Marshall Curry got his start shooting, directing, and editing the documentary, STREET FIGHT, which followed Cory Booker's first run for mayor of Newark, NJ and was nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy.
The critically praised film was called "extraordinary" by David Denby (The New Yorker), "vastly entertaining" by John Anderson (Variety), and "filmmaking of the first order" by Scott Foundas (L.A. Weekly).
After STREET FIGHT, Curry was the Director and Producer, as well as one of the Cinematographers and Editors of the feature documentary, RACING DREAMS. RACING DREAMS follows two boys and a girl who dream of one day racing in NASCAR, and the film won numerous awards including the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best Documentary.
RACING DREAMS was called "The best movie of the year," by Scott Feinberg (The L.A. Times – "The Envelope") and "Absorbing… one of the rare documentaries you leave wishing it was a little longer, " by Stephen Holden (NewYork Times).
Curry's latest film POINT AND SHOOT, tells the story of a young Baltimore native who set off for Libya to join the rebels fighting dictator Muammar Gaddafi. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary and a few days later, it won a Special Jury Prize at the Boston Independent Film Festival.
POINT AND SHOOT was given an "A" grade by John Anderson (Indiewire), who said it was "a virtual swashbuckler". It was called "brilliantly constructed and provocative" by Peter Keough (The Boston Globe), "riveting... an extraordinary and quietly disturbing film" by David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter), and Jay Weissberg (Variety) said the "editing is a standout."
In 2005 Marshall was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of "25 New Faces of Independent Film", and he was awarded the International Documentary Association (IDA) Jacqueline Donnet Filmmaker Award. In 2007 he received the International Trailblazer Award at MIPDOC in Cannes.
He has appeared as a guest on television and radio numerous times, including NPR's Morning Edition, ABC's Nightline, PBS's The Tavis Smiley Show, and others. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Duke, NYU, and other colleges, and he has served on juries for the International Documentary Association, Hot Docs Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
He is a graduate of Swarthmore College where he studied Comparative Religion and was a Eugene Lang Scholar. He was also a Jane Addams Fellow at Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, where he wrote about the history, philosophy, and economics of non-profits.
For more: www.marshallcurry.com
Sam Cullman was a producer and cinematographer of THE HOUSE I LIVE IN, a documentary about the War on
Drugs in America, directed by Eugene Jareck. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2012. Cullman is also starting post-production on BLACK
CHEROKEE, a short he co-directed with Benjamin Rosen about a self-taught New York City street artist.
Cullman's camera credits have included Eugene Jarecki's WHY WE FIGHT (2005),
which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in documentary; director Rob VanAlkemade
and producer Morgan Spurlock's WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? (2007); directors David
Redmon and Ashley Sabin's KAMP KATRINA (2007); Jonathan Stack's LOCKUP:
INSIDE ANGOLA (2008) and THE FARM: 10 DOWN (2009), both follow-ups to Stacks'
THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA (1998).
His cinematography on KING CORN (2006), a Peabody award-winning documentary for
ITVS, was noted for its "handsome lensing" by Dennis Harvey (Variety) and was dubbed
"visually arresting" by Ann Hornaday (The Washington Post). Cullman's camerawork will be featured in the forthcoming 2011 documentary feature releases, REAGAN by Eugene
Jarecki, and WATCHERS OF THE SKY by Edet Belzberg.
Cullman has also produced and directed a number of short films in collaboration with
non-profits and governmental agencies like the New York City Housing Authority and the
Ford Foundation. In 2003, Cullman produced, directed, shot and co-edited three profiles for BEYOND THE SPIN, a series for the Service Employees International Union on Democratic Presidential candidates. In 2004, he directed, produced and shot, SELF SERVICE for the
Alliance for Quality Services, a short documentary about Sodexho USA's policies and practices. His 2008 doc for the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence and the
Yale Child Study Center explored partnerships between police departments and mental health clinicians in cities across the US.
Cullman graduated from Brown University with honors (1999), where he majored in
Urban Studies and the Visual Arts, and founded Yellow Cake Films in 2006. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Matthew Hamachek's work has aired on HBO, IFC, PBS, BBC and the Discovery
Channel. He began his career, working on the Oscar-nominated documentary STREET
FIGHT with Marshall Curry, and went on to collaborate with Curry again on RACING DREAMS which won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival.
He has worked on a number of other projects including the non-fiction series FILM
SCHOOL with Nanette Burstein (AMERICAN TEEN) and THE ONE PERCENT with
Jamie Johnson (BORN RICH).
