Eleven years in the making, THE WITNESS is James Solomon’s directorial debut.
As a screenwriter, Solomon is drawn to stories we think we know. Most recently, he wrote the feature film, The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford.

The legal thriller about the Lincoln assassination starred James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, and Tom Wilkinson. Solomon’s original screenplay received the Humanitas Prize.

Previously, Solomon was a lead writer and Executive Producer of ESPN’s critically acclaimed eight-hour mini-series, The Bronx is Burning, starring John Turturro and Oliver Platt, which, like The Witness, is about a seminal moment in New York City history.

Solomon began as a writer on several television series including Sidney Lumet’s 100 Centre Street and the Emmy Award-winning The Practice. He graduated from Harvard College and was a directing fellow at the American Film Institute before assisting directors on two Oscar-nominated films: Barry Levinson’s Avalon and Arne Glimcher’s The Mambo Kings.

Prior to working in film and television, he was a journalist based in Asia and Australia.

Solomon grew up and lives in New York City.

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Bill was 16 years old at the time of his sister Kitty’s murder. Their parents, Vincent and Rachel Genovese, had five children (in order): Kitty, Vincent, Susan, Bill and Frank. Though 12 years younger, Bill and Kitty were very close. A self-described “amateur ethologist,” Bill was until his retirement the COO to various mental health and educational organizations. He and his wife, Dale, have three children and four grandchildren.

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Melissa Jacobson is the head of development for Five More Minutes Productions. In addition, she oversaw research for the film, The Conspirator, and the ESPN limited series, The Bronx is Burning. Previously, she was co-founder of a stock footage research company, Alternative Images, and Acquisitions Specialist at Getty Images / The Image Bank. This is her first documentary.

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Gabriel Rhodes is both an editor and a filmmaker. His theatrical documentary credits include The Tillman Story, Without Shepherds, 1971 and most recently, Newtown. His work has premiered at prestigious festivals such as Sundance and Cannes and has been broadcast on Sundance Channel, A&E, Animal Planet, CNN, PBS and on the NPR radio show This American Life. In 2011, two of his edited films (The Tillman Story & Quest for Honor) were shortlisted for the Academy Awards. He was a fellow at the 2015 Sundance Documentary Edit & Story Lab and was awarded a fellowship from the New York State Council for the Arts in 2004. He received his Master’s Degree in Documentary Film from Stanford University in 2000.

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Russell Greene is a film editor and director based in Brooklyn, NY. His feature film credits include Famous Nathan, Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction, Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York, Hungry is the Tiger, and 2B. His edited films have appeared in top US and International festivals including Venice, New York, SXSW, Tribeca, IDFA, Edinburgh, and Los Angeles.

In addition to feature films, Russell has edited and directed numerous short films, commercials, web series and branded content films. They include the award-winning short film Easy Street and the acclaimed web series Made HERE about New York performing artists.

His assistant editor credits include the Academy Award-nominated Nerakhoon: The Betrayal and the Sundance award-winning Patti Smith: Dream of Life.

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A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the American Film Institute, Trish Govoni has collaborated with acclaimed directors ranging from Joe Berlinger (Iconoclasts) to the iconic experimental filmmaker Godfrey Reggio (Visitors).
In addition to Visitors, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, Govoni’s documentary credits include The Wrecking Crew, the story of LA studio musicians; Operation Fine Girl, about the atrocities committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone; and; Pretty Old, which looks at the 30th anniversary of the Ms. Senior Sweetheart Pageant.

Her television credits include Iconoclasts for the Sundance Channel; National Geographic Explorer, Inside The DEA, directed by Tony Gerber, and numerous concerts on VH1 for artists including Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Dave Mathews, and Tom Waits. Other narrative work includes projects with directors Dito Montiel, Trudie Styler and Carol Leifer.

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Nathan Halpern is a Brooklyn-based composer, recently named as one of Indiewire’s “Composers to Watch” for 2015. His film scores include Rich Hill, winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. He is also known for his original score for Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (HBO Films), winner of the Emmy Award for Best Arts and Cultural Programming, the George Foster Peabody Award, The Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, and numerous additional festival awards.

Other recent film credits include The PBS documentary films Poisoner’s Handbook (currently nominated for an Emmy) and Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace, winner of the 2014 South by Southwest Grand Jury Prize. In 2013, he scored Robert Redford’s All The President’s Men Revisited (Discovery), which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. That same year, Halpern was commissioned to create “1913,” a sound/music installation at New York City’s Lexington Armory, commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the first International Exhibition of Modern Art. Halpern made his film-scoring debut in 2011 with Renee (ESPN Films / 30 for 30).

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Moth Collective is a multi-award winning animation studio formed by Daniel Chester, Dave Prosser and Marie-Margaux Tsakiri-Scanatovits. Established in 2010, the trio met at the Royal College of Art where they shared a collective passion for all things drawn. Moth’s animations made its feature debut in Maidentrip, which won the Audience Visions Award at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. Moth is acclaimed for its sensitive and thought provoking hand-drawn work with an emphasis on design and story.

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