* Helen Cohen: documentary filmmaker
* Geralyn Dreyfous: executive producer, Born Into Brothels
* Edward Hallowell, M.D.: bestselling author/founder of The Hallowell Center
* Mark Lipman: documentary filmmaker/freelance editor
* Nancy Cushen White, Ed.D.: professor/educational therapist
HELEN COHEN is an award-winning filmmaker and working artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Formerly the co-director of Women’s Educational Media (WEM), Ms. Cohen co-created WEM’s acclaimed Respect for All Project, a program that produces cutting edge films, curriculum guides and training resources to help prevent prejudice among young people.
Ms. Cohen’s producing credits include: It’s Elementary a groundbreaking film for parents and educators that aired on over 100 public television stations nationally; That’s a Family!, the inspiring, award-winning film for elementary school kids about family diversity that screened to a packed room of educators and child advocates at the White House in 2000; and Let’s Get Real, a powerful documentary about young teens’ experiences with name-calling and bullying that has been endorsed by the National Education Association, Teaching Tolerance, and many others.
Through her new venture, Open Studio Productions, Cohen continues to make independent and commissioned films, as well as consult with other filmmakers, artists, foundations, and educational institutions. She is an avid painter and the parent of a school-age daughter.
GERALYN DREYFOUS is the Executive Producer of the Academy Award winning documentary, Born Into Brothels.
Ms. Dreyfous is also the producer of a documentary of the child sex slave trade narrated by Tim Robbins called The Day My God Died, which was broadcast on PBS and is distributed by Tapesty. In addition to her accomplishments as a filmmaker, Ms. Dreyfous has an impressive career in the world of philanthropic endeavors, having raised funds for and aided numerous prestigious organizations.
In 1998 the Institute for Civil Society, a private foundation, hired Ms. Dreyfous to help spin DoubleTake Magazine out of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. DoubleTake Magazine has won every coveted literary and photographic award, including the General Excellence Award. In 2001 she launched a DoubleTake Summer Institute for teachers, activists and emerging documentarians. The Institute was held at Hampshire College and led by Ken Burns and Robert Coles.
Currently, Ms. Dreyfous serves as the Executive and Artistic Director of the Salt Lake City Film Center; an organization she co-founded with Nicole Guillemet in 2002.
EDWARD HALLOWELL, M.D. is a child and adult psychiatrist and the founder of The Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, MA.
He is the co-author of the national best sellers, Driven to Distraction (Pantheon, 1994) and Answers to Distraction (Pantheon, 1995), both of which discuss attention deficit disorder in children and in adults. In January of 2005, Dr. Hallowell and co-author Dr. John Ratey released their much-awaited new book on ADD, Delivered from Distraction. This book provides a complete and important review of the current state of knowledge about ADD and provides information about how to lead a joyful life with ADD and take advantage of the many wonderful aspects of the ADD mind.
As one of the leading psychiatric experts in the country, Dr. Hallowell has appeared on many national television and radio broadcasts, including “60 Minutes”, “The Jane Pauley Show”, “20/20”, “The Today Show”, “Dateline”, “Oprah”, “Good Morning America”, “NPR” and “The View.” He is also often interviewed and quoted in publications such as US News and World Report, USA Weekend, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times and many other magazines and newspapers.
MARK LIPMAN is an accomplished documentary filmmaker. With over twenty years of experience, Mr. Lipman’s films have been broadcast nationally on public television and has won numerous awards. He has worked as a freelance editor at WGBH and has been an active member of New Day Films since 1981.
Recently, Mr. Lipman completed an MFA in filmmaking at the Massachusetts College of Art in conjunction with the completion of his most current film, Father’s Day.
NANCY CUSHEN WHITE, Ed.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco, Department of Pediatrics, a teacher, and a learning disabilities specialist.
Dr. White has a private practice, assessing and remediating language based learning problems and consulting with independent schools. In addition she serves on the Board of the Slingerland Institute and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).
Additionally, Dr. White has more than thirty years experience in public schools as classroom teacher and program consultant in special education curriculum with San Francisco Unified School District, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Curriculum Commission, State Board of Education, and CA Department of Education.