Barbara Kopple
Director / Producer
Barbara Kopple produced and directed HARLAN COUNTY, USA and AMERICAN DREAM, both winners of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 1991, HARLAN COUNTY, USA was named to the National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress and designated an American Film Classic. The film was restored and preserved by the Women’s Preservation Fund and the Academy Film Archive and featured as part of the Sundance Collection at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. The Criterion Collection released a DVD of HARLAN COUNTY, USA in 2006. HARLAN COUNTY, USA is currently streaming on Criterion Channel and on HBO/MAX. Barbara is also a nine-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Heading up Cabin Creek Films in New York City, Barbara is a director and producer of documentaries, scripted films, episodic television and commercials, she recently completed the documentary DESERT ONE about the daring US Special Ops mission during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, which had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival was released theatrically by Greenwich Entertainment in August 2020 followed by a broadcast on HISTORY beginning September 12, 2021. Other films include NEW HOMELAND, documenting a group of refugee children from Syria and Iraq who experience a summer camp in the Canadian wilderness (premiered at DOC NYC 2018); A MURDER IN MANSFIELD, examining the murder trial in the 1990’s where a son testified against his father for the murder of his mother (premiere-DOC NYC 2017); with Sara Dosa, she directed "REMASTERED: TRICKY DICK AND THE MAN IN BLACK, nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award; THIS IS EVERYTHING; GIGI GORGEOUS, chronicling the life and family of Internet sensation Gigi Gorgeous (premiere-Sundance Film Festival 2017); MISS SHARON JONES premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was the opening night film at DOC NYC and received a 2017 Emmy Nomination; SHELTER for Al Jazeera America in 2015 about homeless vets; HOT TYPE: 150 YEARS OF THE NATION examines America's oldest continuously published weekly magazine; RUNNING FROM CRAZY premiered at Sundance in 2013 and received a 2014 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special; FIGHT TO LIVE exposes the roadblocks imposed by the current FDA approvals process; A FORCE OF NATURE celebrates the life and work of journalist and philanthropist Ellen Ratner; GUN FIGHT explores the place of guns in US culture; THE HOUSE OF STEINBRENNER, part of ESPN’s Emmy nominated “30 for 30” series, received a 2010 Peabody Award as well as the International Documentary Association Award for Best Continuing Series. The Emmy-nominated, WOODSTOCK, NOW AND THEN, looks back at the legacy of the historic music festival, 40 years later. Well known for her work on US labor issues, Barbara directed STEAMFITTERS: LOCAL UNION 638 in 2007 for HBO’s acclaimed Addiction Series. The New York Times likened this short documentary to “crisp tonic with lime.” This program was awarded the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences Governor’s Award. Barbara produced and directed, SHUT UP AND SING, following the Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) and the fallout they faced after publicly criticizing President Bush; A CONVERSATION WITH GREGORY PECK, a film portrait of the legendary actor; THE HAMPTONS, a four-hour mini-series for ABC; MY GENERATION, examining the Woodstock legacy and Generation X; and FALLEN CHAMP: THE UNTOLD STORY OF MIKE TYSON, for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing. She directed the feature nonfiction film, WILD MAN BLUES about the European tour of Woody Allen and his jazz band, for which she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary. Barbara also produced the HBO documentary AMERICAN STANDOFF, which chronicled an 18-month strike of the Teamsters Union against Overnight Transportation, and the A&E documentary BEARING WITNESS about female war correspondents working in Iraq. Barbara was a member of the WINTER SOLDIER COLLECTIVE, which created the film WINTER SOLDIER. Other nonfiction films include THE DC SNIPER'S WIFE, a documentary that lookS at the life of Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of infamous DC sniper, John Allen Muhammad; HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: TTHE MUSIC IN YOU, following students performing a stage adaptation of “High School Musical.”; NO NUKES, a "rockumentary" shot during five days of concerts at Madison Square Garden and distributed by Warner Brothers; DEFENDING OUR DAUGHTERS, an investigation into women’s human rights issues in Bosnia, Pakistan and Egypt and winner of a Voices of Courage Award; WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL?, a short documentary made for the Alliance for Justice, which explores the issue of immigration law. Barbara also directed a series of specials for the Disney Channel, including FRIENDS FOR LIFE: LIVING WITH AIDS, the first show about AIDS to air on that network. She also co-created, produced and directed I MARRIED..., a series for VH1 about the spouses and families of rock stars. Barbara directed the narrative feature HAVOC, starring Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips and Freddy Rodriguez and written by Stephen Gaghan. The film follows a group of wealthy teenagers coming of