MEET OUR TEAM
At Splicer Films, we believe in harnessing the power of cross-cultural perspectives and creative minds to build our team of talent. Our mission is to tell stories of purpose and impact that are the catalyst for social change.
Our team’s unique mosaic of talent hails from the Malawi, Kenya, Burundi and the USA: L.A., San Francisco, Miami, New York, Syracuse, Boston and the great state of Texas. We are passionate about spotlighting change-makers addressing global issues and timely subject matter representing a range of voices, cultures, and viewpoints.
PRODUCTION TEAM AND CREW
Annette King, Executive Producer / Co-Director
Annette is CEO, Founder and Executive Producer at Splicer Films. She founded the production company to tell impactful stories that inspire audiences to create a better world. King has built a diverse team of talent collaborating on stories with purpose that evoke empathy, shift narratives and spotlight underrepresented cultures and subjects. She produced and co-directed Finding Ubuntu. She is developing the docuseries, Unmasked, Real Heroes, Untold Stories.
King holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Master of Business Administration. She has over 25 years of experience in business development, social entrepreneurship and startups. She is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance, Women in Film and Video, the National Association of Latino Producers, and Sundance Collab. Her production company focuses on purpose-driven films that employ journalistic principles to objectively document character-driven stories to inform and open hearts and minds.
Ishmael Azeli, Director of Photography / Co-Director
Ishmael Azeli is a cinematographer and an International 1st Ac/Focus Puller based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has worked on television commercials, brand films, feature films, short films, and documentaries that have been screened theatrically, on TV networks, and streaming such as Netflix, Discovery, NTV, CGTN, CNN, and France24.
Ishmael has also been privileged to work with renowned and Award-winning filmmakers and directors across the globe, such as the legendary Thierry Arbogast (AFC), Denson Baker (ACS), Atiq Rahim-French, Jim Loach, Carl Rinsch, Rowry O’Grady, Dan Prior-Kenya, Juan Reina-Finland among so many more.
Ivanovitch Ingabire, Field Producer and Photographer
Ivanovitch Ingabire is a Burundian photographer and videographer. He is the founder of Funza Picha, an educational program based in Malawi to help refugee youth learn visual storytelling and photography skills to share their stories with the world. He is self-taught in photography and videography and has worked for over 10 years in multiple countries filming documentaries and other projects.
He is Field Producer at Splicer Films and a volunteer with Fraternity Without Borders, an NGO helping refugees work with the Ubuntu Nation Project. He began his career in 2010, receiving training in film and documentary production.
Shofela Coker, Consulting Producer
Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Shof has worked in animation as a character designer and art director for over a decade. He worked on the 2017 animated documentary LIYANA, which has won several awards including Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival and Grand Prize at the New York Children’s Film Festival.
He successfully kickstarted and self published the graphic novel Outcasts of Jupiter in 2014 and followed it up with the ongoing series New Masters published by Image Comics in 2022. He is currently directing an African sci-fi animated short with Triggerfish and Disney titled Moremi.
Alan Feinberg, Consulting Producer
Alan Feinberg has experience in broadcast news and is a documentary film Director and Producer. His recent documentary, Bagels over Berlin, generated the highest viewership for PBS Buffalo, NY and Canada during its television premiere. The documentary received national acclaim at film festivals around the world.
He is a graduate of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He continues his studies at Rochester Institute of Technology where he pursues color theory and processing, as well as fine art photography. He recently concluded the production and distribution of a 20 film series of education training films for the fashion design industry.
Mark Maxey, Consulting Producer
Mark Maxey is an Emmy award-winning producer based in Washington, DC. Maxey wrote, directed, and produced the documentary feature Up to Snuff about musician/composer W.G. Snuffy Walden, featuring Aaron Sorkin, Martin Sheen, Tom Arnold, Ed Asner, and Lawrence O’Donnell. Other film credits include Space Oddity, As Sick As They Made Us, Soul Prison, and Beyond Sixty. Maxey’s work in television includes critically acclaimed programs such as American Valor, The Honors: A Salute to American Heroes, National Memorial Day Parade, and On Stage at the Kennedy Center with Marvin Hamlisch. Maxey is a member of the Producers Guild, Television Academy, and Documentary Producers Alliance.
Maxey is co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Washington West Film Festival, the only film festival to donate 100% of box office proceeds to help at-risk youth and communities in need. Maxey also serves on the boards of the Rock & Roll for Children Foundation, benefiting families fighting pediatric cancer at the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health, and Women in Film & Video.
