NADAV KURTZ
Director/Producer
Nadav is a filmmaker whose work has been shown at such festivals as Sundance, True/False, Sheffield, and been showcased by The Criterion Channel, PBS’ POV, the NYTimes Op-Docs, Vimeo Staff Picks and Sundance Doc Club. His directorial debut, Paraiso, won Best Documentary Short at multiple festivals, was nominated for a Cinema Eye award and was short-listed for an Academy Award. Born in Israel to a Jewish mother and a Japanese father, Nadav grew up in England and Switzerland before moving to the United States. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a degree in English Literature. He has two decades of experience as an editor working on documentaries, fiction films and branded work before transitioning to directing. He has worked as a director on a number of campaigns related to immigration and cross-cultural identity, including an award winning series of thirty-five short documentaries celebrating immigration for the City of Chicago, as well as branded short films about the artists Ana Roldán and Rubén Ortiz Torres and is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective. Untitled Sam and Omar Project is his first feature film.
DIANE QUON
Producer
Diane Quon is an Academy Award-nominated producer who worked as a marketing executive at NBC and Paramount Pictures in LA before moving back to her hometown of Chicago. Diane has produced the documentaries: Oscar and Emmy nominated, Peabody award-winning film, Minding the Gap (Hulu, POV); The Dilemma of Desire (Showtime); Emmy-nominated Finding Yingying (MTVDocs); For the Left Hand (PBS); Wuhan Wuhan (POV); Bad Axe (IFC FILMS, SXSW 2022 Audience Award) and Surf Nation (Mountainfilm Telluride 2022). She is producing the upcoming documentaries: Untitled Sam and Omar Project, Untitled 19TH* News Film, and Untitled HBO Mr. Chow Film, as well as executive producing multiple documentaries by first-time filmmakers. Diane is also developing a fiction film based on a New York Times bestseller, as well as Bing Liu’s first original screenplay. Diane is an AMPAS and PGA member, a recipient of the Cinereach Producer Award, and is a Sundance Creative Producing Fellow and Film Independent Fellow.
LILLY HANSON
Associate Producer
Lilly is a Midwestern creative with degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in both film & journalism. Hanson honed her skills for project management and producing for documentaries through her internship with Kartemquin Films, where she assisted with the successful Kickstarter campaign for The Dilemma of Desire (dir. Maria Finitzo). Upon completion of the internship, she managed the crowdfunding campaigns for multiple documentaries such as Czechs in Chicago (dir. Susan Marcinkus), Alive in Detroit (dir. Shiraz Ahmed), and Teaching about Religion (dir. Allison Walsh). With a strong ability to multitask, she is also the production manager at the commercial production company Dictionary Films. She is currently based in Chicago, IL.
JEREMIAH ZAGAR
Executive Producer
Jeremiah's first documentary, In a Dream, premiered at SXSW, screened theatrically across the US and in film festivals around the world. It was broadcast on HBO, shortlisted for an Academy Award and received two Emmy nominations, including “Best Documentary.” His next feature-length documentary, Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. His latest film, the feature-length narrative We the Animals, premiered at Sundance in 2018 where it received the NEXT Innovator Award. The film was among the best reviewed movies of the year and earned five Independent Spirit nominations. Jeremiah is currently executive producing and directing a new documentary series about the war on drugs, and he is hard at work writing his next narrative feature.
JEREMY YACHES
Executive Producer
Jeremy is the executive producer and co-founder of Public Record, a production company that specializes in film, TV and commercials. His most recent film, We the Animals, won the Next Innovator Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for five independent spirit awards. His doc work includes In a Dream, which was broadcast on HBO and shortlisted for an Academy Award, Sidelined for A&E Indie Films, as well as the Netflix original Voyeur, which premiered at the 2017 New York Film Festival. Jeremy also produced the pilot for 7 Deadly Sins on Showtime, and he is executive producing a number of documentary series that he can’t quite reveal here just yet. He is a Sundance Producing Lab Fellow.
ABBY LYNN KANG DAVIS
Executive Producer
Throughout her career, Emmy nominated Abby Lynn Kang Davis has focused on breaking underrepresented voices into the commercial television and film marketplace. Her specialized skill set in identifying viable talent, advocacy and mentorship on behalf of unknown storytellers has garnered millions in sales revenue, top tier film festival invitations and award nominations. Abby is responsible for bringing multiple projects to market and most recently executive produced Emmy nominated Long Shot (Telluride 2017/Netflix Originals), 306 Hollywood (Sundance 2018/PBS POV), The New York Times Op Docs Series Almost Famous and the television docuseries The Devil You Know (Viceland).
ZAC MANUEL
Director of Photography
Zac is an award–winning, New Orleans bred-and-based director and cinematographer whose work in film and music video focuses on intimacy found within Black masculinity. His cinematography credits include Buckjumping (New Orleans Film Festival 2018, Winner Best Cinematography), The Earth is Humming (Field of Vision; SXSW 2018), Alone (NYT Op-Doc; Sundance 2017 Jury Award Winner – Best Non-Fiction Film), and America (Sundance 2019 Jury Award Winner) and Time (Academy- nominated 2021). His work as a director has been exhibited at festivals and on platforms around the world, including The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Billboard, MTV, Pitchfork, and many more. Bloodthicker is Zac’s debut feature.
GENE BACK
Composer
Gene is a Korean-American film composer and multi-instrumentalist. Recently selected as a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Breakthrough talent, some of his scores include critically acclaimed feature films Cowboys (dir. Anna Kerrigan, Tribeca 2020) and Holler (dir. Nicole Riegel, Deauville 2020). Also a fellow of the 2019 Sundance Film Music and Sound Design Lab at Skywalker Sound, and a 2020 artist-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation, his work spans across film music, theatre, XR, instrumental compositions, and songwriting.