Tom Casciato, Executive Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Tom Casciato is an award-winning television executive and documentary film producer, director and writer. His critically acclaimed work has appeared on PBS, ABC, NBC, TBS and Showtime, both as stand-alone specials and on such diverse series as Frontline, National Geographic’s Explorer, Moyers on America and ABC News’ Turning Point. His documentary Global Health: America’s Response for the PBS program NOW was called “devastating” by The New York Daily News and was nominated for a 2006 Emmy for Best Report in a News Magazine. His work has received numerous awards including two Emmys, the duPont-Columbia Gold Baton, the Peabody Award, the Dateline Club’s Society of Professional Journalists First Amendment Award, the Harry Chapin Media Award, the Christopher Award, and honorable mention for the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. Along with his work at WIDE ANGLE, he is executive producer and co-creator of the PBS series Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports and the Director of News & Current Affairs for THIRTEEN.

Nina Chaudry, Senior Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Nina Chaudry has overseen the production of numerous current affairs films covering issues such as the drug-fueled corruption in Colombia, the challenges to fostering democracy in Afghanistan, and efforts to reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. She’s reported from Turkey about the rise of the conservative middle class and from India about the cultural impact of outsourcing and the epidemic of suicides among farmers. In 2008, she launched an online-exclusive series of documentary shorts called FOCAL POINT. Prior to joining the series, Nina was the senior editor for a national women’s health magazine, reported for The New York Times, and produced a women’s health website for Lifetime Television. She is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Aaron Ernst, Multimedia Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Aaron Ernst joined WIDE ANGLE in 2009, and produces video, audio and interactive features for the show’s website. He has also worked as a researcher on Japan’s About Face, which examined the shifting role of the military in post-war Japanese society. He was an associate producer at Rain Media for two episodes of FRONTLINE: The War Briefing and The Madoff Affair. He has also done freelance reporting for World Politics Review, a news website dedicated to international politics and foreign affairs. Aaron graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in political science and a minor in Japanese. He received a master’s degree in international affairs with a concentration in international media and communications from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Lauren Feeney, Senior Multimedia Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Lauren Feeney produces multimedia features for the WIDE ANGLE website, edits the WIDE ANGLE blog, and recently helped launch FOCAL POINT, a new online-exclusive series of documentary shorts. She is also a co-founder of Pattern Films, an independent documentary production company, and has produced films on minority rights in Pakistan, crime and poverty in Philadelphia, and a Gypsy community in Greece that was displaced for a parking lot for the 2004 Olympic Games. Her films have been shown on Al Jazeera English’s Witness, ERT Greece’s Reporters Without Frontiers, and in film festivals around the world. Prior to her experience in documentary, she spent several years working at The New York Review of Books. Lauren is a graduate of Bard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Renee Feltz, Multimedia Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Renee Feltz joined WIDE ANGLE in 2009 as a producer of online video, audio, interactive graphics and print features. She has reported and produced radio pieces for KPFT-FM in Houston, and for Free Speech Radio News; she has written and reported for The New York Times investigative unit and for The American Prospect; and she has produced video for Motherjones.com, The New Republic website, and Current.com. Renee co-produced an award-winning multimedia investigative report on private detention centers for undocumented immigrants, Business of Detention, which was nominated for a 2008 Webby. She graduated with honors from the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Lauren Geller, Associate Producer WIDE ANGLE

Lauren Geller has been working in television production since 2001. After earning her bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film from Northwestern University, she started her career at Atlantic Video in Washington, D.C., as a production assistant on the pilot episode of Animal Planet’s The Pet Psychic. Lauren moved to New York in 2002 and began working for MTV News & Documentaries where she helped to develop, pitch and produce several new series, including The Social History of…, which explored the origin and evolution of pop culture trends. She then worked at Sharp Entertainment as a producer on two film history series for Bravo. Lauren has been with WIDE ANGLE since 2007.

