As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with nature.

– John James Audubon

THE FILMMAKERS

  • Al Reinert

    Writer-Director

    An award-winning American film director, screenwriter and producer, Al Reinert co-wrote the screenplay for Apollo 13, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay. He received his second Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, Feature for the film, For All Mankind, which also garnered the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award, Documentary and Grand Jury Prize, Documentary. His most recent documentary, An Unreal Dream — The Michael Morton Story, won the SXSW Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary.

  • John Aldrich

    Producer and Editor

    John has worked as a producer, editor and cameraman for Discovery, TLC, PBS and National Geographic Television, where he was a staff producer/editor from 2003 – 2010. Most recently, Aldrich served as editor on An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2013 and won the Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film debuted on CNN in December 2013.

  • Tim Barksdale

    Cinematographer

    Tim Barksdale is CEO and principal cameraman at Birdman Productions LLC. He has been passionately pursuing birds with a camera for 20 years, building a foundation of 700 analog and digital media tapes of North American birds, as well as South and Central American species. The largest collection of its kind, the tapes make up the core of the Macaulay Library collection at the Laboratory of Ornithology of Cornell University. Barksdale was formerly Principal Wildlife Cameraman for Animal Planet.

  • Caroline (Cina) Alexander Forgason

    Producer

    Cina Alexander is a lifelong conservationist and is the managing partner of Rara Avis Productions LLC, a single-purpose company that oversees production of the Audubon documentary. Cina serves on the boards of The Nature Conservancy of Texas, The Peregrine Fund and the Lewa USA Wildlife Conservancy, which supports a conservancy and community development projects in northern Kenya.

  • Peter Stopschinski

    Composer

    Peter Stopschinski composed and recorded string arrangements and organ on Grupo Fantasma's 2010 Grammy Award winning album La Existential. He also composed the music for Madeleine George's play The Curious Case Of Dr. Watson that was nominated for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Peter's opera, Bum Phillips All-American Opera, with librettist Kirk Lynn about Bum Phillips and the Houston Oilers premiered at the La Mama Experimental Theater Space this year to rave reviews: "Watching a staged depiction of the 'Luv Ya Blue' era is like biting into a deep-fried madeline. " - Texas Monthly. "...even Rigoletto would have to doff his cap." - NY Times.

  • Joshua Riehl

    Producer

    Originally from Detroit, Joshua moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, and he has a strong background in investigative journalism. His most recent short about the struggles for potable water in rural Haiti, Digging for Water was featured in the 2014 PBS Online FilmFest. He was a producer for PBS Frontline’s 2010 season premiere Death by Fire about the questionable execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. He was Associate Producer for the 2013 SXSW Film Festival’s Audience Award-winning documentary An Unreal Dream about the highly publicized case of Michael Morton’s wrongful conviction.

  • Wayne Bell

    Sound Designer

    Wayne Bell is a longtime sound designer, editor and mixer. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, he returned to his native Texas where he was among the core of film professionals whose work led to Austin becoming a filmmaking center. From a lengthy list of movie credits, a few examples: many of Richard Linklater’s films, including Boyhood, Bernie, and the Before Sunrise trilogy, and the seminal independent films The Whole Shootin’ Match, and the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. As a documentary filmmaker, Bell has filmed around the world for PBS, BBC, National Geographic, et al.; credits include the Emmy award winning documentary George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods On Fire, An Unreal Dream: the Michael Morton Story, and many more. Bell also has numerous credits as a narrator, composer, museum exhibit sound designer, game sound designer, sound researcher, sound restorer, and producer/writer of award winning radio documentaries

  • Chuck Pinnell

    Music Supervisor

    Chuck Pinnell is a veteran member of Austin's celebrated film and music community, and has spent many years honing skills in both worlds. His accomplishments include composing the guitar scores for the influential indie classics The Whole Shootin' Match and Last Night at the Alamo, producing the Austin all-star Civil War album Dark River, and collaborating with Rich Brotherton on the evocative folk instrument score for Al Reinert's An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story.