Dawn Mikkelson (Executive Producer/Director/Writer)

2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow Dawn Mikkelson’s work has been seen on PBS, OUTtv, and Free Speech TV, and has screened at numerous international festivals including the Galway Film Fleadh, Cambridge Film Festival, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, DocuFest Atlanta, Leipzig DOK Market, American Indian Film Festival, Planet in Focus, and Washington DC Environmental Film Festival. Mikkelson has completed four award-winning independent feature documentaries, The Red Tail, Green Green Water, THIS obedience, and Treading Water: a documentary, which illuminate larger societal issues while creating understanding through the intimate stories of individuals.

A former television news reporter at an ABC affiliate, Mikkelson often speaks and writes on issues around documentary filmmaking and social justice for MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) and MovieMaker Magazine and at festival panels, colleges, and universities. Mikkelson has taught Documentary Film as Adjunct Faculty at Ottawa University in Kansas, as well as at IFP Minnesota. In 2006 Mikkelson’s film, Hope for Recovery: Understanding Mental Illness (produced in collaboration with Twin Cities Public Television and NAMI-MN) won the Eric Sevareid Award by the Northwest Broadcast News Association (NBNA).

Miranda Wilson (Producer)

Miranda Wilson is a producer and fundraiser with a background in radio, television, politics, and non-profit communications. Her production resume includes work for the Food Network (Outrageous Food, Good Deal with Dave Lieberman) and Sundance Channel (The Al Franken Show), and she has served as Finance Director for Keith Ellison for U.S. Congress, Deputy Finance Director for Paul Hackett for U.S. Senate, and Director of National Communications for Clean Water Action. She has also engaged in a variety of fundraising and communications projects with non-profits, including Youth to Youth International, DC Schools Project, New York Theological Seminary, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Global Citizens Network.

Miranda's work has led her abroad to Cantel, Guatemala; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading, gardening, watching tv on the internets, and dancing to pop songs while driving in her car.

Jesse Roesler (Director of Photography, Cambodia)

Jesse is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker whose work has been screened internationally in venues such as South By Southwest Film Festival and on Current TV. Jesse is also the Story Director and Partner at Bolster, a brand engagement agency specializing in digital storytelling across a variety of media. All of Jesse’s creations can be viewed at www.jesseroesler.com, his independent short films at www.deliciousfilmworks.com, and client work at www.bolstercreative.com.

Adrian Danciu (Director of Photography, International Locations)

Adrian is an award-winning cameraman who started his career in Romania where he
worked for Romanian Television and was involved with projects ranging from breaking news and documentary 
dramas to educational videos. His assignments took him from crowded city streets to remote regions of the Carpathian Mountains and to underwater caves of the Banat region. He is also credited in documentaries for Duna TV and Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary and WDR in Germany.

Upon moving to Minneapolis, MN in 1999 Adrian contributed to programs for NBC, PBS, and several production companies. He also enjoyed photographing treasure hunters for National Geographic Television in the Gulf of Mexico, flew around the world with the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, the Caroline Rhea Show, and was Director of Photography on Mikkelson’s film, The Red Tail. He is currently in production on a story about our ancestors: The Early Humans in Europe.

Matt Ehling (Director of Photography USA/Associate Producer)

Matt Ehling is a producer, cinematographer, and writer who works in both television and radio. His original documentary programs have aired on PBS, IFC, and Bravo. His St. Paul-based company, ETS Pictures, produces a variety of television and film work, including material that has been seen on Court TV, PBS, and at the Sundance Film Festival. Matt is a founding member and former board member of the Midwest Media Arts Access Center. His films include Access, a journey into the dark recess of the American psyche via the medium of cable access television, and Forbidden City, an investigation of the growth of privatized, gate-guarded communities in suburban America. He recently helped shoot Of Dolls and Murder, a documentary on dollhouse crime scene dioramas.

Kevin Beacham (Music Supervisor)

Kevin Beacham, a well-known and respected underground Hip Hop educator-activist who has spoken around the world on Hip Hop culture, politics, and history, is a Marketing Manager at Fifth Element/Rhymesayers, Co-Director of the Institute for Hip Hop Knowledge at Hamline University, and faculty member at the Institute of Production & Recording.

Another key project that Kevin Beacham has invested a great deal of time in is his RedefineHipHop Initiative. This is a massive undertaking of extensive research, data collections, and archives of all things Hip Hop. After approximately fifteen years of dedication, it is now being developed into a fully functional website.

Kevin plans to continue and cultivate his devotion to Hip Hop Education and assist young minds in understanding not only the importance of Hip Hop, its history and effects on society, but also how they can be involved in the culture as participants, contributors, activists, artists, educators, and a host of other options. Beyond the tools he is already using, Kevin is also now actively offering his extensive experience to schools and community centers with professional and informative lectures. 

Monte Swann (2nd Camera/Grip/Intern/WebVideoEditor)  

Monte Swann is a documentary story teller based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul MN. He is driven by an intense interest in the human experience, and enjoys the magic of an editing room almost as much as the magic of a one on one interview. “To meet people who I may not have otherwise met, whether it be in a new and exotic location or my own seemingly familiar neighborhood. Not only to meet new and interesting people and hear their stories but to be able to share these stories with others is a real gift.”

Louisa Hext (Associate Producer)

Louisa spent her formative years in the United Kingdom, moving to the United States in 2006. Inspired by her personal and professional journey, she transitioned from a 22 year career serving county, state and non-profit organizations to launching her mediation and diversity firm, consultants hext in 2010.  Her creative and positive energy lends itself well to her favorite question, "What will it take to make it possible." She is a passionate change maker committed to leveraging resources for the common good. Louisa's commitment is to provide affordable, accessible services supporting individuals and families to create a life of purpose and meaning.  Louisa's exciting focus is with internationally acclaimed The Forgiveness Project , and it's associated traveling exhibition, The F Word | Images of Forgiveness.  The uses real stories of victims and perpetrators to explore concepts of forgiveness, and to encourage people to consider alternatives to resentment, retaliation and revenge 

Heidi Tungseth (Grip/Intern)

Heidi Tungseth has produced and acted in her own independent films and worked on larger

productions (A Serious Man, A Prairie Home Companion, Jingle All the Way). She holds a Masters of Education in Art, BA in Philosophy and a certificate from Wheaton College’s international Human Needs and Global Resources program. In her previous teaching position she created collaborative online initiatives connecting high school Minnesotan students with South African and Palestinian students, and designed curriculum centered on her own video footage of interviews with artists in Cuba, Rwanda, South Africa, Ecuador, Thailand, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Jeesun Choi (Social Media/Outreach Intern) 

Jeesun is social media/outreach intern with experiences in communications, marketing and editorial work. She has edited and produced Macalester College's educational film 'Overcoming Hate and Bias' and curated The Soap Factory's Ten Second Film Festival. In 2007, she participated in International Youth Media Summit and produced a Public Service Announcement on women's rights which was shown in youth film festivals in Los Angeles and Belgrade. Most recently, she has worked with Minnesota Fringe Festival and MPLS.TV . A candidate for Bachelor of Arts in English and Theater from Macalester College, she continues to share stories through film, theater and text.