Jeremy Seifert, Consulting Producer
Jeremy Seifert is an award-winning film director, cinematographer, and editor whose documentaries have premiered at Sundance, Berlinale, Hot Docs, Tribeca, and AFI DOCS. He co-directed The Devil We Know, a 2018 Sundance documentary in competition and Netflix premiere. His short documentaries The Church Forests of Ethiopia and Ark of the Apocalypse premiered with New York Times Op-Docs. His films GMO OMG and DIVE! Living Off America’s Waste won over 30 awards at festivals around the world and both had online premiers on Netflix.
Jeremy has directed and DP’d over 20 films for nonprofits around the world, and his commercial clients include Gaia Herbs, Charlotte’s Web CBD, and Blizzard Entertainment, and he is a frequent contributor to Emergence Magazine. Jeremy has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, NPR’s The Story, The Dr. Oz Show, and speaks at universities and conferences across the country.
Karanja Ng’endo, Consulting Producer
Karanja Ng’endo is a modern day storyteller with an aim to evoke strong emotions from his audience. His debut short film ‘Misfit’ has been selected for over a dozen festivals worldwide, and has won numerous accolades, the most notable being ‘The Silver Dhow Award’ at the Zanzibar International Film Festival and the Carthage Ciné-Promesse at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia. He is a finalist in the Focus on Ability Film Festival in Australia, and for the Silver Award in Belgium at the Africa Film Festival Leuven and his other work has been selected and won at AMVCA, Carthage Film Festival, Kalasha International and Kisima Film Awards.
He has also been part of Local and international productions such as Coke Studio Africa and has created content for Facebook, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, and The Flip Flopi Project (UN Environmental Department). His dream is to inspire change through storytelling, and to move the masses.
Trevor DeLello, Associate Producer / Post Production Supervisor
Trevor DeLello is a graduate of Syracuse University with a B.S. in Television, Radio, and Film and Minor in Theatre. He is an aspiring writer, producer, and director from New Jersey and a former Video Editor Intern for Splicer Films. He continues his work for the team as the Content and Operations Manager furthering the mission and goal of our Splicer Films.
With current focuses in production coordination, content creation, and management, Trevor works closely with video content, production planning, and other projects including work sample reels, trailers, web designs, and leading social cause projects. Trevor also handles team recruiting, onboarding and operations along with production supervising for the docuseries in development: Unmasked, and Documentary Short in Distribution: Finding Ubuntu.
Emily Park, Production Coordinator and Distribution Manager
Emily Park serves as the Development and Distribution Manager at Splicer Films, researching and strategizing on film distribution. She aims to inspire others by bringing socially impactful content to communities that are moved to local and international action. She graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelors in International Relations. She is a Reagan Student Leadership Program Alumna.
Stephan Manning, Contributing Producer
Stephan Manning is a social scientist and documentary filmmaker living in Brighton, UK. He is a Professor of Strategy and Innovation at the University of Sussex. His academic research focuses on the role of business in economic development and social change.
He has published numerous academic articles on related issues. The film projects he supports tackle important societal issues with emotional gravity.
Tom King, Executive Producer
Tom King is a technical consultant with Splicer Films. His specialities include cloud computing, data center transformation, mobile workforce enablement and disaster recovery. He is passionate about technology innovation and the possibilities we can achieve for greater good.
Andres Elizondo II, Executive Producer
Andres Elizondo, II is an actor in Corpus Christi, Texas and an avid supporter of film and theatrical arts. He has owned and operated a healthcare business for over 25 years. He aims to build awareness about COVID and how we can work together to defeat it.
Pam Kudiwa, Camera Assistant
Pam Kudiwa is a storyteller, videographer, and copywriter. She believes in telling creative stories that challenge, inspire, and bring hope to all.
Since 2014, she has volunteered and partnered with schools and colleges in training upcoming media personnel in South Africa and Malawi, Africa.
Haggai Mbewe, Sound Engineer
Haggai Mbewe is a multi-talented person and has worked with a number of media houses in Malawi. He has certificates in radio, television, and film broadcasting. He has experience over 15 years in sound and technical work. He is currently working with Kasungu Community Radio as a sound specialist and technical supervisor.
He attended college in Pretoria at Christian Faith International School under the leadership of Dr. Symon Musepa.
