Filmmakers


Ben Moses

Writer, Director, Producer

Moses’ extensive production background includes shows that have garnered 21 Emmy wins and/or nominations and an Oscar nomination.  Since co-founding Appleseed Entertainment in 2006, he has taken the lead on the company’s documentary films, which he has written, directed and produced.   Most recently,  A Whisper to a Roar about the struggle for democracy around the world and Taking the Hill: The Warrior’s Journey Home about ways to help address PTSD in combat veterans.

Best known as the creator and co-producer of Disney/Touchstone’s megahit Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams, he also associate produced ITC/Orion’s Without a Clue starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley; produced and directed RCA/Columbia’s Nickel & Dime (Wallace Shawn, C. Thomas Howell); produced Hope Ranch (Bruce Boxleitner, Lorenzo Lamas, Gail O’Grady) for Discovery Networks and executive produced Cupid’s Prey (Joanna Pacula, Jack Wagner) for Daybreak Pacific.

Prior to his move into features, Ben produced and directed a string of Emmy-award winning broadcast documentaries, delivering thought-provoking and emotionally gripping programming on subjects ranging from hunger in America to euthanasia.

Ben began his career on the streets and stages of New York, working as grip and gofer, then Assistant Director, Production Manager and Producer – of commercials, industrial films and ultimately network television shows.


Amy Martinez

Producer

Martinez is a writer and producer specializing in documentary television and films.  For nearly a decade she has produced content for networks including National Geographic Channel, MSNBC, A&E, History Channel, Discovery Channel, among others.  Martinez wrote and produced an episode of A&E’s Biography series (Ben and Jerry), which received a Business and Financial Reporting Emmy nomination.  She produced various projects for National Geographic Channel including the Final Report series (O.J. Simpson Trial, TWA Flight 800), which provides a comprehensive examination into major news stories, as well as the Perilous Journeys series (Perilous Journeys: Panama) in which the host takes the viewer to some of the most remote and exciting places on earth.   Martinez filmed the plight of young people surviving on the streets in Jacksonville, FL for an episode of Runaways for MSNBC, as well as crossed the country to chronicle the battle with methamphetamine from the perspective of law enforcement and former addicts for Meth Nation for Discovery Channel.

A graduate of Texas A&M University, Martinez has a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.  She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she spends her free time volunteering for dog rescue organizations.


Larry Diamond

Inspiration & Executive Producer

Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where he also directs the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.  He is the founding co-editor of the “Journal of Democracy” and also serves as Senior Consultant (and previously was co-director) at the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy.   During 2002–3, he served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and was a contributing author of its report “Foreign Aid in the National Interest.”  He has also advised and lectured to the World Bank, the United Nations, the State Department, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies dealing with governance and development. His latest book, “The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World” (Times Books, 2008), explores the sources of global democratic progress and stress and the prospects for future democratic expansion.

At Stanford University, Diamond is also professor by courtesy of political science and sociology.  He teaches courses on comparative democratic development and post-conflict democracy building, and advises many Stanford students.  In May 2007, he was named “Teacher of the Year” by the Associated Students of Stanford University for teaching that “transcends political and ideological barriers.”  At the June 2007 Commencement ceremony, Diamond was honored by Stanford University with the Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education. He was cited, inter alia, for fostering dialogue between Jewish and Muslim students; for “his inspired teaching and commitment to undergraduate education; for the example he sets as a scholar and public intellectual, sharing his passion for democratization, peaceful transitions, and the idea that each of us can contribute to making the world a better place; and for helping make Stanford an ideal place for undergraduates.”

During the first three months of 2004, Diamond served as a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. Since then, he has lectured and written extensively on U.S. policy in Iraq and the wider challenges of post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction, and was one of the advisors to the Iraq Study Group.  His 2005 book, “Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq,” was one of the first books to critically analyze America’s postwar engagement in Iraq.  He has also participated in several working groups on the Middle East.  During 2004–5, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Independent Task Force on United States Policy toward Arab Reform.  With Abbas Milani, he coordinates the Hoover Institution Project on Democracy in Iran.

Diamond has edited or co-edited some 36 books on democracy, including the recent titles “How People View Democracy,” “How East Asians View Democracy,” “Latin America’s Struggle for Democracy,” “Political Change in China: Comparisons with Taiwan, and Assessing the Quality of Democracy.”  Among his other published works are, “Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation” (1999), “Promoting Democracy in the 1990s” (1995), and “Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria” (1989).  He also edited the 1989-90 series “Democracy in Developing Countries,” with Juan Linz and Seymour Martin Lipset.


