Tie a Yellow Ribbon, filmmakers
Writer/Director/Producer: Joy Dietrich
Korean-born American filmmaker Joy Dietrich started out in publishing,
working as an editor and reporter for various magazines and news services
in the United States and abroad. While living in Paris in the late 1990's
she came to feel that film was the artistic medium that would allow
her to express herself most fully. In typical all-out fashion she moved
to New York and immersed herself in learning the craft, on her own and
without film school. This process culminated in the production of Joy's
autobiographically inspired first film, SURPLUS, a critically acclaimed
16mm short dealing with the devastating effects of poverty on the children
of a Korean family.
Surplus has been shown at 40+ film festivals and events including the San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival and London’s Raindance Film Festival. San Francisco-based NAATA (now Center for Asian American Media) picked Surplus up for distribution in 2001.
Joy was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts grant in 2004, a residency from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2006. She received funding from the Independent Television Service’s Open Call to write and shoot her first feature film TIE A YELLOW RIBBON. Joy now splits her time working for The New York Times and on her filmmaking activities.
Producer: Thomas Yong
Thomas Yong was born in Seoul, but raised in Denmark. After earning his
graduate degree in International Business, Thomas moved to New York
City where he founded Shouting Cow Productions, LLC, an independent
film and TV production company. With Shouting Cow, Thomas produced the
short film BASIC EMOTIONS - an ambitious production involving three
teams of writers and directors shooting three separate stories. BASIC
EMOTIONS premiered at Los Angeles International Short Film Festival
2004. In 2003 Thomas associate produced Jae Song's short film HOPSCOTCH
based on a novel by Julio Cortazár, which premiered at Hamptons International
Film Festival in 2004. In 2003, Thomas produced COLOR OF A DOUBT: AN
URBAN FABLE directed by Pornsak Pichetshote and Jason Garrett Lewis,
and associate produced Georgia Lee's latest short film: DIAGNOSIS.
Co-Producer: Malaika Langa
Malaika Langa is the Producer of HIS AND HERS as well as the Production
Manager of the feature film SERIAL. Her experience includes Development
Producer and Manager for the award-winning indie film company Mondo
Paradiso Films as well as Facility Manager and Audio Post Coordinator
of Planet 10 Post, her credits include CHANGING LANES, MONSOON WEDDING
and SECRETARY. In addition, Malaika was Researcher for the Cable Ace
award-winning documentary DON QUIXOTE produced by The Cronkite Ward
Company and a producer, writer and interviewer for WESU 88.1 the RadioActive
Wire.
Co-Producer: Jason Garrett Lewis
Jason Garrett Lewis a graduate of Tufts University, is a published photographer
and award-winning filmmaker who first aimed his camera on the streets
of New York in the fifth grade; he has been shooting stills and film
ever since. His still work has appeared in a variety of magazines, newspapers,
films, and CDs, as well as throughout the world for companies such as
MTV Networks, Puma USA, Rainstone Entertainment, and others. He has
also worked in film in a number of different key positions both on-set
and off. Presently focusing on directing and producing, Jason’s first
directorial and producing effort earned him accolades in a number of
festivals; his second film, COLOR OF A DOUBT: AN URBAN FABLE, is currently
screening within the film festival circuit. Jason has participated in
producing numerous other films, including the experimental film MAKING
OF AMERICANS which had its premier in the summer 2004 at New York’s
P.S.1./MOMA museum and recently screened at The Cannes Film Festival
2005.
Associate Producer: Joselin Linder
Joselin Linder began producing working with Misery Loves Company (now
Mi Loco), an international theater company based in the Czech Republic
in 1998. Most notably, Joselin produced HAMLET with an international
cast, which premiered in Prague's renowned Globe Theatre in 2000 for
an audience of over five hundred. She moved to New York from San Francisco
where she helped launch the up and coming fashion design company, Evege
Studio. Now working in film Joselin, has Production Coordinated on
several projects, including a television episode for Happy Young People
Productions and a pilot for Comedy Central. She has worked as a casting
assistant and later in Talent Management for Anonymous Content. She currently
works in development for Gigantic Pictures.
Consulting Producer: Jason Orans
Jason Orans produced several features in the past year including Sundance
Film Festival Feature Competition Selection FLANNEL PAJAMAS, written
and directed by October Films founder Jeff Lipsky; SATELLITE, a 2005
Tribeca Film Festival premiere; and YEAR OF THE FISH, which was developed
at the Sundance Institute, currently in post-production. Jason recently
produced several narrative projects for PBS, including COSMOPOLITAN,
written by Sabrina Dhawan (MONSOON WEDDING) and directed by Nisha Ganatra
(CHUTNEY POPCORN), which represented the U.S. at the 2005 INPUT World
Television Conference and premiered on Independent Lens. Also for PBS:
an adaptation of Julia Alvarez's THE SUITOR which premiered nationally
in October 2005; an adaptation of Bernard Malamud's THE FIRST SEVEN
YEARS; and an adaptation of Eudora Welty's short story THE KEY, shot
in New Orleans entirely in American Sign Language with actors from the
National Theater of the Deaf. Also a busy producer for hire, Jason has
line produced the New York units of feature films L'AUTRE, ALEXANDRIA...NEW
YORK and HELLO AMERICA, as well as many documentaries, shorts and music
videos.