Hansjeet Duggal, Animation Director
Hansjeet Duggal is a virtual/augmented reality and animation evangelist and editor. His VR animated film Freiheit was selected for recognition in Annecy (the oldest and most competitive animation festival) in France. He recently got selected for American Cinema Editor’s Diversity Program and is being mentored by Oscar-winning and nominated filmmakers. His movies have aired on PBS and many other major streaming services. He also teaches film-making at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
Kelli Bertolina,
Digital Marketing Lead
Kelli Bertolina is Senior a Junior at New York University. There she is working to complete two degrees: A B.S. in Business with a concentration in Marketing and a B.F.A. in Film/TV. She hopes to work in film production or movie marketing after graduation to continue working in both the business and creative side of film and TV. Kelli is passionate about storytelling and getting unheard voices and stories out into the world through various platforms and social media. Kelli is excited to join the Splicer Team as a Digital Marketing Intern.
John A. Stapp, Impact Producer and Development Lead
John August Stapp is an award-winning filmmaker currently attending Emerson College for a BFA in Media Arts Production. John’s films have garnered over twenty official selections in film festivals and he has won numerous awards for Directing, Writing, Producing, Cinematography, and Editing. John is also an award-winning Theatre Artist, working on over 15 productions and earning awards for Stage Management and Design along the way. At Splicer Films, John serves as the Development and Social Impact Production Lead, where he works to bring unique and meaningful stories to the silver screen alongside crafting their release to ensure the powerful stories of our documentaries go beyond the applause and catalyze real-world change.
ADVISORS AND CONSULTANTS
Jack Schoenthaler, Writing Consultant
Jack Schoenthaler is an aspiring screenwriter in the process of developing several projects. His current project includes storyboarding and serving as a writing consultant for the docuseries in development, Unmasked.
His recent project includes a lead actor role and collaborator in a short student film, The Wrong Pipe, as well as lead roles in student productions of The Shining and other originals. He feels fortunate to have met his colleagues on the Unmasked project at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he is pursuing a B.A. in English.
Jack expands his creative pursuits by making music in between his collaborative film projects.
Taylor Martin, Writing Consultant
Taylor Martin is a student at Syracuse University studying Television, Radio, and Film. Taylor is focused on writing for television but has a passion for telling stories, whether fiction or documentary. While at Syracuse, Taylor has written and produced seven short films and TV pilots. Taylor draws inspiration from everyone around her and the many different ways that people communicate, think, and act in their own lives. She believes that telling stories through film and television has the power to educate people and change viewpoints for the better. Taylor hopes to write and create drama stories for TV.
Dylan Price, Music Composition Consultant
Dylan Price is a composer and pianist from Syracuse, NY. He is currently based in Los Angeles where he works as a freelance composer for Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music. His latest work with them has been writing for the shows Master Chef on Fox, Foodtastic on Disney+, and Cities of the Underworld on History, for which he wrote the main theme. In addition, he regularly contributes music to Sony Music Publishing’s Extreme Music library from which his tracks have been licensed for over 600 television shows worldwide. Further samples of his work can be found at extrememusic.com. Additionally, he serves as Piano Accompanist and instructor at the performing arts college American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) and as pianist at the Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a BM in Music Theory.
Sam Azghandi, Consultant
Sam Azghandi is an Iranian independent filmmaker, actor, and sound designer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical lab from Tehran University, Branch of Medicine. After several years of working in the medical field in Tehran, he started a new adventure in the United. States. attending the school of Visual Performing Art’s M.F.A. program in film in 2019. Most of his work explores themes of gender, race, and class in queer and immigrant lives. His films defy the boundaries of storytelling, exploring complex characters to comment upon the uneasy intersections between feminist perspectives and dominant cultural expectations and institutions. His meticulously designed images, redolent of an allegorical atmosphere, create a visual experience capable of subsuming other senses. His projects have thus far been screened in Indianapolis, Palm Spring CA, Australia, Los Angeles, New York State, and Texas.
Jessica Hinojosa, Digital Marketing Consultant
Jessica Hinojosa serves as Digital Marketing Strategist for Splicer Films. She was moved by the impactful stories Splicer Films produces and joined the team as Digital Marketing Strategist to expand the company’s reach and engagement.
She founded Jae Brand and Social Media Marketing Strategy to focus on marketing and business strategy for her initial start-up, an e-commerce jewelry store, Jaeco Jewelers. Through her experience and mentorship of other entrepreneurs, she expanded her marketing services for startup businesses to grow their audience and brand reach.
Suzanne Khalil, PhD, Advisor
INTERNS
Hugo Mpenzi,
Production Assistant Intern
Hugo Mpenzi is professionally trained in photography and videography. Hugo has experience in Music Recording and production, DJing, content creation, and photojournalism. Hugo is a current Community Journalist Volunteer at JRS and has communication, interview, photoshop, video editing, and graphic design skills.
