Staff

 

President & Founder: Wendy Dubit

Wendy Dubit, a social entrepreneur with extensive experience in content creation and education, founded The Producers' Project in Spring 2002 as a way to help K - 12 students and teachers make and share music, film and television that is relevant, far-reaching and academically aligned. Wendy's numerous entertainment, non-profit, publishing and new media initiatives -- built under the Vergant brand and for such companies as BMG, AOL, Primedia, Pantone, Unilever and The Council on Economic Priorities -- all carry a strong and central threads of activism and lifelong learning. In 1997, with partners America Online and New Line Cinema, Wendy founded HEAVEN: Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer and Empower via the Net. HEAVEN's technology training programs taught web production, journalism and leadership skills to NYC students and staff, won significant contracts from the New York City Department of Education and broad industry support, and were honored by ComputerWorld/Smithsonian for their "visionary use of technology in education." Prior to HEAVEN, Wendy was Director of Business Development for The Hub (a joint venture of America Online and New Line Cinema); worked with BMG to launch Jim Henson Records, the music and video careers of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and the "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" audio line; served as founding editor of Wine Enthusiast magazine; and wrote for and consulted to a variety of publications and corporations. Through The Producers' Project, key skills from each of these industries are harnessed to education, fostering the creation and distribution of compelling Math, Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts and Arts programming by and for students and teachers. To date, the program has produced more than 60 documentaries, PSAs and music videos, and is now in its tenth season of TPP-TV.>

 

Director: Susan Finley

An award-winning new media designer, screenwriter and film producer and the founder of Rhinoceros Presentations, Inc., Susan will be spearheading The Producers'’ Club, which will offer ongoing skills and subject-level development for student and teacher participants of The Producers’' Project. For her Masters thesis at NYU's Interactive Telecommunication Program, Susan Finley created THE LIZZYS -- an animated CD-ROM for kids about coping with the process of growing up. It won the school's award for "Pioneering Work in Interactive Media" as well as awards from the Milia Festival in Cannes and The New Voices, New Visions Contest.

Susan was commissioned by the Education Department of the National Gallery of Art to create a children’s feature for their website called LIZZY AND GORDON VISIT THE SCULPTURE GARDEN, which was featured in USA Today, CNN, and Yahooligans. Susan co-authored the film THE FIRST TIME for New Line Cinema, was Script Consultant for the movies WALL STREET for 20th Century Fox, and IRON AND SILK for Miramax, and is co-produced INTERSTELLAR PIG with Nickelodeon Movies for Paramount. She wrote and co-designed OCEAN VOYAGER, an award-winning adventure game about the ocean for the Smithsonian's Ocean Planet Exhibit; and "HI, IT'S ME," an interactive exhibit for kids featuring AT&T Lab's newest technology at the Tech Museum in San Jose, CA. Susan has also written and/or produced for numerous educational websites, including Zillions (Consumer Reports for Kids), Sesame Workshop and The College Board.

 

 

Producer: Kitama Seeger Jackson

Kitama Seeger Jackson is a documentary filmmaker who has worked on dozens of documentaries for the Travel Channel, History Channel, PBS and theatrical release. His credits include Associate Producer on “Pete Seeger: Power of Song” and as an Assistant Editor on "Feel Like Going Home," the first episode of Martin Scorsese’s PBS series “The Blues.” In 2005, Kitama started his own production company, Black Wasp Productions. He is currently producing, directing and shooting a feature documentary, “Children of Prisoners.” Kitama has been involved in the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater's campaign to clean up the Hudson River for his entire life and currently serves on their board of directors. His girlfriend, Jeannine Cahill, is Clearwater's onboard educator. Kitama and Jeannine live in Harlem.

 

Co-Founder Emeritus: Yvette DeBow

Yvette DeBowYvette DeBow, who founded The Producers' Project with Wendy Dubit in Spring 2002, has long and deep experience as a Media and Internet consultant focusing on the convergence of digital and traditional media and its implications for children's education.