Director of Photography: Lars Bonde
Lars Bonde graduated from The Danish National Film School in 2003 after
photographing the award winning short film “Nightfall.” He has since
lensed a long list of fictional short narratives, documentaries and
commercials, including the Danish Academy Award Winner “Little Lise”
and Close Up Winner “2 Minutes”, which was also nominated in Semaine
de la Critique at Cannes. His first feature-length films The Superman
and With Closed Eyes are currently in the editing room, Tie a Yellow
Ribbon will be his third.
Editor: Rasmus Høgdall
Rasmus Høgdall has worked in the Danish film business since 2001. His
work as an editor includes the documentary segments for the Lars von
Trier’s E-trilogy, which won the MIP-Com awards in Cannes 2005 for best
non-English DVD and the short film “Little Lise” which won the Danish
Academy Award for best short. This film is now being submitted for the
Oscar. His first feature film is called Bølle Bob which became a Danish
box-office success. Tie a Yellow Ribbon is his second feature film.
He is currently working on his third feature in Denmark.
Editor: Stephen T. Maing
Stephen Maing is a filmmaker and musician. His short film LITTLE HEARTS
was awarded Best of Festival at the New England Film and Video Festival
as well as the Best Short Film Audience Award at the Slamdance Film
Festival. His cinematography credits include music videos for seminal
hip-hop group PUBLIC ENEMY and various narrative, documentary and commercial
projects. As an editor he has cut programs for PBS, History Channel,
Bravo, Discovery Channel, MTV, & Nickelodeon. His recent editing
credits include Comedy Central’s CHAPPELLE SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES and
currently the documentary feature TEAM LIONESS about women in the military.
He has participated in various inner-city media groups as a visiting
artist and teacher for programs like the Young Producer's Program, a
media workshop for Boston inner-city teens and the Cambridge Community
Art Center.
Composer: John Schmersal
Composer John Schmersal, is mostly known for his musical work in the art-pop
bands Enon and Brainiac. His other credits include song writing and
sound design for MTV2, Sundance Channel, Disney, and Columbia Pictures
as well as several production and engineering credits on other groups
albums.
Production Designer: Tamar Gadish
Tamar Gadish works in both film and theatre. Her most recent credits in
films include The Cry directed by Bernadine Sanitevan, Guiana 1838 directed
By Rohit Jagessar, Mind the Gap directed by Eric Shaeffer and The Barbecue
People, which she was nominated for An Israeli Oscar for best Production
Design, directed by David Ofek & Yosi Madmoni. She holds an MFA
in Set Design for Stage and Film from New York University, Tisch School
of the Arts.
Casting Director: Stephanie Holbrook
Stephanie Holbrook’s Casting credits include high-profile projects from three major markets. Beginning her career in her hometown of San Francisco, she provided local casting for such films as Jade, Murder in the First, A Walk In The Clouds and Mrs. Doubtfire for 20th. In L.A., Stephanie joined the casting team for the show “The Practice,” then “Roseanne” and “Arliss. Early New York credits include TV and Film: “Chappelle’s Show” (season 1) for the Comedy Central, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village and Lady in the Water, Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic and Mike Newell’s Mona Lisa Smile.
In the last few years, Stephanie cast the film Room 314 for Michael Knowles, worked with Bart Freundlich on Trust the Man, Tom Dey on the Paramount film Failure To Launch, among others. Stephanie had the privilege of working with playwright/ filmmaker, Kenneth Lonergan, on his latest film Margaret. Stephanie also completed casting work on Oscar-nominated Noah Baumbach’s latest film Margot at the Wedding, having worked with him on his prior film, The Squid and the Whale. Her 2006 associate casting director credits include James Gray’s We Own the Night. Also in 2006, Stephanie cast a handful of independent projects: The Babysitters, Love Comes Lately, and Goodbye Baby, finishing with MTV’s sketch comedy show “Human Giant”.
Beginning 2007, Stephanie is casting Eric Mendelsohn’s Interior Brownstone, the film Red Robin for director Michael Wechsler, and has begun casting the Douglas Tirola’s film Victor in December for the producer of Girl With A Pearl Earring. Stephanie is also currently casting M. Night Shyamalan’s latest studio project, The Happening.
Line Producer & UPM : Tevin Adelman
Tevin Adelman started his career in Los Angeles after graduating from
Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. In L.A.
he worked as the Assistant to the Director of Development at El Dorado
Pictures on the Sony lot before becoming an executive assistant at First
Television. Later, he moved to New York to pursue more feature film
work and became an assistant director on projects like THE CONFESSION,
JULIEN-DONKEY BOY, HOME SWEET HOBOKEN, KING OF THE JUNGLE and SOCIAL
GRACE. Adelman went on to work as a Production Manager and Post Production
Supervisor at Tribe Pictures before becoming the Director of Development
and Production at Kismet Films. During his tenure at Kismet he developed
and produced a variety of projects both for theatrical distribution
and for television such as THE NEW AMERICANS, OUTLANDS and THE STORY
OF CALVIN STOLLER. Subsequently, he has returned to his feature roots
and continues to Production Manage, Line Produce, and Produce independent
features of all sizes and Budgets. His recent producing credits include,
FLANNEL PAJAMAS - an official Sundance selection - AFTERMATH, YEAR OF
THE FISH and THE CHILD WITHIN.