FILMMAKERS

Agora Productions (www.thepowerofthepowerless.org or www.agoraproductions.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote humane values, enhance critical thinking skills and expose people, particularly young adults, to positive role models through film, art and educational materials.

Cory Taylor
Director/Executive Producer

Primetime Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker who began his career working as a photographer and editor for National Geographic. In 2002, his award-winning film, A Quiet Revolution, narrated by Meryl Streep and featuring Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, brought attention to human and ecological security issues and was screened in over fifty countries at UN-sponsored events, film festivals, on television, and integrated into university and high school curriculums in North America and Asia. In 2004, Taylor's second directorial effort, Another Way of Seeing Things, narrated by F. Murray Abraham, which dealt with the issue of tolerance in the media, won multiple awards at the Columbus and Tiburon International Film Festivals. Taylor has traveled to India to film segments with the International Centre for Gandhian Studies and has collaborated closely with the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College. He is also a primetime Emmy Award-winning filmmaker with fifteen years of experience writing, producing and editing over 40 documentaries for PBS, Nat Geo, NBC, Discovery Channel and various NGOs. Taylor received his BA from UCLA in Theater, Film and Television.

Darin Nellis
Producer/Executive Producer

Twenty years of experience working in business management and community relations for private, public and non-profit entities in the U.S. and Africa. Positions in the private sector include Managing Director for the Eurasian distribution company, Power Quality Holdings, and Director of Corporate Planning for the nanotech company, NanoTech Industries. Non-profit and public positions included Community Development Officer at The United Way of Greater LA, Loyola Marymount Peace Corps Fellow, Community Development Agent for the U.S. Peace Corps and Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator for the American Oceans Campaign. Darin received his BA from UCLA in International Relations and his MBA from Loyola Marymount.

Jonathan Terra
Producer/Researcher

Over 20 years of experience as a scholar and educator focusing on democratization and political change; Senior Lecturer at the Anglo-American College in Prague, advisor to the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights in Brussels; former Adjunct Professor at the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education-Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) in Prague. Terra holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University.

James T. Sale
Composer

James T. Sale is an accomplished composer and orchestrator for Film and TV with 15 years of experience including scores for "The Haunting of Molly Hartley" and "Music Within." He also orchestrates and conducts music for Mark Mothersbaugh (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Fanboys, Herbie: Fully Loaded), Bill Brown (CSI: NY), Lee Holdrige (Kindertransport) and for numerous award-winning video games.

Lionel Friedberg
Production Consultant

Recipient of a Primetime Emmy, a National Emmy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science ‘Westinghouse’ Award for Science Programming, three Columbus and three Golden Eagles for Best Documentaries. He has worked for over 30 years supervising, producing, writing and directing documentaries, reality, investigative and educational programs and has 18 feature film credits as Director of Photography.

Alex Ryan
Production Consultant

Nominated for an Emmy for HBO's "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq," Alexandra Ryan continues to produce films for HBO through her partnership with Sopranos actor James Gandolfini as well as a newly signed development deal with HBO. Ryan, a former Paramount creative executive, currently has in development "Hemingway and Gellhorn," directed by Philip Kaufman ("The Right Stuff," "Quills"), which chronicles Hemingway's life; "Sacco and Vanzetti" – a film about the unjust execution of Italian immigrants in 1920's Boston directed by Rod Lurie ("The Contender," "Commander in Chief") and "Sonny" - the story of the notorious Nike shoe executive and basketball scout Sonny Vacarro.