Top - From left to right: Shelly, Mary, Katherine, Adella, Darah; Bottom - From left to right: Lisa, Jennifer, Virginia
From left to right: Amy, Arielle, Claus, Niels, Kerthy, Patrick, Jen
This film was produced in a really unique way. When I was developing the language for FLYING , I was looking for other work around the world to inspire me. I felt that the documentary films coming out of Denmark were closest to what I wanted to explore artistically in FLYING . I went to Denmark and met with Arne Bro of the Danish Film School. It was very exciting to see how his school was inspiring a certain type of intimacy combined with a strong personal aesthetic and language that I had rarely seen coming out of America. Later, I was fortunate to meet the Danish producer, Claus Ladagaard of Easy Film A/S, who was excited about the idea of collaborating in a Danish-American co-production. Claus was able to gain initial funding for FLYING through a Danish Film Institute grant. The film qualified for this government arts grant because the Danes also felt the film was in the same artistic vein as the aesthetic developing in Denmark. Being a Danish co-production meant that we had to base our editing in Denmark and the key personnel had to be Danish, including our editor, the wonderful Niels Pagh Andersen. The result meant that the film was a true artistic collaboration between an American and Danish sensibility -- a partnership that I believe contributed to the film tremendously. - J. Fox
Claus Ladagaard (Danish)
Producer
Claus Ladegaard has directed and produced a large number of documentaries and educational films and a number of commercials for Danish production companies and broadcasters. He also works as a teacher and consultant. He has written and edited several books, for example, on local television and on historical films and TV. In addition he has been teaching at the Copenhagen Business School and at University of Roskilde. He is a Graduate in European Documentary Production from EURODOC 1999-2000 and in Creativity and Management from Center for Journalism and Education 2001-2002. He has been on the board of the Danish Producers Association , on the board of the Danish TV Festival and has been chairman of the Danish Council for Short Films and Documentaries. He currently just left his position as a producer and the Head of the Documentary Department at Easy Film to become the Head of Production and Development at the Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen.
Contact: clausl@dfi.dk
Niels Pagh Andersen (Danish)
Editor
Niels Pagh Andersen started his career as assistant to two of Denmark’s most important editors: Christian Hartkopp and Janus Billeskov Jansen. Since 1979 he has worked as a freelance film editor and has cut more than 250 films of widely different categories. Some examples of his award winning work are: The Robert Award Winner , DYING: A PART OF LIVING by Dola Bonfils; The Oscar-nominated feature film PATHFINDER by Nils Gaup; CHRISTIAN by the Oscar-winning director Gabriel Axel; The winner of The International Documentary Association’s (IDA) Best Documentary in 1996 , THE WAR WITHIN by John Fuegi and Jo Frances; The Winner of Guldbaggen 1998 Best Short Film in Sweden, THE ADVENTURE OF ALIGAMA by Andra Lasmaris; The Disney production, SHIPWRECKED ; The winner of the Nordic Panorama Prize 1995, BETRAYAL , by Fredrik von Krusenstjerna; The winner of The Grand Prix of Krakow International Film Festival 1997, PORTAL TO PEACE by Thomas Stenderup; The Grand Prix, Odense Film Festival , 2000 GHETTO PRINCES By Catherine Asmussen; The Grand Prix, Odense Film Festival , 2001, THE EPEDEMIC by Niels Frandsen; The Best TV-program 2002 at the Danish TV-festival, THE BOYS FROM VOLLSMOSE by Jørgen Flint Pedersen and Anders Riis Hansen; The Odense Film Festival, Best Documentary Film 2003, WELCOME TO DENMARK ; The Venice Film Festival, Amnesty Prize, IDFA Film Festival Amnesty prize , CPH-DOX Grand Prix 2004 , THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA by Pirjo Honkasalo; The Winner of The Grand Prix of Krakow , One world award, Krystalle , and 2004 Emmy- nominated, PROSITUTION BEHIND THE VEIL by Nahid Persson; The Grand Prix of Odense Film festival and Nordic Panorama 2005, THE GERMAN SECRET by Lars Johansson. He lectures and teaches filmmaking at film schools and Universities around the world and also works as dramaturgist and supervising-editor on Scandinavian films. Niels recently won the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, ROOS-PRISEN 2005 , given by The Danish Film Institute for outstanding efforts in documentary filmmaking.
Contact: nielspagh@cybercity.dk
Mary Lampson (American) - LEARNING TO SWIM
Editor
Mary Lampson is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker and editor. Lampson co-edited the Academy-Award wining documentary HARLAN COUNTY, USA and worked as an editor on many other independently produced documentary features. She has worked with Emile de Antonio, Ricky Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker, Barbara Kopple and, most recently, with Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar and Anne Makepeace. Lampson has also worked in the dramatic format. Her film UNTIL SHE TALKS was produced independently and aired on the PBS series American Playhouse . UNTIL SHE TALKS won Best Film Made for Television at the Mannheim Film Festival, a Cine Golden Eagle, a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival and Best Short Dramatic Film at the Athens Film Festival . She has produced over 25 short live action films for SESAME STREET . She also teaches filmmaking to children as an artist-in-residence at all levels of K Ð 12.
