Writer/Director, Ruth Sergel is the founder of Street Pictures whose award-winning films have been seen throughout the United States and Europe. Her most recent film, BELLE, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was made with the generous support of the Jerome Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts. BELLE can currently be seen on IFC. CUSP and BRUCE have screened at festivals worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films, Clermont-Ferrand, Boston Museum of Fine Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. CUSP was seen as part of the United Nations for the Special Session on Children and was aired on IFC. CUSP is distributed by Women Make Movies. Ruth’s debut short, BRUCE, was broadcast by PBS on The Short List and is distributed by BritShorts. All of Ruth’s films were shot on 35mm film.

Outside of her film work, Ruth established VOICES OF 9.11, a video oral history archive, which recorded the personal testimonies of over 550 witnesses, survivors and victims’ families in New York, Shanksville, and the Pentagon. The collection has been exhibited in New York and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. A selection of VOICES of 9.11 can be viewed: at www.hereisnewyork.org.

In 2004, Ruth inaugurated CHALK, a community-wide commemoration of the Triangle Factory Fire. Each year on the March 25 anniversary participants fan out across the city to inscribe in chalk the victims names & ages in front of their former homes. Fliers are left detailing the importance of the fire in labor history. At noon we join with UNITE! and the FDNY for a short ceremony at the site of the factory.

Currently Ruth is working with artist Alfred Carlo to create an interactive documentary about his life and paintings. AL was presented as a work-in-progress at the Troika Ranch Live-I Workshop at 3-Legged Dog in New York, 2005.

As a member of IATSE #600 (Cinematographers Guild) since 1990 Ruth has been privileged to work with many talented directors and cinematographers. She has served on panels at the IFP Market, Women Make Movies, Tribeca Film Festival and the Oral History Association’s annual meeting. Ruth is a founding member of 3D Directors’ Lab, winner of the IFP’s Project Involve pitch contest and a graduate of Swarthmore College. For more information on Ruth’s work please visit: www.streetpictures.com.

Pamela Griffiths was a producer on A FAMILY BUSINESS a feature-length documentary about the legendary plate camera makers the Gandolfi Brothers. A FAMILY BUSINESS recently screened at the National Film Theatre in London. Her other credits include Ruth Sergel’s CUSP and BELLE. Pamela spent many years producing still shoots in London and New York. She recently served as the New York Project Director for VOICES OF 9.11 at here is new york: a democracy of photographs. She is currently producing a feature documentary on Indonesia by filmmaker Star Reese.

Maya has always loved movies. She currently produces the Don’t Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival and teaches film studies at The New School University.

Judith is proud to be a part of the creative team behind BELLE. Her prior media credits include producing a documentary for the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts and work on a wide variety of video programs for major corporations. She is a professional actress with extensive experience in New York, regional theater and film, and has worked with Peter Brook’s Center for International Theatre in Paris. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, she is currently a teaching artist with the Lincoln Center Institute and a performance coach.

Nicole Franklin is an award-winning filmmaker whose credits include the feature length film I Was Made To Love Her: the Double Dutch Documentary (Sundance Channel, Numerous Festival Awards including Best Documentary at the Hollywood Black Film Festival), the short film The Double Dutch Divas! (Filmakers Library), and the television program Journeys In Black: The Jamie Foxx Biography (BET). Nicole also produced writer/director George Valencia’s short film Moment To Moment (Showtime Latino Filmmaker Award). Currently Nicole is filming Gershwin, Norway and the Artists‚ Libido: a Dialogue with Anne Brown, which profiles the soprano who originated the role of Bess in George Gershwin‚s Porgy and Bess.

Nicole directed and co-wrote with actor/writer/producer Peter Parros the short film Harlem Sistas Double Dutch (WNET Reel New York X ). She is currently producing four features, and is the author of several screenplays, including her double Dutch narrative When Sistas Jump.

Manfred has been shooting commercials, music videos and features for 15 years. His most recent feature, the indie comedy 'Glow Ropes, The Rise and Fall of a Bar Mitzvah Emcee', won the 2005 HBO Best Picture Award at the New York Latino Film Festival.

Manfred began his career working with creativity driven commercial directors, such as Kevin Godley, Rene Eller, Mark Story, Paul Meyer and Ernest Dickerson, which allowed him to establish a unique style and esthetic. Manfred's commerical work includes spots aired during Super Bowls and winners at the Cannes Advertising Festival, as well as many of the 'classic' Saturday Night Live satire commercials with cast members including Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. Manfred has also worked with most of the preeminent special effects houses in the U.S. such as Rhythm and Hues, Blue Sky, Greenberg Associates, Mass Illusion and Peter Corbet, which enabled him to acquire a thorough amount of knowledge about the potential and problem solving solutions cinematography can offer for special effects shoots.

In addition to his work on documentaries, Manfred lensed several features including The Suitors - directed by Ghasem Ebrahimian which was in the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and Under Heat directed by Peter Reed.