Team

THE SMALL WORLD FILMS TEAM

DR. ISABELLA ALEXANDER-NATHANI
Founder & Executive Director, SMALL WORLD FILMS | Director, Writer & Producer, THE BURNING

An award-winning writer, filmmaker, educator, and human rights activist, Isabella is the Founder and Executive Director of SMALL WORLD FILMS. Since 2015, she has been working to bring THE BURNING to life. Trained as an anthropologist, her work is motivated by the belief that storytelling has the power to humanize complex political issues and create positive social change. Her latest documentary film and related book, Burning at Europe’s Borders (Oxford University Press 2020), uncover the human sides of our global refugee crisis.

Isabella's work has been featured on BBC, CNN, NPR, PRI, and Al Jazeera, and she is a regular contributor to SAPIENS, where she writes a monthly column called “Borders.” Her recent speaking programs have brought her to stages around the world, including the United Nations General Assembly, where she has delivered keynote addresses on human rights to audiences of more than 10,000. In 2016, The American Anthropological Association presented her with the “Emerging Leader in Anthropology” award, and her latest projects have been supported by grants from The National Science Foundation, The Creative Visions Foundation, and others. She is proud to serve on the Advisory Board for several non-profit organizations, including The Global Village Project, the first school designed specifically for refugee girls, Stories Found, an organization equipping African youth with filmmaking skills and technology, and SAPIENS, a digital journal focused on connecting social science research to the public. Isabella earned her degrees from New York University (BA), the University of Chicago (MA), Emory University (MA, PhD), and the Spéos Institute in France (MFA), and has held a faculty positions in the Departments of Anthropology and Film Studies at Emory University in Atlanta and the Department of Social Sciences at Morocco’s National University, Université Mohammed V. She has spent the past decade living and working between the U.S. and Africa. You can learn more about Isabella here.

JOE BERLINGER | Producer, THE BURNING

An eight-time Emmy and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy and Peabody-winning director, Joe has been one of the leading voices in documentary film and television for over three decades. Known for pursuing uncovering social justice issues, his films include the genre-making documentary Brother's Keeper, the Paradise Lost Trilogy, which led to the release of the wrongfully-convicted West Memphis Three, and Crude, which exposed oil pollution in the Amazon Rainforest, winning 22 human rights, environmental, and festival awards and triggering a high-profile First Amendment battle with oil-giant Chevron. Five of his films, including his Emmy-nominated documentary Under African Skies, have premiered at Sundance Film Festival, earning three Grand Jury Prize nominations. His latest docu-series include Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which was Netflix's highest-rated documentary of the year, and Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, which quickly reached the #1 spot across all genres on Netflix. He has been honored with multiple awards from the Directors Guild of America, the National Board of Review, and the Independent Spirit Awards. According to Joe, "Isabella brings a courage, determination, and natural storytelling ability that remind me of myself when I was beginning my career. This film is set to expose an hidden side of the largest humanitarian crisis our world has ever seen." You can learn more about Joe here.

FACT: Joe's powerful films have led to the release of two men from life sentences in prison and a third man from death row. What will the next one do?

ERIC ESRAILIAN | Producer, THE BURNING

An Emmy-nominated film producer and leading human rights activist, Eric is also a professor at UCLA's School of Medicine and appointed member of the Medical Board of California. His passion lies in supporting stories that have the power to bring policy change, and throughout his career, he has produced The Promise, starring Academy Award-winner Christian Bale, Intent to Destroy, nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary, and I Am Not Alone, the recent Audience Award winner at DOC NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the U.S. He serves on the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation Board of Governors, the Hammer Museum Board of Directors, and the Armenian General Benevolent Union Central Board. In 2017, he founded The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA and is committed to making Los Angeles the epicenter of human rights education, research, and advocacy in the U.S. You can learn more about Eric and his institute here.

FACT: Eric's latest film led the U.S. Senate to pass a resolution officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide for the first time. He believes the next one has the power to bring policy change on an international level.

DALE "CHIP" ROSENBLOOM | Executive Producer, THE BURNING

Chip is a filmmaker and composer who has produced over 40 films for the big screen and television. His films include the family favorite Shiloh, which he wrote, directed, and produced, and a slate of other award-winning films like Intent to Destroy, which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary, Dream/killer, which was an official selection at Tribeca Film Festival, and Fuel, which won the Best Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. He has received a Tony nomination for Best Play for Radio Gold and an Ovation Award for Best Music & Lyrics for the musical production Bronco Billy, which he co-wrote with John Torres. Bronco Billy is set to open in London in 2023. He is a graduate of USC Film School and now serves on the boards of the Fulfillment Fund, The Children’s Charity, The Hammer Museum, and EarthJustice. He is a supporter of Donors Choose, FAMM, and Feeding America. He is currently working on the upcoming Extreme History, an animation studio that produces irreverent and educational creative non-fiction history stories.

FACT: The Budapest Orchestra recently recorded instrumental compositions by Chip for a new multimedia orchestral project called Artstra.

REGINA SCULLY | Executive Producer, THE BURNING

A three-time Emmy Award-winning and Academy-nominated producer, Regina is the Founder and CEO of Artemis Rising Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting media that educates, inspires, and positively transforms our culture. Throughout her career, she has produced an astounding slate of 100-plus films, including some of the most impactful and awarded documentaries of the past decade from The Hunting Ground and The Invisible War to Miss Representation and Won't You Be My Neighbor? She serves on the boards of Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society, Harvard Women’s Leadership Board, and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security. A passionate education reformer, she has helped launch some of the U.S.'s most successful charter schools, including Harlem Success Academy, which has expanded to 47 schools since its inception. She is also the Founding Sponsor of the Athena Film Festival (NYC), which highlights the work of women in filmmaking and is committed to developing a new generation of American storytellers. You can learn more about Regina and her organization here.

FACT: Regina built her career supporting women and other marginalized voices in the film industry. If there's a female filmmaker who you love, we're willing to bet she played a role in their success.

GERALYN DREYFOUS | Consulting Producer, THE BURNING

Geralyn has an extensive background in the arts and philanthropic sectors. Early in her career, she taught Documentary and Narrative Writing at Harvard University. She later founded the Utah Film Center and co-founded Impact Partners Film Fund, which changed the industry by bringing together financiers and filmmakers to create award-winning films that entertain audiences and ignite social change. IP has supported over 50 films to date, including Academy Academy Award-winning film The Cove, Academy Award-nominated films The Garden and Hell and Back Again, and numerous other festival award winning titles. Her independent producing credits include Academy Award-winning Born Into Brothels, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning The Square, and Academy Award-nominated and Peabody Award-winning The Invisible War. In 2013, Geralyn became a founding member of Gamechanger, the first for-profit film fund dedicated to financing narrative films directed by women. You can learn more about Geralyn and her latest organization here.

FACT: Geralyn was honored by the International Documentary Association with the Amicus Award for her significant contributions to the world of documentary filmmaking.

ANDREW BERENDS | Director of Photography, THE BURNING

Andrew was a highly acclaimed documentary filmmaker with a rich history of work in active war zones from Iraq to Sudan. He was awarded the prestigious “Courage Under Fire” award by the International Documentary Association for his first film, The Blood of My Brother, about an Iraqi family who lost their son during the American invasion. His subsequent films included When Adnan Comes Home, Urk, Delta Boys, and Madina's Dream, which took audiences inside of a forgotten war between rebels and refugees fighting to survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountain region. When not directing his own projects, he collaborated with other filmmakers as a cinematographer, including his role on Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin's Academy Award-winning Free Solo. Behind the camera on THE BURNING, he brought his unique approach to humanizing even the most brutal political crises.

Our team was devastated by Andy's death on March 1, 2019, at the young age of 46. He gave his life to the pursuit of telling the untold stories of our time, and this will be his final film.

FACT: The Andrew Berends Film Fellowship, founded in 2020, supports young filmmakers who are seeking out our world's untold stories with the same courage, heart, and talent that he brought to all of his work. You can apply or nominate someone you know here.

ELLEN GOLDWASSER | Editor, THE BURNING

An award-winning editor, Ellen is best known for her Academy Award-nominated documentaries, Artists and Orphans and Speaking in Strings, which was a Grand Jury nominee at Sundance Film Festival. Her other highly acclaimed films include Mule Skinner Blues, which was the first theatrical release for The Sundance Channel and Anatomy of Hate, which was nominated for Documentary of the Year by The Documentary Channel. She was the lead editing consultant for the popular Netflix documentary Vegucated. In addition to her documentary work, she has edited numerous narrative films and programs for networks including HBO, The Discovery Channel, and SHOWTIME. She is an honors graduate of New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, where she was the first woman to win the Best Director Award for Undergraduate Narrative Film. You can learn more about Ellen here.

FACT: When not in the editing room, Ellen draws her inspiration from the natural world and can be found by the ocean, in the mountains, or on a sailboat.

TINA IMAHARA | Editor, THE BURNING

With over 25 years of experience and more than 60 films to her name, Tina’s passion and expertise lie in crafting documentaries that create inspiration and action in audiences. Among her many award-winning films are Academy and Emmy Award-nominated On Tip Toe, which won the International Documentary Association Award, Fuel, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Sundance Film Festival, and The Big Fix, which was honored as the only U.S. documentary to be an Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival. She is committed to making the film industry more diverse and inclusive and now devotes a significant portion of her time to mentoring new filmmakers around the world. After earning a BFA in Graphic Design and Documentary Photography from the California Institute of the Arts, she earned a MFA in the Editing Program at the American Film Institute, where she received the prestigious Blum Kovler Scholarship. You can learn more about Tina here.

FACT: Tina is a proud 4th Generation Japanese American, whose Great-Grandfather was of Samurai descent and was the first member of the family to leave Japan in search of a new life in the 1880s.

MADELINE WONG BOULDIN | Post-Production Supervisor, THE BURNING

Madeline entered documentary film production after an early career spent in the field of international relations. She previously worked for a prominent welfare institute in Shanghai, China and as a creative consultant for the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. These experiences solidified her interest in social impact work and gave her a global approach to her role at SMALL WORLD FILMS. Her growing film resume includes work as a graphic designer, production assistant, and associate producer for projects by the United Nations, Brand New World Studios, and most recently, HBO, where she is associate producing "We're Here," an HBO original docu-series on the LGBTQ+ community.

FACT: If you don't follow us on Instagram, then you're missing out on the incredible Human Rights Awareness Campaign that Madeline designed!

SMALL WORLD FILMS Internship Program

At SMALL WORLD FILMS, we think it's important to give back. We're committed to being active givers in communities around the world, as well as those close to home. One way we give back in our own community is by giving young people from backgrounds that have traditionally been underrepresented in the film industry the chance to develop their technical skills, build out their individual portfolios, and create meaningful relationships with mentors through our internship program. Every semester, we select an exceptional group of interns from a highly competitive group of applicants who all share a passion for work at the intersection of the arts and activism. The ideal candidate believes in the power of stories to create change, brings a high level of motivation to individual and team work, and is ready to make the most of the opportunity. The SMALL WORLD FILMS internship program provides college-aged students and recent college graduates with the chance to work side-by-side with professionals on a variety of teams - Film Production, Community Engagement, Human Rights - and prepares them for careers of socially impactful work. In six months, our interns touch thousands of lives.

Our recent interns have been a global group of young change-makers including individuals from China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guinea, Haiti, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, and the US. We couldn't be prouder to call them part of the SMALL WORLD FILMS team!

If you're interested in applying for our internship program, please send us a message at [email protected] with the subject line "Internship" and we'll get back to you shortly.