EMILY ABT, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER (Pictured far right) Selected as one of Variety Magazine's 'Top 10 Directors to Watch', Emily Abt is an ambidextrous filmmaker who has directed five features (four documentaries, one narrative). Her narrative feature “Toe to Toe,” was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at Sundance and was released by Strand. Her screenwriting credits include "True to the Game" and "Thirsty" which is currently in development and being produced by Jonathan Duffy. Abt's first feature documentary “Take It From Me” (PBS’s POV series) was created when she was a 23 year-old caseworker. She then went on to receive her MFA in film directing from Columbia University and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to make her thesis film. Abt's other feature documentaries include “All of Us”(Showtime's 2008 World AIDs Day film) and “Daddy Don’t Go” which is currently airing on the Starz network and won eight “Best Documentary” awards. Abt recently directed the feature documentary “Beyond the Opposite Sex” for Showtime and it premiered on the network in March 2018. Her latest film “Born A Fighter” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019. Abt is also a seasoned branded content director who has created work for clients such as 23andme, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and Oracle. She is represented by Ava Greenfield at ICM.
ANDREW OSBORNE, CO-DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER (Pictured second to left) Andrew Nam Chul Osborne is a Brooklyn-based director, producer, cinematographer and editor. He has directed commercial campaigns for LinkedIn, Rawlings and The American Red Cross. A frequent collaborator with Pureland Pictures, Osborne has directed and produced over a dozen projects for Pureland Pictures alongside award-winning filmmaker Emily Abt. He was the Associate Producer on Abt’s narrative feature “Toe to Toe,” and has been the cinematographer on many Pureland projects. He holds a BFA in Film and Television Production from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Osborne is currently a currently a content producer at BBDO Worldwide, working across the agency's client roster on innovative branded content. His work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions, Clios, and ADDY award shows.
KERYN THOMPSON, PRODUCER (Pictured far left) An alumna of the Rhode Island School of Design, Thompson is a longtime collaborator of Pureland’s and associate produced the 2009 Sundance feature “Toe to Toe.” As an animator/illustrator, her work has been featured in films, television shows, music videos, and print campaigns. These include “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” (premiered Berlin International Film Festival, 2009), the Sundance Channel show “Love Lust,” and pieces for Stevie Nicks’ release of “Crystal Visions.” Thompson has also produced several genre based films under Penny Spent Films, including the 2017 psychological thriller “The Abduction of Jennifer Grayson.” She is currently in preproduction on the comedy "Area 718."
SUZETTE BURTON, CO-PRODUCER/OUTREACH COORDINATOR (Pictured second to right) Brooklyn-Based filmmaker Suzette Burton graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Film/Video in 2006. During her time at Pratt, Suzette created a documentary entitled “Disconnected” about her father's mysterious death and his absence from her life. Since graduating from film school, Suzette has worked as an Assistant Editor on the documentary "Little White Lie" as well as an Assistant Producer and Editor for a variety of companies such as WEtv/AMC Networks, One Kreate, Atlas Media, Black Entertainment Television, Mr. Youth (Biggest Loser: Million Pound Match up tour, Neutrogena, and Microsoft), The Tyra Banks Show, Stick Figure Productions (Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane) and Celebrity Catwalk. Suzette currently works at MRT Creative as a Producer and The Moth as an editor. “Daddy Don’t Go” was her first feature production but she is now directing a new documentary feature entitled “Suzy”. This project brings her back into collaboration with Emily Abt who is serving as the film’s Executive Producer.
OTHER KEY CREW
OMAR EPPS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER is an award-winning actor, having starred in the hit FOX medical drama “House” for 8 seasons. Epps received an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” in both 2007 and 2008. As someone who grew up fatherless, the issues in “Daddy Don’t Go” resonate with Omar personally and are close to his heart.
MALIK YOBA, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER starred in FOX’s hit drama “New York Undercover,” played a pivotal role in the first season of “Empire,” and has gained cult status with the sci-fi epic “Alphas.” As a father of three children and a lifelong advocate for children, families and community building, Yoba believes “Daddy Don’t Go” comes at the right time to continue a much-needed conversation.
JENNIFER FOX, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Jennifer Fox directed “Beirut: The Last Home Movie” (Best Film and Cinematography 1998 Sundance Film Festival), the ten-hour “An American Love Story” (1999 Sundance Film Festival), the six-part “Flying Confessions of a Free Woman” (2008 Sundance Film Festival), and the feature “My Reincarnation” (IDFA Audience Award 2010; POV 2012; Emmy nominated 2013). Her most recent film “The Tale” premiered at Sundance 2018 and aired on HBO later that year.
JEFF MARCELLO, EDITOR has been telling stories through editing for fifteen years. Notable documentary credits include “Planet B-boy” (Tribeca, 2007), “Cultures of Resistance” (IDFA, 2010), “Return to Afghanistan” (Margaret Mead Film Festival, 2003). Marcello also edited Emily Abt's narrative feature, “Toe to Toe” (2009 Sundance Film Festival) and has cut television shows and commercials for major cable networks such as MTV, Spike, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Travel Channel, TLC and NBC Sports. He most recently served as Editor on the Netflix series “First and Last”.
ERIC HOLLAND, COMPOSER Holland has been working with music and sound for over 20 years. Past projects include the documentaries “The Mask You Live In,” "Representation,” “Desert Runners,” “Speed & Angels,” and “Motherland,” the PBS/Sundance Channel series “e2 – the economies of being environmentally conscious” narrated by Brad Pitt; and commercial campaigns for Nokia and Blue Cross. Eric lives with his wife and two daughters in the Bay Area.
ANDREW GERSH, CO-EDITOR Editor Andrew Gersh’s work has appeared on PBS, ABC, MSNBC, National Geographic, Discovery, Turner Broadcasting, the BBC and Channel 4, UK and in theaters worldwide. He is a Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab Fellow. His latest feature documentaries include "SPARK: A Burning Man Story," which premiered at the 2013 South by Southwest Film Festival. Andrew is currently editing the feature documentary “Crip Camp” for Director Jim LeBrecht.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
KATHRYN EDIN is one of the nation’s leading researchers on poverty and a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of the acclaimed bestseller “Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City” and a founding member of the MacArthur Foundation-funded Network on Housing and Families with Young Children.
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON is a University Professor at Harvard and an acclaimed sociologist whose works include “When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor,” “The Bridge Over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics,” and “More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City.”
MICHAEL KIMMEL is a Professor and the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook University. He is also the founder/editor of the journal “Men and Masculinities.”
KENNETH BRASWELL is the Executive Director of Fathers Incorporated, a leading organization in the growing Responsible Fatherhood movement. He is also the author of “When the Tear Don’t Fall: One Man’s Journey Through the Intimate Struggles of Manhood and Fatherhood.”