American Filmmaker

Kiliii Yuyan reveals the hidden stories of polar regions, wilderness and Indigenous communities. Informed by ancestry that is both Nanai (Siberian Native) and Chinese-American, he explores the the human relationship to the natural world from different cultural perspectives. Kiliii is an award-winning contributor to National Geographic Magazine and other major publications.

Both wilderness survival skills and empathy have been critical for Kiliii’s projects in extreme environments and cultures outside his own. On assignment, he has fled collapsing sea ice, weathered botulism from fermented whale blood, and found kinship at the edges of the world. In addition, Kiliii builds traditional kayaks and contributes to the revitalization of northern Indigenous culture.

Kiliii is a 2020 NiaTero Storytelling fellow, Pulitzer Center grantee, and one of PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers (2019). His work has been exhibited worldwide and received some of photography's top honors. Kiliii's public talks inspire others about photography, Indigenous perspectives and wilderness around the globe. Kiliii is based out of Seattle, but can be found across the circumpolar Arctic much of the year.

Jacob Bloomfield-Misrach is a composer, sound designer, and sound supervisor. After getting his start in a music conservatory at the age of 10 he continued a path of musical study, completing a dual degree in Classical Clarinet and Jazz Guitar Performance at NYU. Jacob then integrated himself into the New York music scene by performing in dozens of ensembles and touring the East Coast.

Dan Wayne is the filmmaker and producer behind the new feature documentary, Big Fur, which premiered at the 2020 Slamdance Film Festival.  Big Fur documents Ken’s obsessive research and his meticulous Bigfoot re-creation from start to the moment he unveils her at the World Taxidermy Championship. While Ken would love to win ‘Best in Show’, his real hope is that putting ‘Patty’ on display will prompt some hunter to open his freezer and pull out the proof that Bigfoot is real. Instead, it’s Ken’s love life that gets thawed out.

Big Fur is a wry portrait of an artist with an unshakeable belief that eventually he’ll find true love—or the hairy, 600-pound validation of his life’s quest. Either one would be good. It’s also a sympathetic insider’s view of taxidermy as an under-appreciated art form. Last but not least, it’s a call to preserve the last wilderness. Because when there is no mystery left in the deep, dark forest, we’ll have lost more than Bigfoot.

Dan Wayne and the host of the American Filmmaker podcast, Josh Hyde, talk about the distribution reality for filmmakers today, how to navigate the American film festival circuit in 2020, the best ways to build an audience for your film, and how BigFoot is real.  Please follow Big Fur on Facebook and Instagram to see when and where to watch the film.  

Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin is the director of The Indie Film Clinic at Cardozo School of Law, which is supported by the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. Professor Greenberg-Kobrin served as the dean of students at Columbia Law School from 2005 to 2016, where she also taught courses in deals, negotiation and leadership. Prior to her work at Columbia Law, she was an associate at the New York office of Arnold & Porter, where her practice focused on international corporate and securities matters, mergers and acquisitions, sovereign debt issuances and financial institutions. Professor Greenberg-Kobrin also serves as senior fellow and director of the Leadership Program at the Heyman Center on Corporate Governance.

The Indie Film Clinic was established in 2011 to provide free legal services to filmmakers in New York City. To date, Cardozo students in the clinic have represented over 90 independent, documentary and student films, many of which have gone on to appear in leading U.S. and international film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Festival, Hot Docs and DOC NYC. The clinic is part of Cardozo’s Intellectual Property and Information Law Program, one of the highest-ranked IP programs in the country.

Professor Greenberg-Kobrin talks about basic legal advice for filmmakers, what is ethical filmmakers, and the best way for filmmakers to apply for the Indie Film Clinic.

Gina Leibrecht has been working in film since she received her B.A. in Telecommunications and Film from the University of Oregon in 1990. She currently works and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, working on documentary, commercial, and corporate projects for domestic and international audiences.  Gina's most recent films are Art of Courage, Wilder Than Wild: Fire, Forests, and the Future, and Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly.

In 1998 she began collaborating with Les Blank on All In This Tea, which she co-produced, co-directed, and edited, and which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007, screened in over 40 festivals world wide, and was broadcast on the Sundance Channel. She most recently completed a collaboration with Les Blank called How to Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock in Normandy, which had its North American debut at the 2014 Telluride Film Festival and has gone on to screen in film festivals around the world. Gina is currently collaborating with Harrod Blank on a documentary film about his father, the late Les Blank.

Most recently, Gina finished editing on the feature documentary Serenade for Haiti with director Owsley Brown, which had its World Premiere at DOC NYC in 2016. Past documentary highlights include On Wayang: My Life with Shadows, which she Co-produced, Co-directed and edited with ShadowLight Productions; and Homegrown Bounty, which she produced and directed for the KQED series SPARK. Gina also edited Frank Green’s Counting Sheep, which aired on KQED’s Truly California series and won a Northern California Emmy Award for Best Documentary in 2006; Karina Epperlein’s Phoenix Dance, which won San Francisco International Film Festival’s Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Short in 2006, and made the short list of Academy Award Nominations for Best Short Subject Documentary in 2006; Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, which was nominated for a Northern California Emmy for Best Documentary in 2006; and Kevin White’s A Land Between Rivers for PBS, which won a CINE Golden Eagle Award for Excellence in Film and Television in 2007.

