
Recent titles she has worked on include Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s Academy Award-winning AMERICAN FACTORY, Alejandro Landes’ MONOS, Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s RBG, Alfonso Cuaron’s ROMA, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND, Steve James’ series AMERICA TO ME, Sebastián Lelio’s Academy Award-winning A FANTASTIC WOMAN, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk’s AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER, Tom McCarthy’s Academy Award-winning SPOTLIGHT, Cary Fukunaga’s BEASTS OF NO NATION, Joshua Oppenheimer’s Academy Award-nominated THE LOOK OF SILENCE and Morgan Neville’s BEST OF ENEMIES.
Prior to joining Participant, Kim ran her own marketing/distribution consultancy, Inside Job where she worked on festival launches, theatrical release campaigns and/or awards campaigns for the Academy Award-winning films IDA and UNDEFEATED, the Oscar-nominated THE ACT OF KILLING; MARGIN CALL; RESTREPO; Academy Award-nominated WINTER'S BONE; the critically-acclaimed STORIES WE TELL; GLORIA, amongst others.
As EVP of Marketing for Warner Independent Pictures from 2003 to 2008, Kim was responsible for campaigns for films such as BEFORE SUNSET; MARCH OF THE PENGUINS; PARADISE NOW; and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK. Prior to that, at MPRM where she lead the company’s film practice, she worked on campaigns for such films as IN THE BEDROOM, THE PIANIST, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, CAPTURING THE FREIDMANS, MONSOON WEDDING, BEING JOHN MALCOVICH, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, SHINE, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, HAPPINESS, MURIEL'S WEDDING, THE WAR ROOM, and countless others. She also handled media strategy for organizations such as Sundance Institute, Good Machine, Strand Releasing, Propaganda Films, Film Independent Spirit Awards as well as a number of film festivals.
A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Kim also serves on the Board of Directors for Film Independent. She has served on numerous juries at festivals such as Sundance, CPH DOX, etc. Kim co-wrote “I Wake Up Screening: What to Do Once You’ve Made that Movie” with film critic John Anderson, which was released by Billboard Books.
Federoff has been a cornerstone to NEON’s success since its launch and under her leadership NEON made history with four Academy Award® wins for Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which grossed over $53 million at the box office becoming the third highest grossing foreign language film ever released in the US. In just three years, NEON has garnered 12 Academy Award® nominations, 5 wins, including Best Picture, grossed over $150M at the Box Office, and amassed a library of over 50 films with noteworthy releases such as: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov’s award-winning and record-breaking HONEYLAND, which is the first non-fiction feature to land Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film in the same year; Todd Douglas Miller’s APOLLO 11, the highest grossing documentary of 2019; Tim Wardle's THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Award for Storytelling which surpassed $13M at the box office; and Craig Gillespie’s I, TONYA, which garnered multiple Academy Award® nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in box office in North America.
NEON continues to be an impressive force, with recent acquisitions such as: Venice's Grand Jury Prize Winner Michel Franco's NEW ORDER; NIGHT OF KINGS, Philippe Lacôte’s IVORY COAST Oscar Submission; Pablo Larraín’s SPENCER starring Kristen Stewart; PIG, starring Nicolas Cage; Francis Lee’s romantic drama AMMONITE starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s MEMORIA with Tilda Swinton; and the documentary GUNDA directed by Viktor Kossakovsky and executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix. Recent releases include: Brandon Cronenberg’s POSSESSOR; Max Barbakow’s sought after PALM SPRINGS starring Andy Samberg, which NEON acquired with Hulu; Amy Seimtz’s SXSW critical sensation SHE DIES TOMORROW; Josephine Decker’s SHIRLEY starring Elisabeth Moss; Matt Wolf’s highly acclaimed Sundance documentary SPACESHIP EARTH across an innovative footprint of both traditional and non-traditional venues; THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF directed by Benjamin Ree; the critically acclaimed Cannes hit PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes® and Independent Spirit Awards; Alejandro Landes’ cinematic thriller MONOS (the Colombian selection for the Academy Awards®); Julius Onah’s LUCE starring Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer; Tom Harper’s WILD ROSE starring Jessie Buckley; John Chester’s THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM; Chinonye Chukwu’s CLEMENCY starring Academy Award® Nominee Alfre Woodard; and the electrifying documentary about Aretha Franklin, AMAZING GRACE.