Hamachek recently traveled to Morocco as part of the State Department's American
Documentary Showcase to screen RACING DREAMS at universities and cinemas around
the country.
He is currently editing Geeta and Ravi Patel's movie, ONE IN A BILLION.
Stephen Bannatyne is an executive producer and founder of Lucky Hat Entertainment,
a production and development company based in Los Angeles, California. Previous productions include EVERYTHING STRANGE AND NEW (2011 Spirit Award nominee for Best First Feature), ENTRE NOS and P STAR RISING (official selections of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival), GOODBYE SOLO (winner of the 2008 Venice Film Festival Critics Award), THE ORDER OF MYTHS (winner of the 2009 Peabody Award), and the short films SINKING STATE, PLASTIC BAG, and UTOPIA PT 3.
Before founding Lucky Hat in 2007 Stephen worked on numerous productions in San Francisco including BICENTENNIAL MAN, MONKEYBONE, THE WEDDING PLANNER, HIGH CRIMES and the animated television series HIGGLYTOWN HEROES.
A native of the Midwest, Steve attended film school in Michigan before moving to California
in 1997. He lives in Eagle Rock with his wife and daughter and their
dog Woody.
Bill Gallagher began his career working as Production Manager on Marshall Curry’s award-winning RACING DREAMS. Prior to that he completed the Graduate Documentary Media Studies program at The New School, in New York City where he directed and produced his first documentary short, SWEET LIBERIA, about conflict survivor and Staten Island community activist Jacob Massaquoi. In addition to working at NBC’s Washington Bureau and at Harvard Business School Publishing, Bill has also lectured on documentary production at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain and has taught editing at Wagner College. He is currently in preproduction on his feature length directorial debut, THE ROAD, a film that is set in Belgium, France and Spain and will follow a transformative experience in the lives of juvenile offenders.
Directed and Produced by
Marshall Curry
Co-Directed and Produced by
Sam Cullman
Written and Edited by
Matthew Hamachek
Marshall Curry
Cinematography by
Sam Cullman
Original Music
James Baxter
Additional Music by
The National
Line Producer
Bill Gallagher
Additional Camera
Marshall Curry
Chris Teague
Tim Lewis
Bill Gallagher
Andy Pratt
Skye Fitzgerald
Jeremy Medhoff
Archival Research
Steven Loring
Production Research
Julia Landau
Assistant Editor
Tina Grapenthin
Transcriptions
Liza Mueller
Post Production Assistant
Katie Earls
Mark Rattelle
Promotion Reel Editor
Eric Daniel Metzgar
Sound Recording
Marshall Curry
Sam Cullman
Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer
Chad Birmingham
Sound Design
Paul Hsu
Post Production Sound Facility
c5, inc.
Additional Original Music
Nick Stumpf
Motion Graphics
Joe Posner
Motion Graphics Assistant
Brittany De Nigris
Colorist
Charlie Rokosny
Video Post Services
Full Frame
Archival Photography
Yun Rhee
Photo Editor
Yun Rhee
Photo Scanning
Photo Den, Grants Pass, OR
Oregon Equipment Rental
Stafford Video Productions
Still Photo
T.J. Watt
Poster Design
Jean Kim
Legal
Iddo Arad
Karen Shatzkin
Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP
Edward M. Zimmerman
Priya Masilamani
Music Clearance
Marshall Curry
Bookkeeping
Kara Suzanne
Interns
Jenile Brooks
Zach Fox
Noah Goldman
Karen Holmes
Rachel Kolb
Mike Ohrenberger
Anne Orrin
Denise Pasquinelli
Ludovic Pronko
Taiki Sugioka
Babette Wielenga
Producers for BBC
Jo Lapping
Business Affairs for BBC
Jason Emerton
Thank you to the following for additional footage and photos
Tim Lewis
Gerald Beranek
Cascadia Media Collective
Earth Films
James Ficklin
Noam Gonick
Chris Hannah
Jeff Hedges
Jordan
Steven "Kooki" Heslin
Nicholas Hoogendoom, Jr.