age and searching for an identity in Los Angeles. She directs episodic television and commercial spots. Her television work includes episodes of HBO'S OZ and NBC'S Homicide, for which she won a DGA Award for Outstanding Direction. Barbara has directed commercial spots for companies such as American Greetings, Sprint, Applebee’s, Dove, Intel, Target, The Tiger Woods Foundation, Pearl Vision and the Children’s Defense Fund. Barbara has been awarded the Human Rights Watch Film Festival Irene Diamond Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, National Society of Film Critics Award, the SilverDocs/Charles Guggenheim Award, New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award, the Maya Deren Independent Film and Video Award, the Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Award, Women in Film & Video of Washington, DC Women of Vision Award, the White House Project’s EPIC Award, the International Documentary Association Career Achievement Award, the San Francisco Film Society’s Persistence of Vision Award, the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, Filmmakers Trophy & Audience Award, the Sarasota Film Festival Director’s Award, and the Nantucket Film Festival’s Special Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking Award. The Paley Center for Media has named Barbara a 2007 "She Made It Honoree.” She recently served her tenth year on the board of trustees for the American Film Institute and continues as an advisory board member for the American University Center for Social Media and Independent Feature Project’s Filmmaker Labs. In 2010, Barbara received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from American University. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Director’s Guild of America, New York Women in Film and Television’s Honorary Board, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and actively participates in organizations that address social issues and support independent filmmaking.
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David Cassidy
Producer
David Cassidy is a Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated Documentary Producer. He has produced documentary series and features with two-time Academy Award winning director Barbara Kopple and Cabin Creek Films for over fifteen years. He recently premiered "Desert One" at the Toronto International Film Festival (History, 2020), which tells the story of the Iran Hostage Crisis with a particular focus on the American rescue mission Operation Eagle Claw. He served as producer on the MTV Movie Award Nominated film "This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous" (YouTube Red, 2017) which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Films Festival. He previously premiered "Miss Sharon Jones!" (Starz/Netflix, 2016) at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows the charismatic soul singer through her recent cancer struggle and return to the stage. In 2018, he produced the well-received true-crime doc "A Murder in Mansfield" (Investigation Discovery, 2018). Cassidy produced the Emmy Nominated documentary "Running from Crazy" (OWN, 2013) which had its’ world premiere at Sundance 2013 and aired in Spring 2014. Engaging his passion for baseball, Cassidy produced "The House of Steinbrenner" (ESPN, 2010) which aired as part of ESPN's Peabody Award Winning 30 for 30 series. He produced the verité documentary "Shut Up & Sing", produced & directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck (2006), about The Chicks. Cassidy continues to produce with Cabin Creek Films where he is currently working on a broad development slate. Outside the office he lives in Red Bank, New Jersey with his wife, son, and four cats, where he is proud to serve as a volunteer firefighter and member of the Boro Planning Board.
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Hannes Hosp
Producer / Editor
Hannes Hosp is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor based in New York City. His editing credits include Barbara Kopple’s vérité-driven civil rights documentary Gumbo Coalition, which celebrated its international premiere at IDFA in 2022 and screened as the Centerpiece film at DOCNYC. Other editing credits include PBS Frontline’s Right to Fail, which won the Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary, and The Crown Prince, a two-hour documentary special on repression and reform in Saudi Arabia and the Khashoggi murder. The film has been selected as a finalist for the 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards. He co-edited Targeting El Paso, a documentary about the Central American refugee crisis at America’s southern border, and he co-produced and edited The Virus, a feature-length documentary on the government’s mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the height of the first coronavirus wave in New York, he was a cinematographer for Rescuing her Father, which won a News & Documentary Emmy in 2021. His documentary work aired nationally, screened at festivals, and appeared in The New York Times and ProPublica. He was a visiting global scholar at New York University and studied at Tisch School of the Arts, and he completed a one-year analog film program at the Friedl Kubelka School for Independent Film in Vienna, Austria. His filmmaking interests span from character-driven investigative to observational documentaries to experimental film.
