Film Makers

My Kid Could Paint That is Amir Bar-Lev's second feature film. His directorial debut, Fighter (2001) was named one of the top documentaries of the year by Newsweek, The Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and several other major publications. It won 6 international awards, received "Two Thumbs Up" by Ebert and Roeper, and was called "Brilliant" by The New Yorker, "Enthralling" by New York Times, "Finniest film of the summer" by the New York Post and "one of the best documentaries of this year or any other by Rolling Stone. Fighter was released theatrically in the fall of 2001, and aired on the Independent Film Channel.

After Fighter and before beginning My Kid Could Paint That, Bar-Lev served as a creator and Executive Producer on several pilots, including Remix, a DJ competition show for SpikeTV, and VH1's Party Crashing in Cannes, which saw his Fighter partner, Alex Mamlet (aka Kid Protocol) joining Nicole Kidman on the Cannes Film Festival's famous red carpet. Bar-Lev also produced and helped develop VH-1's Fabulous Life and the Weather Channel's series, It Could Happen Tomorrow. The pilot episode focused on the hurricane danger facing New Orleans and was shot only a few months before Hurricane Katrina.

Bar-Lev has also directed several short films. Geoff Hoyle starred in Chris Donahoe: Independent Filmmaker, a faux documentary in the vein of independent filmmaking. New Orleans Furlough, a documentary short, captures a Louisiana National Guardsman as he returns from Baghdad to New Orleans nine days after Katrina.

Before directing, Bar-Lev was an AVID editor. As a teenager growing up in Berkeley, California, Bar-Lev's first work in media was a liquid light show artist, where he work on light shows for Bill Graham Presents and The Grateful Dead. Bar-Lev graduated with double majors in Film (Modern Culture and Media) and Religious Studies from Brown University in 1994.

Director Matthew Barbato is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has produced many hours of documentary and verité-style programs for cable and network television, including ‘A Cook’s Tour’ (The Food Network) and Airline (AENT). ALEXIS ARQUETTE: SHE’S MY BROTHER is his first feature documentary.

Producer Nikki Parrott previously produced Transit, a feature film shot in America, Mexico, Russia and Kenya for MTV Networks, and co-produced the award-winning feature documentary ’37 Uses For A Dead Sheep’ for BBC Storyville and ARTE France.

Director Malik Bader was born in Chicago and credits growing up on Chicago’s gritty South Side for his sense of urban realism. Malik is making his feature film debut with "Street Thief". Since premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, Street Thief has screened at film festivals the world over and has won in competition at Chicago International and Buenos Aires International. His prior work, which includes numerous short films and music videos, has screened at various film festivals including IFP, New York Independent, Los Angeles Shorts Fest, and LA International Underground. Among his short films, is the award-winning "Ground Chuck" which was awarded best of fest at The 2002 IFP film festival in Chicago. Malik is currently working on a number of new projects in development

As the co-owner of the New York-based production company, Loki Films, Heidi has taken on a wide range of subjects that includes the inner workings of Scientology, ritualistic body piercing in Sri Lanka and the labyrinth that is the criminal justice system in the Bronx. Previously, she delved in the dramatic world of Cuban politics with "Dissident," a film about the struggle of Havana-based Nobel Peace Prize nominee Oswaldo Paya - a film that was made clandestinely and has been shown around the world. She recently co-directed "The Boys of Baraka," the critically-acclaimed documentary feature that is currently playing in cities across the United States.

Rachel Grady
The co-director of "The Boys of Baraka," Rachel is a private investigator turned filmmaker. She has produced and directed numerous non-fiction films for The Discovery Channel, A & E and Britain's Channel 4. She has directed several films that focus on mental illness including "Mad Justice," a verite documentary that looks at the troubling fate of mentally ill parolees and "Ward 2 West," shot on location at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Hospital on New York's famed Ward's Island. She also acted as Series Producer for "TX" an eight part series for VH1 filmed entirely in a drug rehab. She is the co-founder of Loki Films.

Awards for "Boys of Baraka"
Winner, Best Documentary, Newport International Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Best Documentary, The Atlanta Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Best Documentary, Chicago International Film Festival, 2005 Official Selection, Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2005 Official Selection, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Special Jury Award, SXSW Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Audience Award, AFI/Silverdocs Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Audience Award, Woodstock Film Festival, 2005 Winner, Best Documentary and Foreign Film, NAACP Image Awards, 2006.

Awards for "Jesus Camp"
Winner, Special Jury Prize, Tribeca Film Festival, 2006 Winner, Sterling Feature Grand Jury Award, AFI/Silverdocs Film Festival, 2006.

Argott has been a Producer and Director of Photography for eight years, working on numerous productions across the country, with such clients as ESPN, Fox Sports, MTV/VH1 and TLC/Discovery. Currently, he owns and operates 9.14 Pictures, specializing in cutting edge documentaries and music/concert videos. In addition to his accomplishments as a filmmaker, Argott is also a successful musician, with two well received cds entitled PORNOSONIC, most recently licensed for Dreamworks' OLD SCHOOL and Fox Searchlight's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. ROCK SCHOOL is Argott's first documentary feature.

