TEAM
YAEL BRIDGE (DIRECTOR-PRODUCER) is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Her first feature documentary, The Big Scary "S" Word, traces the history and resurgence of socialism in the U.S. and premiered at Hot Docs and sold to Hulu. Her second feature, Who Moves America, was funded by ITVS and is premiering at the True/False Film Fest 2026. She produced Classroom 4, which was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award, shortlisted for an Academy Award, and broadcast on POV. She also produced Left on Purpose, winner of the Audience Award at DOC NYC, and Saving Capitalism, a Netflix Original, starring former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, which was nominated for an Emmy Award. As Director of Productions at Inequality Media, she created viral videos unpacking complex political issues that gained over 200 million views on social media. Yael was included in DOCNYC's 40 Under 40 list and was President of the Documentary Producers Alliance, where she now sits on the board. She holds an MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University and an MA in Media Studies from the New School.
JEREMY FLOOD (PRODUCER) is a filmmaker, producer, and editor who has worked alongside political campaigns, unions, and advocacy organizations for over a decade. Recent films include A Company Town about fracking and The Facility, cataloging abuses at a private immigration detention center. After spending years in the labor movement with the United Auto Workers, Jeremy now works as a digital producer for the Mayor of New York.
YONI GOLIJOV (PRODUCER) is an Academy Award-nominated producer. Most recently, Golijov produced Cover-Up (2025, dir. Poitras & Obenhaus) about the work of journalist Seymour Hersh; the film premiered at Venice and was acquired by Netflix. Previously, Golijov produced two features, three shorts, and three exhibitions by Laura Poitras, including the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed about Nan Goldin. It won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice International Film Festival. He has received fellowships from Sundance, Impact Partners, The Gotham, and NBC Original Voices, has been nominated for an Academy Award, two BAFTAs, a Gotham, and a PGA award, and has won a Peabody and an Independent Spirit Award. He previously worked across features and shorts at Field of Vision.
MARS VERRONE (PRODUCER) is a filmmaker, musician, and educator. Their most recent film, BUCKSKIN, is premiering at True/False Fest 2026. As a first-time producer, Mars developed and produced Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary UNION (2024, dir. Stephen Maing, Brett Story), which premiered at Sundance in the U.S. Documentary Competition and won a special jury prize for “The Art of Change.” As producer, Mars received a Cinema Eye Honors Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Production.” The film was distributed by PBS POV and the Criterion Channel. Mars is a Sundance Documentary Producers Fellow, NBC Original Voices Artist Mentor and Fellow, PGA Create Fellow, Firelight Media Impact Fellow, Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist Fellow, Dear Producer Mentee, and was selected for DOC NYC’S 2024 “40 Under 40” cohort.
THOMAS NILES (EDITOR) has edited films that have won awards at Sundance, Cannes, and Hot Docs. His most recent feature film, The Body Politic, premiered on PBS and was nominated for a 2025 New and Doc Emmy for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. Other works include 12 O'Clock Boys, which is featured on Paste Magazine's “100 Best Documentaries of All Time,” Ghosts of Sugarland, an Oscar-shortlisted Cinema Eye Honors winner, and Karen Dalton: In My Own Time, executive produced by Wim Wenders.
VIRIDIANA LIEBERMAN (CONSULTING EDITOR) is a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Most recently she edited Academy Award-nominated “The Perfect Neighbor," and with Quinn Wilson she co-directed “Jean-Michel." Previously, she edited the feature documentary “I Am Evidence" (HBO), which won a 2019 News & Doc Emmy for Best Documentary and the short documentary “Love the Sinner" (Tribeca 2017). She edited “Special Olympics: 50 Years of Changing the Game" which aired in 2018 on ABC and ESPN and “The Sentence" (HBO), which won the 2018 Sundance Film Festival US Documentary Audience Award and the 2019 Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. In 2019, she edited “Stonewall: The Making of a Monument" for New York Times Op-Docs and “Call Center Blues" which premiered at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival. Also in 2020, her solo directorial debut, “Born To Play", premiered on ESPN.
ERICK STOLL (DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, CO-PRODUCER) is a non-fiction filmmaker whose work has focused on labor, gentrification, and capitalism. Erick co-directed the feature documentary América, which was nominated for Peabody and Independent Spirit Awards, and was the cinematographer on the Academy Award-winning documentary American Factory.
