Filmmakers

Nancy Spielberg Executive Producer

Producer Nancy Spielberg grew up immersed in filmmaking, working on her brother’s early films as cast and crew. She attended Arizona State University and UCLA and, after moving to New York in 1978, studied film at Sarah Lawrence College and the New School. An accomplished businesswoman and philanthropist, she has turned her energy and talents to producing documentary and feature films. One of her priorities is to help preserve stories and make them into educational tools for the benefit of younger generations.

Ms. Spielberg served as consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary, Chernobyl Heart, and is executive producer of Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals, which aired nationally on PBS.

Most recently, she produced Above and Beyond, winner of the audience award at more than twenty film festivals. Spielberg is the executive producer of Sophie Sartain’s documentary, Mimi and Dona, which was broadcast nationally on PBS in late 2015. She is executive producer of Who Will Write Our History, On the Map, a documentary by filmmaker Dani Menkin, which, since its 2016 release, has been screening all over the world and receiving multiple festival awards. Nancy Spielberg also served as consulting producer on GI JEWS: JEWISH AMERICANS IN WW II, which is airing on PBS for Holocaust Remembrance Day in April 2018.

Nancy Spielberg is founder and co-founder of several charities including “Children of Chernobyl,” “Project Sunshine” and the American branch of The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She is also involved in charities that help victims of terror and support soup kitchens.

Ori Eisen Executive Producer

Ori Eisen has spent the last two decades fighting online crime, and is respected for his business knowledge and leadership.

Prior to founding Trusona, Mr. Eisen founded 41st Parameter – the leading online fraud prevention and detection solution for financial institutions and e-commerce. 41st Parameter was acquired by Experian in 2013.

Prior to 41st Parameter, Mr. Eisen served as the Worldwide Fraud Director for American Express focusing on Internet and counterfeit fraud. During his tenure, he championed the project to enhance the authorization request to include Internet specific parameters.

Prior to American Express, Mr. Eisen was the Director of Fraud Prevention for VeriSign/Network Solutions. By developing new and innovative technologies, he skillfully reduced fraud losses by over 85 percent in just three months.

Mr. Eisen is often quoted by industry insiders, and receives numerous invitations to keynote industry events and conferences. Mr. Eisen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Montclair State University and he holds over two dozen cybersecurity patents.

In his free time, Mr. Eisen volunteers with Thorn, the digital defenders of children. He founded Ball to All, a charity that donates free soccer balls around the world to children who have never had one. He is a founding member of Security Canyon – Arizona’s Cyber Security Coalition. He resides in Scottsdale and is married with two children.

Mr. Eisen has dedicated his life to fighting online crime.

Roberta Grossman Producer

An award‐winning filmmaker, Grossman has written, directed and produced more than 40 hours of film and television. Her current project, Who Will Write Our History, about the secret Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, is set for release this year. Most recently, she co-directed Netflix original documentary film Seeing Allred (2018) about women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred — which premiered at Sundance. Grossman’s 2012 Hava Nagila (The Movie) uses the song Hava Nagila as a portal into 150 years of Jewish history, culture and spirituality. Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, Grossman’s 2008 film, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, aired on PBS, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and won the audience award at 13 Jewish film festivals. Grossman directed Above and Beyond (2014), for producer Nancy Spielberg, about the American–Jewish WWII pilots who volunteered to fight in Israel’s War of Independence. Grossman also produced the NEH supported Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning, which aired on PBS/American Masters in August 2014. Grossman was the series producer and co-writer of 500 Nations, the eight-hour CBS series on Native Americans hosted by Kevin Costner. Her film Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, aired on PBS in 2005.

July Hodara Co-Producer

July Hodara, Producer, worked on six award-winning documentary features directed by Roberta Grossman, including Above and Beyond (2014) with producer Nancy Spielberg, Netflix Original 2018 Sundance selection Seeing Allred (2018), 2019 Berlinale selection Who Will Write Our History (2018), and Reckonings (2022) in partnership with the Claims Conference and the German Ministry of Finance. In 2019, July founded New Moons Productions, a media company through which she develops projects, with a particular interest for women’s stories. Vishniac (2023), which she co-produced with director Laura Bialis, is her latest feature release. She is currently producing a series of films on the history of Lithuanian Jewry for the upcoming Lost Shtetl Museum in Lithuania.

Sophie Sartain Writer

Sophie Sartain is the director and producer of the Netflix Original Documentary Seeing Allred, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. She wrote, directed, produced and shot the documentary Mimi and Dona, which aired nationally on PBS/Independent Lens in 2015 and was named one of the best TV shows of the year by The New York Times. Sartain’s other credits include the 2014 documentary Above and Beyond (writer), produced by Nancy Spielberg and winner of the audience award at more than 20 film festivals; the 2012 documentary Hava Nagila (The Movie) (writer/producer), the opening or closing night film at more than 40 film festivals; and the Emmy-nominated 2008 film Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (writer/co-producer).

She has contributed as a writer and consultant on several film projects, including Ishi’s Return (2016), Rock in the Red Zone (2015), Hotel Everest (2017), Feminists: What Were They Thinking (2018) and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee (2010).

Sartain has been a film envoy with the American Film Showcase, a diplomacy program run by State Department in partnership with the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ America’s Media Maker grants, and is the recipient of grants from ITVS Open Call and the Fledgling Fund.

Chris Callister

Chris Callister is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker focused primarily on editing documentaries. In 2018, he finished the Netflix Original Documentary “Seeing Allred”, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was praised by The New York Times for its “excellent and well edited collection of news footage” charting attorney Gloria Allred’s legal fights and victories. Also in 2018, Chris was editor and 2nd Unit Director for the feature-length Holocaust documentary “Who Will Write Our History,” and served as an editor on the Netflix Original Documentary Series “Evil Genius”.

He has written and directed multiple music and concert videos for one of the most popular rock bands in the world, The Killers. Other editing credits include “Mimi and Dona” (2015) which aired on the PBS Series Independent Lens, “Hotel Everest” (2017), “Ishi’s Return” (2016), “Above and Beyond” (2014) and “Hava Nagila (The Movie)” (2012). Callister has previously edited for The History Channel, Universal Sports Network and the Sundance Institute. Chris received his master’s degree in film production from the University of Southern California in 2007. His student film “The Liar” (writer, director and editor) screened at numerous festivals including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Todd Boekelheide Composer

Having edited picture and sound, and having mixed numerous Oscar-winning films, Todd brings a wealth of filmmaking experience and sensitivity to his scoring work. Among his scoring credits are Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, Ballets Russes, Blessed is the Match, Who Will Write Our History, and Irmi.

While still actively scoring films, he has begun a new career path, co-directing a documentary with his wife Jen Bradwell.

James LeBrecht Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer

James LeBrecht has over 40 years of experience as a film and theater sound designer and mixer, filmmaker, author and disability rights activist. LeBrecht co-directed and co-produced, with Nicole Newnham, the 2021 Oscar nominated feature length documentary, Crip Camp. The film received the 2020 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for feature length documentary, the 2021 Independent Spirit award for Best Feature Documentary and a 2021 Peabody Award. Some of LeBrecht’s additional accomplishments include co-founding FWD-Doc, an organization that supports documentary filmmakers with disabilities. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Jim is a member of the Disability Futures Fellowship, an initiative of the Ford Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife Sara who was also a producer on Crip Camp.