Meet the Team

Jay Craven, Director
Jay Craven has worked since 1975 as a Vermont arts activist specializing in film production, performing arts presentation, and arts education.  He founded Catamount Arts (1975-91) and Kingdom County Productions (1991-present), and co-founded Circus Smirkus.  Craven has made five feature films (including Disappearances, A Stranger in the Kingdom, Where the Rivers Flow North, The Year That Trembled), six documentaries, an Emmy-winning regional TV comedy series (Windy Acres), and a radio comedy program for public radio (Queen City Radio Hour).  Craven’s awards include The 1998 Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the 1995 Producers’ Guild of America’s NOVA award for Most Promising New Motion Picture Producer of the Year, two New England Emmy Awards, two National Endowment for the Arts production grants, and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. The production of Northern Borders will mark his fifth collaboration with Howard Frank Mosher.

Chip Hourihan, Producer
Chip Hourihan has produced fourteen independent features during the past twelve years. His film FROZEN RIVER received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for two 2009 Academy Awards.  FROZEN RIVER received more than twenty Best Feature and Best Actor awards, including two Gotham Independent Film Awards (including a Best Feature award for Hourihan), and was nominated for seven Independent Spirit Awards (including a Best Feature Film nomination for Hourihan), taking home two.  Among his other films, Hourihan was the producer and 2nd unit director for MIND THE GAP, winner of the Special Jury Award for Narrative Feature at South by Southwest. MIND THE GAP was released theatrically, broadcast, and distributed by Showtime in 2004. He wrote, produced, and directed the multiple award-winning dramatic feature GLISSANDO, which Variety called "a small gem deserving wider exposure... a striking debut for talented helmer-scripter Chip Hourihan."  Hourihan's films yet to be released include the dramatic features ANY DAY NOW, starring Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt, and DESERT CATHEDRAL, starring Lee Tergesen and Chaske Spencer. Hourihan's documentary work includes the features THE RED BOOK FILM (currently in post-production), ROCKS WITH WINGS, the documentary TV series APERTURE and MADE IN THE USA, and short-form work for Maysles Films.  He is a graduate of Yale University with degrees in English and Architecture.


Katherine Partington, Producer 
Katherine is a performer, choreographer and producer based in New York City. As an actress, she has performed Off-Broadway with the Ma-Yi Theater Company and in 2010 she won the L.A. Movie Award for Best Actress in the made for T.V. movie "Overload." As a dancer, she has performed with Shen Wei Dance Arts, Philippa Kaye, Kirstin Kapustik and Esmé Boyce Dance. Her choreography has been presented at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, the DUMBO Dance Festival and Center for Performance Research. She has produced a handful of short dance films as well as assisted dance curator Sara Coffey of Vermont Performance Lab since 2007. Ms. Partington graduated magna cum laude from Marlboro College in 2009 with a B.A. in Political Theory & Choreography and she received a Post-Graduate Diploma in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art.

Brad Heck, Director of Photography
Brad Heck is a cinematographer working out of Chicago, Illinois.  He studied cinematography at Marlboro College, where he earned a BA with honors in Film and Video Studies.  Throughout his career Brad has worked on commercial and independent projects that have been shown on television and in theaters and festivals nationally and internationally.  Some of his feature film experiences include serving as 2nd Unit Director of Photography on Disappearances, a film which was selected to be a part of AFI’s 20/20 Project global film exchange for 2007, and Director of Photography on The Voices Project, a musical that was chosen by the National Education Association to receive the 2010 SuAnne Big Crow Memorial Award.  Brad has worked on documentaries spanning in subject matter from PTSD to capitalism and has been honored by the opportunity to work on projects featuring a diverse selection of visionaries including Barack Obama, Howard Zinn, Tony Blair and Guy Maddin.