After their successful collaboration on I, TONYA in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin's and Micah Green's strategic venture) partnered with NEON's Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
Most recently, he produced the Sundance favorites The Infiltrators (Sundance Audience Award: NEXT) and Premature (Independent Spirit Award nomination). In 2016, his body of work was recognized with a nomination for the Independent Spirit Piaget Producers Award. His latest production, Short History of The Long Road (dir Ani Simon Kennedy) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was listed in Filmmaker Magazine's 50 Most Anticipated Independent Films of 2019.
As a film producer, Mr Braun’s work includes the documentaries Kusama-Infinity, BURDEN: THE STORY OF CHRIS BURDEN, FIRE MUSIC, PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT, KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY: Nothing Fancy. Braun is an Emmy and IDA Award winning executive producer on the documentary series WILD WILD COUNTRY and also executive produced doc series EVIL GENIUS, THE KEEPERS, PICK OF THE LITTER, and THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR and feature documentaries JIMMY CARTER: ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT, CITIZEN PENN, ECHO IN THE CANYON, BILL WYMAN: THE QUIET ONE, JOAN JETT: BAD REPUTATION, PICK OF THE LITTER, KILL YOUR IDOLS, BLANK CITY, SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, RUDE BOY: THE STORY OF TROJAN RECORDS, STREETLIGHT HARMONIES, and RATS among others.
Braun is both a writer and an editor on the classic horror comic book properties Creepy & Eerie, which he re-launched and publishes with Dark Horse Comics. Braun won an Eisner Award for his work on The Creepy Archives and The Ghastly “Normanton” award recognizing an individual for their commitment to carrying on the legacy of horror comics.
In NY she portrayed Helen Keller in William Gibson’s “The Monday After the Miracle” directed by Arthur Penn at the Actor’s Studio,the Spoleto Festival, the Kennedy Center in Wash DC and on Broadway. Her performance won a Theatre World Award. Other theatre performances in NY include William Mastrosimones’ Extremities, Strinberg’s Miss Julie, productions of The Country Girl, The Miracle Worker, and Speaking in Tongues at the Roundabout Theatre, Laura in The Glass Menagerie, and Beautiful Bodies by Laura Cunningham. She has worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Longwharf, The Berkshire Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Co. and the Westport Country Playhouse. In the Fall of 2012 she starred in the US premiere of Norwegian playwright Jon Fosses’ A Summer Day with Rattlestick Theatre at the Cherry Lane in NY.
As a director in the theatre she has done two productions of Michael Weller’s Moonchildren, Joan Ackermann’s “The Batting Cage” and an award winning production of Mastrisimone’s Extremities at BTF. Most recently she directed Lucy Thurber’s world premiere of Ashville for Rattlestick Theatre in NY which won an Obie Award in 2014 and Terrance McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune at BTF in 2015. She is on the faculty of the Theatre Department at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, has taught acting and directing at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in association with NYU, and is a lifetime member of the Actor’s Studio.
Her films include ANIMAL HOUSE, THE WANDERERS, A SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SHOOT THE MOON, CRUISING, UNTIL SEPTEMBER, STAR MAN, ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, BACKFIRE, THE END OF THE LINE, SCROOGED, THE SANDLOT, KING OF THE HILL, FALLING SKY, THE PERFECT STORM, THE BASKET, IN THE BEDROOM, MALCOLM X, POSTER BOY, INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, WHITE IRISH DRINKERS, and BAD HURT. Her most recent film is based on Joan Anderson’s memoir A YEAR BY THE SEA and has won numerous awards at film festivals in 2016. In June of 2016 she wrote and directed her first film, based on Carson McCullers’ short story, A TREE, A ROCK, A CLOUD.
On television she has been seen as ABRA in the mini-series of Steinbeck’s EAST OF EDEN, as Christa MacAuliffe in THE CHALLENGER, and in SECRET WEAPON, VOYAGE, ALL THE WINTERS THAT HAVE BEEN, MY HORRIBLE YEAR, RAPTURE, NOVEMBER CHRISTMAS, LAW AND ORDER, and BLUE BLOODS.
Karen studied textile and clothing design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC when she was 17. In 2010 she received an honorary doctorate from FIT and the State University of NY for her design work with her company Karen Allen Fiber Arts in Great Barrington, MA where she presently has a design studio and store that represents dozens of textile and clothing designers from around the world that she admires.