Moulay Hicham

Benefactor

Prince Moulay Hicham is Director of the Moulay Hicham Foundation.  He is the grandson of the late King Mohammed V, the father of the modern, independent nation of Morocco; the son of the late Prince Moulay Abdallah, Mohammed V’s younger son; the nephew of the late King Hassan II; and the cousin of Mohammed VI, the present King of Morocco.  Raised in Rabat, he pursued his undergraduate education at Princeton University and completed his graduate studies at Stanford University.

Prince Moulay Hicham is currently a Visiting Researcher at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, and serves on the Advisory Board of the University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Outside academia, he pursues humanitarian and environmental initiatives worldwide.  In 1995, he assisted Ambassador Juan Somavia in organizing the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.  In 2000, he served as Principal Officer for Community Affairs with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo.

With the US-based Carter Center, he served as international observer in special delegations during elections in Palestine in 1996 and 2006, and in Nigeria in 2000.

He is also active in renewable energy; his company, Al-Tayyar Energy, has developed innovative projects that produce clean energy at competitive prices in Asia, Europe and North America.

Prince Moulay Hicham regularly publishes articles on contemporary political and social issues for various publications, including “Politique Internationale,” “Le Monde,” “Le Monde diplomatique,” “El Pais,” “Journal of Democracy” and “Al-Hayat.”  He lectures regularly at universities and think tanks.


Lynne Moses

Executive Producer

Since co-founding Appleseed Entertainment, Lynne Moses has produced or executive produced the company’s documentaries and has taken the lead on the company’s narrative films, which include short films and writing and developing feature screenplays, both for Appleseed and for clients, such as the French film production company Bonne Pioche (March of the Penguins), with whom she co-wrote three feature film screenplays between 2009 and 2011.

Lynne’s narrative credits prior to forming Appleseed include the feature Cupid’s Prey (Joanna Pacula, Jack Wagner) by Daybreak Pacific (original screenplay); the TV movie Hope Ranch (Bruce Boxleitner, Lorenzo Lamas, Gail O’Grady) for Discovery Networks Animal Planet (hired to do page one re-write) and co-producer of the independent feature Cruel But Necessary, with writer/lead actress Wendel Meldrum and director Saul Rubinek.   Lynne’s early entertainment industry career began in development, first as a freelance reader for NBC, CAA and Stan Rogow Productions, then as Development Assistant at Stan Rogow Productions and Development Director for television director and producer Peter Werner’s company, A Joyful Noise Unlimited.

Her prior career as a corporate banker with Chicago-based Continental Illinois and Paris-based Banque Paribas culminated in her position as Corporate Group Head and Director in Banque Paribas’ Los Angeles office.

Christopher Pavlick

Line Producer

Christopher Pavlick was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota.  After studying film and theater at the University of Minnesota, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a feature film and television producer.

In addition to A Whisper to a Roar, Pavlick has line produced several films in recent years, including The Pool Boys, The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond and Autopsy.

In 2003, Pavlick began work on the documentary feature film Inheritance that documents the meeting between a Holocaust survivor and the daughter of a former Nazi commander.   The award-winning film took close to three years to complete and was shot in three different countries over thirteen days.

In 2006, Pavlick produced Massacre at Mystic, a television documentary which recounted the history of the first major conflict between Native Americans and European settlers.   The documentary aired on The History Channel in April of 2006 as part of the Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America miniseries.

Also in 2006, Pavlick produced Epilogue of the Pacific for HBO.   The ninety-minute documentary chronicling the experiences of eleven Pacific War veterans during World War II, will serve as a companion piece to the new Band of Brother’s miniseries.

In 2004, Pavlick served as co-producer on A Remarkable Promise, the John Kerry biography film airing during the Democratic National Convention.    The piece was shot over five days and followed Senator Kerry as he campaigned through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Pennsylvania.

Pavlick has also served as a producer on a variety of different documentary and reality based projects for NBC, CBS, Universal Studios, Hallmark Channel, and VH1.

Jill Schneider

Associate Producer

Schneider produces, writes, and directs independent films, documentaries, and series.  She is currently filming a documentary about an L.A. based rehab center called Beit T’Shuvah.  As a partner in the production company, Tightmedia Inc, she created and directed the webseries, King Thor of Long Island, which is currently being pitched as a TV series.  She produced the 2007 feature-length documentary, Shame.  Shame premiered on Showtime, was in over 20 festivals worldwide and won several human rights awards.  In 2008 the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored Shame with an “Award in Conscious Filmmaking.”  Schneider has also co-produced the independent feature film, Big River, for Office Kitano (Japan) and worked on several Bollywood films for Dharma Productions (India.).

She began her career working in post-production for networks such as National Geographic, Discovery, and CNN.  Schneider’s enthusiasm for working with people of different backgrounds and cultures endures, for she believes there are vital and significant stories to be told all over the world.


