Discover Top Documentary DPs in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

One of the most defining moments of my life is when I traveled to Indonesia for 6 weeks in 2005 after the devastating tsunami that killed over 200,000 people. I wanted to tell the stories of remote villages that did not receive mainstream aid. My shooting experience was almost non-existent but the experience of finding stories in that way made me realize I didn't want to do anything else with my life. I won a Webby Award and raised enough money for two girls to receive life saving surgery. Since this experience I've worked professionally as a Producer, Shooter and Editor for Cantaloupe.TV and recently started my freelance career in 2012. I'm constant traveler and have been to over 20 countries and 5 continents documenting everything from Ultra Running in the Arctic to the Haitian earthquake in 2010. My strength lies in shooting in difficult situations and finding stories as they unfold. What drives me is when seemingly disparate ideas come together to create meaning that only happens when you're in the right place at the right time. I look forward to speaking with you about StoryHunter and how I may contribute to your network of storytellers. Thanks, Zachary

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I am a Malaysian documentary filmmaker and a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship 2012. I have over six years of experience working as a multimedia journalist for Malaysiakini.com, a prestigious news organization in Malaysia. I am currently completing my Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Studies and Production at Hofstra University in New York. I have more than 10 years of experience working as a Video Journalist, Documentary Video Producer and TV Producer. And I have worked on producing numerous news clips, short documentaries, TV programs, and promo videos for non-profit organizations. My short documentary, She's My Son (Malaysia, 2007, 13-min) won an award at the 2007 Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur and one of her recent film, Living Jazz with Bill Saxton (US, 2012, 10-min) was an official selection of the 10th Annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival 2013. I love character-driven stories. I believe there are some incredible characters out there in our world whose stories are simply waiting to be told. I would love to reach out to some of them and have them to share a slice of their life; it is such an honor to be let in like that.

• Documentary DP

I'm a 24-year old graduate from the University of Texas with a BS in Radio/Television/Film. The stories I'm looking to tell involve the post-Internet era. I grew up in a very sequestered area in rural Texas, so in my youth I spent large amounts of time online as a means of meeting people, combating loneliness and gaining understanding of the world outside my own. Technological progress at this point in world history is at an interesting point, and the side-effects of growing up online are becoming more apparent as those who have lived their entire lives under the presence of the web grow into adulthood. Through my past online, I've met a wide array of figures, but I'd like to focus on the most extreme cases. For instance, college students obsessed with hook-up or dating apps, or teenagers who spend hours cultivating a separate identity from their real life over the course of social media, as well as younger children who spend as much time online as I did. Please check out my works on my website! I'm working on a similar feature at the moment, so keep in mind my best work is likely yet to be seen!

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I am a professional deadline beater and a multimedia journalist. I wanted to become a journalist because I was always asking questions. By the time, I finished my MA in International Relations at Kings College London, I knew I was wrong. But it was too late by then. So I cut my teeth freelancing for the Times of India in Calcutta, and then spent four years with Business Standard, an Indian financial daily. I was the newspapers Southeast Asia correspondent, based out of Singapore, and most recently, a special correspondent (and multimedia dogsbody) in New Delhi. I attended the Multimedia Journalism programme at the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2012-13. My video work has appeared on The Economists website, TheAtlantic.com and Quartz. Currently, I spent time as a Fulbright scholar at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism, where I still ask questions regularly. I'm interested in stories about people, stuck in unusual personal, political or economic predicaments.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

As a dedicated documentary director and cinematographer, I bring important questions and ideas to my audience and allow them to examine an issue as if they are experiencing it themselves. I will be very grateful for the opportunity to put the best of my creative and technical abilities to work for story hunter and the issues examined. I have over four years experience in film-making and television production including, documentary film, camera operation for local television news, and production and post-production work for independent feature film. My professional experience has taught me to be absolutely dedicated to a story and take it through to completion in spite of any challenges that arise. Sometimes hard work can reveal subtleties not readily apparent at first viewing, but which are expressed through the creative process. I am most passionate about finance, environmental issues, human interest stories, and political topics.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

Sara Khaki was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) with her BFA in Film/Video, and the School of Visual Arts (SVA) with her MFA in Social Documentary Film, where she was a Social Documentary and an Alumni Scholarship award recipient. Her most recent film is "Facing the Mirror", a work in progress feature length documentary about an Iranian-American plastic surgeon who has dedicated his life to offering hope and healing to those whose lives have been ravaged by war. This film has so far received the Honorable Mentioned Award from the International film awards of Berlin and won the 2013 Ready, Set, Pitch! grant from CAAM (Center for Asian American Media). Sara is currently working as an Associate Producer on a feature length documentary commissioned by Al Jazeera about the behind the scenes of the launch of Al Jazeera America in the United States.

