Team
Camilla Calamandrei
Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Camilla is an award-winning director and producer of independent feature documentaries who spent a year embedded in the Center School in NYC, capturing the daily life of students and teachers, and the principal Elaine Schwartz. Camilla’s previous films, include: The Tiger Next Door (Animal Planet), Prisoners in Paradise (PBS) and children’s media for The Jim Henson Company, LEGO, and Scholastic. Program Manager for Clinton Global Initiative (CGI America) and Head of Programs for Urban Green Council. MA, Documentary Film Production, Stanford University. BA, Literature, Brown University.
Bernadine Colish
Editor
Bernadine has edited numerous compelling and thoughtful, award-winning documentaries, including: A Secret Love, Truman and Tennessee, Love, Cecil, Herb & Dorothy, Peggy Guggenheim, A Whale of a Tale, Bringing Tibet Home, Band of Sisters, The Tiger Next Door, Body of War, Rise and Dream, Absolute Wilson, The Buffalo War, Muslims, Beyond the Motor City, A Touch of Greatness, Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser, Toru Takemitsu: Music for the Movies, Ella Fitzgerald: Something To Live For.
Judith Helfand
Story Consultant
Judith is an award-winning filmmaker, best known for the Sundance award winning, Emmy nominated Blue Vinyl, Peabody Award-winning A Healthy Baby Girl, Everything’s Cool, Cooked, and Love and Stuff.
Joel Goodman, Aaron Srdoc
Composers
Garry Waller
Graphics & Animation
Neil Benezra
Supervising Sound editor and Re-Recording Mixer
Alex Noyes
Dialogue Editor
Donaldson, Callif, Perez
Clearance Counsel
Women Make Movies
Non-profit Fiscal Sponsor
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Nancy Deutsch
Director, Youth-Nex Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Penny Bishop
Dean, College of Education and Human Development
University of Maine
Stephanie Simpson
CEO, AMLE (Association for Middle Level Education)
James Nagle
Co-Director, Middle Grades Collaborative
Niobe Way, PhD
Consulting Subject Matter Expert, Psychology & Adolescence
Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University
Past President for the Society for Research on Adolescence
PhD Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University
NIMH postdoctoral fellow, Psychology Department, Yale Univ. re. social and emotional development of adolescents.
Editor & Author books/articles, including: “The Crisis of Connection: Roots, Consequences, and Solutions” (NYU Press, 2018); Featured in David Brooks’ NY Times editorial column October 12, 2018
Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships (Harvard Univ. Press, 2011),
Research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, The National Science Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, The Spencer Foundation.
Ron Taffel, PhD
Consulting Subject Matter Expert: Child Development & Adolescence
Chairman of the Board, Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy
PhD Clinical Psychology, New York University
Director of Treatment, Child and Adolescent Division,
Downstate Medical Center
Author eight books re. child/family development, adolescence, parenting, psychotherapy, including: “Childhood Unbound.”
Penny Bishop, EdD
Consulting Subject Matter Expert: Middle School Education
Dean, College of Education and Human Development, Univ. of Maine
Past Professor of Middle Grades Education, University of Vermont
Founding Director of the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education
EdD Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Vermont
Sr. Advisor and Past Chair, American Educational Research Assoc. Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group
Co-Director of Middle Grades Collaborative
Author of seven books, including: The Successful Middle School (Assoc. for Middle Level Education, 2021)
Lisa Harrison, PhD
Consulting Subject Matter Expert: Middle School Education,
Diverse Learners, Educational Equity, Teacher Education
Professor, Ohio University
Middle Childhood Education program coordinator
PhD Middle School Education, University of Georgia
Researcher, teacher educator, former middle school teacher
Cheryl R. Ellerbrock, PhD
Discussion Guide Development, Lead
Associate Professor, University of South Florida
AERA’s Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group Chair
Coordinator of Undergraduate Middle Grades Education Program
Doctoral Teacher Education Program Co-Coordinator
Ph.D. Curriculum, Teaching, & Teacher Education, University of Florida