Contact: mlampson@maine.edu
Kerthy Fix (American)
Co-producer
Kerthy Fix has worked in film and video production as well as the gaming industry and theater for 15 years. Her credits include the acclaimed live music series of American roots music , AUSTIN CITY LIMITS for PBS, the indie film SLACKER , documentary support from the NEA and collaborations with performance artists Linda Montano and Annie Sprinkle. Kerthy is producing a documentary about The Gramercy Park Hotel, a New York City icon that housed the Sex Pistols, Debbie Harry, Warhol and the original cast of Saturday Night Live. She is also consulting on a film being produced by Heidi Reinberg and Craig Harwood about gay At-Risk Youth who begin a pioneering mentoring program led by gay adults. Kerthy is also directing and producing her own film about the composer Stephen Merritt and his band, entitled THE NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE MAGNETIC FIELDS . She lives in New York City.
Contact: kerthyfix@yahoo.com
Amy Foote (American)
Co-producer
Amy's interest in film started with high school animation projects where she made several shorts. Afterwards she moved to Austin, Texas where she interned in the art department on WAITING FOR GUFFMAN . Her film career took a hiatus when she went to Reed College and graduated with a degree in history and later became a counselor/teacher for low-income minority youth at Women In Community Service in Brooklyn, New York. FLYING is Amy's entre back into the film world. She spent the last year in Copenhagen and Zurich -- on FLYING's incredible three country editing tour -- helping to produce and edit the series with Fox and Andersen. She has also managed the website development and design for FLYING and has edited several of the video clips in the site's sections titled WOMEN'S WORLD and "PASSING THE CAMERA" . During her stay in Denmark, she was fortunate enough to work closely with Arne Bro, the head of the Danish Film School on discovering her personal film language. On her return back to New York, Amy studied editing at the The Edit Center in NYC and was invited back to be a Teacher's Assistant. Currently she is developing her own feature film project about the life of a remarkable transgender boy in Sweden, which she plans to direct in 2007.
Contact: amy@zohefilms.com
Jan Tilman Schade (German)
Composer
Jan Tilman Schade was born and still lives in Germany. He composes music for film and theatre. Currently, he is planning a recreation centre for artists.
Contact: artwaren@t-online.de
Mette Mailand (Danish)
Additional Co-producer
Metta Mailand was born in 1966 and graduated in Media Studies from the University of Copenhagen . She has been the Production Manager at Easy Film since 1998 and as of 2003 has worked as a producer in the Documentary department at Easy Film . She has produced several television series ( BARDA, CHRISTMAS AT VESTERBRO ) as well as a documentary series for children.
Contact: mema@easyfilm.dk
Peter Schultz (Danish)
Sound design Post Production
Peter studied music at the University of Copenhagen and his career as a musician and a composer led him to study film at the National Danish Film School , which he graduated from in 1995. He has worked on more than 50 features and documentaries. Some of his award winning work is; WE SHALL OVERCOME by Niels Arden Oplev that won The Berlin Glass Bear Award and 6 Robert Awards out of it’s 16 nominations; The CPH-Dox Grand Prix Winner , GASOLIN by Anders Oestergaard; The Political Film Society (PFS) and Guldbagge nominated and Robert Award winning LILYA 4 EVER ; The Bodil Award Winning FEAR X ; Winner of the Golden Swan (Cph) IFTA awards SONG FROM A RAGGYBOY ; THE ART OF CRYING not yet published, but already a winner of the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival Audience Award and invited to the New Directors/New Films Festival in NY; - The 3-time Robert winning OKAY by Jesper W Nielsen; The Berlin Glass Bear winner SCAR by Lars Berg; The Robert Award winner KING IS ALIVE by Christian Levring; Winner of the Golden St.George Award DETECTOR by Paal Jackmann, - The Golden Palm and Oscar winner BREAKING THE WAVES by Lars Von Trier, - the Robert winning THE BIGGEST HEROES and IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE by Thomas Winterberg. Peter has co founded the Copenhagen based sound studio CosmoTone .
Website: www.cosmo.dk
Contact: ps@cosmo.dk
Arielle Amsalem (American)
Associate Producer
Arielle Amsalem was the assistant editor on Spike Lee's documentary WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS and on a film about Harry Belefonte directed by Jim Brown. In addition, she has edited various short films and music videos. She is a graduate of the film program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts .
Contact: acasalem@gmail.com
Adella Ladjevardi (Iranian-American)
Associate Producer
Adella was born in NY during the Iranian Revolution and has over 7 years of experience in documentary film production and distribution. She was the Associate Producer of Tanaz Eshaghian's short documentary I CALL MYSELF PERSIAN: IRANIANS IN AMERICA , released in 2002, and broadcast on PBS. Prior to joining the FLYING team, Adella worked at First Run/Icarus Films , a leading distributor of documentary films. She received her BFA in Photography from RISD, and continues to work on various freelance photo and film projects.
