THE FILMMAKERS

Dia Sokol Savage | DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

Dia Sokol Savage is the creator and executive producer of MTV’s hit series 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, one of the longest running documentary series on television. She began her career working for director Errol Morris on The Fog of War and Mr. Death, and produced Andrew Bujalski's films Mutual Appreciation and Beeswax, which garnered her a 2010 Independent Spirit Award nomination. She produced Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg’s Nights and Weekends and directed the feature film Sorry, Thanks, which premiered at SXSW in 2010. She runs 11th Street Productions with her producing partner Morgan J. Freeman.

Garret Savage | PRODUCER

Garret Savage is an award-winning documentary producer with a background in editing. His producing credits include Welcome Strangers (premiered at Big Sky, winner of the Telluride Mountainfilm Women in Film Award) and One October (premiered at Full Frame exec produced by Edward Norton). His editing credits include the Peabody Award-winning My Perestroika, HBO's How Democracy Works Now series, and Ready, Set, Bag! He has edited projects for Paramount Pictures, ABC/ESPN, Discovery, IFC, AMC, MTV, and more. Garret is a Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab Fellow, was the Program Director of the Nantucket Film Festival’s Teen View Film Lab, has taught documentary editing at NYU, and was the president of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship for ten years.

Matthias Grunsky, bvk | Cinematographer

Matthias Grunsky is an international cinematographer who has collaborated with Dia Sokol Savage on five feature films. He has also been a steady collaborator of director Andrew Bujalski since his 2001 debut Funny Ha Ha. His most recent film shot for Bujalski is Support the Girls, starring Regina Hall. Grunsky's extensive feature work includes Nights and Weekends, directed by Joe Swanberg and Greta Gerwig and the musical film Saints Rest, directed by Noga Ashkenazi. He has also lensed several documentaries, tv movies and series around the world. He was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, won Best Cinematography at the Midwest Independent Film Festival, and won Best Cinematography at the History Film Fest.

Chelsea Jackson | Editor & STORY ADVISOR

Chelsea Jackson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She recently edited The Love Bugs, a short documentary which won the 2019 Audience Choice Award for Best Short Documentary at Woods Hole Film Festival, was a 2018 Telluride Mountainfilm Commitment grant recipient, and was the 2018 Roy W. Dean grant winner. Her editing work includes My Mother My Friend: Lindsay's Life Saving Gift (2019 nominee for the Heartland Emmy for Outstanding Human Interest Special) and Felix (winner of the 2019 Audience Choice Award for Best Short Documentary at Woods Hole Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award for Best Short Documentary at Mountainfilm in Aspen).

Mark Crawford | MUSIC

Mark Crawford is an Emmy-nominated composer and music producer. Most recently he’s composed music for the feature length documentary The Social Dilemma, premiering at Sundance 2020. Previously, his credits include additional music for the award-winning feature documentaries Chasing Coral (2017) and Chasing Ice (2012), Classic, which premiered at the Denver Film Festival in 2019, and the multi-audience award-winning short documentary, The Love Bugs. His music and video work have also been included in programs featured on National Geographic, California Academy of Science, Harvard Kennedy School, and Fast Company.

MICHAEL KRANICKE | LOCATION SOUND

Michael Kranicke is a sound engineer with over 20 years of experience. His credits include CBS’ 48 Hours and 60 Minutes, NBC’s Dateline, ABC’s 20/20, the BBC, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, ESPN, NFL Network, HBO and more. He works on documentary films, commercials, live network events, corporate communications, network features, satellite media tours, virtual sets, on-location recording, live mixing experiences for concerts, and corporate theater. His custom music composition and sound design clients include Motorola, McDonald’s, and PBS. Michael has post production and Pro Tools experience as well.

Morgan J. Freeman | Executive Producer

Morgan J. Freeman burst onto the scene as the Sundance award-winning writer/director of Hurricane Streets. It was the first narrative to win three awards at the prestigious festival (Audience, Director, Cinematography), and was distributed by MGM/UA the following year. Morgan then wrote and directed Desert Blue, which marked the debut of Kate Hudson, and also starred Christina Ricci, Casey Affleck and Peter Sarsgaard. Morgan produced the groundbreaking MTV series Laguna Beach. His film Just Like The Son premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. Other features include Lionsgate’s Born Killers, and 2008 thriller Homecoming. Today, Morgan runs 11th Street Productions, with his producing partner Dia Sokol Savage, and is the Creator/Executive Producer of MTV’s hit 16 & Pregnant / Teen Mom franchise.