Sharon Franklin

Principal Editor

Sharon Franklin has enjoyed an eclectic career as an editor. Her credits include television specials, feature films and documentaries.  Prior to serving as lead editor on A Whisper to a Roar, she worked as an editor on New Kids on the Block: A Behind the Music Special, Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story, and Mario Van Peebles’ Poetic License, as well as behind-the-scenes documentaries Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and Lady’s Pedigree: The Making of ‘Lady and the Tramp.’  The scripted films she has edited have done well in festivals internationally, garnering festival awards and complimentary reviews in “The New York Times” and “Daily Variety.”  Films of note include Strapped, Quality of Life, and The Cistern.

When Franklin isn’t editing, she can be found spinning fire at various Burning Man-related events and gardening at her house in Los Angeles.


Harris Done

Director of Photography

Harris Done is a cinematographer, director, writer and producer and was the lead cinematographer on the feature documentary A Whisper to a Roar.  He is currently producing and directing Marine K9 about the U.S. Marine Corps’ use of dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan and recently wrapped shooting of Foo Fighters with Dave Grohl and the guys, which chronicles the history of band and the recording of their newest album ‘Wasting the light.’

Done made his feature documentary directing debut with War Dogs of the Pacific, about the Marine war dog handlers in WW2 which is airing on the Military Channel and is available on Amazon.com.  He had earlier teamed up with USC classmate James Moll and served as Director of Photography on the 1999 Academy Award-winning Feature Documentary The Last Days for executive producer Steven Spielberg.  They collaborated again on Price for Peace, the Spielberg-produced documentary on World War II in the Pacific, as well as on Inheritance, which was recently featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and Running the Sahara, for which he followed three ultra marathon runners across the African continent.  The film was produced and narrated by Matt Damon.  Other notable D.P. credits include the cult classic Trekkies.  Done learned his craft working for noted Directors of Photography John Alonzo (Chinatown, Harold & Maude) and Julio Macat (Ace Ventura, Wedding Crashers) and on several studio feature camera crews.  He began working as D.P. himself shooting low budget features and music videos.

In addition to his notable documentary and cinematography work, Done has also written, produced and directed several feature films, a number of which have been produced and several of which are in active development with various producers.  He is a graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television, where he earned a degree in Film Production.

Christopher Thomas

Composer

In 2010, Christopher Thomas composed music for the documentary, Woman Rebel.  The film was short-listed for an Academy Award and nominated for an Emmy Award.  In 2011, Thomas won Best Film & TV Music at the eWorld Music Awards in Hollywood, and the Gold Medal Prize from the Park City Film Music Festival.  In 2007, Thomas was nominated for Best Orchestrator at the Academy of Film & TV Music Awards in Hollywood.  He also orchestrated for the Sundance-winning foreign film, Captain Abu Raed.  It too was short-listed for an Academy Award.  That same year, Thomas was a music editor for Sony Pictures Dragon Wars, which became the highest-grossing film in Korean history.

In television, Thomas briefly orchestrated and conducted (though uncredited) on ABC’s hit show LOST.  He has also composed special features music for CSI:NY.  Recently, Thomas composed music for Samsung, Coca Cola, and the short film Thunder Chance, which won a student Emmy Award.

In the concert world, Thomas has orchestrated and arranged large works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Master Chorale’s Easter Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl.  His own works have been performed and recorded by the Hollywood Studio Orchestra, the Rose City Chamber Orchestra, University of Southern California Symphony, Angeles String Quartet, Fear No Music ensemble, Willamette University Chamber Choir, Oregon East Symphony, A-Sharp Youth Symphony and various American festival ensembles.

He attended the University of Oregon (B. Mus. in Music Composition and B. A. in Political Science) and became involved with the Pacific Rim Balinese Gamelan and Chinese Opera.  Thomas left the Northwest for the prestigious Scoring For Motion Pictures and Television program at University of Southern California’s graduate school.  There he connected with Hollywood’s A-list composers and filmmakers.

Thomas currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two cats.

Moustapha El Halawany

Additional Original Music

Moustapha El Halawany has composed scores for a dozen movies, making him the youngest working composer in Egypt.  His films have ranged from comedy to suspense to action.  He composed for the short film Ticktock, which won the Los Angeles Film Festival Award of Merit in 2010.   He’s also done extensive commercial work for clients including Vodaphone, Samsung, Skoda, and Danon Activia.  Halawany has composed the channel ID music for several satellite channels and all the work for Google in Egypt.   He also composed the only song that was ever performed in the TED event “Tedex” about the revolution in Egypt (http://soundcloud.com/halawany/egypt-a-historical-revolution).

For more info, see his web site http://www.Halawanymusic.com.

Click this link to the full credits list on Imdb.com.