Karen divides her time between western MA and NYC and between her work as an actor and director. She is an active Board member of the Berkshire International Film Festival and the Amazon Conservation Team. She has a son, Nicholas, who is a professional chef.
In 2000, he was invited to the Cannes Film Festival as part of Kodak’s Emerging Filmmakers Program. In 2011, Mike’s first feature film, BreadCrumbs was released worldwide. Recent co-producing credits include A Woman, A Part and 11:55 Holyoke, which was Executive Produced by John Leguizamo.
Mike earned his B.A. in Film Production at Brooklyn College, where he was the president of the Film Society. His first professional job was as a production assistant on the Robert De Niro film, A Bronx Tale.
Mr. Trumbull directed SILENT RUNNING (1972), BRAINSTORM (1983), BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE RIDE (1991) and numerous other special format films. He is the recent recipient of an Academy Award in the area of Scientific and Technical Achievement, as well as the International Monitor Award, and American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award, for his outstanding contributions in the field of filmmaking.
Douglas is currently involved in the evolution of visual effects using virtual digital sets and electronic cinematography. We are thrilled to have him share his time with the Filmmakers Summit again this year.
Mary Kay was most recently seen in the title role of the critically acclaimed film DIANE, for which she won ‘Best Actress’ for the LA Film Critics Award, nominated for ‘Best Actress’ for the Gotham Awards, and nominated for ‘Best Female Lead’ for the Indie Spirit Awards all due to her unforgettable performance.
Appearing in over 50 feature films, her acting credits include Hal Ashby’s BOUND FOR GLORY, Martin Scorsese’s NEW YORK NEW YORK, Alan Pakula’s STARTING OVER, THE BIG CHILL, CAPTAIN RON, Alexander Payne’s CITIZEN RUTH, MANNY AND LO (for which she received a Best Supporting Female nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards), Frances Ford Coppola’s THE RAINMAKER, SPIKE JONES, BEING JOHN MALCOVICH, SWEET HOME ALABAMA, SHREK:EVER AFTER; SMASHED, Nancy Meyer’s IT'S COMPLICATED, THE INTERN and PRIVATE BENJAMIN, I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, STATE LIKE SLEEP, and DIANE.
Mary Kay will next be seen in Ryan Murphy’s THE PROM for Netflix due to release in 2020 alongside Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, and James Corden as well as MUSIC, a new film by the singer/songwriter Sia.
Place can also be seen co-starring in Showtime’s “Shameless,” ” 9-1-1: Lone Star,” Netflix’s “AJ and The Queen,” and “Lady Dynamite,” the Bravo series “Imposters,” Grey’s Anatomy, and Matt Weiner’s anthology series, “The Romanoff’s”. Other credits include Black-ish, HBO’s critically acclaimed series, “Big Love,” (EMMY nomination as Adaleen Grant), “Getting On", "Looking" and "Bored to Death"; "Grace and Frankie"," The New Normal”, “ King of the Hill”, "My So Called Life”, "The West Wing” and “All In The Family”.
She has also directed television episodes of "Friends"; HBO's "Dream On" and "Arliss"; "Baby Boom" and other shows as well as recorded three albums on Columbia Records.
Barbara 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. Harlan County USA 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.
Barbara produced and directed: SHUT UP AND SING, following 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 Overnite Transportation, and the A&E documentary BEARING WITHNESS 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 takes a look at the life of Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of infamous DC sniper, John Allen Muhammad; HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE 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 also directs episodic television and commercial spots. Her television work includes episodes of OZ on HBO and 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.
Sheila has been honored with numerous prestigious career achievement awards, including the 2018 Realscreen Legacy Award and the 2017 DOC NYC Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the recipient of the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is a NYU Tisch School of the Arts Honoree. Other awards include: a Gotham Awards Tribute; an Emmy® Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the art of the documentary, the first time the National Television Academy awarded a Lifetime Achievement recognition to a documentarian; and a Personal Peabody in recognition of her work and ongoing commitment to excellence. Women in Film presented Sheila with a Lucy Award for her outstanding achievements in advancing documentary filmmaking and the National Board of Review presented her with the Humanitarian Award for her contribution to the advancement of social reforms and the promotion of human welfare through film. Sheila has been inducted into Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame, and has garnered an IDA Career Achievement Award and the New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement.
She won the first George Foster Peabody Award ever presented to a cable program for “She’s Nobody’s Baby,” which was produced with Ms. Magazine. Sheila is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.