Team

Andrew has an eclectic background in the not-for-profit and social enterprise worlds drawing from his expertise as a filmmaker, inventor, writer, chessboxing champion, entrepreneur, frequent TEDx speaker, mentor, Highlands games athlete, photojournalist, and a founder of The Tiziano Project. He was named one of ‘LA’s 40 Most Interesting People’ by LA Weekly, was part of a team that won the SXSW Interactive Award for Activism, won the ‘Foreigner’ division of an Independence Day Chess Tournament in Kazakhstan, his work and speeches won MindshareLA’s ‘Showcase Series’, he was featured in the Sports Section of the ‘NY Times’, and he has even received a Certificate of Appreciation from LA’s City Council!

Subsequently, he became inspired by the idea of robots, animals, and humans working together on humanitarian causes from his film and is a partner on a technology project enabling animals to bionically notify a human when they find a landmine.

He has been featured in “Wired”, “Newsweek”, the Sports Section of “The New York Times”, and many other publications

Daniela Kon is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer and consultant working at the intersection of human rights, global development and impact media for the past decade. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, she completed her BA in Media and Cultural Studies and MA in Documentary Production at The London College of Communications and Royal Holloway, University of London.

She moved to New York in 2003 working for Emmy award-winning director Marc Levin at Blowback Productions, and was the researcher and assistant editor for HBO and THINK Film’s “Protocols of Zion,” an Official Sundance Selection. She founded documentary and impact agency, DEEDA Productions, in 2005 and has since worked with filmmakers, NGOs and aid organizations in Cambodia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Israel, Liberia, Senegal, and the US, creating documentaries and impact campaigns on a plethora of social justice issues. Her film credits range from the award winning documentary TALIBE, the United Nations FAO Ending Hunger Campaign and the UN Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), to collaborations with grassroots initiatives in Education, Voluntourism, Youth Leadership, Girls and Women’s Empowerment, LGBT Rights, Water Management, Children’s Rights, and Modern-day Slavery. Kon is a member of CAP with Creative Visions Foundation, a board member of the HRW Film Committee and the Women’s Rights Committee of Human Rights Watch in Los Angeles.

She is the co-founder of humanitarian robotics company, Symbiobotics, a producer and strategist for social issue documentaries, impact media productions, and international advocacy campaigns. Driven by the premise of maximizing responsible impact through creativity, Kon founded the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) in 2012, dedicated to advancing the culture of impact filmmaking and to supporting filmmakers and change-makers in their work.

Jason went to school film school at California State University of Northridge and brings 20 years of experience in post production to the project. For the last 10 years, Jason has worked at 20th Century Fox Studios in Post Production and at FX Networks as part of the On Air Promotions Operations Team for the FX Movie Channel (FXM). Throughout his career Jason has sought ways to pair his passion for cinema and science.

Fortunato Procopio, Director of Photography, has shot feature films, documentaries, short films, and music videos. He’s worked with both fledgling and internationally acclaimed directors. His resume also includes hundreds of television commercials photographed in the US and around the world.

After his graduation from Yale with a degree in philosophy, Procopio learned the nuts and bolts of filmmaking as an assistant cameraman. He had the privilege of working with some of the most accomplished DP’s in New York and Los Angeles. Procopio enjoyed an extended collaboration with Saturday Night Live director Jim Signorelli, shooting many of the satiric short films that have prominently aired as part of the SNL broadcasts. Early on he created Calliope Productions, a music and film company where many well-known artists got their start, including De La Soul, De-lite, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah and GangStar.

President and creative director of Chiodo Bros. Productions Inc. Stephen Chiodo has established himself as a highly creative special effects director with an expertise in stop-motion animation.

Stephen perfected his animation and directorial skills at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he was awarded “Best Young Director” at the Cannes Film Festival for his ten-minute short, “Cricket”. In the early eighties, he collaborated with Tim Burton and Rich Heinricks as a Technical Director and Animator for the acclaimed animated short Vincent. Stephen’s directing credits include the first feature length clay animated film I Go Pogo and the cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Recent credits include the stop motion character animation for New Line Cinema’s “Elf” and creating the cast of marionettes for Paramount’s “Team America- World Police “.

Recently Stephen has directed pilots for CNN, ShowTime, Relativity Media and the Disney Channel as well as creating content for new media outlets on the Internet. Stephen has also been sharing his experiences and knowledge by teaching stop motion animation at the prestigious California Institute of Art.

For the past 8 years at 20th Century Fox, I’ve dedicated myself to developing innovative and non traditional workflows to enhance the through put of Fox Media Services as well as the quality and integrity of the product. I’ve consistently displayed an eagerness to continue expanding and honing not only my technical and interpersonal skills, but also the skills and experiences of my coworkers.

Being resourceful, versatile, and dependable while maintaining a deep sense of humility have contributed to making me not only a valued employee, but also a valued person. In my free time, I like to contribute my skill set to social causes and independent film making projects.

Animator Kelon Cen creates fluid body movement within time and space in his works. His method is integrating both 3D graphics and 2D hand-drawn images. He is interested in the topics of cultural identity, subconsciousness and the mechanism of trauma. Besides animations, he also does video installations and immersive content such as dome and theatre projection.

Growing up in an artistic family, Maureen had an interest in art and design at a very young age. Since she knew that she will pursue her career in art, she decided to do animation because it allowed her to create anything she wanted.

While studying to obtain her BFA in Experimental Animation in California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Maureen has explored many different mediums of making moving images, not only the traditional ways such as 2D animation and stop motion animation, but also mixing various mediums together and creating a new look.

Kim Ngo is a Los Angeles based costume designer. Born and raised in Texas, Kim was encouraged by her big sister to attend Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts where she found her passion for costume design. She continued her education by earning a degree at the University of Texas at Austin with a concentration in Costume Design for Theater Arts.

Since moving to Los Angeles, Kim has costume designed several award winning feature films and a wide range of specialty costume design and construction for national commercials. She has designed and created period and fantasy costumes, walk-about costumes, puppets of various sizes, and NASCAR driving

suits. Kim and her team are innovative in their craft, efficient in their execution and present fresh and diverse perspectives.

In addition to Kim’s costume design work, she has worked for non- profits including Grrl Action, an autobiographical writing and performance program for teenage girls created by Austin theater company, Rude Mechs; and Night of a 1000 Dinners, a non-profit to raise awareness and funds for extracting landmines. She is also a founder of Seamless Possibilities, a design and dressmaking workshop for formerly-trafficked girls in underprivileged countries.