Bios
Director, Producer & Editor - M. Douglas Silverstein
An accomplished media maverick both in front of and behind the camera, M. Douglas Silverstein began his career in entertainment at the age of 15 working at radio station WNTN-AM, and by 20 was a reporter for NPR in L.A. He has appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and “Law and Order”, plus was the voice of Cannon video cameras, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran etc…
As both a news reporter and an entertainment reporter for National Public Radio (NPR), KCRW (LA) WBUR (Boston) and WFNX (Boston), M. has reported on social crisis such as the Gulf War as well as conducted interviews with countless legends including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olhmert, Paul McCartney, B.B. King, Sheryl Crow and Russell Simmons to name a few. He is a very accomplished “Rockstar Reporter” with over 600 major rock stars, celebrities and political leaders interviewed under his belt.
M. Douglas Silverstein has directed, produced, and edited both sound and video on a multitude of projects for most major labels including; Universal, Sony, BMG, Warner Bros., Jive,Virgin, and Columbia. From music videos to commercials, DVD-extras to independent short-films and long form documentaries, M. has had the pleasure of collaborating with renowned artists such as Beyonce, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, The Killers, Black Eyed Peas, Outkast, Toby Keith, and many more.
M. is in final post production on the feature documentary he created, directed, produced and edited “Something You Should Know: The Duran Duran Fan Documentary” featuring Duran Duran, Kelly Ripa, Moby, No Doubt, Bare Naked Ladies, Carson Daly, Dido, and Korn.
M.’s other recent projects this year include producing and directing content for Fashion Rocks, CBS TV and Radio network, the NFL, The Hallmark Channel, plus online outlets such www.Blueroom.ATT.com, Time Out On Demand and he co-created/produced the home video/DVD release for multi Platinum Jive Recording artist Chris Brown.
Currently, he has begun adapting a book for a feature film, and development on a web based music and lifestyle site, plus several reality shows for two networks in 2007.
Through his work, M. Douglas Silverstein has uncovered a passion for TV, filmmaking and storytelling. Presenting a unique approach to the documenting of cultural and social issues, M.’s true vision explores the most touching parts of peoples’ lives and celebrates the true essence of their being. He believes there are no limits to where his creativity can take him and looks forward to the future each day.
Co-Producer - Dan Halperin
With over ten years of production and producing experience, Dan brings a wide range of talents to the table having worked in almost every medium including Reality TV, Live multi-cam concert and sports Television, Feature Documentary, Music Videos, Animation and DVD created content.
Dan recently produced a 13 part reality show broadcast nationally on BET/VIACOM, entitled “Blowing Up Fatty Koo” for SONYBMG in association with Academy Award winner David Sonenberg (When We Were Kings).
This Year Dan has been involved in the production of two series for ESPN, World Championship Paintball and World Championship Dominos as well as the launch of A Video-on-Demand Channel for Time Out Magazine. Dan also produced a spot for Major League Soccer that aired during the World Cup and co-created/produced the home video/DVD release for Jive Recording artist Chris Brown (released 2006) whose debut album in Nov 2005 sold over 2 million copies
Dan has also has produced commercials for Serta Mattress, music videos for Wyclef Jean, Michael Hutchence of INXS, GZA, (of the Wu-Tang Clan) The Ying Yang Twins and DVD’s for Koch Entertainment and Fangoria Magazine
Dan is currently in Post Production as Co-Producer on Something You Should Know; The Duran Duran Fan Documentary. As well he is in development on a Skydiving Reality show and broadband content for a marketplace website.
Director of Photography - Alec Chvany
Alec Chvany has had a varied career in entertainment which crosses the line from field to post production, from sports to music, from narrative film to reality TV to documentary.
He is currently the Lead Editor for VH1’s “The Surreal Life,” which is like the sitcom of reality shows. He has recently worked as an editor for the newsmagazine “California Connected” for PBS, NBC’s “Starting Over,” and MTV’s “Fear,” among other reality and documentary-style shows, and acted as Post Producer for MTV’s “FANatic,” one of the original televised forums for fans to express their devotion to celebrities (musical and otherwise).
When he lived in Boston, he live-directed and shot hundreds of rock concerts for Great Woods (now known as the Tweeter Center), and worked for both the Boston Bruins and Celtics as a live director, producer, and cameraman at the FleetCenter.
Mr. Chvany was also Director of Photography for the High-Definition Brazilian feature film, “A Fronteira,” and for the VH1 pilot “Road to Fame.”
Composer - Michael Suby
Michael Suby is the Creative Director of S3 Music and Sound in Los Angeles and a graduate from the Berklee College of Music with a degree in Film Scoring. Michael has had diverse composing career in both film and television. He has become known as an adept writer for TV comedies, (The Simple Life, Robot Chicken), TV dramas, (The Scholar, Kyle XY), and for film scores, with his deeply rich, dark and melodic music for (The Butterfly Effect, The Zodaic and Tamara). Since founding S3 music and Sound, Mike has also worked on commercial spots for Verizon, Celebrity Cruises, Alpine, and Autodesk to name a few. His 2007 projects include the film , “Home of the Giants” starring Hayley Joel Osment and the Chris Moore ( Good Will Hunting & American Pie ) directed “The last resort a.k.a Killers” starring Taryn Manning and Agnes Bruckner.
Post Production Producer - Rob Blumenstein
Over the last 8 years, he has field-produced, directed, written and produced for The History Channel, A&E, The Discovery Health Channel, The Food Network and CNN among others. His recent accomplishments include the EMMY-nominated, “Beyond The Da Vinci Code” - a two-hour documentary for the History Channel, shot on location in France, England, Scotland and the U.S., CNN’s, ‘The Turnaround” - the network’s first foray into the ‘reality’ world in the form of a small business makeover show, and “Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew,” a sexual health program that combines both field and studio elements and stars Dr. Drew Pinsky, the host of the nationally syndicated “Loveline” radio program. Mr. Blumenstein is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal and holds a Master’s Degree in TV Production from Emerson College in Boston.
Story Consultant - Fernanda Rossi
Fernanda Rossi, writer, filmmaker and story consultant, helps filmmakers craft the narrative structure of their films in all stages of the filmmaking process. She has worked on over one hundred documentaries, fiction scripts and fundraising trailers, among them Boys to Men by Hoop Dreams’ co-maker Frederick Marx and the PBS broadcast documentaries The Flute Player by Jocelyn Glatzer and the theatrically-released Unscrewed by Leslie Shearing.
Along with her private consultations, she gives lectures and seminars nationwide, such as Doctoring your Doc and Trailer Mechanics. She also pens the monthly column Ask the Doc Doctor for The Independent Film & Video Monthly and is the author of the book Trailer Mechanics: A Guide to Making Your Documentary Fundraising Trailer. Ms. Rossi has been a grant panelist for New York State Council for the Arts, the Latino Public Broadcast and ITVS, which gave her the chance to view and evaluate over 300 fundraising trailers. She has also been a Juror for the Chicago International Film Festival in the documentary category.
Her own projects include the documentary Inventing a Girl: An Experience in Homeschooling, which premiered at the Contemporary Issues Film Festival and won the Women’s Vision Award at the Riverrun Film Festival. Her current feature film script Picture Me! was invited to the 2005 Latin American Sundance Screenwriters Laboratory.
Her work as a story consultant, workshop leader, and filmmaker has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine, New York Times, and other publications. Ms. Rossi served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of CineWomen NY, a non-profit organization that supports women filmmakers, for three years. She has a degree in Film Production from the University of Buenos Aires.