Contact: adella@zohefilms.com
Julie Køster (Danish)
Production Manager
Julie was born in Copenhagen in 1971 and has worked in Danish television since 1995. She earned a degree from Copenhagen Business School in 1993. She was a freelance production manager for many years and worked with international crews on several large television events; The Opening of the Oeresundsbridge, The HC Andersen Celebration in 2005 and the State Election in 2004. Since 2005 she has been the Production Manager in the Documentary department at Easy Film and has worked closely with Mette Mailand and Claus Ladegaard on several productions; BARDA, WHO KILLED OLUF PALME, OPERATION X . Julie is also a trained sailor for the Merchant Marine.
Contact: juko@easyfilm.dk
Katherine Nolfi (American)
Distribution & Outreach Coordinator
Katherine Nolfi graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' Kanbar Institute of Film and Television. In addition to her duties as Outreach Coordinator at Zohe Films, Katherine works in NYU's Continuing Education Film Department. She is not without her faults.
Contact: katherine.nolfi@gmail.com
Jessica Wolfson (American)
Distribution & Outreach Coordinator
Jessica Wolfson has produced many critically acclaimed documentary films through IFCtv and independently. Her recent projects include RADIO UNNAMEABLE about legendary FM Radio DJ Bob Fass and his freeform program Radio Unnameable and A GIRL AND A GUN about women in America's relationship with firearms. Jessica coordinated the grassroots marketing campaigns for the successful New York theatrical releases of Jennifer Fox's documentary series FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN and the documentary film THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS... BOUND TO LOSE .
Contact: jessicawolfson@gmail.com
Shelly Helgeson (American)
Assistant Producer
Before moving to New York City and consequently joining the Zohe Films team, Shelly tested the waters in Los Angeles as a production assistant on Alan Ball's NOTHING IS PRIVATE and as Associate Producer of THE MAKING OF THE SAND PEBBLES released by Twentieth Century Fox. Frustratingly finding herself falling victim to the blonde stereotype, she tried her hand in a place far too cold for any time of superfluous thought - Prague, Czech Republic. There she studied Communist era film and religion - or lack there of, until her visa ran out. However, her heart belongs to her own projects, amongst them her favorites: 'MAKIN' IT MUSLIM : a documentary about Muslim-American comedians, and NIGHT HAWKS : a documentary study of night culture in an upstate New York diner. Originally from an island in Ohio, she considers her crowning achievement "Getting out of the midwest, but not letting the midwest get out of her!"
Contact: shelly@zohefilms.com
Lisa Duva (American)
Assistant Producer
Lisa Duva was born with the incredible ability to read minds and capture hearts. At the age of 12 she graduated from Harvard University, Manga Cum Laude. The TV series "Doogie Howser, M.D." was based on her experiences as the world's youngest doctor. At 20, she decided to pursue a life of deep meaningfulness and went on to become a top fashion model. Jennifer Fox originally contacted Lisa in an attempt to make a documentary about her life, but upon hearing about FLYING, Lisa was so impressed, she decided to go to work for Jen and now serves as Assistant Producer at Zohe Films. She speaks 20 languages and lives everywhere.
Contact: lisa@flyingconfessions.com
Virginia Fioribello (American) - LEARNING TO SWIM
Assistant Editor
Virginia Fioribello is a graduate of New York University, where she studied Photography & Imaging, and Anthropology. Her personal work involves multimedia installations that engage all of the viewers' senses, while exploring and presenting human relationships in a direct, yet intimate way. Her latest project is a short film and installation about an elderly couple who have been separated by Alzheimer's disease and explores how their love endures through physical and mental distance. In her free time, Virginia likes to dig in the dirt to find hominid bits, and help women birth their babes.
Contact: virginia.fioribello@gmail.com
Sam Bruce (American)
Assistant Producer
Samuel Stanford Bruce was born November 5th, 1984 in Sandy Springs, MD, and currently resides in Rockleigh, NJ. His favorite word is "paradigm". His hobbies include synchronized swimming, diagramming sentences, and collecting those little plastic things that go on the ends of your shoelaces. He wishes for you to be fruitful and multiply.
Contact: surely13@gmail.com
Darah Golub (American)
Intern
Darah Golub graduated from Boston University with a BA in Hispanic Language and Literature.ÊHer primary interests are music, film, and cultural studies. Currently, she works at Zohe Film Productions and is a vocal student at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. She is also an avid videoblogger, mainly documenting her journey as an aspiring artist in New York City ( www.thenewyorklovesongs.blogspot.com ). She also portrays the puppet Fella on Shalom TV's children's program, MR. BOOKSTEIN'S STORE.
Contact: darahgolub@gmail.com