LitWings Filmmakers
VANESSA CROCINI
is an Italian filmmaker and Emmy nominated producer and journalist based in Los Angeles whose projects include Get Together Girls and The Empowerment Project. Vanessa’s work focuses on social impact issues, women’s empowerment, and the arts. vanessacrocini.com
MARCIA JARMEL AND KEN SCHNEIDER
are the founders of PatchWorks Films and have been creating award-winning documentaries for more than 20 years, including Havana Curveball and Speaking in Tongues. Their work is shown worldwide.
MICHAEL SHAPIRO
is the producer and co-director of Junkyard Alchemist, a film about a husband-and-wife team who create a fanciful carousel from junk. He is the author of A Sense of Place, a collection of interviews with the world’s top travel writers, and contributes to National Geographic Traveler and the Washington Post. michaelshapiro.net
BRIAN DAWSON
is a filmmaker based in San Francisco. In 2016 he was named a National Geographic Explorer. His stories are featured on Netflix, National Geographic Magazine and The New York Times. He has worked in South Sudan, India, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Nepal, Jordan and Switzerland. briandawson.com
HERVÉ COHEN
is a French-American award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. His work has taken him around the world from the Casamance, Senegal to the countryside of Sichuan, China, and has been aired on television networks and featured at various prestigious festivals. His project, Life Underground, presents people in subways in 14 cities around the world and is an art installment and an ongoing project. hervecohen.com
ERICA JORDAN
ERICA JORDAN’s award-winning documentary and narrative films have received acclaim at film festivals around the world. Her 2018 documentary “Seeing Slavery” was awarded Best Documentary Short at Amersterdam’s Around International Film Festival and Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ericajordan.net
ERNEST WHITE II
is the producer and host of the television travel docu-series Fly Brother, which premieres on PBS in 2020. The series highlights friendships and connections around the globe. His writing has been featured in Time Out London, USA Today, and at TravelChannel.com. Ernest recently attended the Cannes film festival.