OUR TEAM
CHRISTI COOPER
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER
An Emmy-award winning cinematographer with a PhD in Neuroscience and an MS in Microbiology, Christi focuses her storytelling and visual narratives on issues of justice and impact by creating human connections to the most pressing issues of our time. She left a successful academic and research career in Europe to obtain an MFA in Science & Natural History Filmmaking (graduate thesis: Contemporary Advocacy Filmmaking: Campaigns for Change). In 2011, Christi co-created Stories of TRUST: Calling for Climate Recovery, a 10-part documentary series featuring youth plaintiffs suing their state governments over climate change, with WITNESS, a social justice/human rights organization focused on using film for social change. The campaign was used to reach decision-makers and judges who were ruling on climate litigation brought to the courts by young people. Her film awards include Wildscreen’s Panda Award for Best Campaign Film, Best Environmental Film from Backcountry Film Festival, Best Youth Film from Colorado Environmental Film Festival, and Best Made in Montana from the International Wildlife Film Festival, among others. Christi is the inaugural SFFilm/Vulcan Productions Environmental Film Fellow and the first Jacob Burns Film Center Focus on Nature Artist-in-Resident.
OLIVIA AHNEMANN
PRODUCER
Olivia Ahnemann has been producing and directing documentary films for over 20 years. Most recently, she produced The Human Element featuring James Balog, which premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2018 and was distributed by The Orchard. Previously she produced Under the Gun with director Stephanie Soechtig, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was distributed by EPIX/Lionsgate; and Racing Extinction with director Louie Psihoyos, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and was distributed by Discovery. In 2016, Olivia was nominated for an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Olivia was co-producer of The Cove, which has garnered over 70 awards globally, including the 2009 Academy Award for best documentary and the Producers Guild of America documentary award.
LIZ SMITH
CO-PRODUCER
Liz Smith is a producer, writer, and strategist with a focus on using media to create measurable impact and systemic change. She has screened films at festivals around the world, including winning Best of Category at the International Wildlife Film Festival as a TV producer at NASA. Most recently, she was nominated for a Suncoast Emmy for producing and writing the South Florida PBS Changing Seas series episode, A Decade After Deepwater. As the former Director & COO of Conservation Media Group, a non-profit funder of impact-driven media, she designed the Catalyst Workshops to train filmmakers and non-profits in impact filmmaking. She’s also spent more than a cumulative year at sea producing media aboard research vessels in the Pacific, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Gulf of Mexico; and has explored 2,000-year-old shipwrecks, searched for Amelia Earhart, and joined Dr. Robert Ballard for search and recovery operations off the Syrian coast. She’s been a Fulbright Specialist and holds an MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking.
DENNIS AIG
CO-PRODUCER
Dennis Aig has produced and/or directed productions in many genres for more than thirty years. He produced the award-winning independent feature documentaries Unbranded and Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, which streamed on Netflix and Hulu, respectively. He has worked with The Walt Disney Company, Columbia Pictures, National Geographic, PBS, many independent production companies, equity investment funders, sponsors, and several major grant agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, NASA, ITVS, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. The productions with which he has been associated have won over 100 honors including a Gold Hugo, Audience Awards at the HotDocs, Banff Mountain and Telluride MountainFilm Festivals. He earned his PhD at The Ohio State University. A Montana State University Professor of Film and Photography since 1989, he has been the head of the University’s much-praised MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking since 2007 and served as Director of the School of Film and Photography from 2013 to 2016.
LYMAN SMITH
EDITOR, ADDITIONAL WRITING
Lyman’s work has appeared in festivals across the globe from Sundance to Tribeca to Telluride as well as Cannes, Paris, and Frankfurt. The efficacy of his approach to the craft has also helped to launch successful documentary programs on a variety of television networks including IFC, BBC, CNN, National Geographic Channel and The Discovery Channel, and his work has appeared before the UN General Assembly. With a particular interest in environmental issues and social justice, Lyman views every film as an opportunity to inspire audiences for the sake of a greater good.
TONY HALE
EDITOR
Tony Hale is a documentary editor and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. As a kid, Tony first discovered a joy for editing while recording and mixing music. Years later, while pursuing a Mathematics degree at Boston College, he rediscovered that passion in film editing. Having worked as a documentary film editor since 2005, he is motivated by the ways cinema can shed light on critical issues and champion untold and under-told stories, and he is passionate about how the power of editing can bring these stories to life. Tony’s feature-length documentary work includes A Will for the Woods (which he also co-directed), Charged, Afghan Cycles, and The Story of Plastic. He has also edited dozens of short films, media for organizations such as 350.org, Avaaz, and the Schomburg Center, and pieces for The New York Times and The New Yorker. His work has screened at festivals around the world, has been broadcast on PBS, Discovery, and Al-Jazeera, and has received awards from numerous festivals (including two for best editing), an Emmy, and a Grierson nomination.
JOHN JENNINGS-BOYD
COMPOSER
American composer, John Jennings Boyd, represents the vanguard of a new generation of composers equally adept at scoring with live orchestra, producing ambient soundscapes, and creating commercially-minded music across all forms of modern media. With a passion for multiple genres, he has worked with major studios and indie filmmakers alike.
In addition to scoring film and TV, John co-founded Soundcat Productions, a boutique music company with studios in NYC and LA. As creative director of Soundcat, he has written and produced music for various national and international ad campaigns including MasterCard, Canon, Facebook, Kate Spade, Apple, Ford, Verizon, and Google.
John currently resides in Los Angeles. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music from The Florida State University School of Music, and a Masters Degree in Film Scoring from New York University.
STEVE HOGGARD
STORY CONSULTANT
Steve Hoggard has gathered stories with impact from across the planet. His work has taken him from the mass graves of Srebrenica to hacker conventions in Vegas. Along the way, he’s chronicled everything from combat in Afghanistan to kids in post-Katrina New Orleans struggling to reach their dreams.
Alongside partner Daphna Rubin, Steve has spent the past two decades honing his craft to tackle every new story with the unflinching honesty and creativity each deserves.
Whether crafting blue chip programming or gritty, verité tales, Steve and Daphna embrace one, overriding mission: To tell smart stories that matter. In all, Brave Planet Films has created more than 100 full-length documentaries & nonfiction series. Clients range from National Geographic, PBS, NBC & Discovery Networks to BBC, UKChannel 4, Rockefeller Foundation, American Cancer Society and the White House National Security Council. Productions we’ve overseen have earned numerous awards, including two Emmy® nominations and one Emmy® win.
