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Adam Salasek has been teaching Final Cut Pro at Chicago Filmmakers since 2009. He also works at Flashpoint Academy where he is part of the Film track working directly with the faculty and student body. He is also a Writer and Director and is currently working his way through post-production on a short film. His work can be found at: http://adamsalasek.com.
Alan Strathmann works with a variety of media including sound, video and installation and has taught Field Sound Recording at Chicago Filmmakers since 2008. Alan's work has been shown from coast-to-coast and in Chicago at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the School of the Art Institute. A cross-section of Alan's work can be seen by visiting: www.alanstrathmann.com
Beth Sternheimer is a producer and researcher for documentaries and museum projects and has taught at Chicago Filmmakers since 2009. She co-produced THE CALLING, a four-hour PBS series by The Kindling Group that broadcast nationally on PBS in Fall 2010. Beth was the Associate Producer for SECRECY, an independent film on government secrecy and for TRACES OF THE TRADE, which chronicles the descendants of the largest slave trading family in US history as they retrace the Triangle Trade. Both films premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and Beth was nominated for a 2009 national Emmy Award for Outstanding Research on TRACES OF THE TRADE. Beth’s museum work includes producing exhibit videos for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Archives.
Bill Siegel co-directed the Academy Award-nominated documentary THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, worked as a researcher on the documentary films MUHAMMAD ALI: THE WHOLE STORY and HOOP DREAMS, and as a writer on ONE LOVE, a documentary on the cultural history of basketball. He was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, cut his teeth on rock and roll, earned a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University in New York. In 2005, Bill was selected as a fellow of the Chicago Community Trust's Fellowship for Community Leaders program, which identifies and nurtures not-for-profit and public sector leaders. Currently, Bill is directing a feature-length documentary on Muhammad Ali's years in exile from boxing, a film to be released in 2011.
David Spodak has worked in the film industry for over 25 years and is a member of the Directors Guild of America. He has extensive experience in all aspects of film and video production, working on feature films, commercials and corporate films. During his career he has worked with people from all walks of life, from children to major celebrities. He is an adjunct faculty member in the film and video department at Columbia College, Chicago and recently he has been working as a writer, producer, narrator and editor documentary projects.
Junko Kajino and Ed M. Koziarski produced, wrote and directed the international psychological drama THE FIRST BREATH OF TENGAN REI. They've worked on the production of independent features including HANNAH FREE, STREET THEIF, and THE DREAM CATCHER. Ed writes about film for the Chicago Reader, TimeOut Chicago and Reel Chicago. They've taught producing at Chicago Filmmakers since 2007. http://tenganrei.com/blog
Hank Boland is the managing Director of Strawdog Theatre Company where he is also an ensemble member and supervises their writing program THE HIT FACTORY. He has been an adjunct faculty member in the Columbia College Film and Video Department since 2004, where he teaches classes in Idea Development and Pre-production, Script Analysis, Screenwriting, and has designed classes in writing features for young audiences. He has taught at Chicago Filmmakers since 2008.
Ian moved to Chicago in 1999 to receive his degree in film from Columbia College. Since then he has made his living as a commercial film and video editor and as web and graphic designer. Ian has done commercial work for corporations Chrysler and Coke and do-gooders such as Amnesty International and The Great Books Foundation. Ian edited the documentary One Mind, Four Hands which has since screened at the Non-Violence International Film Festival and River's Edge International Film Festival. In 2008 Ian receive a Telly award for the industrial spot "Humor.” Ian most recently edited the documentary Left Field which has toured festivals around the country. Ian is currently the Graphic Production Manager for the Joffrey Ballet.
Jack C. Newell is the producer/writer/director of award winning short films that have screened across the United States and abroad, including the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner, 46th Chicago International Film Festival, The YouTube Screening Room, the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, and the Boston Film Festival. He sits on the Education Committee board for Cinema/Chicago and currently teaches film directing and production at Columbia College Chicago, Chicago Filmmakers, and The iO Theater. www.jackcnewell.com/
Jason Halprin is an experimental filmmaker specializing in Super 8 and 16mm formats. His work has shown at venues such as the Austrian Film Museum, the Images Festival, Media City 14, Chicago Filmmakers, and in alleyways in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Paonia, Colorado. He holds degrees in History and Film Studies from CU-Boulder, and an MFA in Film from UW-Milwaukee. Currently, Jason teaches cinematography courses at Columbia College Chicago, and has been teaching the 16mm workshop at Chicago Filmmakers since 2008.