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Breaking the News

Directors

Heather Courtney, Princess Hairston, Chelsea Hernandez

Executive Producers

Keith Maitland, Sarah Wilson, Jacqueline Olive, Nico Opper, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Bill and Ruth Ann Harnisch, Melony and Adam Lewis, Ken Pelletier, and Shizuka Asakawa

Producers

Diane Quon, Heather Courtney, Princess Hairston, Chelsea Hernandez

Editors

Jamie Boyle, Kristina Motwani

Cinematographers

Heather Courtney, Chelsea Hernandez, Princess Hairston

Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora wanted to do something radical about the white men dominating newsrooms. “70% of policy and politics editors are men, almost all of them are white,” says Emily. “These are the people deciding which stories are told, who is telling them, and whether they will be on the front page or the back page, if they get there at all.” So, Emily and Amanda along with Editor-at-Large Errin Haines and a scrappy group of fearless women and non-binary journalists band together to buck the status quo and launch The 19th*, a digital news start-up. Named after the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote, but with an asterisk to acknowledge the Black women and women of color who were omitted, the 19th’s work is guided everyday by the asterisk – asking who is being omitted from the story, and how can they be included. The film documents the honest discussions at The 19th* around race and gender equity and inclusion, revealing that change doesn’t come easy, and showcasing how one newsroom confronts these challenges both as a workplace and in their journalism.

 

Courtesy of The Film Collaborative

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Princess Hairston

Co-Director, Breaking the News

Princess is a director, producer, and Emmy-nominated editor based in NYC. Princess recently wrapped several doc series to be released in 2023. She edited This World is Not My Own, which recently had its World Premiere at SXSW. Her work can be seen on LuLaRich, Pier Kids, Fresh Dressed, and Capture with Mark Seliger. She is a recipient of the Pano x Ablecine 2023 Cinematographer’s Lab, a 2020 nominee for the Lynn Shelton Of A Certain Age grant, a 2018 Winner of the NYTVF + WEtv Producer Pitch, and a 2018 recipient of the Karen Schmeer Editing Fellowship. Princess is on the inclusion and access committee for the Alliance of Documentary Editors; a member of ACROSS THE CUT, BIPOC Doc Editors; and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

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Heather Courtney

Co-Director

Heather Courtney is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, and a Guggenheim, Sundance, and Fulbright fellow. Her film Where Soldiers Come From won an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SXSW Jury Award. Her films have been broadcast nationally on PBS, including POV, Independent Lens, and America ReFramed, and streamed on Netflix and the Washington Post. Her short documentary For the Record recently premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Fest, and her co-directed ITVS, Ford, and IDA-funded feature Breaking the News is premiering at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her 14-year-old rescue dog Meeps.

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Chelsea Hernandez

Co-Director, Breaking the News

Chelsea is an Emmy®-nominated Mexican-American director and producer based in Texas. Named DOC NYC’s 2021 40 Under 40 Class, her feature documentary Building the American Dream, premiered at SXSW 2019 and won a Silver Telly Award for Social Impact. Chelsea’s producing work spans over 10 years in television and film including United Tacos of America (El Rey Network series); and That Animal Rescue Show (CBS All-Access). Breaking the News, a co-production with ITVS is her second feature documentary. She is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.