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Genevieve Sawicz
Assistant Editor
Genevieve has many years experience story producing for unscripted series on network television, including Project Runway, Jay Leno's Garage, and Cutthroat Kitchen. She is passionate about film diplomacy and has produced and edited videos with non-profit organizations to promote international cultural exchange, especially between Japan and the U.S.
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Maria Burgos
Associate Producer
Maria Burgos is a producer and creative writer with two years of experience working in unscripted series for network television including, Married at First Sight and Drive With Swizz Beatz. She is the host and curator of a monthly poetry night called SpeakEasy, which takes place at a local bar in Washington Heights.
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Maureen Dougherty
Line Producer
Maureen Dougherty studied fine art at Carnegie Mellon University and the NY Studio School. She has spent the last twenty-five years in the film industry, the last sixteen of which at Cabin Creek Films. In 2003, her own production company, MOJO FILMS, Inc was incorporated. Currently two films are in production, “Failure Is Not An Option” is about the Abysinian Development Corporation’s creation of the first high school to be built in Harlem in over fifty years (the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change), which opened the 50th Anniversary of Brown versus the Board of Education, and “Listening to the Mountain” which is about the first US Outward Bound Instructor Tap Tapley and the future of outdoor education in today’s virtual world.
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Jacob Gries
Production Assistant
Jacob is a recent graduate of New York University, where he studied longform storytelling and received his Master's in Journalism. He's long been an attentive, engaged media consumer and has written about several different topics, from politics to digital art to niche professional sports. He's been working for Cabin Creek since September of 2022.
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Annabel Wang
Intern
A recent graduate, Annabel Wang holds a BFA in Film and Television from NYU. She has written, directed, and edited a variety of student narrative projects, music videos, and short form documentaries, taking a keen interest in the field of post-production. Passionate about a varied range of topics, she aims to further promote unique and underrepresented voices within the filmic medium."
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Emrys Ellis
Intern
Emrys is currently a senior at SUNY New Paltz, where he is studying film production and writing. His current documentary project follows Persian musicians bringing their compositions and tuning systems to restrictive Western music conservatories. Emrys is interested in handheld, vérité shooting and is drawn to intersections of art, environmental issues, and progressive movements.
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Jaylan Matthews
Intern
Jaylan is from Southern Queens, New York and is a graduate from School of Visual Arts with a bachelors in 2D Animation. Drawing from young, and being a long time lover of animation, he always wanted his future to be aligned with the arts. Jaylan is currently working towards a career as a Graphic Artist, as well as being involved in Motion Design/VFX. He has experience working as part of the Graphics team during the 2021 US Open event and as a Vault Manager for two post houses. As a lover of fashion, Jaylan also had the pleasure of creating a video promo for Dekopon Fashion Magazine that utilized footage, motion graphics, and typography to create fun visuals that aligned with the brand identity. As a participant of the Made In New York Post Production Training program, he hopes to continue working on interesting projects within the post production industry.
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Jason Diana Gross
Intern
Jason Diana Gross (he/him) is a third year student at NYU Tisch’s Dramatic Writing Program. An NYC local, he puts his background in park maintenance with the Harlem Youth Gardeners to work on NYU student film sites, and spends his free time writing short plays about nature.
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Eve Rafael
Intern
Eve Rafael is currently a senior BFA Film student at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) with a concentration in Directing. Eve's film festival directorial and co-writing debut, Push, won the Audience Favorite Award at the New York 48 hour Film Festival 2023. She is thrilled to be interning at Cabin Creek Films, and looks forward to technical and artistic growth within the craft.
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Carly Mattox
Intern
Carly Mattox is a culture writer and researcher based in New York. Her writing has appeared in Documentary Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and MUBI Notebook, among others, and she produces video essays for Little White Lies. She studied journalism at NYU and graduated from the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England, with a master’s degree in film studies, programming, and curation. An amateur ballroom dancer in her free time, her critical interests lie at the intersection of dance, ritual, documentary film, and collective action.
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