Filmmakers

KIM A. SNYDER

Director / Producer

Kim Snyder’s most recent feature documentary, Us Kids premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance competition. Prior, she directed the Peabody award-winning documentary Newtown, which premiered in the US Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  Newtown screened at premiere festivals worldwide and was theatrically released followed by a national broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens and Netflix.  Her most recent short, Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was awarded Best Documentary Short followed by the DocDispatch Award at the 2018 Sheffield DocFest and a Grierson Award nomination. Lessons… is a Netflix Original and is streaming in 196 countries. Snyder’s prior works include the feature documentary, Welcome to Shelbyville, nationally broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2011, and over a dozen short documentaries. Kim’s award-winning directorial debut feature documentary, I Remember Me was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, she associate-produced the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor. Kim graduated with a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and resides in New York City.

MARIA CUOMO COLE

Producer

Maria Cuomo Cole is the Peabody award-winning producer of the feature documentary, Newtown, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  She then partnered with Kim Snyder on Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane. Lessons premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was subsequently nominated for a Grierson award. In her career, she has tackled relevant subjects such as gun violence, homelessness, veterans’ PTSD, domestic violence and sexual assault. She executive produced The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick. This Emmy and Peabody award winning film has been lauded as a powerful investigation into the epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses. Ms. Cuomo Cole worked with the same film team, executive producing the 2014 Oscar® nominated documentary, The Invisible War. This groundbreaking documentary explored the epidemic of rape and sexual violence in the U.S. military, which served as a catalyst for federal legislation and enacted federal policy reforms.

LORI CHEATLE

Producer

Lori Cheatle is a producer of over 25 award-winning films and the founder of Hard Working Movies, a director-driven production company with an appetite for bold, high-profile narratives.  Titles include MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A., about the musician M.I.A., directed by Steve Loveridge, which won a Special Jury award at Sundance 2018, the IDA Award for Best Music Documentary, and a Special Commendation at the Grierson Awards.  I Am Another You by Nanfu Wang, which won two jury awards at SXSW and is released by FilmRise and Independent Lens; Kiki  (IFC Films/Sundance Selects) by Sara Jordeno, about the underground Kiki ballroom community in New York City , which premiered at Sundance 2016 and won the Berlin Teddy Award, the Kathleen Edwards Bryan Human Rights Award, the Outfest Emerging Artist award as well as Independent Spirit Award and GLAAD award nominations; CAPTIVATED: The Trials of Pamela Smart, directed by Jeremiah Zagar for HBO/Sky Atlantic; Amy Hardie’s critically acclaimed The Edge Of Dreaming and her BAFTA nominated Seven Songs For A Long Life; This Land Is Your Land, which was selected for the Whitney Biennial; three films by Doug Block, which all aired on HBO, including 112 Weddings, The Kids Grow Up and 51 Birch Street, which was named one of New York Times 10 Best Films of the Year. Most recently she Executive Produced Hail, Satan? (2019) released through Magnolia Pictures.  She received the 2019 Sundance I Amazon Producers Award.