Pamela Hogan, Executive Producer, WIDE ANGLE Specials

Pamela Hogan has been with the series since its inception in 2002. She was series producer for WIDE ANGLE’s first six seasons and executive producer for the seventh season. She is now the executive producer of WIDE ANGLE Specials. She originated such films as Time for School (Gabriel Award), a 12-year project spotlighting the global education crisis through the stories of seven children in seven countries, and Emmy winner/Sigma Delta Chi Best Documentary Winner Ladies First about the leadership role of Rwanda’s women ten years after the genocide. From 1989 to1994, Pamela oversaw all international co-productions at National Geographic Television, winning many Emmys and ACE awards. She has previously produced for Bill Moyers (the 2-hour special Earth on Edge). Her independent film (with Harvard professor Peter Galison) Ultimate Weapon: The H-Bomb Dilemma on the secret moral-political debate surrounding the construction of the first H-bomb has been shown on the History Channel and is widely used in universities in the U.S. and abroad. She was field producer for the Peabody Award-winning To Be An American (NBC), about a Cambodian refugee family’s first year in America. A member of the Directors Guild of America, Pamela is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard University.

Rawan Jabaji, Associate Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Rawan Jabaji has been with WIDE ANGLE since 2007. She is currently working on the third installment of WIDE ANGLE’s documentary series on global education, Time for School. Jabaji has also worked on WIDE ANGLE films on the rigorous training of young Cuban boys at a Havana boxing academy, the thriving economy in the United Arab Emirates, the election of a young woman in Afghanistan’s first democratic parliament, and the plight of Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Prior to joining the series, she worked at Courttvnews.com and ABC Nightline. Rawan is a fluent Arabic speaker and has lived and traveled extensively in the Middle East. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and New York University Graduate School of Journalism.

Doug Johnson, Sound Mixer, WIDE ANGLE

Doug’s break into sound came in 2001 mixing radio commercials for his boyhood idols, the New York Yankees. From there, he migrated to the Madison Avenue ad set, working with clients such as BMW, L’Oreal, CBS, NBC and GM before switching gears into long-form television and documentary films. In the eight years since, Doug has provided sound editing and mix work on programming for TLC, Discovery, A&E, Sci-Fi, Spike and Court TV. Now in his eighth season with WIDE ANGLE, Doug’s credits at PBS also include Nature, Secrets of the Dead, Blueprint America, Make ‘Em Laugh and American Masters. He recently completed work on Deen Tight, a feature documentary examining the effects of American pop culture and hip-hop on today’s Muslim youth. Doug’s wife, Colette, received a 2004 Emmy for her work on the WIDE ANGLE film, Ladies First. They live in New Jersey with their beautiful baby daughter, Annabelle.

Lucy Kennedy, Associate Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Lucy Kennedy joined WIDE ANGLE in 2008 and has worked on films about education in China, carbon trading in Indonesia, and development in Africa. She produced a documentary short about the decline of Waterford Crystal in Ireland for WIDE ANGLE’s online series, FOCAL POINT. At CBS she was the associate producer for American Muslims: A Chance to Speak and Next World: Future Extreme for Discovery Channel. She produced Playground Politics, winner of “Best Positive Message” for MoveOn.org’s Obama in 30 Seconds competition. Lucy has also written for the Irish Times, the West Side Spirit and Washington Monthly. She lived in San Francisco for five years where she was an editor and editorial manager at LexisNexis. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Lucy received her bachelor’s degree from University College Dublin and her master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Yana Kunichoff, Production Intern, WIDE ANGLE

Yana is a graduate student at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Since joining WIDE ANGLE in 2009, she has worked films about a new exchange market in Ethiopia, a program to train midwifes in life-saving surgery in Mozambique, and orphans left to fend for themselves in Burma after Cyclone Nargis. In Chicago, she works for the Medill News Service doing daily reporting, long form, and investigative journalism focused mainly on education and immigration issues in Chicago. Yana graduated from the University of Durham where she wrote her undergrad dissertation on IMF lending policies and economic development in Tanzania and other sub-Saharan African countries. She also wrote feature and news articles for a student-run university website, and was founder and editor of a political magazine called Pulp. Yana’s personal background — she is fluent in Russian and has lived in five countries — has fueled her passion for international affairs, which she hopes to pursue upon graduation from Medill in December 2009.

Charlotte Mangin, Story Producer, WIDE ANGLE

Since joining WIDE ANGLE in 2005, Charlotte Mangin has worked on stories ranging from the economic crisis in Zimbabwe to race relations in Brazil to the reform of China’s legal system. She produced Class of 2006, WIDE ANGLE’s documentary about women and Islam in Morocco. She was a staff producer and associate producer for National Geographic Television, where she worked on documentaries about illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, public health in Nepal, Colombia’s drug wars, and hurricane devastation in Florida, among others. Charlotte’s first independent film, Tangier Treehouse, a one-hour documentary about street children in Morocco, premiered on PBS in 2008. She is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. Born in Paris, France, Charlotte has a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a master’s degree in East Asian studies from Harvard University.

