Mission Statement

Our mission is to support and inspire innovations in social and environmental sustainability by examining problems and shedding light on working solutions.

“ Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to speculation and the pursuit of financial gain. As a result, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of the deified market, which became the only rule.” 

-Pope Francis

“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth... these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security and women's empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.” 

Ban Ki-moon

michelle vey bio

Michelle Vey, born in rural Massachusetts, grew up on the east coast where, through ample outdoor exposure, she became passionate about wild life and nature. She lived in England for a year at age ten and spent summers with relatives in Texas and New York gaining a broader view of the world.

Michelle attended Waldorf schools, Pine Hill and High Mowing, in Wilton, New Hampshire, an education system rich in history and the arts. She went on to the New England School of Art and Design in Boston before moving to San Francisco to attend The California School of Professional Fabric Design in Berkley.

Michelle’s love for the visual arts brought her into the arena of film and photography where she built a career as a prop stylist in San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Over the years Michelle’s concerns for the deteriorating condition of our environment grew. Despite her efforts to recycle and shop consciously, she never felt she was doing enough. This feeling inspired the creation of her first self-funded documentary “From Elegance To Earthworms” a movie about New York’s growing eco-consciousness, screened at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York, May 2009. Michelle screened six of her short films at The Solar One Solar Powered Film Festival that same year.

During the making of her previous film, Michelle became aware that the toxicity of the fashion industry had not reached main stream consciousness, and it needed exposure. This idea inspired the creation of her current documentary project, “THREAD”.

THREADDOCUMENTARY.COM

Contributors

Marci Zaroff

Eco-Fashion Pioneer

Marci Zaroff coined the term “ECOfashion” and is an internationally recognized ECOlifestyle expert, educator, innovator and serial ecopreneur. Founder/CEO of leading sustainable fashion manufacturer MetaWear, Founder of ecofashion lifestyle brands Under the Canopy and Farm to Home, Executive Producer of “THREAD Documentary | Driving Fashion Forward,” and Co-Founder of Good Catch, BeyondBrands and The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Marci has been instrumental in driving authenticity, environmental leadership & social justice worldwide for nearly three decades. Marci 's first book, "ECOrenaissance: Co-Creating A Stylish, Sexy and Sustainable World," launched August 2018 (Simon & Schuster).

Board Member of the Organic Trade Association, Textile Exchange, Fashion Revolution and Cradle to Cradle's "Fashion Positive", Zaroff was a key figure in the development of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and first Fair Trade Textile Certification. Marci has received countless recognitions—including Retail Touchpoint's "Retail Innovator Award," New York Moves “Power Women Award," Fashion Group International's "Rising Star Award" and the Natural Product Industry’s “Socially Responsible Business Award”. Marci is featured in the book “ECO AMAZONS: 20 Women Who Are Transforming the World” and is a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute. 

@marcizaroff

www.marcizaroff.com

Sergei Krasikov

Born in Belarus, Sergei began his career in storytelling as a journalist for his nation's largest independent newspaper, since crushed by the regime. Upon moving to US in 2000, Sergei apprenticed to a German filmmaker Karola Ritter, regular contributor to Maysles and Pennebecker films, and worked extensively with civil rights legend Bob Zellner. Setting shop in Brooklyn in 2004, Sergei became full time independent filmmaker concentrating on producing challenging documentary and narrative films, non-fiction cinematography and regular collaborations with dance & theater groups, conceptual video artists and performers. Most of Sergei's creative interest lay with topics that concern Environment, Social Justice and Art.

Recent projects include "Saturday Night" for director James Franco and "Bigger Than The Beatles" by Charles Krezell. Sergei is currently working on the release of "Cultures of Resistance", a travelogue documentary directed by Iara Lee about the power of art to address violence and social injustice shot in 26 countries around the world, finishing a feature doc Bloom City and developing a narrative script with Ukranian born director Bohdana Smyrnova, a recent winner of exclusive Cannes Film Festival script writing residency program.

