Sophie Constantinou’s storytelling and placemaking has earned international acclaim for tackling difficult topics with artistry and sensitivity. Her work is guided by the belief that community engaged storytelling is a powerful tool for catalyzing place-based change and creating healthy, sustainable communities. In collaboration with local initiatives, her work focuses on illuminating challenges and opportunities, disrupting conventional thinking and creating new landscapes that improve sustainability and environmental health. Sophie leads Citizen Film’s work with the Western Addition community and SFRPD to build equity into the planning and redesign of the Buchanan Street Mall. Sophie also is the Public Works Street Park Steward of the Bernal Cut, a mile long corridor being transformed with dense native habitat, murals and interpretive signage.

With 30+ years in documentary filmmaking, Kate has directed, produced, and edited many award winning documentaries designed to engage communities and mobilize change. She co-produced the PBS Special American Creed, which has been viewed by over 1 million people since it premiered in 2018, and has directed and produced Stories from the Encore Movement since 2012. She co-directed PROGNOSIS – notes on living (2021) with Academy Award winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, which played to great acclaim at film festivals around the world. With Chasnoff’s passing in 2017, Citizen Film became the new home for the Debra Chasnoff / GroundSpark Film Catalog, with Kate at the helm. Most recently, Kate wrote and directed the live multimedia storytelling project Songs of Truth: A Holocaust Awareness Concert & Conversation Project in collaboration with the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.

An experienced and creative impact producer and community engagement specialist, Tamara Walker learned her vocation from her grandfather who brought diverse communities together for the betterment of San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, where Tamara was born and raised. His diligence and devotion to community taught Tamara the value of planning, preparation and deep investment in relationships to build consensus and effect change. Tamara honed her organizing skills when she faced her own tragedy. In 2000, she co-founded the organization “Mothers Against Guns” alongside other survivors of gun violence. Tamara has been full-time at Citizen Film since 2015 as a producer of short films about community organizers, and as an organizer of community engagement partnerships and activities.

Manish is a reporter, documentary filmmaker, and Citizen Film’s Associate Producer. He holds a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where he co-directed and produced his debut film Carl Runs the Paper. Prior to filmmaking, Manish reported on housing and city politics in the Bay Area and worked in marketing.

Sarah Scannell manages communications and development activities for the entire Citizen Film production pipeline. In addition to managing Citizen Film’s website and social media accounts, she oversees outreach to partners and audiences for all our documentary and creative placemaking projects including Buchanan Mall / Buchanan Change. Sarah has a B.A. in Cognitive Science from University of California, Berkeley.

Garland McLaurin co-directed the recent PBS-NC mini-series Family Pictures USA combining family storytelling with innovative audience engagement. Garland won a Peabody Award for the PBS program 180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School; and his groundbreaking PBS Digital series Pops, about African American men and fatherhood, is supported by Black Public Media, CPB and ITVS. Garland’s cinematography work exploring how to bridge divides includes American Creed, directed by Sam Ball; The New Black (about Black / LGBT+ relationships), directed by Yoruba Richen; and Coming Back (addressing civilian-military divides) with Wes Moore. Garland is a 2018 PBS/ITVS Wyncote Fellowship recipient. He’s currently co-directing a documentary on structural racism in America’s courts, for the BBC.

An avid photographer and videographer, Sadiq Norris has been creating films since 2018, getting his start with New Door. Most recently he has graduated as BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) Fellow in 2020, making his directorial debut with the documentary A Window Out, which highlights the effects of artistic and creative expression on mental health. Photography, cinema, music and the exploration of artforms have fueled him as he proceeds on his journey as both a filmmaker and creative. Sadiq continues to explore storytelling in a variety of ways both in and around his position as one of Citizen Film’s Documentary Film & Outreach Assistant.

Zoe Hertz is a multimedia artist and Citizen Film’s Post Production Coordinator. Originally from Chicago, her background as an assistant dance director, metalsmithing coordinator, and community organizing facilitator has made her passionate about exploring the connections between creative spaces, empathy-building, and broader structural change. Zoe’s photography has been featured at the Art Institute of Chicago, and she has been a resident artist at the Blue Sky Center in New Cuyama, CA and Gate 44 in Milan. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Vanessa Ellis is a Communications & Research Specialist involved with a variety of development and outreach projects at Citizen Film. She creates and publishes content through marketing channels, builds webpages, copywrites and copyedits across projects, conducts research and technical instruction, and provides administrative support. Vanessa holds a B.A. in both English and Film and Media Studies from Smith College. Her short films, “Down in Flames,” “The Fool,” and “Unboxing” are currently screening in film festivals.