Michael Harrington, 1st Assistant Director
Michael attended Marlboro College from 1999 to 2003 where he received a BA in Film and American studies.  He has worked as a freelance film professional ever since working in various capacities as a screenwriter, producer, assistant director and production assistant on everything from no budget, gorilla indie films to multi million dollar Hollywood productions.  He has worked on several of Jay Craven’s previous productions including The Year That Trembled and Disappearances.  He was a film mentor at The Vermont Arts Institute, Kingdom County Productions’ Fledgling Films summer film intensive for aspiring teenage filmmakers, for five summers. Michael currently resides in Big Sur, California where he searches for peace riding the great walled waves of the Pacific ocean blue, writing and planning two of his own, original film productions in the coming year.  He is also the technical director and member of the screening committee for the Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series.

Veronica Nickel, Unit Production Manager
Veronica Nickel is an independent producer based in New York.  Nickel recently completed principal photography on her second feature film, a period western entitled DEAD MAN’S BURDEN.  In early 2011, she wrapped production on her first feature, NOR'EASTER, staring David Call and Liam Aiken.  In 2010, Nickel was chosen to take part in the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Summit. In 2009, she was awarded the Arthur Krim Endowment Award for excellence in producing at Columbia University. She continues her relationship with Columbia University as a staff advisor for the Columbia University Sloan Foundation grant.  Nickel completed her MFA in film production at Columbia where she produced numerous award-winning short films. Currently, Nickel runs her own production company, llluminaria Productions. Prior to embarking on a career in production, Nickel was an HR consultant, based in the U.S. and Australia.

Dara Wishingrad, Production Designer
Dara began her career designing massive 360º sets for private and corporate event clients such as the “Superbowl”, “The Ryder Cup”, “The US Open” and “PGA Golf Tournaments”, Donna Karan and Laurence Fishburne. She was the designer for the “Directors Guild of America Honors” and the “Tribeca Film Festival” designing the public and private events and screening venues including the General Motors "Tribeca Drive-In."
Film design includes John Leguizamo’s upcoming original “Fugly!” based on his Broadway show “Ghetto Klown” directed by Alfredo De Villa; Michael Urie’s meta comedy “He’s Way More Famous Than You”; Boaz Yakin’s (Remember The Titans) Sundance Film Festival featured “Death In Love” starring Jacqueline Bisset, Josh Lucas, Lukas Haas and Adam Brody; “Certainty” directed by Peter Askin (Trumbo) written by Mike O’Malley; Franc. Reyes' "The Ministers" with John Leguizamo and Harvey Keitel; Nia Vardalos’ romantic comedy “I Hate Valentine’s Day” and other films with notable directors and producers. Television credits include “Premio Lo Nuestro 2001: The Latin Music International Awards” and other commercial programming for Rainbow Media, Compulsive Pictures and Univision.
Dara trained in fine art at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Art Students League in New York. She began as a performance artist and dancer with her mentor Dianne McIntyre, performed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance, David Esbjornson and others. She was a founding member of Richard Gonzalez's AfroCuban Dance Ensemble and as a recipient of multiple grants, her original performance dance/art work toured the U.S. and Canada and was reviewed in local and national publications. Website: http://vimeo.com/darawishingrad/videos

Jessica Shull, Costume Designer
Jessie's background is in Art History and historic dress rather than film or theater. In 2006 she earned her undergraduate degree in Art History Smith College and then continued on the Courtauld Institute of Art, London to study History of Dress. After graduating form the Courtauld in 2008, she worked in a number museums and historical societies doing collections management and exhibition preparation. She is very excited to join the Northern Borders team to design costumes for her first feature film.

Willow O'Feral, Still Photographer/Props Assistant
Willow graduated '07 from Marlboro College in French/Film.  She has previously worked as Still Photographer on Bess O'Brien's feature film Shout It Out. Her photography can be viewed at www.snippetproductions.com 

Erin Beaupre, Graphic Designer
Erin graduated from NYU, Class of 2005 with a B.A., and from Columbia in 2008 with a Masters of Architecture. Erin's previous film credits include "Bert and Arnie's Guide to Friendship," "I Killed Zoe Day" and Maybelline commercials. She has freelanced graphics for WashingtonPost.com, Slate.com and Tempesta Productions.

