Writers

Intern Extraordinaire, Courtney Sheehan is a visual culture major at Grinnell College, where she also chairs the committee that programs film events and screenings for the Grinnell community. As an intern at The Northwest Film Forum in Seattle, she helped program the region's largest children's film festival.

Steven LaFond is a freelance writer and current graduate student in Bennington College's low-residency MFA program.

Kurt Brokaw is an associate teaching professor at The New School. He also teaches film noir and early lesbian fiction at the 92nd Street Y.

Randi Cecchine is an independent documentary shooter/editor/producer, freelancer, and sometime educator living in New York. She has a BA from Hampshire College and an MFA in Media Arts Production from The College of Staten Island.

Michael Grosse received his BA in Journalism from the University of New Hampshire. His work has been published in several local and regional newspapers in New England and online at www.michaelgrosse.net.

Michele Meek is a board member of Independent Media Publications and former publisher of The Independent.

Valerie Weiss is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning writer and director who recently completed the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI) Directing Workshop for Women where she directed the short film, Transgressions. Transgressions has been described as A Clockwork Orange meets Pleasantville and has won numerous awards including a BAFTA Student Film Award.

Joi R. Wheatley, also known to many as Miss Joi, is a proud alumni of The Fashion Institute of Technology. She currently resides in a quaint area of New Jersey since "it's quite, low key and diverse." If Joi is not bartending at a hot spot in The Big Apple, than you can catch her writing for her notoriously witty blog, The Grind.

Ariella is a native New Yorker and a graduate of Boston University, where she earned a B.A. in Philosophy. Her film, fashion, and culture pieces have appeared in NYLON, amNewYork, New York Magazine, The L Magazine, and Interview.

Vicki Vasilopoulos is a freelance journalist and a filmmaker who is directing Men of the Cloth, a documentary film about Italian master tailors. Learn more about it here.

Patrick Pearce is a Canadian filmmaker, brand consultant and writer currently based in London and editing a documentary on the life and times of a Mao-era military electronics complex turned contemporary arts district known as Factory 798.

Jason Brubaker is a Hollywood-based independent producer. You can find more of his filmmaking tips at Filmmaking Stuff.

Sarah Morgan is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. She recently graduated from Columbia University's Journalism School. She can be contacted at mssarahmorgan@gmail.com.

Nikki Chase is a freelance writer in Boston and the associate editor at the Independent. Her work has appeared in New England Film, Bay Windows and 10Best, as well as several local publications including her celebrity blog for the Boston Examiner. She can be contacted at nikki@independent-magazine.org.

Internationally renowned author and story consultant Fernanda Rossi has doctored over 300 documentaries, scripts, and fundraising trailers including the 2009 Academy Award® nominated The Garden by Scott Hamilton Kennedy and the 2007 Academy Award® nominated Recycled Life by Leslie Iwerks.

Kafi is a research fellow at American University's Center for Social Media.

Emily is an intern at the Independent and a student at Boston University, double majoring in history and journalism.

John McMahon is a freelance writer, screenwriter and producer. His credits include work for many non-profit organizations such as St. Jude Children's Hospital and HBO's Comic Relief. He is a graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts (where he was mentored in screenwriting by John Milius and Bob McKee). He is also a graduate of USC's Advanced Studies Program: Writing Music for films and Television.

Adam Roffman has worked in the film industry as a Prop Master/On-Set Dresser for 12 years having worked with directors such as Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Martin Campbell, and David Mamet. In 2008 he produced his first feature, Woodpecker, which premiered at SXSW and had a very successful festival run.

Jericho Parms is a freelance writer in New York City. Her work on art and film has appeared in various local and national publications.

Derek Leverette is a Videofest News Journalist.

Vaness Willoughby is an undergraduate at Emerson College currently working as an Editorial Intern for The Independent.

Gillian Moody is a freelance writer, editor and blogger. Check out her website at www.gillianmoody.blogspot.com.

Amanda Axelson is a writer and teacher living in Los Angeles.

Abra Moore graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BA in English. Although she is a Rhode Island native, 2008 is her first experience working for the Rhode Island International Film Festival. She was also recently a judge in the 48 Hour Film Festival.

Erica Ginsberg can be reached at erica -AT- docsinprogress -DOT- org.

Jen Swanson is a freelance writer living in New York City.