Avid hiker and skiier, Sergei hits the slopes and trails when not making films.

http://www.kinoserge.com

Frank Ferendo

Frank Ferendo is award winning director, who has been working in the film and television industry for over a decade. His feature documentary debut, Angel of Nanjing won 13 awards including Best Documentary at the Phoenix Film Festival, The Catalina Film Festival, and the Long Island International Film Expo. The film also won Humanitarian Awards at the Phoenix and Rhode Island International Film Festivals. Frank got his start as an editor on shows for VH1 and TV Guide, and quickly moved on to producing and directing. He has gone on to direct many short films, television pilots, commercials and music videos.

As a producer with Hearst Digital Media, he has produced content for Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire to name a few. He is also the owner of Balance Productions where he has shot and directed many meaningful campaigns and content for Shriners Children’s Hospital, Wounded Warriors, Gloria Gemma breast cancer foundation, Boys and Girls club of america, among many others.

http://www.angelofnanjing.com/filmmakers.html

Mandy Ward

After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2002, with degrees in FILM/VIDEO PRODUCTION and MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS, Ward moved to NYC to dive head first into the production resurgence triggered by the New York City and State Film / Video tax incentive legislation. From 2003 to 2010 Mandy worked at Radioaktivefilm, producing independent documentaries addressing social and political issues in modern society. Notable titles from her time managing Radioaktivefilm's New York City arm include We Will Not Die Like Dogs, Palestine Blues and Pennhurst.  While navigating New York City's independent film waters, Mandy saw a need for a centralized and intimate event catering to up and coming feature film and documentary talent to gain more exposure in the worldwide marketplace. In 2012, she conceived and launched First Time Fest, a 5-day showcase of original inspiring works by First Time Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Editors, Screenwriters and Film Composers. The film festival located in New York’s Gramercy Park features 9 Competition Films, a First Exposure series of already prominent directors' first works and a "How They Did It" Series in an intimate setting. Most notable, First Time Fest is a “contest” disguised as a film festival offering the winning competition film a prize of Theatrical Distribution and International Sales Representation. In the first year alone the festival hosted names such as Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, Darren Aronofsky, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harry Belafonte, Todd Solondz, Christine Vachon, and many more. Mandy continues to oversee festival operations with her business partner Johanna Bennett.  When she isn't navigating the demands of First Time Fest, Mandy works in various capacities on the physical production of feature films, scripted television series, reality and recreational tv series as well as documentaries, commercials and corporate promos. In between the festival and her production gigs she works tirelessly finding and developing intellectual materials in the feature film, documentary and TV spaces. Mandy lives in New York City and, after a long run on the Emmy Award winning recreational crime show A CRIME TO REMEMBER, she is producing two feature narratives THE MAN IN THE WOODS and SELL BY set to be released later this year.  

Collin Ruffino

Collin Ruffino is a graduate of New York University, Tisch School of Film and Television ('02).

He is an antediluvian New Orleanian who now resides in the borough of Brooklyn, New York.  

For the first half of 2009, he edited a feature-length documentary, shot in 20 countries around the world, about conflict and the artist's response, called "Cultures of Resistance".  He was a co-editor with Jeff Marcello, the editor of the film "Planet B Boy."    

For this same director, Iara Lee, he edited a short form documentary, The Battle for the Xingu, about an indigenous protest in Brazil that turned violent. This film is an official selection for the 2009 Telluride Film Festival, as well as a few others.  

As a filmmaker, Collin has directed, shot, and edited two music videos, one of which was recently featured in heavy rotation on MTV (Home Video’s "I Can Make You Feel It"). 

By night, he is a musician and composer, having released albums on the prestigious electronic record label, Warp Records.  His songs have appeared in such prime time television shows as CSI, Gossip Girl, and The O.C.   

http://www.collinvideo.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3624813/