Gina has worked with several Bay Area production companies, editing for corporate and non-profit clients including Intel, Symantec, Sybase, Ebay, Guthy-Renker, Stanford University, the California Water Board, ChildFund International, and many others.

Diane Bell is an award-winning screenwriter and director.    Diane's first feature, "Obselidia," premiered in Dramatic Competition at Sundance, where it won 2 awards, and went on to play at festivals around the world and be nominated for 2 Independent Spirit Awards. Diane's second film, "Bleeding Heart," a drama starring Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet, premiered at Tribeca, and is widely available on Amazon Prime and Hulu. Diane's latest feature is "Of Dust and Bones."

Diane started in film as a screenwriter (before that Diane was a philosophy student and a yoga teacher) and has written numerous commissioned and optioned scripts, including 2 with renowned director John McTiernan (dir: "Die Hard" and "The Hunt For Red October").

Diane Bell has been a participant in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, as well as the Women in Film/Sundance mentorship program.  Diane was recently a finalist in the NBC Female Forward Directing initiative.

In addition to writing and directing films, Diane Bell is passionate about sharing knowledge to empower and inspire other filmmakers.  Since 2014 Diane has taught workshops on how to make a successful indie film and has written a book about how to create an indie film, "Shoot From the Heart." 

"I love helping others break through their obstacles and achieve their dreams. If making movies is your dream, don’t let anything stop you!," Diane Bell.

Mathew Silver has been doing performance art and filmmaking for over 2 decades. He creates conscious content every week that inspires love consciousness in a fun and weird way. He currently posts new work on Wednesday 12pm EST and Saturday 12pm EST on his social channels. 

Mathew Silver’s YouTube Channel is about shifting the entire planet to love consciousness with sacred clowning. Matthew Silver is a weird psychedelic sacred clown. He is known for his street performing art in New York City at Union Square, Washington Square Park, Astor Cube and Time Square. His two biggest videos are "Words of Wisdom by an Unexpected Citizen" and "Accept Yourself Love Yourself Vine". He has been on Adult Swim, MTV, and Netflix.

Mathew Silver describes the character and the goal of his performance art, “My role as a clown, trickster and village idiot is to parody excessive seriousness by playing with taboos, rules, and social norms. My inspiration comes from my heart.

I perform for smiles and laughter, loosening people’s armor, and opening up a portal for imagination, creativity and love.”

Raphael Smith is a 6th Generation Lineage Holder of Song Family Hsing-I Chuan under master Li Yujie.  Raphael is also a student Jeong Won-il and Grandmaster Fan Dechen in Chen Style Practical Method. Raphael has published articles for Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine, won national and international championships in China, and currently is teaching Chinese martial arts in Beijing.

The host of the podcast, Josh Hyde, started following Raphel's teachings at Jing Wu Pai on Instagram for fun and quickly realized the founder is living a movie that hasn’t been made.  Raphel Smith talks about his journey to find the right teachers, living abroad in China as an American, increasing power through alignment of the body, and the practicality of tai chi in every day life.

Alex White Plume was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He grew up strongly connected to traditional Lakota culture. He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Berlin until his enlistment ended in 1978. After returning to Pine Ridge, he lived in the Manderson. At that time, he joined the Tribal Police as an officer. White Plume's interest in socio-political issues developed later in life.

Alex served as the former vice president and president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, located on South Dakota of the United States. He served as president from June 30, 2006 to November 2006 after Cecilia Fire Thunder was impeached.

From 2000 to 2002, he earned unwanted publicity when United States federal drug agents raided his farm and destroyed his crop of industrial hemp before he could harvest it for seed as intended. They got a court order prohibiting him to grow the crop. Although the Oglala Sioux have sovereignty on their land and hemp does not have psychoactive properties, the agents operated under a 1968 federal anti-drug law prohibiting the cultivation of Cannabis-related crops.

In 2019, Alex White Plume created the first Native American hemp product in the world and was the only hemp farmer in South Dakota.  Alex White Plume is a legend, a myth, and a well respected elder of the Oglala Lakota.

Josh Hyde, producer of the "American Hemp" documentary and host of the American Filmmaker podcast, gets interviewed by Elevate Nevada's Josh Bell about "American Hemp." Hyde talks about shooting and editing the film over 2 years, finding the right characters for the film, and the lessons the film taught him along the journey.  "American Hemp" is available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, and Google Play.  Here is a link to the the Elevate NV article that was written from this interview.

Elevate Nevada is a cannabis lifestyle and culture magazine based in Nevada. Josh Bell is the journalist conducting the interview.