Seth Karall,
Video Editor Intern
Seth Karall is studying Broadcast Journalism and Documentary at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. Coming from Chicago, he is constantly inspired to tell stories in a personal and meaningful way. At Chapman, Seth creates short documentaries that detail inspiring lives of his peers and important events in his community. As a Video Editor Intern at Splicer Films, he will continue to engage with powerful stories through editing and work towards his goals as a documentary filmmaker for the future.
Matthew Nardone,
Sound Design Intern
Matthew Nardone is a recent graduate from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a double major in Biochemistry and Music. Currently, he is a Master’s student in Audio Arts at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, which is his hometown area. At Splicer Films, Matthew mainly edits and consults on the dialogue, sound effects, and music that accompany the visuals. His plans are to pursue a career in the music industry, particularly around artist services and sync licensing.
Huguette Caldera,
Digital Marketing Intern
Huguette Caldera is a current Junior at New York University. She is pursuing a B.S. in Media, Culture, and Communications. In addition, she is double-minoring in Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology and Child and Adolescent Mental Health studies. She is passionate about all things entertainment and media technology. Her interests stem across multiple fields: music, TV, and film. After graduation she hopes to work on creative projects on the marketing or production side. Huguette is excited to join the collaborative and creative atmosphere that Splicer Films has to offer.
David Dzoole,
Production Assistant Intern
David Dzoole is a passionate Malawian videographer, photographer, and video editor based in Lilongwe, Malawi. He has worked on different projects including documentaries (both local and international), producing local TV content, music videos, feature films, and advertising. He has over 6 years in the Communication field. David holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from African Bible College and is currently working with ABC TV as a Camera Operator and Editor.
Luke Eckel,
Business Finance Intern
Luke Eckel is a junior at Syracuse University, where he is a dual-major studying Finance at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and Television, Radio, and Film at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication. With a passion for storytelling, Luke has spent years working as a videographer and editor for many clients, including startups, professional real estate agents, and most recently, Syracuse University Athletics. Luke is excited to be a part of the Splicer Films family. He will be using his interest in finance to explore another part of the storytelling process and help Splicer Films continue their mission of telling meaningful and impactful stories.
Daniel Serville,
Music Supervisor / Composer Intern
Daniel is a pianist, keyboardist, percussionist, and producer based in Southern California. He grew up on the Big Island of Hawai’i where he started piano lessons at the age of 3. His classical training allowed him to branch out to other genres such as classic rock, jazz, film, pop, and more. He currently studies piano at Chapman University, where he is also active in the symphony and orchestra as a percussionist. Daniel’s dream in moving from the islands is to embark on a journey of self-discovery and inspire, evoke, and impact people through his music. His expansive background in all things music has led to his new aspirations of taking on critical roles in the music business industry.
Melanie Menkiti,
Video Editor Intern
Melanie Menkiti is currently a second-year Film & Television Major at the College of Communications at Boston University. Coming from Houston, Texas, she has always had a strong interest in filmmaking, and from a young age became passionate about cinematography and editing. While at Boston University, Melanie has been a member of the editing and cinematography teams for the student-run TV show, “The Shadows”, has acted as videographer for the Boston-based magazine, “Charcoal”, and has worked on many films – both shorts and features – in the past two years. Melanie is excited to join the Splicer Films family, where she plans on finding new and creative ways to make meaningful content.
Cassidy Thompson,
Development Intern
As a junior Policy Studies major at Syracuse University, Cassidy Thompson has demonstrated proficiency in grant writing, policy implementation, and statistical analysis in her coursework. Cassidy’s true passions, however, lie in storytelling and the power film holds in sparking initiative and inspiring change-makers of all different backgrounds, from all different places, to make a difference in their worlds. She hopes to continue her journey in film and learn more about the documentary process. Cassidy is honored to join the Splicer Films family as a development intern and will be focusing on research, funding, and grant opportunities for the Unmasked project in development.
Rani Raj Laxmi Soni,
Animation Production Intern
Rani Raj Laxmi Soni (Raj) is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Animation, with a 3D Animation concentration from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Born and brought up in India, she was always mesmerized by the world of cartoons and animation since childhood. She is always excited about learning and working on the animation production pipelines, 3D modeling, sculpting, texturing, and animation techniques. She has worked as a Sculpting/Modeling Artist on a VR short movie "MaxQ" (in production) project. She has lead small teams of modelers and was responsible for creating several high poly resolution creatures and set props. Her responsibilities at Splicer Films include planning and execution of all phases of the animation production pipeline for the docuseries in development - Unmasked.
Interested in joining our team?
Feel free to send us an email with your resume and your interests and we will reach out to you. We are always looking for top talent and interns. Stay up to date on our LinkedIn.