film “Reel Paradise”, a feature doc about the world’s most remote movie theater directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams). He was as cinematographer for The War Tapes, winner of the 2006 Documentary prize at Tribeca Film Festival. His most recent project is Earth Made of Glass, a documentary about Rwanda, premiering at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

Camera/Sound: Neil Stephens
Neil’s DP work can be seen in the feature films Games People Play, Bono, The Gospel According to Lou, Nebbish, and Chez Risque. Neil directed his first feature All Screwed Up in the summer of 2006. He has worked with the likes of Paul Newman, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and P. Diddy, among others. His feature documentary work includes Ocracoke, Stonewall-30 Years Later, For God & Country, Dance in New York, Jane Doherty Investigates, as well as Telling Nicholas, the Emmy winning film broadcast on HBO. Neil’s work as a Director of Photography can be seen on HBO, VH-1, MTV, NFL Films, Fox Sports, NBC, Bravo, A&E, BET, TLC, as well as numerous commercials and shorts.

Music Composer: Andrew Parsegian
Classically-trained songwriter, composer and keyboardist Andrew Parsegian enjoyed the challenge of writing the soundtrack for Strike Dice! Betting on my Father. Recently, through his company Tenement Music Productions, he scored several commercials directed by Michel Gondry for Microsoft. Tenement Music has also created music and sound design for West Virginia's tourism and anti-smoking campaigns, among others. In Fall 2009, Andrew created the sound design for the off-broadway musical "Whatever Man." He's written and performed music and sound design for Dramatic New Arts Theatre in L.A., Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC, and Kunsler House Gallery in Stuttgart, Germany. He has been arranging and performing on producer Kiyanu Kim's various projects, working with artists such as Chris Grace and Emily Brooke. In 2007 and 2008, he toured the continental U.S. as keyboardist for Custard Record's singer/songwriter Ben Jelen, opening for artists such as Pete Yorn, Kings of Leon, and Pete Townsend. He's performed with several other artists, including George Hurley of the Minutemen and Tom Watson of Red Crayola. Andrew studied piano with Julliard Music Professor Edna Golansky & Indiana University Professor Clive Swansborne. He received a B.A. in Music Composition from Occidental College and has performed at Carnegie Hall. Andrew lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Also, Thanks to the following people for their multiple contributions. You know what you did and I cannot thank you enough!

Erik Horowitz
The Well
Chantel Cherisse Lucier
Sylvia Borenstein
Dawn Kissi
Claire Marie Panke
Fernanda Rossi
Elgin Smith

back to top

v06a