JAMES MOLL (Director) is an Oscar and Emmy winning filmmaker who has spent the last eleven years working with Steven Spielberg as a director and producer of documentary films and series. In 1999, Moll received the Academy Award for directing and editing The Last Days and has been the recipient of various other awards including the Edward R. Murrow, an Emmy win and nomination, and the prestigious George Foster Peabody award.  Moll has directed and/or produced documentaries for NBC, HBO, A&E, The History Channel, CNN, VH1, and others, on topics ranging from Native American culture to pop rock stars. In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Moll established and operated The Shoah Foundation with Steven Spielberg for the purpose of videotaping Holocaust survivor testimonies around the world, resulting in more than 50,000 testimonies in 57 countries.

DAVID BARR III (Writer) is the author of the stage play, The Face of Emmett Till, developed with Mamie Till-Mobley and based on the life and tragic death of her son Emmett Till. Barr’s other multi award-winning stage writing credits include A Red Death, an adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel; The Death of the Black Jesus; Black Caesar; and Ev’ry Time I Feel The Spirit, based on the life of Marian Anderson. Other stage writing credits include The House That Rocked! (The Legacy of Fats Domino, Chuck Berry & Little Richard); The Upper Room; and a Civil Rights docudrama, My Soul Is A Witness. David is currently a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and a member of the Black Ensemble’s Black Playwright’s Initiative.

CHRISTOPHER BENSON (Writer) is an author, journalist, and lawyer. He co-authored the memoir  Death of Innocence: The Hate Crime That Changed America with Mamie Till-Mobley. An associate professor of African American Studies and Journalism at the University of Illinois, Benson has written extensively for Ebony, Savoy, Jet, Chicago and The Crisis magazines. He has also contributed to The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and Reader’s Digest. In addition, Benson served as vice president and associate counsel of Johnson Publishing Company. He also worked as a promotional writer and speechwriter for several Washington, D.C. politicians, including former U.S. Representative Harold Washington, and Press Secretary for former U.S. Representative Cardiss Collins. The critically acclaimed Death of Innocence is the winner of a 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award honor, and the 2004 Black Board Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award.

RAYMOND A. THOMAS (Writer) formed N’spire Entertainment Inc., a multi-purpose film, art and music production company, after studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Thomas wrote seven screenplays, including the award winning film short, 12 MINUTES, which he also directed. Rap superstar DMX and his company Bloodline Films subsequently optioned a feature film version of the short. Thomas is currently writing a feature script and developing a documentary about the life of the late soul legend Donny Hathaway. He also currently serves as Creative Art Director of Ebony and Jet magazines, the historical, top-selling African-American publications.