the team

Nailah Jefferson, Director

Nailah Jefferson is a native New Orleans filmmaker intrigued and inspired by the enduring human spirit, whose films span fiction and nonfiction. Nailah’s recent work includes DONYALE LUNA: SUPERMODEL (HBO 2023), COMMUTED (NOFF 2023, PBS 2024), and DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET (DOC NYC 2021). Her acclaimed work has been distributed domestically and internationally on the film festival circuit, theatrically and televised. Nailah’s debut documentary ‘Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe a la Hache’, told the story of the little known African American oyster fishing community in Louisiana in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Oil Spill. The film was streamed on Netflix and the Urban Movie Channel. In 2017, Nailah’s short documentary for Essence Magazine’s “Black Girl Magic Episode 4,” was nominated for a National Magazine Ellie award. That same year, Nailah’s first narrative film, “Plaquemines,” was chosen as an American Black Film Festival HBO Shorts finalist and is currently available on HBO/ Cinemax platforms. Nailah’s work has been supported by organizations including the Tribeca Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Films, Black Public Media, ITVS and Firelight Media. Visit Nailah’s website.

Darcy McKinnon, Producer

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans, whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Recently released projects include Roleplay (SXSW, 2024), Commuted (PBS, 2024), Algiers, America (Hulu, 2023), Under G-d (Sundance 2023), Look at Me! XXXTENTACION (SXSW, Hulu, 2022) and The Neutral Ground (Tribeca, POV, 2021), recipient of LEH Documentary of the Year 2022. Current projects in production include Katie Mathews’ Roleplay, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’ The First Plantation, Matthew Henderson’s A King Like Me, Abe Felix’s Turnaround, CJ Hunt’s Unlearned and Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez.  Her work has been on POV, Reel South, LPB, Cinemax and Hulu, and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, CPH:DOX and more.  Darcy is an alum of the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship and the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellowship, and a recipient of American Documentary’s Creative Visionary Award in 2023. Visit Darcy’s website.

Danielle Metz, Activist / Co-Producer

Danielle Metz was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is currently a Community Health Worker for the FIT (Formerly Incarcerated Transition) Clinic. She provides community outreach for formerly incarcerated men and women. Services at the FIT Clinic include confidential healthcare, diagnosis and treatment, screening, immunizations, laboratory services, and on-site Medicaid enrollment. In 2016, Danielle Metz was granted clemency by President Obama. Since then, she has received numerous awards, honoring her for her services to the community. Most recently, she received the John Thompson Leadership Award and the Role Model of the Year Award for the City of New Orleans Re-Entry Program. She was also recognized by President Obama for making the Dean’s List at Southern University in 2019. In addition to her work at the FIT Clinic, Danielle also currently serves as a youth mentor at Walter L. Cohen High School. Danielle is dedicated to giving a voice to those in prison, individuals who are rarely ever heard and are often forgotten. She vows to sit on their behalf until they are free. Danielle’s goal is to make sure every returning citizen gets access to adequate healthcare, something they were deprived of while incarcerated.

Yvonne Welbon, Consulting Producer

Yvonne Welbon is an award-winning filmmaker and founder and CEO of the Chicago-based non-profit Sisters in Cinema, inspired by her documentary of the same name, about the history of Black women feature film directors. She is a Senior Creative Consultant at Chicken & Egg Pictures, and has produced and distributed dozens of award-winning films, including Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @100.  Welbon’s work has been broadcast on PBS, Starz/Encore, TV-ONE, IFC, Bravo, the Sundance Channel, BET, HBO, Netflix, iTunes and screened in over one hundred film festivals around the world. Projects in development include The Spies Who Loved Me, a thrilling exposé on surveillance which focuses on the six-years she lived in Taipei, Taiwan and American Pride, a Black lesbian coming-of-age series set on the south-side of Chicago. She has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and chaired the Journalism & Media Studies Department at Bennett College.  Raised in an Afro-Latinx Honduran household on the South Side of Chicago, Welbon holds a B.A from Vassar College, a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and is a graduate of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. In 2020 she became a member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.

