Sarah Botstein has produced some of the most popular and acclaimed documentaries on PBS. Her work with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick includes, Jazz (2001), The War (2007), Prohibition (2011), The Vietnam War (2017), College Behind Bars (2019), and Hemingway (2020). The U.S. and the Holocaust (2022) marked Botstein’s debut as a co-director. She is currently co-directing and producing, along with Burns and David Schmidt, a six-part, 12-hour series, The American Revolution, which will premiere on PBS in the fall of 2025, and a three-part film on the life and presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, set to air in 2028.

In addition to these television broadcasts, Botstein is an original contributor to Ken Burns UNUM, a web-based platform that highlights historical themes across the Florentine Films body of work. Botstein works closely with PBS Learning Media and WETA-TV to develop educational content for programming as part of the Ken Burns Classroom.

Gabriela Ortega is an award-winning writer/director and actor from the Dominican Republic. She is a USC graduate, a Sundance labs alum, and an Academy of Motion Pictures fellow. Her award-winning short film Huella, was an official selection of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is being turned into a feature film after being supported by the Sundance labs and the Cine Qua Non residency. She is also developing Piratas, a Spanish language feature film to be shot in the Dominican Republic, which received the 2023 Rainin Grant. Gabriela was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2022 and in 2023 as one of the winners of the annual Young Guns competition.

Her film, Beautiful, FL, produced through the Disney Launchpad program, is available on Disney+, and her first film, “PAPI'' is available to stream on HBO. Most recently, she directed a limited documentary series for Peacock and Sephora titled “The Foundation of Belleza” available now. Her work lives within the intersection of fiction and poetry and aims to draw cultural bridges that lead to the Caribbean.

Andy is the Senior Film Programmer at the Austin Film Festival and a versatile, DIY filmmaker. As Senior Film Programmer, Andy facilitates industry partnerships with studios and distributors to build AFF's premiere Marquee program, as well as moderate conversations with filmmakers like Rian Johnson, Cord Jefferson, and Lena Headey. In addition, Andy focuses on features programming and fostering career opportunities for AFF filmmakers through creative initiatives and fellowship programs.

His documentary work "Coffee & Sugar" and "Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story" (Dir. Aaron Bear) have screened around the globe at festivals like Seattle International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Loft Film Fest, Manchester Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and NFFTY. "Yes I Am" was recently nominated for Special Recognition at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards. As a writer, Andy's short horror script "Rebirth" was a Finalist at Hollyshorts Film Festival and attracted the attention of UK-based company Hawk Bells. Andy is a frequent writer for Austin-based Hyperreal Film Club and in development on a handful of shorts and music videos.

Donald Young is the Center for Asian American Media’s Director of Programs. He oversees CAAM’s program areas, and specifically develops and implements CAAM’s national productions and national PBS strategies. In public television, Donald has supervised the national broadcasts of over 150 award-winning projects. As a producer, he has worked both in documentaries and independent feature films. Key projects include the epic five-hour PBS history series Asian Americans, a co-production with WETA and produced by Renee Tajima-Peña; Family Pictures, USA by Thomas Allen Harris; and a feature film adaptation of Chang-rae Lee’s Coming Home Again directed by Wayne Wang.

Anuradha Rana is an independent filmmaker and educator based in Chicago. Born and raised in India, her immigrant roots create the lens of a curious interloper at the heart of her films, where everyday characters push conventional boundaries. Her work has been supported by Kartemquin Films, TFI, If/Then, PBS, DOC NYC, IL Arts Council, DCASE, CAAM, American Institute for Indian Studies, Chicago International Film Festival, Full Spectrum Features, and Depaul Humanities Center. She is on the steering committee for A-DOC, was named one of Chicago’s 50 Screen Gems in 2019, a DCASE esteemed artist, and DOC NYC’s Documentary New Leader in 2021.

Valeriya is a Ukrainian cinematographer, documentary filmmaker and educator. She started out in journalism working for Ukraine’s English language newspaper KyivPost. Later she acquired hands-on experience in filmmaking during her studies at New York University Abu Dhabi majoring in Film & New Media. In 2020, she received an MFA in Film at Victoria University of Wellington.

Valeriya’s creative interest lies in the intersection of photography, writing and documentary based projects that reveal personal narratives and complicate official stories with fixed perspectives. She has directed short documentaries and video installations, and worked as a cinematographer on more than a dozen narrative and documentary shorts. Her work has been screened in over 30 countries from Japan to Argentina, and awarded the Grand Jury Award for Best Doc in Guam, Best Short Doc in Reykjavik, Asian Cinematography Award Best Short Doc (Our Love), Best Short Doc at NFFTY in Seattle. Valeriya currently works as a Film Arts Instructor at New York University Abu Dhabi.