FILMAKERS

Director  Elizabeth Van Meter

Van Meter’s documentary work has taken her from the Andes Mountains of Peru to the Tohoku
region of Japan (Hand in Hand, Lincoln Center 2014). Elizabeth directed/prod. 40 short films for
Gorgeous Entertainment documenting the lives of Japanese Americans. Ms. Van Meter also
founded The Purpose Project, an organization searching out individuals who are bringing forth
change in their communities, helping them achieve a dream and sharing their stories. She premiered
her solo multi-media piece, The Purpose Project: Thao’s Library, at the Cherry Lane Theater, NYC,
with versions appearing throughout the US. Elizabeth is a graduate of UNCSA.

Director of Photography   Stephen Katz

Stephen is a staff photojournalist for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, VA. Before landing at The Virginia-Pilot, Katz’s photography career began at a twice-weekly newspaper in Ashland, Virginia, then moving on to Director of Photography for a chain of daily Media General newspapers in northern Virginia, followed by Photo Editor of The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, VA, and Senior Photographer at the Bangor (Maine) Daily News.

Katz’s work, shot throughout the United States and over fifty countries, including two war zones, has been published in several magazines and books and extensively exhibited. In 2008, Katz was selected from the top photographers worldwide to be named Newspaper Photographer of the Year (POY) by Pictures of the Year International. He has received numerous national and international photography awards, including top honors from the National Press Photographers Association’s (NPPA) Northern and Southern Short Courses, The Associated Press, Society of Newspaper Design and NPPA’s international Best of Photojournalism competition.

Editor   Leandro Badalotti

Leandro's directorial debut, the feature film New Immigrants, which documents the lives of recent arrivals to his hometown in southern Brazil, was chosen for funding in 2008 by the Brazilian Culture Fund and premiered on Brazilian public television. The following year he shot and edited Volume Um: Em Bom Som, a feature documentary about local rock bands from the 1980′s and ’90s in Southern Brazil.

Throughout 2011, Badalotti contributed as associate producer on several award winning projects at MediaStorm, including an Emmy nomination for A Darkness Visable: Afghanistan.

In 2012, Leandro joined director Simon Schorno and photographer Tara Todras-Whitehill to shoot video in south Yemen and associate produce the award winning short documentary, I Know Where I’m Going, for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Associate Producers: Amber Ford, Jennifer Wiley-Stockton, Leandro Badalotti, Andrew Dragoumis, Laurie Brown-Kindred
2nd camera: Elizabeth Van Meter, Chris Tyree, Kyle McKeveny
Additional Video: Leandro Badalotti
Still Photography: Stephen M. Katz & James Van Meter
Vietnam Fixers: Hillary Brown & Mr. Dat
Translators in Vietnam: Vanessa Degenhardt, Duong Huy Duc, Tu Nguyen
Field Manager in Vietnam: Amber Ford
Driver in Country: Mr. Lai
Boom Operator/Field Sounds in Vietnam: Amber Ford
Music provided by: Ah2 & Elias Music
Post Production Sound Services: Pete Serenita at ProMedia
Original Song: Back to Shore by David Sicherman
Transcription: Tan T. Vo, Duc Nguyen, Hoa Vu
Copy Editor: Corinne Van Meter
Animation: Sarah Riazati
Graphics: Joe Fuller
Cast: Thanh Thao Huynh, Vicki Van Meter, Elizabeth Van Meter, Nguyen Thi Xuan, Huynh Van Ru, Huynh Tieu Thu, Stephen M. Katz, Vanessa Degenhardt,     Le Phat An, Nguyen Van Thuong, Duong Huy Duc, Le Thi Cam Tien, Nguyen Thi Nhu Hao, Pham Tan Loc, Nguyen Thi Bich Nhu, Vo Trang