UNTITLED ANIMAL PROJECT

Jessica is a Chinese-American director/producer named one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine and selected for the 2020 DOC NYC “40 Under 40” list. Her first documentary feature, ASCENSION登楼叹 (2021), was nominated for 94th Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature category. It won three Cinema Eye Honors, Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival, and Best Editing at DOC NYC. The film was nominated for six Critics’ Choice awards, the DGA Awards, Spirit Awards, the Gotham and the International Documentary Association. Her award-winning short COMMODITY CITY (2017) is an observational documentary about the world’s largest wholesale mall in Yiwu, China and played at over 50 film festivals. She co-directed the short IT'S COMING! (2020), and ROUTINE ISLAND (2019). Her work has been supported by organizations including SFFILM, Chicken & Egg, Cinereach, Sundance, Field of Vision, and Firelight Media. She co-produced “In The Cards” (dir. Colin Kane Healey, Tribeca 2021), “Born To Be” (dir. Tania Cypriano, NYFF 2019,)“The Waterslide” (dir. Nathan Truesdell, True/False in 2018), “Old Stone” (dir. Johnny Ma, Berlinale 2016). Residencies include UnionDocs and a MacDowell Fellowship. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

Nathan Truesdell is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker from Clark, Missouri who has been nominated for an Academy Award, a PGA Award, an IDA Award, was selected for the inaugural “DOC NYC 40 Under 40” list, and won a Cinema Eye Honor for Cinematography. His directorial work includes the award-winning BALLOONFEST, THE WATER SLIDE, THE ART OF MAKING MONEY, and IT’S COMING! He is the Camera Department Head for the HBO series HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON. He produced and co-DP’ed the Tribeca winner ASCENSION (2021). He produced documentaries such as WE ALWAYS LIE TO STRANGERS (SXSW, 2013), CAUCUS (Hot Docs, 2013), CONVENTION (LAFF, 2010), PEACE IN THE VALLEY (Sundance, 2016), and co-produced THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA (SXSW, 2018). He was a cinematographer on DOPE IS DEATH (True/False, 2020), DEPROGRAMMED (Tribeca, 2015), and was a cinematographer and editor on KILLING THEM SAFELY (Tribeca, 2015). He also served as art director for the narrative film YOU’RE NEXT (TIFF, 2011). 

Jamie Gonçalves is a Brazilian-American producer and co-founder of Sin Sitio Cine (US/MX), a production company whose work spans documentary and fiction. His recent films include Juan Pablo González’s scripted debut DOS ESTACIONES (Sundance 2022 Special Jury Award, Cinema Guild), which was nominated for Best Feature at The Gothams and the Heterodox Award at the Cinema Eye Honors. He also produced González’s documentaries CABALLERANGO (IDFA 2018, Grasshopper) and LAS NUBES (IFFR 2017). Jamie produced Nathan Truesdell’s shorts BALLOONFEST and THE WATER SLIDE—the most watched films on The Atlantic with over 22 million views combined; Isidore Bethel’s ACTS OF LOVE (Hot Docs 2021); and Nick Berardini’s debut KILLING THEM SAFELY (Tribeca 2015, IFC). In 2015, Filmmaker Magazine named him as one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and one of Variety’s 10 producers to watch in 2023.  He is a 2018 Sundance Institute Producing Fellow, Impact Partners Producing Fellow, and Creative Capital Fellow. From 2011 to 2014, he served on the programming team at the True/False Film Festival. His current slate of productions are being directed by: Juan Pablo González, Jessica Kingdon, Isabel Castro, David Osit, Edwin Martinez, Ilana Coleman, Kamau Bilal and Chy Chi.