Advisors

• Dan Aguar

  

  Dan is an independent film, video, and digital media producer and director of Digima24 with a production and post-production facility at Chase Street Warehouse inside EO Studios in Athens, Georgia. His professional background ranges from documentaries and independent feature films to music videos and blockbuster films. Aguar has shot on location in a variety of international and regional locations, as far away as China and as near as Watkinsville, Georgia. Aguar is the current Director of “Living With Mother Nature,” a documentary series pioneered by himself and his brothers Dave and Rick, first beginning with the founding of Aguar Brothers Productions in 1982. Aguar moved to Athens in 1970, and since that time he has used his company, Digima24, and the medium he knows best to focus the world’s attention on the environment and innovative solutions to stop or reverse ecological damage. He is always pursuing new subjects for segments of ”Living with Mother Nature” and believes that only awareness of these unique topics can increase the potential for others to learn of alternative options or gain the inspiration necessary to spur collective action.

• Keith Auerbach

  

  Keith is a psychiatrist who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. He has been a psychological consultant to Actors Theatre Of Louisville, which is renown for The Humana Festival Of New American Plays. He reads scripts and consults with the playwrights, directors, and actors about character and relationship issues. As an outgrowth of the more than 60 plays he has worked on he has also consulted on some Hollywood Independent Film scripts. He loves film and all aspects of its construction. He is also an accomplished photographer. This year his book, The Photographic Humor Of Keith Auerbach, won an Independent Publishers Book Of The Year Award and Keith won the prestigious International Photography Award/Lucie Award.

• Michelle Benham

  

  Michelle holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Film and Electronic Media from the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University, where she produced several environmental documentaries including her two-part thesis project Restoring Dyke Marsh and Cutting-Edge Conservation: Science at the Smithsonian. An undergraduate degree in Ecology from the University of Georgia contributes to Michelle's passion for environmental filmmaking - a passion she continues to pursue and learn more about every day. She strives to tell the exciting stories of the natural world through film, and fervently believes in portraying the science in accurate and innovative ways. Michelle currently serves as Earth Science Producer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she is lucky enough to blend her background in science and filmmaking to produce cutting-edge videos for the media and general public.

• Misha Boyd

  

  For close to a decade Misha has nurtured undergraduate students throughout their major studies in the Odum School of Ecology, taking delight in sharing her love for the natural world as an Academic Advisor. Possessing a long-time affinity for visual arts, serving on the EcoFocus Board provides Misha with a meaningful opportunity to blend interests and take part in the cultivation of an environmental film series, one which she hopes will deepen Georgia's sense of stewardship for its precious outdoor resources, both locally and worldwide. Misha's care-taking instincts and farm roots have induced her to enliven her office with animals, a roster which has previously included a genteel skink named Pancho and an outgoing fish named Mr. Meany, and now, at a popular bird feeder outside her large window, a collection of birds yet to be named.

• Bruz Clark

  

  Bruz currently serves as the president and treasurer of the Lyndhurst Foundation, a private foundation located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  He has also acted as the foundation’s director of environmental grantmaking for over a decade. Lyndhurst’s current priorities include the revitalization of Chattanooga’s urban core, with an emphasis on neighborhood redevelopment, parks and greenways, and issues related to sustainable design; the protection and restoration of the natural environment of the Southern Appalachians; and initiatives aimed at the enhancement of Chattanooga’s social and educational climate.  A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (zoology) and Morehead Scholar, Bruz formerly taught biology and general science at the Baylor School.  His interests include forestry, architecture, carpentry, film, outdoor recreation, and a newfound love/hate relationship with old-time fiddle playing.

• Bertis Downs

  

  Since graduating from Davidson College in 1978, Bertis has lived in Athens, Georgia, where he received his law degree in 1981 from the University of Georgia's School of Law. He continues to teach there as an adjunct professor specializing in entertainment law, and he has represented R.E.M. throughout their career. Downs has maintained his interest in teaching, both through the entertainment law course at the University of Georgia and speaking at various national continuing legal education groups such as the Practicing Law Institute and the American Bar Association Forum Committee on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. He has lectured widely at universities and law schools including William and Mary, Chicago, Harvard, Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Milan, the University of British Columbia and University College Dublin.  He married his wife Katherine in 1986 and they have two daughters, Adelaide and Eliza. His civic and sociopolitical interests include land use, historic preservation, human rights, public education and the changing legal and business landscape relating to the digital age. Downs is active in various organizations and over the years has served on the boards of People for the American Way, Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, Georgia Conservation Voters, Georgia Appleseed, the Athens Grow Green Coalition, First Presbyterian Church of Athens, Georgia and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

• Sarah Eaton

  

  Director of Media Relations, Sundance Institute.

• Laurie Fowler

  

  Laurie, an environmental lawyer, is Associate Dean of Administrative Affairs and Co-Director of the River Basin Center at the Odum School of Ecology, and serves on the faculty of the School of Law, at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. With her students she develops proactive water quality and biodiversity protection laws for local, state and federal clients.  Laurie is an avid outdoorsperson; she loves to bike, paddle and run.  She is a 13th crew member for the international award-winning documentary Darius Goes West  (her son is the tall curly-headed fellow who gets the tattoo!)

• John Gittleman

  

  Dean, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

• Brigitta Hangartner

  

  Brigitta is the founder and executive director of Ciné arthouse cinema in downtown Athens, Georgia. Questions of how people deal with each other and with their environment have always been a central interest for Brigitta; whether it was as psychotherapist doing group therapy or later as environmental psychologist researching and designing public, urban spaces. In film—her oldest love—she is also most intrigued by the drama and dance of human relationships; how they play out in comedy and tragedy and in different cultures.

