FILM DIRECTORS
TAGGART SIEGEL - Director/Producer
Taggart Siegel is the Director/Producer of SEED: The Untold Story (Upcoming Broadcast on PBS Independent Lens). He has produced and directed Emmy-nominated, award-winning documentaries including QUEEN OF THE SUN: What are the Bees Telling Us? and THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN (ITVS, Independent Lens). These films received critical-acclaim during their theatrical release and garnered over 40 international awards. Siegel is a Fledgling Outreach and Engagement Lab Fellow and was selected to pitch SEED at Britdocs GOODPITCH. His previous PBS films include: SPLIT HORN, (ITVS, Independent Lens), BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, BLUE COLLAR AND BUDDHA and HEART BROKEN IN HALF. Collectively, they capture the struggle of refugees and immigrants in America. He produced the National Geographic film DISENCHANTED FOREST about orangutans in Borneo and was the director of SHADOW OF A PEPPER TREE. Taggart is the founder and Executive Director of Collective Eye Films, a non-profit media production and distribution organization based in Portland, Oregon.
JON BETZ - Director/Producer
Jon Betz is the Director/Producer & Editor of SEED: The Untold Story (Upcoming Broadcast on PBS Independent Lens). Betz is an Emmy-nominated, award-winning independent documentary filmmaker. He is the producer and editor for QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? (2010). QUEEN OF THE SUN was critically- acclaimed during it’s U.S. theatrical release and heralded by The New York Times as “Revelatory! A Critic’s Pick” His previous film, MEMORIZE YOU SAW IT (2008) journals his experience as an aid worker living with former-child soldiers in Eastern Uganda. Betz is a Fledgling Outreach and Engagement and Lab Fellow, a Britdocs GOODPITCH alumni and a graduate from Rhode Island School of Design. He is the director of distribution at Collective Eye Films, a non-profit media production and documentary distribution organization based in Portland, Oregon.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
MARISA TOMEI - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Marisa Tomei is an Academy-Award winning American stage, film, and television actress and founder of Seneca Falls Picture Company. She came to prominence in 1992 with MY COUSIN VINNY, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her performances in IN THE BEDROOM and THE WRESTLER. Tomei is actively dedicated to humanitarian causes including VDay, a global event to raise awareness about violence against women and girls. Tomei hosted “reclaim REAL food” to bring attention to the importance of labeling our food.
MARC TURTLETAUB - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Marc Turtletaub has served as a producer on numerous independent films including the Academy Award-winning LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Recent releases include Sam Mendes’ AWAY WE GO, starring Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, Christine Jeffs’ SUNSHINE CLEANING starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt and John Crowley’s IS ANYBODY THERE? starring Michael Caine. Turtletaub has also produced Liev Schrieber’s EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. Other producing credits include JACK GOES BOATING, LAWS OF ATTRACTION, THE HONEYMOONERS, and a documentary called LUCKY by Jeffrey Blitz.
PHIL FAIRCLOUGH - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Phil Fairclough was intimately involved as executive producer and producer on several of Werner Herzog’s documentaries including the acclaimed GRIZZLY MAN, the Oscar nominated ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS. Phil was a network executive at Discovery Channel, EVP of Development and Production for NHNZ. Before working at Discovery, Phil held senior positions at the BBC and ITV – and had extensive production experience in the UK, including the acclaimed BBC Natural History Unit where he was an executive producer and head of the commercial production unit.