Unlocking the Cage
TFI Suppport
Logline
After a lifetime of preparation, animal protection attorney Steven Wise builds a groundbreaking lawsuit seeking personhood rights for an animal plaintiff.
DA Pennebaker
Director
Daniel is a producer at and co-founder of Naked Edge Films. Daniel’s most recent documentaries include State 194 (for Participant Media, World Premiere TIFF 2012); The Revisionaries (Special Jury Prize at Tribeca 2012, Hot Docs 2012, released by Kino Lorber); Code of the West (SXSW 2012); and Pretty Old, executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker and Joe Berlinger, which had its World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2012, where it won the Jury Award for Best Documentary.
Daniel’s earlier credits include Donor Unknown (produced with ARTE, More 4 and VPRO), which premiered at the 2010 Sheffield Doc/Fest then went on to screen at IDFA, Tribeca and Silverdocs (the latter two at which it won an Audience Award), and broadcast in the U.S. on the PBS series Independent Lens; GONE, which premiered at Tribeca in 2011, and was broadcast on Discovery ID in the U.S.; War Don Don, which premiered at SXSW, where it won a Special Jury Mention, and was broadcast in the U.S. on HBO, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards; and Budrus, which premiered at Dubai, then screened at Berlin, Tribeca and Silverdocs, among other festivals, each of which where it won an award. Other producing credits include Cape Spin: An American Power Struggle, The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan, executive produced by Danny Glover; Meeting Resistance, which won the Golden Award at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Festival; Encounter Point; 39 Pounds of Love, which was produced with HBO Documentary Films and was short-listed for an Academy Award; and Pulled from the Rubble, which became an ABC Special. Daniel’s non-fiction television series include Happy France for ARTE and Ordinary People.
Daniel has also worked in positions including Producer, Line Producer, Location Producer and Production Manager on travel series, behind-the-scenes shows, and news and current affairs programs.
Daniel is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Cinema, Television, and Theater, Los Angeles, (Professional Certificate in Producing); the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (MA Israeli Politics and Society); and the University of Leeds, England (BA Honours, Politics and Religious Studies). Daniel is a voting member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
Chris Hegedus
Director
Chris Hegedus has been directing, shooting, and editing documentary films for over three decades. In 2002 she was awarded the prestigious Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and the International Documentary Award for Startup.com. With her long-time collaborator D A Pennebaker, Chris directed the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign film, The War Room, featuring James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, which received both the D.W. Griffith Award for Best Documentary of the Year and an Academy Award® nomination. In 2004, their HBO show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, won two Primetime Emmy® Awards. The team has directed a host of acclaimed films including The Energy War, Town Bloody Hall, Delorean, and Moon Over Broadway with Carol Burnett. Also feature-length music films, Depeche Mode 101, Down From the Mountain, a blue grass music film with Ralph Stanly, Emmy Lou Harris, Alison Crouse and others, and Only the Strong Survive featuring soul musicians, Wilson Pickett, Isaac Hayes, and The Supremes, which premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and was distributed by Miramax. In 2006, Chris directed, with Nick Doob, and theatrically released Al Franken: God Spoke following the political satirist Al Franken. Hegedus’ last film, Kings of Pastry has been broadcast around the world and had a theatrical release in the US. The International Documentary Association, Hot Docs, Full Frame, AFI, and the Golden Cine have presented Hegedus with awards to celebrate her outstanding career. Chris also taught film at Yale University for eight years and received their Film Studies Award.
Frazer Pennebaker
Producer, Executive Producer
Since 1980 Frazer has produced all of Hegedus and Pennebaker’s films including their most recent productions the Emmy award-winning Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Al Franken: God Spoke, and the current release Kings of Pastry. Pennebaker joined Pennebaker Hegedus Films after graduating from Hampshire College in 1977. His first collaboration was as the assistant producer on Delorean, a portrait of the auto entrepreneur. In 1983 Pennebaker produced Dance Black America for PBS’s “Great Performances” series. From 1985 to 1988, he produced music videos for artists Marti Jones, John Hiatt, and Victoria Williams. Pennebaker also produced Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis At Monterey featuring unused performance footage that his father shot at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. In 1989 he produced the feature length Depeche Mode 101, which went platinum upon its release; Open Hand, featuring Suzanne Vega; and The Music Tells You with Branford Marsalis. Teaming up with co-producers Wendy Ettinger and R.J. Cutler, Pennebaker’s 1993 film The War Room was nominated for an Academy Award. 1998 saw the release of Moon Over Broadway starring Carol Burnett, followed by Startup.com and Down from the Mountain in 2001, Only the Strong Survive in 2003, and Elaine Stritch At Liberty in 2004.