• Nicole Hendrix

  

  Film enthusiast and Alumni and Development for the College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State University.

  Nicki Hendrix has viewed The Lorax hundreds of times, participates in a variety of outdoor sports and environmental activism, and is keenly interested in issues affecting the artistic and environmental quality of our lives. She works as a professional fundraiser, but has also worked in sales, advertising, and the music industry.

• Nate Kohn

  

  Nate is a scholar, educator, motion picture writer and producer, and film festival director. He teaches screen writing, film production, and critical theory at the University of Georgia and is the Associate Director for the prestigious Peabody Awards, honoring the best in electronic media. Most recently he co-produced Somebodies with Pam Kohn. Kohn co-founded and directs Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival as well as the Classic Film Festival in Athens.

• Kamala Lyons

  

  Public Relations Director at Ciné arthouse cinema, co-founder & director of FilmAthens, and director of Athens TeenScreen, Athens, Georgia.

  Kamala has been involved in the production and promotion of independent film projects in the Athens area for over ten years, most recently as the co-founder & director of FilmAthens, hosting community screening events with the AthFest Music and Arts Festival, the Athens Area Arts Council, and the Atlanta Film Festival; and as the director of Athens TeenScreen, a collaborative filmmaking workshop project for local teens.

• Erica McCarthy

  

  Erica is an accidental Southerner. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1965, she moved with her family to Athens, Georgia when she was 8. As a high school foreign exchange student in Copenhagen, Denmark, she immersed herself in film studies at the Danish Film Institute. Returning to the United States, she attended the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, where in 1988 her project People Who Live To Dance was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Her documentary work continued with features for Georgia Public Television. She has worked extensively in music videos for world-famous musical acts such as REM, B-52's, Cheap Trick, Vic Chesnutt and They Might Be Giants. She has worked in high-end post production at Atlanta's Video Tape Associates and has worked in all production capacities for the major television networks, as well as in Europe and Mexico. In 1996, she received an Emmy for her work with Bob Costas on NBC's coverage of the Centennial Olympic Games. That same year, she formed Nowhere Productions in Athens, Georgia in order to pursue her passion for personality-driven documentary filmmaking with a distinctively Southern flavor. Nowhere Productions is a full-service production house based in Athens, Georgia with a satellite office in Austin, Texas.

• Jim McKay

  

  Jim McKay is a filmmaker and co-founder, along with Michael Stipe, of C-Hundred Film Corp. His films as a writer/director include Girls Town, Our Song, Everyday People and Angel Rodriguez. As a producer, McKay has worked on American Movie, Spring Forward, Stranger Inside, Sleepy Time Gal, La Boda, Escuela, Brother to Brother, and Room.

• Horace Newcomb

  

  Horace holds the Lambdin Kay Chair for the Peabody Awards in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia where he directs the Peabody Awards Programs.  He has written frequently about entertainment television since the 1970s and lectured on the topic throughout the world.  He is the author of TV: The Most Popular Art (Anchor Books, 1974), co-author of The Producer’s Medium: Conversations with Creators of American TV (Oxford University Press, 1983),  editor of seven editions of Television: The Critical View (Oxford University Press, 1976-2007) and two editions of the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television (Routledge, 1997, 2004).

• James Porter

  

  Associate Dean/Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

• Jennifer Smith

  

  Jennifer is a filmmaker and an Assistant Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Georgia, where she teaches narrative and documentary production. Her work has garnered numerous awards, screened at U.S. and international film festivals, and broadcast on cable networks such as HBO, Showtime Australia, The Sundance Channel, and BSkyB. Smith worked for Dreamchaser Productions in Dublin, Ireland on such projects as U2's Zooropa Tour, and with Caravan Pictures, now Spyglass Entertainment, on feature films such as Rush Hour. Smith is Executive Producer on the soon to be released feature, The Secret of Moonacre, starring Dakota Blue Richards, Ioan Gruffudd, and Tim Curry. She is a member of The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and is a strong supporter of non-profit human rights and environmental organizations.

• Laura Turner Seydel

  

  Laura Turner Seydel is a national environmental advocate and eco-living expert dedicated to creating a healthy and sustainable future for our children. Laura is chairperson of the Captain Planet Foundation, which promotes environmental education and gardens in schools, and Zero Waste Zone, an organization that promotes communities working together to change current disposal methods of consumed products. She co-founded Mothers and Others for Clean Air and the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. She is passionate about keeping toxic chemicals out of consumer products, which can be especially harmful to pregnant mothers and children, and works with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and Environmental Working Group to educate the public about the effects of these toxins.

  Laura serves on her family’s foundation boards including The Turner Foundation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, the Turner Endangered Species Fund, and Ted’s Montana Grill. She also serves on national boards including League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Waterkeeper Alliance, the Green Schools Alliance, Environmental Working Group and the Carter Center Board of Councilors. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Downtown Atlanta.

  Laura is the recipient of numerous humanitarian and environmental awards, including the League of Conservation Voters Environmental Hero Award, the SCLC Drum Major for Justice Award, the Healthy Child Healthy World’s 2010 Mom on a Mission for Service Award, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta’s Legacy Award, the YWCA Academy of Women Achievement Award, the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future Businesswomen’s Sustainability Leadership Award, and the National Garden Clubs Inc., 2010 Award of Excellence.

• Seth Wenger

  

  Seth Wenger, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher with Trout Unlimited in Boise, Idaho. He was formerly Associate Director of the River Basin Center at the Odum School of Ecology.He conducts applied ecological research on streams and rivers and also develops policies for managing natural resources.  He loves movies of all kinds and served as interim coordinator of EcoFocus in 2007.