Katja Esson is a German-born, New York-based writer/director who mixes documentary, narrative and experimental genres. Esson’s Vertical Traveler (2001), for instance, explores the pioneering spirit of New York City through the metaphor of the city’s unique relationship with elevators. The film was broadcast on PBS and on Europe’s ARTE Channel. Esson began her career in Miami as a production assistant for the notorious rap group 2 Live Crew. She has directed a variety of award-winning documentaries, short films and commercials. Born and raised in Hamburg, she also works regularly for German television and, in 1997, she received a fellowship for her screenplay El Aleman at Berlin’s Master School, and her narrative short film Speech Less won the Gold Award at Houston and the Special Jury Prize at Nancy, France.

Ferry Tales, Katja Esson’s Academy Award®-nominated documentary short, turns the unlikely setting of the Staten Island Ferry Powder Room into a celebration of sisterhood. Esson observes a group of women commuters as they put on their make-up and are transformed from housewives to businesswomen, from mothers to lawyers, from sisters to socialites. What starts as a funny account becomes deeply moving as, one by one, these women draw each other out, solve one another’s problems, and just dish up the latest ferry gossip.

Additional credits include the documentaries Miami Que Linda Es Cuba (1994), Searching For Sense (2002) and Adam, Made To Order Savior (2003) which examines the thorny issues raised by pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, by focusing on a child “designed” to be a perfect donor for his sister.

Esson just finished Siegfried & Roy which takes a look beyond the magic and is currently in pre-production with Mother’s Milk, a documentary on breastfeeding. She is also preparing the narrative short A Season of Madness, which will be shoot in New York in 2004.


Camera

Martina Radwan started in her native Germany in the film industry in 1987 as a Camera Technician at ARRI, Berlin. In 1988 she began to work in production as an Assistant Camera, where she worked with DP’s like Robby Mueller, Juergen Juerges and Sophy Mantigneux and directors like Wim Wenders and Albert Maysles.

In 1995 she moved to New York where she attended the film program at NYU. She broke into the industry as an AC for Lisa Rinzler and Wolfgang Held and started to work as 2nd Unit DP or operator for high-end production. In 1999 she attended a workshop with Gordon Willis.

In 1996 she started to work as a Director of Photography. Since then she shoot numerous features, documentaries and shorts. Her documentaries and features were seen on festivals and PBS and HBO, as well as a lot of her shorts.

Her work includes collaboration with directors like Rebecca Miller, Alison McLean, Pola Rappaport and Tina DiFeliciantonio.

In 2001 she collaborated with Ellen Kuras as 2nd Camera Operator on "Personal Velocity", a feature directed by Rebecca Miller and produced by InDiGent. The film won 2002 at Sundance Film Festival the Cinematographer Award and The Grand Jury price for Best Film in 2002.

In 2002 she completed features in New York and LA, which will come out in fall 2004. In 2003 she traveled around the world for a human rights documentary to countries like Afghanistan, Mauritania and Brazil and shot well received commercials.


Editor

Sabine Hoffman Sabine Hoffman is a Film Editor who edited Rebecca Miller's "Personal Velocity" (which won the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance as well as its Award for best Cinematography and the John Cassavettes Award for independent filmmaking) and she is currently completing Mrs. Millers upcoming new feature film "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", starring Daniel Day Lewis and Catherine Keener.

Other credits include Morgan J. Freeman's "Desert Blue" and "Hurricane Streets" which won the Audience, Best Director and Best Cinematography awards at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, Alex Sichel's "All Over Me", a Teddy Award winner at the Berlin Film Festival, "The Day the Ponies Come Back" by Jerry Schatzberg (also director of "Panic in Needle Park") and "Harlem Aria", winner of three Audience Awards (Urban World Film Festival in NYC, Chicago International Film Festival 2001, Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival 2002), directed by William Jennings, staring Damon Wayans and Gabriel Casseus.

Sabine also edited "The Party is Over" with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, directed by Donovon Leitch and Rebecca Chaiklin and "Brother to Brother"(winner of the Gordon Parks Screenwriting Award 2001, Special Jury Award at 2004 Sundance Dramatic Competition, Audience, Best Actor and Grand Jury Awards at Outfest, Showtime Award New York New Filmfestival, Winner best film Philadelphia Film Festival), directed by Rodney Evans, featuring Aunjanue Ellis, Anthony Mackie and Daniel Sunjata.


Producer

Sabine Schenk is a Producer/Line Producer based in New York. She completed her M.A. in cinema studies from NYU. She was an event coordinator at the Berlin Int’l film Festival for three years. In 1997 she founded her own company, Schenk Productions, Inc., offering production services for local and international film and media projects in New York. She recently produced the documentary "Ferry Tales" and is developing several documentaries and feature film projects.


Producer

Corinna Sager is President of Lifestyle International, a production agency for marketing events, trade shows, video and TV productions, serving a broad spectrum of clients worldwide. Corinna has produced for global corporations such as Kraft Foods, Bugatti and Volkswagen as well film and TV studios. She has won US & Int'l Film Festival Awards for her PR video "Container Shipping - A Revolution for World Trade" and her documentary "Women - Our Century" which toured the U.S. with Billy Jean King and Star Jones. She has collaborated with Katja Esson on several productions including "Ferry Tales" and served as Executive Producer for "Vertical Traveler", seen on PBS and the Franco/German TV channel, Arte. Corinna is President of the Media Communication Association-International, New York Chapter and in the Who's Who of Executives and Professionals.


Music