Melinda Janko, Director/Producer/Writer

 

Melinda is the President of Fire in the Belly Productions, Inc., a company whose mission is to “make films that make a difference,” She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who made her Directorial Debut in 2016, with the release of 100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice, about the legendary Blackfeet activist, Elouise Cobell. Melinda spent two years, building relationships of trust with Native Americans and obtaining unprecedented access to Senators, Congressmen, the federal judge, the Department of the Interior, and many more to tell this story about the Cobell lawsuit that was 14 years in the courts. 

Todd Burns, Executive Producer

 

​Todd is a seasoned producer and entrepreneur. He has built film, media technology, and health companies. He is an award-winning film producer on films such as The Stoning of Soraya M and is the founding chairman of Liberty in North Korea, among other human rights non-profits and initiatives. 

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Patricia (Patsy) Whitefoot, Yakama NaFon, Educator, MMIW Advocate, Co-Producer

A longtime Yakama Nation educator and activist for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, both in Washington State and nationally. Patricia, whose sister disappeared in 1987 in an unsolved case, has been instrumental in directing the state police to study how to increase and improve criminal justice resources on these cases. "As families, we simply seek justice and healing of the heart," Whitefoot told lawmakers in her written testimony.

Stephon Litwinczuk, Co-Producer

 

Emmy® nominated Associate Producer and member of the Producers Guild, Stephon Litwinczuk’s work has been shown in theaters and television in the US and around the globe. Stephon began his career working on the documentary series, “Behind the Masks: The Story of the Screen Actors Guild and the award-winning 100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice. He also Directed/ Produced/Edited the documentary film, “Falling Up!”

Laela Kilbourn, Director of Photography

 

Director of photography Laela Kilbourn has accumulated feature credits including Best Cinematography award winner SWIM TEAM, and seven Sundance documentary competition premieres, such as DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award winner THIS IS HOME: A REFUGEE STORY, Peabody Award winning HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO, and Emmy nominated WORD WARS. She also shot SYNC OR SWIM, winner of the Billie Award for Journalism from the Women’s Sports Foundation, and filmed History’s eleven part docuseries SANDHOGS. Her award-winning narrative work includes THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF QUEENS, CRABS IN A BARREL, DEATH OF A FOOL, PARK SLOPE MOMS, and JUNE WEDDINGS. She has worked on projects for HBO, FX, NBC, PBS, Netflix, Hulu, Epix, Amazon, AMC, A&E, TBS, Nick Jr., NickMom, ESPN, History, MTV, VH1, Disney, and WeTV. A member of the International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Women in Film & Television, and the International Collective of Female+ Cinematographers, she has served as a juror for the Brooklyn International Film Festival, as a panelist on cinematography at the Canon Creative Studio and DOC NYC PRO, and as a guest speaker at The New School. She has a degree in social anthropology from Harvard University.

Nicholas Pike, Composer

 

Emmy award-winning Hollywood composer Nicholas Pike has scored films ranging from the family-oriented Captain Ron, Return to Me and Virginia’s Run to award-winning documentaries, 100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice which was short-listed for a 2017 Best Song Academy Award, and Tahrir Square which won Outstanding Music and Sound Emmy for the HBO documentary In Tahrir Square.

John Echohawk, Pawnee Nation, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund

 

John Echohawk has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal.  John, is closely monitoring the efforts to challenge the legal rights of Tribal governments to  prosecute non-natives who commit domestic violence against Native women, authorized under the 2013 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

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Lisa Brunner, Anishinaabe member of White Earth Nation, Minnesota

 

Lisa Brunner has survived numerous sexual assaults by non-Native and Native American men alike, which drove her to advocate for the past 20 years on behalf of other victimized Native American women. Lisa is also a founding member of the National Congress of American Indians, Violence Against Women Task Force and a 2016 Bush Fellow. “When a non-native rapes an indigenous woman, that to me is a hate crime,” Brunner said. “When we are facing a level of victimization where 67 percent of our perpetrators are non-native, that is race-based hate. We are being targeted for who we are as native women.”

Bazzel Baz, Advisor
 

A former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and Special Operations Officer, Former US Marine Corps Captain, Counter-Terrorism Expert and the founder of The Association for the Recovery of Children, a non-profit organization of former intelligence, military and law enforcement officers dedicated to the rescue of missing, trafficked and exploited American Children.

Marc Botello, Advisor

 

Marc Botello, Franklin Global, Inc. Former FBI Agent investigating organized crime, foreign counter- intelligence and kidnappings. Specializing in sex trafficking.

Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs: The Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

 

An agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies.