Vina Kay
Co-Producer/Co-Director
Vina is trained as a lawyer, and has worked in education and housing policy. She is Director of Research and Policy for the Organizing Apprenticeship Project, which works to advance racial justice in Minnesota. She is also a writer of creative nonfiction and poetry, and is completing a collection of poems that tell the story of a family trip to Thailand -- a journey that her immigrant parents, both in declining health, believed would be their last back to their homeland. She has received the Loft Mentor Series award in creative nonfiction, and a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Residency at Tofte Lake Center for poetry. Her two sons have attended Lake Country School, and she has served on the boards of Lake Country School and Bright Water School. Vina lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Vina can be reached at vina@buildingthepinktower.org.

Jan Selby
Co-Producer/Co-Director
Jan is a multiple regional EMMY© award-winning producer, director, and founder of Quiet Island Films, a full-service video production company. Her film A Circle and Three Lines (2009), screened at film festivals worldwide, was broadcast on public television, and was included in the Walker Art Center’s video bay. She produced FRITZ: The Walter Mondale Story, which was broadcast on public television, and screened at the Walker Art Center and the University of Minnesota School of Law. Currently in post-production, her next film, 9 Pieces of Peace, tells the story of how a 30-foot-high graffiti peace symbol in Montana engendered conflict between veterans, peacemakers, and politicians. Jan has three children who have all benefited from Montessori education at Lake Country School and Great River School, and she has served on the boards of both. Jan lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Jan can be reached at jan@buildingthepinktower.org.

We are grateful for the ever-growing team

who share our commitment to making this important film a reality.

Production Crew

Jeff Stonehouse
Director of Photography
Jeff Stonehouse is a Director of Photography with over 27 years of experience of in-house and freelance Cinematography. He has worked with many award-winning and international broadcast networks such as PBS, BBC, and ABC. Jeff has also worked on commercials for Target, Best Buy, BMW, Verizon Wireless, and many others as well as music videos for The Fugees, Wyclef Jean, and Run DMC. His film projects have taken him all over the world to places such as Australia, China, Africa, Haiti, and the Artic Circle. Jeff has received a National Press Photographers award, two Cine Golden Eagles, and Emmy awards for documentaries for National networks. He contributed Cinematography for the Academy Award nominated film, Americas Wetlands and Barbara Koppleʼs documentary film about the Dixie Chicks entitled Shut Up and Sing. He worked with Jan Selby in early 2011 on a commercial campaign for The Bush Foundation that later went on to win a regional Emmy award. Jeff lives in Minnesota where he also maintains and owns a large wildlife and urban stock footage library. 

Dave Schnack
Additional Cinematographer
Dave Schnack is a cinematographer and photographer who uses his talents to tell a story. He was born in Iowa, and his art has taken him across the world to places like Sierra Leonne and Cuba. Dave has worked with national and international companies such as General Mills, Famous Footwear, Optum Health and Polaris, as well as large local clients such as the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. Dave's work can be viewed at www.pagoda-pictures.com.

Carrie Shanahan
Editor
Carrie Shanahan has been a commercial creative editor for over a decade in Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis, cutting national spots for clients such as Macy’s, MTV, Citi, and Subaru, in addition to award-winning features and shorts, music videos, and installation. She's currently at work on a short entitled Looking Past You for director Jennifer Kramer, a Sundance Creative Producing Fellowship finalist. Shanahan shot and edited a conceptual film to accompany Gyorgy Ligeti's Chamber Concerto for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as a piece in collaboration with Escape Mechanism that debuted at Rosalux Gallery. She served as a mentor editor for the IFP's Fresh Filmmakers grant recipient in 2010, and for the last 7 years she's enjoyed teaching Video Storytelling at Miami Ad School. She works at Ditch Edit in Minneapolis.

Amira Cohen
Associate Producer, Assistant Editor
Amira graduated in 2009 from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Communication Studies. Production credits include the Emmy award-winning film, A Circle and Three Lines (2009), and Minnesota Docuclub’s award-winning short film, Tami Tushie’s Toys, in the 2010 International Documentary Challenge. Amira joined Quiet Island Films in 2010.

Allie Kopp
Production Assistant
Allie recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Cinema and Media Culture. She also completed a minor in European Areas when she spent a year abroad in the United Kingdom studying and traveling. Allie joined the Quiet Island Films team in 2011.

Stephanie To
Production Assistant
Stephanie graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in broadcast journalism. She contributed to the campus newscast, University Report, as a multimedia journalist and news producer, and interned at Round Earth Media and Minnesota’s CBS affiliate, WCCO-TV. Stephanie joined Quiet Island Films in 2011.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Jesse Roesler and Matt Ehling for their work on A Peek Inside a Montessori Classroom and the Fundraising Trailer. Jesse was the Director of Photography for both videos and Matt was the additional Cinematographer for the Fundraising Trailer. Please visit Jesse's website (www.jesseroesler.com) and Matt's website (www.etspictures.com) to see more of their work. Fundraising Trailer music by Luke Antencio (http://lukeatencio.virb.com/).