Dede Cummings, Outreach and Sponsorship Coordinator
Dede Cummings is a Brattleboro native who is working with the production management office to foster relationships between the production and the local area. Dede is a writer who attended Middlebury College, she makes books and represents other authors, and is also an event producer for regional grassroots and non-profit organizations.

Cara Cattoggio, Art Department––Props
Champlain College, Class of 2013. Cara worked as a Production Manager on "The Worst Thing About Coming Out" project at http://worstthingaboutcomingout.blogspot.com/.

Samantha Cheirif, Production Management––A.D. Department 
Fundraising and Publicity. Cornell University, Class of 2012, B.S. in Communication with concentrations in Film and Theater Studies and English. 

Jeremiah Davis, Cinematography Unit
Newton South High School, Class of 2011. Jeremiah worked on a couple student films while in High School, and loved it.

Jonathan Donnell, Art Department––Construction Coordinator
Marlboro College, Class of 2011, B.A. in Film Studies and Creative Writing.

David Matthew Friedman, Production Management
University of Connecticut, Class of 2014. 

Saskia Giramma, Cinematography Department
Marlboro College class of 2015. 

Jake Haehnel, Cinematography Department
Hartford High School, Class of 2010. Jake premiered his short film “Apple Simple” at Ferndale Film Festival, won Best Editing at the 2009 Bradford 48 Hour Film Slame for “I Loved What We Were,” won Best Film at the 2010 Montpelier 48 Hour Film Slam for “An Occurrence On The Pier,” and won 2nd place at the 2011 Bradford 48 Hour Film Slam for “Shadow Waltz.” 

Katherine Harrison: Production Management––A.D. Department
Sarah Lawrence College, Class of 2014. Katherine’s first short film, Tie Man, screened at the Silent River Film Festival 2011 in Irvine CA, where it was nominated for best film, best actor, and best director.

Jean M. Kim, Assistant to the Director
Wellesley College, Class of 2012, B.A. in English and History. Jean comes from a primarily editorial and production background, having held internships at Universal Pictures and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 

Ashley Lin, Production Management––Production Office Coordinator
Wellesley College, Class of 2013.

Reily Mumpton, Cinematography Department
Marlboro College, Class of 2015. Film work: In 2008, Reily entered a NY Tourism Competition, and his film was selected as 1 of 6 finalists (out of several thousand submissions) for the Young Filmmaker Of Distinction Category.

Joshua Petersen, Behind-the-Scenes––Producer/Director, Marketing and Publicity
Marlboro College, Class of 2012. Joshua has worked professionally in feature film, music video, reality television and marketing for companies including Pinnacle Media, Sony Music Entertainment and Comedy Central.

Brian Petillo, Production Management––A.D. Department 
Champlain College, Class of 2013. Brian has worked on many student films as a director, producer and script supervisor. 

Anna Pinchuk, Script Supervisor, Production Office Assistant, Webdesigner
Wellesley College, Class of 2013, Expected B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies.


Alison Pugh, Cinematography & Behind-the-Scenes 
Mount Holyoke College, Class of 2014.  Alison has worked as a crew member at the Barnstormers Summer Theatre in Tamworth, NH for four years and works as a Stage Manager for student run productions at Mount Holyke.

Kathryn Reilly, Art Department––Art Department Coordinator, Set Decoration Assistant
Boston University, Class of 2014. Kaity has previously worked with set decoration for theatre, and has previously worked in production design on the Boston University campus television shows "The Hungry Terrier" and "Shadows."  

Olivia Schaaf, Assistant Costume Designer
Marlboro College, Class of 2015. Olivia has worked at the Neuköllner Oper Berlin 2009-2011 as Assistant Director and Stage Manager in various productions, working closely with the theater's costume and set design departments.

Grace Statwick, Art Department––Assistant Set Decorator
Vassar College, Class of 2011, Film Studies.  

Lu Zhang, Cinematography Department, Behind-the-Scenes 
Mount Holyoke College, Class of 2013.