Sonoko Aoyagi Leopold, Post-Production Supervisor, WIDE ANGLE

Sonoko Aoyagi Leopold has been working in production for more than 20 years and is a pioneer in high-definition documentary production. Sonoko started working at THIRTEEN in 1999 in the Culture & Arts department as a producer and post-production supervisor. She has won numerous international awards in documentaries, most recently two Golden Eagle awards for Great Performances: MAESTRO – A portrait of Valery Gergiev and The Music Instinct – Science and Song. Sonoko has an M.S. in Broadcasting and Film and an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University.

Rekha Menon, Sr. Project Manager

Rekha Menon has managed THIRTEEN’s production finances for nine years. From news & current affairs shows to children’s animation and science & history documentaries, she is responsible for budgets and facilitation of production for a wide spectrum of public television programming. Rekha has been working with WIDE ANGLE since 2003. Previously, she was production manager for 12-time Emmy-award winning journalist, Jon Alpert, managing his non-profit production facility. She graduated from Parsons School of Design.

Jeff Seelbach, Story Producer, WIDE ANGLE
Jeff Seelbach has worked at WIDE ANGLE since 2006, where he has worked on films about gangs in El Salvador, oil politics in Equatorial Guinea, Shia Islam in Iran, and China’s legal system, among others. Before joining the series, Jeff worked at Sundance Channel and was an associate producer on the film Our Brand is Crisis, which won the International Documentary Association award for Best Feature Documentary and was selected for the New Directors/New Films festival. In 2002, he lived in Guatemala and advised an indigenous video project supported by members of the Peace Corps and USAID. He graduated from Northwestern University with majors in film and political science, where he was also a music director at WNUR-FM, the largest student-run radio station in the U.S.

Abby Selden, Production Intern, WIDE ANGLE

Abigail Selden joined WIDE ANGLE as part of her fellowship from the International Radio and Television Society Foundation. Abby just completed her junior year at Belmont University in Nashville, where she is majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. Her previous internship was at WTVF Channel 5 in Nashville where she shadowed reporters and assisted on shoots and in the newsroom.

Ronak Shah, Administrative Assistant, WIDE ANGLE

Ronak joined WIDE ANGLE in December of 2008 as the assistant to the Executive and Senior Producer, along with facilitating other departmental responsibilities. After graduating from Parsons School of Design with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and broadcast, Ronak worked in advertising for two years. In 2007, she made the switch to the film & TV industry and started to work on feature films and TV shows in the tri-state area. She has worked as a production assistant in various departments, such as art, set and camera, as an assistant production coordinator on a web series and a director’s assistant on a Bollywood film in India. Before joining WIDE ANGLE, Ronak assisted at Salty Features, a production company in New York, where she discovered her love for documentary filmmaking.

Pracheta Sharma, Production Intern, WIDE ANGLE

Pracheta Sharma is a graduate student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and joined WIDE ANGLE in 2009. Originally from India, Pracheta worked for a national news network in the Mumbai bureau as a bilingual field reporter/producer. She moved to the United States in 2006 and reported from Silicon Valley for Indian-based English-language publications. She is currently working on a documentary about labor trafficking of South Asian women as domestic workers in United States.

Mark Sutton, Series Editor, WIDE ANGLE

Mark Sutton has been editing documentary and arts-related programming for more than twenty years. He worked on WNET’s City Arts and PBS’ Egg: The Arts Show, for the duration of the series. Subsequently he was involved in many other PBS productions, including Dance in America, Great Performances, African American Lives and Nature. He recently edited the feature dance documentary, Dancing Across Borders and two one-hour shows for Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century, which will air on PBS in October, 2009. He lives in New York.

Ben Travers, Production Intern, WIDE ANGLE

Ben Travers is a graduate student at NYU’s journalism school in the cultural reporting and criticism program. He enrolled in a political documentary class with Shimon Dotan, director of the documentary Hot House, which sparked his interest in documentaries and brought him to WIDE ANGLE. Before joining the series, Ben interned at Salon.com, worked for an NGO in Kenya, and spent eight months in Malawi working for Journalists for Human Rights. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University.