Sheena M. Joyce
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Joyce began her film career as an employee of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, marketing the area to the production industry for almost five years. She is 9.14's in-house producer, focusing her attention on every detail of a project, from pre to post-production. Joyce is at heart a talented writer who can polish any idea into a truly impressive work, and will most likely be asked to write a comedic piece for the New Yorker, upon which time she will respond with haughty and indignant laughter. She is also convinced she is an untapped well of musical ability.

Demian Fenton
Fenton has been a film editor for over six years, beginning his career upon graduation from Penn State University. He has worked on numerous independent films, including a documentary in Buenos Aires about the World Trade Organization's effect on Argentina. Most recently, Fenton's film Child Prodigies: Where are they Now? won "Best of Philadelphia," and "First Runner-Up in the Nation" awards for the 48 Hour Film Project. In addition to Fenton's film career, he has been a certified Guitar God for the past ten years.

Chuck Braverman is one of the few successful dramatic film directors who also has extensive experience producing and directing documentary films. Chuck has been nominated four times by the Directors Guild of America and won the coveted award in 2001 for "High School Boot Camp." Also in 2001 Chuck was nominated for an Academy Award® for his documentary "Curtain Call" about the Actors Fund home. In addition Chuck’s directing credits include a feature film and several two hour movies for television with Keanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland, Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, and more. Among his many episodic directing credits are "Northern Exposure," "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Sledge Hammer," and "St. Elsewhere."

In the last couple years Braverman has produced and or directed projects for The Discovery Channel, TLC, Discovery Health, The History Channel, Animal Planet, and A&E. Some of the titles are; "Children of the Court," "Making Marines," "Bottom of the Ninth," "When Planes Go Down," "Sextuplets," "Broken Wings," "Prison Medical(in HD)," "Biography of Oscar®," "Debutantes," and more.

Chuck has a degree in Cinema from the University of Southern California where he teaches directing part time.

Marilyn Braverman
Marilyn Braverman has had a career as a professional still photographer and has worked as a sound person on many of the Braverman productions. Last year she produced and photographed "A Pug’s Life: The Dogumentary" which has been picked up by many PBS stations. Then she produced and photographed "Homeless In Paradise" for The Discovery Times Channel. Marilyn is working with her husband on a documentary tentatively called "I Remember Me."

Dana Adam Shapiro, Co-Director, Producer
Dana Adam Shapiro is a former senior editor at SPIN, and a contributor to THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE and other publications. His first novel, THE EVERY BOY, will be published by Houghton Mifflin in July. The movie is in development at Plan B. MURDERBALL is his first film.

Henry Alex Rubin, Co-Director Director of Photography
As a documentary filmmaker, Rubin made the award-winning "Who is Henry Jaglom?" (PBS, First Run Features, w/ Candice Bergen, Dennis Hopper) and "Freestyle" (w/ Mos Def, The Roots, J5), which was recently picked up by Palm Pictures after winning Best Documentary at the Woodstock and Urbanworld Film Festival. Additionally, he directed the second-unit on several films including COP LAND and GIRL INTERRUPTED. He is currently directing a mockumentary starring Winona Ryder.

Jeffrey Mandel, Producer
Jeff is a corporate tax attorney. Formerly, he was an Investment Banker in Lehman Brothers' Global Technology group. He holds graduate Law (JD) and Business (MBA) degrees from Columbia University.

Geoffrey Richman, Editor
Geoffrey Richman has been a freelance editor for over ten years, editing documentary and reality programming for a variety of networks including SHOWTIME, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, TLC, OXYGEN, and PBS. He was also the Director of Photography and Editor of THE DESCENT OF WALTER MCFEA, which screened at the IFP and won Best Narrative Feature at the Hollywood.com Film Festival.

Conor O'Neill, Co-Editor
Conor O'Neill is the Editor of WORD WARS, which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically by Seventh Art Releasing. Previously, he edited SEE THIS MOVIE (which was Executive Produced by the Weitz Brothers.) He began his career working as an assistant under editor David Moritz (BOTTLE ROCKET, RUSHMORE, JERRY MAGUIRE) and on the MGM comedy A GUY THING. He recently began work as the editor of AIR GUITAR, a feature documentary.

Jason Stoff , Post-Production Supervisor
Jason Stoff is a post-production veteran renowned for his synthesis of the newest posting and finishing technologies with a refined artistic sensibility. As Visual Effects Supervisor for KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, he was part of the team that created 3-D raster moves (the technique that enabled 2-D photographs to appear as though in a 3-D space). Previously, Stoff was the Technical Finishing Supervisor on BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. He started his career doing film titles for a variety of productions, including ULEE’S GOLD and LA CIUDAD.