TEAM
Sam Eilertsen
he/him
Sam is an activist, filmmaker and cinematographer. His debut documentary feature, currently in the late stages of post-production, is Israelism, which explores the American Jewish community’s shifting relationship to the Israel/Palestine conflict, and his second feature, Generation Green New Deal, which follows the youth climate activists of the Sunrise Movement is in late production.
His other credits include cinematography on the film Zuni in the Grand Canyon, which was produced in collaboration with the Zuni indigenous people and editing the boxing documentary Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story which was an official selection at TriBeCa in 2020.
Nate Birnbaum
he/him
Nate is an award-winning documentary Producer and creator who has made environmental and climate-focused storytelling his life’s work.
First, a Co-Founder and Board Director of the award-winning non-profit film production company, the American Resilience Project, Nate is currently the Creative Director of Tikkun Olam Productions, where, since 2018, he has been producing “Generation Green New Deal,” Tikkun Olam Production’s forthcoming feature documentary, and companion podcast, about the Sunrise Movement and the fight for a Green New Deal.
Nate is also leading development and producing for Tikkun Olam’s upcoming film series with Fossil Free Media about frontline environmental justice fights around the U.S.
Nik Damants
he/him
Nik is a writer, designer, and editor based in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to working on long term work with Tikkun Olam clients like Sunrise Movement and Jamaal Bowman, he has edited videos for commercial clients like Maker Studios (now Disney Digital) and GQ.
His cinematography can be seen in the documentary The Surrounding Game (2017).
Maggie Lemere
she/her
Maggie is a 2021 National Geographic Explorer, documentary filmmaker, oral historian and storytelling and social change strategist who hails from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and has worked across the U.S., Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Maggie is the co-founder of Rhiza, a women-led collective that uses storytelling, healing, organizing, and research to support social transformation and environmental justice—and she is currently directing and producing independent documentary films in the Middle East and Southeast Asia that explore communities’ efforts to protect the environment.
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Erin Axelman
they/them
Erin is a trans filmmaker and producer who has produced campaign videos for Jamaal Bowman, the Sunrise Movement, and many other progressive organizations and candidates.
They’re also co-directing the upcoming feature length documentary ‘Israelism’ on the changing nature of the American Jewish relationship to Israel, featuring Simone Zimmerman, Cornel West, Noam Chomsky, and many others.
Marielle Olentine
she/her
Marielle is multimedia storyteller and producer championing a collaborative and intuitive approach to filmmaking. From covering the Syrian Revolution to following presidential candidates on the campaign trail, her work has appeared on VICE, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, and HBO. She worked with director Erin Lee Carr to produce her first two HBO documentaries Thought Crimes (Tribeca) & Mommy Dead & Dearest (SXSW) and with director Ben Younger’s on Bleed for This (TIFF).
She is an alum of SFFILM’s Catapult Documentary Fellowship and the Gotham Documentary Lab for the upcoming film Palestinian film Three Promises. As a storyteller she seeks to weave together narratives that honor, celebrate and bridge differences, finding inspiration in the interconnectedness of nature and the devotion of story-keepers across the globe.
Pulkit Datta
he/him
Pulkit Datta is a producer, director, writer, and film programmer, with over a decade of experience, based in New York. He started his career assisting award-winning director Mira Nair and has since worked on a wide range of international projects.
He has worked on the creative development and production of scripted films, documentaries, commercials, short films, music videos and multimedia campaigns. His films have screened at festivals such as Toronto, Tribeca, Cinequest, Atlanta, Fantasia, and more. Pulkit has independently produced the feature documentary THE FORGETTING GAME, and is a producer on INVISIBLE, a feature documentary in post-production. He also produced the gun-violence themed short documentary DO WE BELONG?, which was released by The Atlantic and won several festival awards and was shortlisted for an IDA Award.
Pulkit is an Impact Partners Producing Fellow, Center for Asian American Media Fellow, and is an alum of IFP (USA), NFDC Film Bazaar (India), and Cine Qua Non Lab (Mexico).
Oliver Arias
he/him
Oliver 'Syde-Sho' Arias is a Dominican-American filmmaker from Providence, RI. He aims to use the power of film to highlight the lives of artists, activists, community members/organizers, and social/political movements.
He prides himself in being able to film amazing storytellers that bring life to the screen as he helps facilitate that process by creating a vulnerable and safe space that allows for the best stories to be told.