Filmmakers
IMDb
JOEL FENDELMAN
Writer / Producer / Director
Joel Fendelman is an award winning filmmaker based in NYC who strives to embrace socially conscious stories that deal with religion, social class, minorities and communicates the underlying connection between us all.
Joel most recently received an IDA Documentary Award for his fourth feature film "Man on Fire," a documentary about a white Texas preacher who self-immolated in his birth town of Grand Saline in order to bring attention to the unrepented racism there. The film uses the act as a vehicle to explore racism in small town East Texas and indirectly America as a whole. "Man on Fire" premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January and will have its broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens during the 2018-19 season.
In 2016, Joel’s short film "Game Night," a film about aging and unfulfilled dreams, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won best super short at the Savannah Film Festival.
His second narrative feature film "Remittance" was filmed in Singapore and the Philippines and follows the story of a Filipino mother who travels to Singapore to work as a maid in order to bring a better life to her family back home, but in the process finds her own empowerment amongst the servitude. The film looks at class, identity and the universal human experience that crosses all these boundaries. Remittance won many festival awards including "Best Actress" and "Best Screenplay" at the Brooklyn Film Festival and is currently being distributed worldwide.
In 2011, Joel completed his first dramatic narrative feature "David," a coming of age story about identity and friendship between a Muslim and a Jewish boy in the ethnic neighborhoods of south Brooklyn. The film screened at the Rome and Montreal World Film Festival, which awarded the film its prestigious Ecumenical Prize, and at many other venues around the globe. It also sparked conversations within and between Jewish and Muslim religious groups universally and continues to be a desired resource for teaching tolerance amongst children.
PATRICK DALY
Writer / Producer / Co-director
Patrick Daly is a director and producer who divides his time between academic and creative pursuits. After working as a consultant on several documentary projects, he directed NEEDLE THROUGH BRICK in collaboration with filmmakers James Adolphus and Joel Fendelman.
In his other life, Patrick is an anthropologist who works on post-conflict and post-disaster community reconstruction. As part of this work, he lived for extended periods of time on farms in England, with Bedouin in the deserts of southern Jordan, and in traditional villages in Borneo. Political and social reasons brought him to take up a position as a visiting professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus, Palestine during the second intifadah. He spent more than a year living at the center of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during this time that he was convinced to pursue filmmaking as a vehicle for telling stories about pressing cultural and social issues. He has spent the past five years based in Southeast Asia, studying the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
JULIAN SCHWARTZ
Producer
Julian worked in New York as a Music Producer for Television and Film for 14 years. He worked on feature films, television commercials, and hundreds of episodes of animated television programming for Kids WB and FOX Kids including the children’s hits “Pokemon”, “Yugioh”, and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” His feature film credits include “Hope and a Little Sugar,” “Southie,” “The Spell of The Unknown,” and “Yugioh: The First Movie.” Julian was born and raised in Montreal, where he graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology. He attended Naropa University in Boulder Colorado where he received a BA in Music and Theatre, and studied Jazz Improvisation at New England Conservatory with Paul Bley.
Julian is also an actor, and has appeared on many regional and off-off Broadway stages as well as in numerous short films. He lives in Brooklyn.
STEPHANIE LEVY
Executive Producer
A dynamic entrepreneur, Stephanie Levy has built her reputation on her proven expertise in developing creative talent into successful, high profile brands. With a strong background in marketing and distribution, Stephanie has discerning and impeccable taste and seamlessly drives talent to success. As a hands-on Executive Producer, she adheres to her own business model -- reaching out person-to-person to develop the relationships that lead to wide distribution networks.
Stephanie is also a committed animal advocate. Over the past few years, she has developed community outreach programs and produced a number of short films and PSAs designed to raise awareness about compassionate treatment of animals.
Stephanie is kissing Rex, found in a box at a parking lot.
Save a life, rescue yourself.
MAZ JOBRANI
Producer / Actor
Maz Jobrani is best known as a founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which featured some of the top Middle Eastern-American comics in the world. The Axis of Evil Comedy Central Special premiered in 2007 as the first show on American TV with an all Middle Eastern/American cast. In movies Maz starred in the role of “Moly” in Ice Cube’s “Friday After Next.” He also played Secret Service Agent “Mo” in the Sydney Pollack thriller “The Interpreter,” opposite Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman as well as Jennifer Garner’s colleague, Glenn, in “13 Going on 30.” In television he recently shot a pilot for ABC titled “Funny in Farsi” and is recurring on ABC’s “Better off Ted.” He has been a regular on ABC’s “Knights of Prosperity” as well as FOX’s “Life on a Stick.” In 2008 Maz sold a TV show to CBS based on his life as an Iranian-American in the United States. The show was best described as a Middle Eastern “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
ROBBIE RENFROW
Director of Photography
Robbie has been working in the professional post-production world for the last eight years. From Technicolor to Post logic, Robbie is now motion picture colorist at Offhollywood New York, where he has graded over a dozen feature films and countless commercials and music videos. Robbie has been able to harness his skills and understanding of color to take his projects all the way through post-production. This shows in the many short films and music videos Robbie has directed the photography of, always leaving a lasting impression.
GIL TALMI
Composer
At only 38 years of age, Gil Talmi is a world-renowned Emmy nominated composer with a focus on socially conscious projects. His music can be heard in a variety of films, television programs and theatre productions.
Gil’s most recent work includes music for the award winning documentary feature “New Year Baby” (Broken English Prods/ITVS), the 3 hour epic “Galapagos” (BBC/National Geographic), “The Mummy Who Would Be King” (Nova/PBS), “TED: The Future We Will Create” (Independent) and a TV series for Bravo called “TV Revolutions.” A gifted composer, Gil’s music reflects a wide spectrum of musical influences. His styles range from timeless orchestral to driving urban beats, from ethnic world music to electronic euro-pop. Gil was nominated for a “National News and Documentary Emmy Award” for his work on “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.”
JASON DUBIN
Executive Producer
Jason formed O.D.D. Entertainment in 2004, which went to produce it’s first feature, “The Babysitters” starring John Leguizamo and Cynthia Nixon. Along with producing Domino Effect, a documentary television show focusing on people making a difference around the world; Jason is currently an actor and filmmaker in New York City where he is developing and producing a slate of projects including “Downer’s Grove,” a novel adapted by Brett Easton Ellis (American Psycho) which is going into production in the fall of 2010 starring Hayden Panittiere (Heroes), Nikke Reed (Twilight) and Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down).
ASMI FATHELBAB + YUTA SILVERMAN
Muslim and Jewish Advisors
Asmi Fathelbab was born & raised within Kensington and Bay Ridge Brooklyn. She spent most of her young life within a Hasidic community and adult life within a very Islamic one. She’s a PhD student studying Psychology, but had studied religion for her BA degree, stemming from being a Muslim student within a Catholic School. Asmi was approached by Joel while she was the youth coordinator at the Arab American Association. Asmi helped with authenticity and accuracy from language dialect to props for the Muslim Arab parts of the film.
Yuta Silverman is a filmmaker in her own right. Her first feature “Arranged” tackled similar issues of identity with Muslims and Jews through women. Born and bred orthodox in Borough park where the Jewish side of the film was made, Yuta was able to act as an advisor for all Jewish Orthodox elements in the film. She helped with refining and tweaking the script as well as securing some key locations.
Both Yuta and Asmi can relate to the film personally as they can identify how it feels to be part of a non mainstream sector and relate to the characters as they face unique challenges.