Before joining 3Path, Yvette was an executive at Jupiter Communications, a leading Internet economy research and advisory services firm, for more than five years. She is also the President of Women in New Media, a non-profit, volunteer driven, educational and networking organization for professional women in the new media industry; previously, she was chair of WINM's community service committee and helped create WINM's scholarship program for college-bound high school seniors, raising over $30,000 in its inaugural event. Prior to joining Jupiter in January 1995, Yvette was a business and technology journalist. Yvette has also volunteered and financially supported organizations involved in children's education development, including MOUSE, HEAVEN, the East Harlem Tutorial Program, and Paul Robeson High School's Virtual Enterprise program.

 

Senior Producer: Lisa Hepner

Lisa Hepner Lisa Hepner is a non-fiction television director and producer based in New York City. Summer 2004 marked her first teaching job for the Producer's Project. "What a thrill it was to teach kids from all over the world," said Lisa, describing her experience teaching a video production boot camp at the Manhattan Learning Center. "The kids picked up the basics really quickly despite the fact that English was their second language."

Lisa has always enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. For the past nine years, this Canadian-born journalist has racked up thousands of air-miles, producing a variety of programs for HBO, A&E, PBS, Lifetime, MTV and Columbia Tri-Star Television. Most recently, Lisa wrapped Peace by Peace: Women on the Frontlines, which marked her feature directorial debut. Shot in Afghanistan, Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi and the US, this documentary profiled the unheralded work of women peace builders. The film had its premiere at the United Nations October of 2003 and aired nationally on PBS a year later. Prior to Peace by Peace, highlights of Lisa's career include working with the director Michael Apted for the A&E documentary Married in America; directing the Australian chapter of the HBO documentary, Naked World; producing a one-hour portrait of ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts for Lifetime Television; and co-producing a feature-length documentary for HBO, Life Afterlife, with Director Lisa F. Jackson and Executive Producer Linda Ellerbee. When not working on documentaries, Lisa can be found in such far-flung places as Tonga, where she helped to produce a live broadcast of their millennium celebrations.


Advisory Board and Consulting Experts

 

Barbara Frerichs. Barbara is President of Lion Marketing, Inc., which specializes in building strategic partnerships for companies and causes. A noted author and entrepreneur, Barbara is also an eCommerce pioneer with a strong background in finance and technology. She has consulted with a number of technology and content companies on strategic marketing; has played roles ranging from interim chief operating officer to advisory board member; and has been responsible for raising more than $35 million in capital for early-stage businesses and non-profit organizations. Prior to her consulting work, Barbara founded ReadUSA.com, where she pioneered the first online interactive transaction sites with partners such as America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy and others. She served as CEO and president of ReadUSA.com for seven years. Currently she is also involved in several publishing and media projects and is active in business-related associations and several charitable organizations, among them, the City Parks Foundation, Women in New Media and The Producers’ Project.

 

Kim Brizzolara. In addition to her extensive experience as a private investment manager, Kim is co-chair of Hampton's International Film Festival, Films of Conflict & Resolution, where she oversees an international advisory board in the development and production of a juried section of films from conflict zones of the world. She is also involved with the festival’s Science in Films section, and works with Children’s Media Project to facilitate student participation in the festival. She has also served as a grantsmaker for the Threshold Foundation, where she designated funds to non-profit organizations that focus on peace and national security issues; as acting director of the Coexistence Center at Baruch College School of Public Affairs, which focuses on conflict resolution, race relations, ethnic diversity and equity in the academic environment and in the community; as conference coordinator for Economists Allied for Arms Reduction and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights; as a campaign organizer for Mario Cuomo, David Dinkins and Michael Dukakis; as author of numerous policy and position papers, grants proposals and freelance articles; and as a reporter for East Side Express and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