• Documentary DP

I'm a multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker. I began my documentary career, at HBO Documentary Films, as a researcher and production associate on The Weight of the Nation, a four-part series on obesity. Since then, I've field-produced an investigative special for PBS and manage the post-production of web documentaries for Heredia Pictures. Prior to joining HBO, I was the arts and entertainment editor at Essence magazine. While at Essence, I launched their digital platform as the producer of the award-winning interactive multimedia packages. I have more than seven years of editorial work experience, with a proven track record of generating innovative story ideas, managing large-scale projects and ensuring the factual accuracy of high-profile stories on tight-deadlines. I'm interested in covering a variety of topics at the intersection of race, politics and social justice. I'm currently interested in pitching ideas to POV on Black male achievement/American Promise assignment.

• Documentary DP

Mary Patricia - "MP" - Nunan is a former foreign correspondent, whose overseas work spans 17 years (and counting) and many hotspots - major, and otherwise. These include Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Bosnia, Burma and others. She's covered falling dictators, rollercoaster economies and turbulent transitions toward democracy (or something close to it) in an array of countries. She's fixed for programs such as Ted Koppels Nightline, she's accidentally insulted insurgent leaders, and she's sipped tea on Mullah Omars (unoccupied) bed. Her radio and television reportage has aired on National Public Radio, the Voice of America, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, CNN and many other news outlets. She has also written the foreign policy series "Great Decisions," that airs on PBS. Her clients while based in New York include "Global Health Frontline News," a program which runs on CNN, and UNICEF and other UN agencies and other international ngo's.

• Documentary DP

Dear Carlos, My name is Mark Zemel. I worked at Pitchfork TV for the last five years as a Series Producer and Editor, but recently left to go freelance full time. Pitchfork is a fairly small production operation which means I handled all aspects of producing content. I pitched, produced, directed, shot, edited and animated content on tight budgets and tight timelines. Since leaving Pitchfork I've worked for ABC, The New Yorker, PBS Digital Studios, The Fader, and Paste Magazine. At Pitchfork I directed and edited a number of documentaries, including The Queen Diva from earlier this year which is a Special Selection at the 2013 ASVOFF Film Festival in Paris. I was also the Series Producer for the +1 series. I would pitch the bands to cover, crew the shoot, direct it, interview the bands and edit on an extremely tight timeline. I produced over 50 episodes of that series and theyve since gotten over 2 million views. While doing that I also directed and edited several other documentaries, multiple sessions, and was the exclusive editor and artist for the Over/Under series. My reel can be viewed on my website, www.mlzml.com. Best, Mark Zemel

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I was born in the industrial city Chelyabinsk, Siberian part of Russia. My hometown made the headlines in 2013 as a city, where the Meteor fall down. I have a Bachelor degree in Journalism from Russia and a Master's degree in Journalism from City University of New York. I am passionate about storytelling and i have been involved into video production on all its stages. From researching and pitching stories, to shooting, producing, editing and delivering the final product. I've worked on a lot of diverse projects ranging from purely broadcast style to self-narrative online videos. The past years i learned all the nuances of the web storytelling. I master my skills every day by working part time as a camera operator and watching frame-by-frame those videos i consider to be masterpieces. Most of all i like reporting on socially important issues or inspiring character driven stories that might help to change one's life.

• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - News
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Sound Mixer
• Translator
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Dear Storyhunter, Lift Video Productions is a small NYC production house that deals primarily in corporate video but has done some documentary-style work and would like to do more. Our principals are Jennifer Reed (Producer, Writer), who was a professional journalist for 15+ years, Christian Montalbano (Director, Editor), who has 15 years experience in both arenas, and Matt Dimakos (DP), who is an award-winning cameraman with several documentaries under his belt, including one for ABC on Michael J. Fox called "The Incurable Optimist." We're interested in all genres of documentary, from hard-hitting news to softer, quirkier pieces. And we can deliver all phases, from initial concept development, sourcing interviews and scheduling crews through editing and music composition. Our website (www.liftvideoproductions) houses many examples of our work, documentary and otherwise. If you're interested in hearing more, please give us a call at your convenience at x. Our offices are just south of Times Square. Best, Jennifer Reed

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I'm an ex-communications consultant-turned freelancer. I've got loads of experience in documentary films - from short form to feature, as well as working on a number of music videos. I work mostly as an editor, but if you ask me I think editors are the real story-tellers in the film world! I've got a passion for travel, and have lived abroad in both the United Kingdom (4 years) and Norway (1 year). I love cross cultural stories, especially ones that involve art. I write for a digital film magazine called Verite (www.veritefilmmage.com) and love the idea that learning about and experiencing art should be an open opportunity for everyone in this world - art is how we tell our stories and experience our shared histories and it couldn't be more important to living in a harmonious, multi-cultural world community. I'm currently based just outside NYC, working as a freelance editor and film journalist and constantly on the look-out for new video journalism opportunities.

• Documentary DP

[Applying through POV] I've worked as a filmmaker and youth media educator for the past 15 years in New York, creating high-quality stories exploring innovative responses to chronic social issues: particularly primarily prison reform, economic justice, and urban education. After years freelancing for Time.com, Carnegie Hall, and directing a feature doc that was broadcast on PBS World in 2011, I've increasingly been returning to my roots as a youth media educator. My goal has been to cultivate young people into highly professional filmmakers who can produce stories with a freshness of perspective, and access to worlds that remain hidden to mainstream media. The current project "Echoes of Incarceration" works with youth with incarcerated parents. In its first year, the young filmmakers have already been hired as a professional crew for clients including Carnegie Hall, and we're now partnering with Sesame Workshop. We're currently in the final stages of editing our first three advocacy films.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I am a multimedia storyteller and journalist with a passion for short-form video storytelling. I care most about human-driven stories that either expose little-known realities shed light upon things that are not fully understood or are overlooked. Stories I have told in documentary style that have inspired me include the story of a long-shot candidate for the 2011 Chicago mayoral election and the inside story of Kenya's miraa trade. I both write and work in video production, but what inspires me about video storytelling is the truth that is necessarily involved when images are part of a story, and the creative possibilities inherent to video production. After beginning my career as a newspaper reporter I earned my MSJ in 2011 from Northwestern University, with a concentration in documentary storytelling. I followed that up with a fellowship at a TV station in Nairobi where I produced, shot and edited in-depth news packages. Currently I am the managing editor of a technology B2B magazine, for which I also produce and manage all web video content. I would love to join the Storyhunter team and produce exciting, inspiring news-related video content.

• Documentary DP

My name is Ernest 'ErnEDITS' Ford I am an Creative and Renaissance man. I am a graduate of Howard University with a BA in Television production. I have worked with BET Networks, National Geographic Channel and The Discovery Channel. I have a strong passion for art; I see art in everything we do and see. From accounting to teaching to street art to gallery art I myself see it every time I blink. I am currently a 4th and 6th grade math and reading teacher, who started a non-profit name M.A.N.U.P. Making A New United People working with kids in Takoma park Maryland. I also run a art gallery in Brooklyn called The Bishop. All this to say I love to hunt stories about Artist young and old (singers, painters,sculptors,graffiti,dancers,musicians) their rise or fall and all in between; I also Hunt New Yorker Stories from history, love, culture or whatever passion or hustle they have that's drives them to thrive in this great city, so many interesting stories to hunt! Thanks for reading, hopefully we speak soon. Thanks You Ernest Ford

• Documentary DP

Gabriel Tolliver is a storyteller across media platforms. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and Long Island University's TV Writing and Producing Program. Gabriel has a BFA in Film/TV Production and a Masters of Professional Studies in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Gabriel is also a decorated US Army Veteran who served as an Army video journalist (46R) from 2007-2011 which included deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (09-10). Gabriel's range of interests and expertise have led to a diverse portfolio. He also co-wrote and directed, "FLEECING LED ZEPPELIN", a short crime caper film based on true events involving one of Rock's greatest unsolved heists. The film has been added to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame's media archives and screened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Harlem International Film Festival. He has created content over the years for MTV, VH1, Sesame Street, and Elektra Records. Gabriel co-authored the definitive pop culture book on trendy, ostentatious jewelry called BLING: THE HIP-HOP JEWELRY BOOK by Bloomsbury Press and wrote and co-produced MONDO BLACK, an artful 8 part documentary web series for PBS affiliate; Black Public Media. He directed behind the scenes and wrote show copy for the YO! MTV RAPS 30th Anniversary Experience at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY in June 2018. Gabriel was also a 2018-2019 Writers Guild Foundation fellow in their Veterans Writers Workshop. Gabriel is is currently a freelance producer for Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts' digital series; #ThriverThursday for which he received a 2019 Telly Award.

