Filmmakers

DOUG SHULTZ – Director / Writer / Producer

Doug Shultz has been making award-winning documentary films for over 15 years, on subjects ranging from history to science to the environment. He recently wrote, produced and directed the Peabody Award-winning film Silence of the Bees, which also garnered four Emmy nominations, and he produced and directed the Emmy-winning series CIA Confidential for National Geographic. Other recent films include the Nature specials Cuba: The Accidental Eden and The Loneliest Animals. DEFIANT REQUIEM is his first feature film.

PETER SCHNALL – Producer / Director of Photography / Executive Producer

Peter Schnall is a seven-time Emmy Award and recent Peabody Award-winner who has been making distinctive films and documentaries for more than twenty years. After nearly ten years as an independent, Peter began a 6-year stint as Producer and Senior Producer of the long-running National Geographic Television weekly series Explorer. In 1996 Peter left National Geographic Television to form Partisan Pictures in New York City. His last feature documentary This is a Game, Ladies won the Audience Award at the AFI Silverdocs Film Festival. 

MARK FASON – Editor

Mark is a Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated editor who has been creating distinctive documentary films for the last 15 years. In that time, he’s worked with many acclaimed filmmakers including Spike Lee, Oscar winning director Ross Kauffman, seven-time Emmy Award-winning director Peter Schnall as well as Emmy and Peabody award-winner Doug Shultz. Mark’s unique combination of storytelling has been integral to many marquee projects for a wide range of esteemed clients including the PBS series NATURE, HBO SPORTS, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, MTV, A&E, The Museum on Natural History and the Wildlife Convervation Society.

WHITNEY JOHNSON – Executive Producer

In her role as Vice-President of Production at Partisan Pictures, Whitney has managed over 100 hours of programming, including the Peabody-award winning documentary, Silence of the Bees for PBS/Nature and the Emmy-winning series CIA Confidential for the National Geographic Channel. Other notable films include National Geographic’s On Board Air Force One and the PBS special Through a Dog’s Eyes. Before joining Partisan, Whitney worked as an Associate Producer for Elizabeth Arledge on the Emmy-winning film The Forgetting, a PBS special on Alzheimer’s Disease; Cracking the Code of Life, NOVA’s 2-hour special about the race to decode the human genome; and the ABC/Peter Jennings’ Production, Out of Control; AIDS in Black America which won a George Foster Peabody Award.

MURRY SIDLIN – Music Director

Murry Sidlin is the creator/conductor of DEFIANT REQUIEM The Live Performance,  which was the inspiration and genesis for this film.  He has conducted 17 performances of Defiant Requiem Live in such cities as Jerusalem, Budapest, Washington, D.C., three times at Terezin, and Houston. Over the next musical season he will perform this concert/drama in Atlanta, Baltimore, New York’s Lincoln Center, and in Prague.  He is an internationally recognized conductor, teacher, lecturer, and is the founder and president of the Defiant Requiem Foundation. He has been decorated by the Archbishop of Prague for his contributions to the illumination of the Terezin legacy.

ADINA PLISKIN – Associate Producer

A painter and photographer, Adina began working in film a few years ago as a production assistant on the Nature special Cuba, The Accidental Eden. She also worked as Associate Producer on the series Blue Collar Dogs and the special Manila Hostage Crisis for National Geographic. DEFIANT REQUIEM is her first feature film.