Diane Paragas. Diane is a producer/director of international television documentaries and commercials. She began her career in advertising where she developed and produced campaigns for companies seeking to bring their brands overseas. for her work she received Effie and Addy awards for international marketing and branding. In 1995, Diane moved to MTV where she helped launch MTV in Asia. While there, she also created MTV's first interactive CD-ROM for international and domestic use. After moving to Hong Kong in 1997, Diane was taken on as supervising producer of a 13-part documentary series called living Asia for Discovery Channel. Returning to NY as a freelance producer/director, Diane worked for Vh-1, BBC, CNN and the Grammy Awards. After almost 8 years of paying dues, Diane finally decided to go it on her own and start her own company with colleague, Amy Lawday. Together they produced content for Oxygen, IFC and Bravo. At the same time, Diane directed her first feature length documentary for PBS called Kababayan about Filipinos in America. Today, Civilian Studios, Diane's latest and greatest venture, is the culmination of a long road of struggling to find a voice and means to tell the stories that she longed to tell. Bound and determined to make content that is meaningful and exciting, Diane hopes that CIVILIAN will be a force to be reckoned with in the Digital Age. In addition to running the company, directing commercials, films and theater, Diane likes to paint, write music and help other CIVILIANS to get their stories out there.

 

Barbra Stoddard. As founder and president of Stoddard Tech Tactics, Barbra is a consultant and trainer with deep and long expertise in analyzing, planning, implementing, assessing and evaluating technology and education initiatives. From 1995 - 2000, she worked in increasingly broad capacities for Edison Schools Inc., first as Technology Director of the Boston Renaissance Charter School, for which she created, implemented and supported the educational technology program; later as Director of Educational Technology for schools across the country, where she was responsible for the hiring, training and support of school technology directors and conducted on-site reviews of technology personnel, programs, and plans; and most recently as Vice President of Start-Up School Technology, where she managed the hiring and training of first-year school technology directors, planned and coordinated training institutes and conferences, and provided mentoring and ongoing professional development and support. Prior to this, Barbra served as Technology Specialist for Falls Church City Schools, where she coordinated the computer curriculum and collaborated with the Department of Education on model teaching projects. Barbra is a frequent presenter at educational conferences and forums and is widely published in educational journals.

 

Dennis Crowley. Webmaster extraordinaire and fluent in such languages as HTML, ASP/VBScript, WAP/WML/HDML/cHTML, dHTML & CSS, BuddyScript, Javascript, and vXML/XML, Dennis is the founder and lead developer of Dodgeball.com – a network of city guide products built around the concept of user-generated content. He has developed applications for the web, internet-enabled mobile phones, Palm /PocketPC organizers, instant messenger clients, and IVR/voice response networks. Previously, Dennis was a member of the product development team at Vindigo – the leading developer of personal navigation applications for wireless and mobile devices – where he shaped user experience of and defined UI and functionality changes for both Palm OS and WAP-enabled products. Dennis also served as Senior Producer/Web Production Manager for Jupiter Communications, where he acted as project manager for front-end design and production of Jupiter's website and was responsible for the production and maintenance of all online content and deliverables.

 

Crystal Sershen. Crystal is an independent filmmaker whose first documentary film, Echo the Silent Sun, is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2003. This documentary film imparts the history and philosophy of the ancient martial art Shotokan karate, in which Crystal holds a second-degree black belt. Crystal is also an associate story editor and assistant editor at Zanzibar Productions, whose critically acclaimed documentary series, The It Factor, airs on the Bravo Network. Crystal graduated as the valedictorian of her class in 1998 from the Cinema Studies Department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is currently a master’s candidate in documentary filmmaking and martial arts history at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Crystal has worked as an assistant director and production manager for several theatre productions, and additionally freelances as a cinematographer and editor for her own company, Nemesis Films.

 

Gary Welz. Gary has over 20 years of experience in education and media as a teacher, writer, speaker, producer, consultant and journalist. He has special expertise in science and mathematics education as well as digital media production, asset management and distribution. For 12 years, Gary was an Adjunct Lecturer in Mathematics at John Jay College and Lehman College of the City University of New York. He taught Calculus at the Barnard School in New York and he has also taught basic multimedia authoring classes at various levels. Gary is the author of many conference papers and trade press articles about the development of the media industry on the Internet and multimedia technologies. In 1991, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, he conceived and authored a business plan for a television network for scientists and engineers. As founder of Science Television, he produced and directed video lectures by several well-known mathematicians. The American Mathematical Society distributes these tapes.