Leah Natasha Thomas, Consulting Producer

Leah has produced JEEN-YUHS directed by Coodie and Chike Ozah (Netflix), 25 TO LIFE, winner of the CNN Grand Jury Prize at American Black Film Festival 2014 (Netflix), directed by Mike Brown, 3 1/2 MINUTES winner of the Special Jury Award for Social Impact, Sundance 2015 (Participant Media, HBO) directed by Marc Silver and shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards and AMERICA DIVIDED, a five part documentary series focused on inequality in America, (EPIX) Executive Produced by Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear and Common. She was the executive producer for THE FIRST WAVE, directed by Matthew Heineman. She is a member of BAFTA, the recipient of the NYU – Critical Collaborations Fellowship, a three year honor, the Sundance Creative Producer Fellowship and the winner of the Tribeca CHANEL Through Her Lens, Women’s Filmmakers Fellowship. She holds a BFA in Drama and Politics and an MA in Art and Public Policy from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts, where she leads a lecture series on Art and Activism.

Jake Springfield, Director of Photography

Jake Springfield is an award winning Director of Photography.  His work includes commercials, documentaries, music videos, and narratives.  He has served as director of Photography on many national commercial campaigns including work for AAA, Westinghouse, Louisiana Tourism, and Centurylink just to name a few.  His narrative work includes shooting Jefferson’s Plaquemines as well as  the gritty feature film A Quiet Storm (Winner of Cinematography award 2016 New Orleans Film Festival).  All Over But To Cry, a documentary which he shot and co-produced won an Emmy, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities documentary of the year.  His  work has been broadcast on the Documentary Channel, PBS UK, MTV, HBO, PBS, BBC, NBC, CNN, The Disney Channel, and numerous other networks. 

Rubin Daniels Jr., Editor

Rubin Daniels is a freelance editor based in Chicago, IL. He holds a B.S. in Communications from the University of North Florida, as well as an M.S. in Cinema Production from DePaul University. Most recently, Rubin was an editor on Philly D.A., a PBS eight-part doc series, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2021. He has also worked with Kartemquin Films as an assistant/associate editor on City So Real, a National Geographic series directed by Steve James. Rubin also worked on the Steve James’ series, America to Me, both premiering at Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, he served as assistant editor for Standing on Common Ground: New Orleans Ten Years Later. The short won a 2016 Midwest Emmy.

jane geisler, editor

Jane Geisler is an American film editor and director based in New Orleans. Working across narrative, documentary, and experimental modes, she is most interested in femme-centric stories with connections to history and the natural world, drawing on archival media, folk art, humor, ethnobotany, and the poetry of the everyday. Her process reflects the limitations imposed by chronic illness as well as the resiliency of chronic curiosity Jane co-wrote, edited, and conducted archival research for The Neutral Ground, which was nominated for Outstanding Historical Documentary at the 43rd News and Documentary Emmys, received a Special Jury Mention at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, and named LEH’s Humanities Documentary Film of the Year. She recently edited the Webby Award-winning series “The Trees Remember” directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Angela Tucker and co-edited Commuted, directed by Nailah Jefferson. Her work has been presented at the Tribeca Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, AFI Docs, IFFBoston, the New Orleans Film Festival, the Anthology Film Archives, and on Hulu, TIME, and PBS.

Kelly Mac, Composer

Kelly Mac is an award winning producer and composer who specializes in modern genres as well as scoring to picture. With the passion and drive to blend pop record production and innovative film score, she is constantly working on creating a uniquely fresh and commercially successful sound. She has collaborated on cutting edge campaigns with numerous recognizable brands including Nike, Reebok, ESPN, and CoverGirl and television shows including The George Lopez Show and Disney’s Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything. She has been featured in iStandard’s Producer Showcase and produced singers from MTV’s Making the Band, The Voice, and X Factor. Recently she has been working alongside Grammy-winning producer LuneyTunez (Rihanna, Future) and a vast array of top level writers and producers. She is also highly sought after for motion pictures, and has provided music for feature films including BET’s Block Party, HBO’s Luna, Netflix’s A New York Christmas Wedding, and shorts including Descended From the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Street and The Spring which were highlighted in the American Black Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. Her work is regularly heard in advertisements, film, tv, and interactive media.