Fred Silverman (Producer/Director/Writer) recently founded Issues TV to develop programs that focus on the human condition. Since 1985, he has been president of Silverman Communications, an independent production company. His most recent production for PBS was the critically acclaimed Living With Cancer: A Message of Hope, which aired in the fall of 1998 and garnered six national awards. In 1993, he created and executive produced the situation comedy Emma's Place for PBS. His 1994 production, Stories of Healing, won several awards for its portrayal of terminally ill patients. Prior to forming Silverman Communications, Inc., Mr. Silverman produced a series of programs for the CBS Television Network and its local New York station, WCBS. In addition, Mr. Silverman handled production and development for Phoenix/BFA Educational Media, the nation's fourth largest educational film and video distributor. Before joining Phoenix/BFA, Mr. Silverman was Director of Educational Technology for New York University, where he produced Sunrise Semester, a daily series on CBS. He also produced and hosted Alternative Currents (later renamed Media Review), a weekly radio series for Pacifica Radio. Mr. Silverman, who holds a Masters Degree in Education and Child Development from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, has taught broadcasting and media studies at Fordham University, Lehigh University, and Iona College.

Howard Sharp (Editor/Co-Writer) recently edited the critically acclaimed Eleanor Roosevelt, which aired on PBS' American Experience series in January 2000. His other credits include: Harry Truman, TR, and Riding the Rails (PBS' American Experience); The Language of Life (PBS); Nicholas and Alexandra (Granada TV); The King of Hearts (Channel 4); and Spytek - the Real 007 (Discovery Channel).

Joel Shapiro (Director of Photography) received Emmy nominations for Best Photography in 1998 and 1999 for his work on PBS' Reading Rainbow. His other recent work includes: Bill Moyers' Fooling With Words (PBS) and Portrait of Addiction (PBS); Rising Tide, and Meltdown at Three Mile Island, for PBS' American Experience, and How Do You Spell God? for HBO.

Michael Bacon (Music) wrote the music for the recent Academy-Award-winning documentary short, King Gimp. His other credits include PBS' Reagan, and Truman, and his feature film scores include The Last Good Time, Losing Chase, and the Academy Award-nominated documentary, D-Day Remembered. Mr. Bacon wrote the score for The Kennedys (PBS' American Experience), for which he won an Emmy.

Michele Demak Epstein (Associate Producer) is an adjunct faculty member of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where she was formerly a full-time instructor and researcher. Prior to joining Issues TV, she was Manager of Program Development for the Hastings Healthcare Group. She has a Master's Degree in Health Behavior and Health Education, and is a PhD candidate from the University of Michigan. She has authored numerous articles related to healthcare communications and policy.

Sasha Waters (Associate Producer) has worked on numerous documentaries and produced her own work as a 1999 Fellow at The MacDowell Colony. Before joining Issues TV, she was on the faculty of Temple University's Department of Film and Media Arts. She has previously associate produced for the PBS series American Experience, including the Emmy-nominated program Edison's Miracle of Light.

Blythe Danner (Narrator) has had a distinguished career in theater, film, and television. A member of the Williamstown Theater Festival for 16 seasons, she has played at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Repertory Company of Lincoln Center in New York, and the New York Shakespeare Festival, where she appeared in Much Ado About Nothing with Kevin Kline and Moliere's Miser, for which she won the Theater World Award. She made her Broadway debut in Butterflies Are Free, for which she won a Tony Award and received Tony nominations for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Harold Pinter's Betrayal. Other Broadway credits include The Philadelphia Story, Blithe Spirit, and Love Letters. Her film work includes The Prince of Tides, directed by Barbra Streisand; Alice, directed by Woody Allen; Mr. and Mrs. Bridge with Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and The Great Santini with Robert Duvall. On television, Ms. Danner has starred in two series, Adam's Rib and Tattinger's, and the TV movies, F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Last of the Belles, Eccentricities of a Nightingale, A Love Affair: Eleanor and Lou Gehrig's Story, M.A.S.H., and St. Elsewhere. Ms. Danner holds honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees from her alma mater, Bard College, as well as from Williams College and Hobart/Smith Colleges.

Funding for Healthcare Crisis: Who's at Risk? was provided by grants from The Greenwall Foundation (www.greenwall.org) and The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (www.fdncenter.org/grantmaker/hfnj).

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