Kurt Jensen
A. Mark Liiv
Whitey Lueck
Albie Nash
Charles Overbeck
Kevin Peer
Andy Pratt
Psycho Originals Audio and Visual Design
K. Rudin
Randy Shadowalker
Carmen Sundin
Jan Volz
T.J. Watt
City Of Eugene, City Council
Clatskanie Police Department
City of Eugene, Facility Management Division
Eugene Police Department
Eureka Police Department
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Forest County Sheriff’s Department
Glendale Rural Fire District
Global Action Network
Humboldt County Police Department
Jones & Jones Architecture
Lane County Sheriff's Department
Rainforest Action Network
Redmond Police Department
U.S. Forest Service
Music
"Ada"
Written by Matthew Berninger and Aaron Dessner
Performed by The National
"Afraid of Everyone"
Written by Matthew Berninger and Aaron Dessner
Performed by The National
"Runaway"
Written by Matthew Berninger and Aaron Dessner
Performed by The National
"Cherry Tree"
Written by Matthew Berninger and Aaron Dessner
Performed by The National
"Sleep Now In The Fire"
Written by Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford and Zach De La Rocha
Performed by Rage Against The Machine
"Finale"
From the Motion Picture "The Kingdom"
Written by Danny Elfman
Performed by Danny Elfman
"Hello Hammerheads"
Written by Daniel Snaith
Performed by Caribou
"Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes"
Written, Performed and Published by Propagandhi
"I Got Mine"
Written by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney
Performed by The Black Keys
Special Thanks
Elizabeth Martin, Jane and Rivers
Purva Panday Cullman
Tina Grapenthin
Ledia Hernandez
Friends and Family of Daniel McGowan
Tim Lewis
Kirk Engdall
Greg Harvey
And everyone else who allowed us into their lives and shared their stories.
Thank You
Karim Ahmad
Penelope Andrews
Nicholas and Katie Ashby
Paul and Holly Ashby
Mark Bailey
Emily Barton
Bristol Baughan
Tom Bisaki
Brad Black
Larry Bloch
Ross Bondurant
Aaron Brocken
Chris Calef
Daniel Carter
Paul Carter
Shelley Cater
Ian Cheney
David Cieri
Dan Cogan
Michael Collins
Edgar and Ellie Cullman
Trip Cullman
Georgina Cullman
Claire Cummings
Beth and Ravenel Curry
Boykin Curry
Caroline Curry
Lauren Cynamon
Allison Davis
Rob Davis
Ouve de Laage
Danielle DiGiacomo
Tami Drake
Francis Eatherington
Curt Ellis
Cecil Esquivel-Obregón
Anna Fiolek
Peter Fitzpatrick
Heather Flores
Yance Ford
Mac and David Funk
Liz Garbus
Cindy Glasgow
Emily Goldberg
Drew Griffin
Vanessa Grigoriadis
Ross and Lucy Hamachek
Don Hardwick
Ryan Harrington
Debbie Hazen
Tim Hermach
Robin Hessman
Tim Hitchins
Katie Holderness
Marvin Hoover
Tom Hopkins
John Hoskyns-Abrahall
Jason Hutt
Alan Jacobsen
Eugene Jarecki
Celerie Kemble
Josh Laughlin
Trinity Laurino
Amanda Lee
Duy Linh Tu
Sheila Lorance
Micah Louis Griffin
Mary Manhardt
Darius Marder
Charlie Marquardt
Tim McConville
Keith McCulloch
Andrew Meier
Vicki Menard
Cara Mertes
Roy Milburn
Chris Moran
Kristin Moran
Keefe Murren
Autumn Nakamura
Joe Neal
Dave Negation
Nettle
Dana Okeefe
Michael Omogrosso
Xan Parker
Alexandra Paul
Mike Penwell
Trish Pinkerton
Laura Poitras
Mary Price
Rainforest Foundation US
Sid Ramirez
Asher Raphael
Gabe Rhodes
Robbie Rhodes
Dave Robertino Jr. and Sr.
Jeffery Robinson
Ben Rosenfeld
Ted Schenck
Corey Schiller
Ted Schillinger
Richard Shuren
Brian Stanton
Rick Stonex
Kenny Storch
Shadd Sutton
Marty Syjuco
Eyob Tadele-Manhardt
Milton Tabbot and IFP
Noel Tendick
Lynn True
Carol and Angi Tubbs
Matt Valladao
Tamara Vidos
Jan Volz
Lorin Wertheimer
Diane Weyerman
Chris White
Aaron Woolf
Chris Zahn
John Zerzan
Production Funding Provided by
Creative Capital
Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program
Cinereach
Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front is a co-production of Marshall Curry
Productions, LLC and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
In association with Lucky Hat Entertainment, American Documentary | POV, and the BBC.