OSEI ESSED (COMPOSER) is a multi-platform artist whose recent film credits (as a composer) include Who Moves America (True False 2026), March Forth (Tribeca 2026) and Creede U.S.A. (SXSW 2025). Other current projects include the Brooklyn based band WolfSuit (album release summer 2026).
SANTIAGO ARIAS-ROZO (COMPOSER) is a Bogotá-born composer and sound artist. He has worked on films such as The Promised Land, Woman of the Hour, Zurawski v Texas, and Being Eddie. As a sound artist, his work includes the gallery exhibition For What I am Seems So Fleeting and Intangible. He enjoys beekeeping, watching baseball, and listening to Bach.
ISABEL LYNDON (CO-PRODUCER) is a filmmaker and journalist. She has contributed to documentaries and series from PBS FRONTLINE, McGee Media, and the Investigative Reporting Program. She holds a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
MIREYA MARTINEZ (CO-PRODUCER) is a Mexican-American filmmaker, writer, and producer. Her sole pursuit is to tell and support stories that make palpable the human experience in all of its tatteredness, fragility, magnitude, and joy. Mireya is a Sundance Institute Fellow, MacDowell Fellow, and a Bogliasco Fellow. Her works and collaborations have screened at festivals worldwide, including San Sebastian, Sundance, True/False, New Directors/New Films, and IFFR, amongst others. She holds an MFA in Film Direction from the California Institute of the Arts.
BRYN SILVERMAN (CO-PRODUCER) is a documentary filmmaker based in Louisville, KY. She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2024. Her latest film, Expression of Illness, was a finalist for the DX x Reel South Award at the Double Exposure Film Festival and premiered at the True/False Film Fest. Recently, she produced The People Could Fly (Blackstar, Big Sky, New Orleans, Hot Springs 2024) and Tidal (DOC NYC 2023).
ALISHA TEJPAL (CO-PRODUCER) is an Indian filmmaker, writer, and editor whose work and collaborations have screened at festivals and venues worldwide, including Sundance, IFFR, San Sebastian, and MoMA, among others. Her first short film LATA won multiple awards and was acquired by Mubi, Arte, and the Criterion Channel. Alisha’s work has received support from the Sundance Institute, Film at Lincoln Center, and the Points North Institute, and she was recently awarded a MacDowell and Bogliasco Fellowship. She holds an MFA in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts.
JUN STINSON YAMAGISHI (SUPERVISING PRODUCER) is a Supervising Producer at ITVS where she oversees a slate of multiplatform documentaries for public media. She has a track record of producing nuanced and high-impact documentaries and series for streaming, broadcast, and social media. Her past work can be seen on Showtime, Netflix, and The New Yorker, amongst others. Jun helped launch AJ+, where she produced the award-winning series Untold America and Direct From. She also independently directed and produced the documentary Futbolistas 4 Life. Projects she’s worked on have garnered an Edward R. Murrow and Sports Emmy award, as well as multiple Regional Emmy awards.
STEVEN BOGNAR (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) is an Ohio-based documentary filmmaker, whose films include American Factory 美国工厂, A Lion in the House, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, and 9to5 – The Story of a Movement, all co-directed with his late partner Julia Reichert. Bognar’s solo films include Personal Belongings, Picture Day, Foundry Night Shift, and Last Reel. Bognar has guest lectured at Harvard, Yale and Stanford Universities, and has taught filmmaking for over 25 years. He is a two-time Peabody Award nominee, a two-time Primetime Emmy® winner, an Academy Award® winner and a member of the Motion Picture Academy.
ASTRA TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) is a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker (Zizek! Examined Life, What Is Democracy?), writer, activist, and musician. She is a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on challenging predatory practices around debt. A renowned scholar and organizer, her most recent book, “Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea,” is an in-depth examination of this often invoked but poorly analyzed concept — framing solidarity as a potent political movement with potential to effect lasting change.
CARRIE LOZANO (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, and media executive. Prior to ITVS, she was director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film and Artist Programs, launched and directed the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Documentary Fund, and was a documentary executive at Al Jazeera America and a senior producer of the Award-winning investigative series Fault Lines. In addition to serving on ProPublica’s board of directors, Lozano serves on the advisory boards of U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and PBS FRONTLINE, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.