• Documentary DP
• Fixer
• Reporter / Journalist
• Senior Producer / Project Manager
• Field Producer
• On-Air Reporter / Host

I'm and independent documentary producer/director, originally from London and now based in NYC. My debut feature 'Comrades' (2008) played in film festivals around the world before being broadcast by the BBC as well as Europe. I'm currently editing my next feature -'The Method and the Madness'- which is being produced by Met Film Production and follows 2 years at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. I'm also in development on two US projects - one focusing on the American South and race-related issues and another on teenage lovers who have found themselves caught in the nations complex web of sex offender laws. It should be clear from these diverse projects that I'm attracted to wildly different stories! My guiding interest is in strong characters who can carry complex/controversial narratives and my projects tend to be long-term, which allows me to build strong relationships with contributors and shoot in an observational style. As such, I generate a significant amount of footage (the majority of which ends up on the cutting-room floor) which could be used to create shorter pieces. I'm used to a journalistic style, having spent a year working on The Guardian newspaper's newsdesk.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer

I am a versatile video producer and am interested in telling stories of all kinds. My career has focused on environmental and sustainable development stories and most of my clients are non-profit organizations. As an Associate Producer for Streetfilms, I produced dozens of videos about sustainable transportation and implemented innovative web features. As an independent producer, my clients have included PeopleForBikes, the New York City Department of Transportation, Project for Public Spaces, Institute for Transportation Development and Policy and Smart Growth America. I am also a Digital Editor with the IISD Reporting Services where I cover environment and development stories all over the world. My work has been featured on Grist, The Atlantic, Treehugger, Upworhty, Next City, MoMa.org and on dozens of other blogs. My videos have screened at MASSMoCA, the Brooklyn Museum, Eyebeam Art+Technology Center.

• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - News
• Fixer
• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Sound Mixer
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

I come from a background of print journalism but took up the video camera 10 years ago with a digital filmmaking course at The New York Film Academy. I have done numerous freelance projects--a piece for Eliminate Poverty Now about an innovative school lifting children out of Kenya's largest slum; a two-part series for a Gates Foundation project to vastly improve soil information in Africa; and others. Recently I completed a 90-minute documentary--a story of cross-continental adventure, goodwill outreach, and the triumph of commitment in the face of extreme adversity--that is an official selection of The Oaxaca FilmFest and The NYC Independent Film Festival. I like to find voices that are underrepresented in the mainstream media. I also like to bring to light interesting work at which people are toiling away in obscurity, and render it accessible and engaging. Who's trying to solar panel Harlem's rooftops? Who's at the controls when a heatwave pushes NYC near blackout? What's it like to be a teenager in a housing project when gentrifcation is closing in? I believe in approaching subjects without judgment and keeping an eye out for the moment that illuminates humanity.

• Documentary DP

Hello! My name is Justin McCallum and I'm a young, award-winning documentary film-maker and photojournalist who recently relocated to New York City after graduating from Tufts University. As a student of social justice, the stories that I feel most drawn to are those of structural violence and personal empowerment. I find narrative storytelling to be an effective way to report on pressing issues while maintaining impartiality and journalistic integrity. This is most greatly reflected by my long-form project 'The New Nuclear Family,' which follows four sets of LGBT parents over two years revealing the unique discrimination they face. I honed my skills under the guidance of visual storytellers including VII Photo Agencys founder Gary Knight, fine art photographers at the School for the Museum of Fine Arts, and multimedia journalists from The Boston Globe. Through this, I've been extensively trained in visual reporting and composition in addition to technical shooting and editing. I would be thrilled to join the diverse group of reporters and documentarians at Storyhunter to learn and grow as well as contribute ideas and my expertise.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer