"This is an important film - for our parents, for ourselves and for all those who stand in the path of this terrible disease." --  Ron Reagan

Watch HealthTalk.com's recent tribute to Ann Hedreen's mom, whose story is told in Quick Brown Fox.  Listen to the archived January 6, 2007 edition of the wsRadio.com program, Coping with Caregiving, in which host Jacqueline Marcell interviewed Ann Hedreen about Quick Brown Fox. It's the 4th segment. Listen to Ann on KUOW, Seattle's NPR station.

Women in Film Seattle has honored Quick Brown Fox with a 2006 Nell Shipman Production Excellence Award for Best Documentary. And Librarians take note! Quick Brown Fox is currently available for only $19.00 to public libraries, thanks to a generous underwriter. Click here for ordering information.  Recent screenings of Quick Brown Fox include the American Public Health Association's 2006 annual meeting in Boston, the 2006 Doris Honig Guenter Women & Film Festival in New Britain, Connecticut and ElderHealth Northwest in Seattle, followed by a panel discussion with Ann Hedreen and representatives of the King County Dementia Partnership project.  Quick Brown Fox aired most recently on KCTS, the Northwest's flagship public television station, in June 2006.  It also screened in May 2006 at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and in March 2006 at the 7th annual Through Women's Eyes International Film Festival in Sarasota, Florida.  The film made its European debut on YLE television in Finland on January 11, 2006.  Closer to home, it screened in November 2005 in Portland, Oregon as part of the Northwest Film & Video Festival.   It was also broadcast in Israel in 2006. Nominated for an Emmy, Quick Brown Fox made its broadcast debut on KCTS in October 2004 and is being distributed by Women Make Movies, the leading North American distributor of films by and about women. (To purchase a copy of the film, click here.) In this feature-length documentary, producer/writer Ann Hedreen tells her own family's story and portrays the emotional costs, potential cures and possible causes of what is rapidly becoming a global epidemic: Alzheimer's Disease. More information is available on the Quick Brown Fox website.

30 FRAMES A SECOND: THE WTO IN SEATTLE (73 minutes/2000)

Now available on DVD: Click here to order. Rustin Thompson's documentary feature about one photojournalist's personal odyssey through the streets of Seattle during the WTO, 30 Frames a Second (most recently seen on KCTS Public Television) was nominated for two Emmy awards and voted one of the top ten films of 2001 by the American Library Association. Distributed by Bullfrog Films, 30 Frames has won many awards, including Best Documentary, Chicago and Seattle Underground Film Festivals (2000), Portland, Maine Festival of World Cinema (2001), Chris Award, Columbus Film and Video Festival (2001), Most Inspirational Documentary, Vancouver, BC., Reel to Real International Youth Film Festival (2002). Other festivals: Taos Talking Picture Festival,  San Jose Cinequest 2001, Northwest Film & Video Festival 2000, Brooklyn International Film Festival 2000, IFFM 2000.

ART WITHOUT WALLS: THE MAKING OF THE OLYMPIC SCULPTURE PARK (25 minutes/2007)

"A meditative, sensorial tale about the transformation of nine acres alongside Elliott Bay into a one-of-a-kind visual marvel. It isn't easy to make cinema out of construction crews hauling dirt, but these filmmakers do, in what amounts to a lovely portrait of a changing landscape."  -- Seattle Times

An independent documentary film about the transformation of an abandoned fuel storage site into a public sculpture park on the edge of downtown Seattle's busy waterfront--an urban oasis so unusual that it has already been featured in a major landscape exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  The cast of characters it has taken to imagine and create the Olympic Sculpture Park includes marine biologists and artists, engineers and curators, architects and politicians, environmentalists and museum trustees. Art Without Walls premiered on KCTS Public Television in January 2007 and is now available on DVD for $20.00.  Email us for details. 

WILD AMERICA: PROTECTING THE LANDS EXPLORED BY LEWIS & CLARK (22 minutes/2003)

Narrated by Sissy Spacek, Wild America introduces the Sierra Club's Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Campaign to celebrate, protect and restore the wild places and wildlife in the lands explored by Lewis and Clark. Produced in partnership with executive producer Ward Serrill of Pyramid Communications, Wild America was nominated for an Emmy award and continues to screen at Sierra Club and Lewis & Clark Bicentennial events around the country. Wild America was shown at the 2003 Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival and was televised in April 2003 by KING and KREM, the NBC affiliate stations in Seattle and Spokane. Watch the 22-minute film or a 2-minute clip.

FALSE PROMISES: THE LOST LAND OF THE WENATCHI (60 minutes/2002)

Winner of a 2003 Emmy Award for best original music by composer Lynette Westendorf, False Promises aired in 2002 on PBS stations in Washington, Oregon and Montana. The story of the Wenatchi Indians' 150-year struggle to regain their traditional fishing and hunting rights in what has become of the most popular recreation areas of the North Cascades, False Promises continues to screen at many conferences, community meetings, legislative hearings and film festivals. The film's distributor is Filmakers Library in New York. Read the story behind the film.

HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE: a beginner's guide (15 minutes/2007)

The idea behind this short film is to inspire armchair activists to get up and do something by telling the stories of people who did it: how they started, what they achieved, what inspires them to keep going. The film premiered on October 27, 2007 at a national conference co-sponsored by several churches and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area. Read more in the San Jose Mercury News.

SPEAK UP WHEN YOU'RE DOWN (10 minutes/2007)

One in eight new moms experience post-partum depression, but few know that help is available.  Commissioned by Parent Trust for Washington Children, Speak Up When You're Down will be used primarily in direct outreach to new parents by caregivers, clinics and parent educators.

MARY'S PLACE (4 minutes/2007)

Winner of a 2007 Arby Award from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting: A short film for The Church of Mary Magdalene in downtown Seattle, the only church in the country founded to serve homeless women. 

STAYING POWER: Wind and Puget Sound Energy (10 minutes/2007)

A short film that tells the story behind Puget Sound Energy’s commitment to wind power through the development of its Hopkins Ridge and Wild Horse wind farms in eastern and central Washington, which together supply electrical power equivalent to meeting the needs of about 100,000 households. Watch it on YouTube.

FOUNDATION FOR EARLY LEARNING (6 minutes, 2007)

A short film for the acclaimed Foundation for Early Learning, which finds and funds ways to support early learning and school readiness for all children in Washington state. 

IF A TREE FALLS (9 minutes, 2006)

A short film essay inspired by "Seattle Vivarium," sculptor Mark Dion's installation of a living nurse log inside a cut-to-fit greenhouse at the Seattle Art Museum's new Olympic Sculpture Park.  If a Tree Falls aired in November, 2006 on KCTS Public Television as part of its fall documentary series, "About Us."

OPERATION NIGHTWATCH (6 minutes, 2006)

Winner of a 2007 Arby Award from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting: A short film for Operation Nightwatch, Seattle's nighttime refuge for the homeless and hungry.  Founded by one volunteer pastor nearly 40 years ago, Operation Nightwatch is still operating on a wing and a prayer--and still managing to offer hope, food and dispatch to shelter beds for 140 or more men, women and children every night of the week.  The film premiered at Nightwatch's annual "Hero of the Homeless" luncheon on November 20, 2006.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF YMCA CAMP ORKILA (25 minutes, 2006)

Winner of a 2007 North American YMCA NAYDO Award: This half-hour film celebrates the first hundred years of the YMCA of Greater Seattle's Camp Orkila on Orcas Island.  Narrated by Warren Miller, the film premiered at Camp Orkila's 100-year anniversary gala at McCaw Hall in Seattle on June 22, 2006.  Archival footage, interviews with many generations of campers and counselors, original music by Pat Tye and Frank Candelario and several visits to the camp's stunning site in the San Juan Islands were among the elements that made One Hundred Years a joy to produce and an emotional experience for viewers.

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS: Six Decades of Philanthropy in Seattle (10 minutes, 2005)

Working with Pyramid Communications, the Seattle Foundation and the Museum of History and Industry, we produced a short documentary film about how philanthropy has shaped Seattle and its surrounding suburbs since World War II.  The film premiered at the Seattle Foundation's 60th Anniversary gala in May 2006 and can be seen on the Seattle Channel..

HAVE A PLAN: a film for teen parents (2004, 2005)

This is our third version of "Have a Plan," the popular short film we produced for Children's Hospital and Medical Center promoting the Conscious Fathering organization’s “Have a Plan” approach to preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome. This version will focus on very young parents and teen babysitters.  The first two versions of the film, one in English and one in Spanish, are being widely distributed to new parents in hospitals and birthing centers around North America. View the first two versions of the film from the Washington Council for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect website.

RE-INVENTING SCHOOLS: AN ALASKAN SUCCESS STORY (16 minutes, 2005)

A short film that tells the story of the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition (RISC) and its path-breaking Quality Schools Model: the model’s history, beginning in some of the most remote school districts in Alaska; its current dynamism and success stories of standards-based learning in action; and its future as a blueprint for education that will allow every child to reach his or her full potential. 

PATH: A CATALYST FOR GLOBAL HEALTH (6 minutes, 2005)

A short film that tells the unique story of PATH, one of the world's most innovative and undersung leaders in creating solutions to global health problems: from finding affordable, safe methods to deliver vaccines to malaria eradication to AIDS education. Watch it on Youtube.

I AM SAM: THE SEATTLE ART MUSEUM (9 minutes, 2005)

Winner of a 2006 Nell Shipman Educational/Non-Profit Production Excellence Award from Women in Film Seattle, this short documentary film, narrated by Tom Skerritt, was produced in partnership with Pyramid Communications for the Seattle Art Museum as the centerpiece of a campaign to build public support for SAM's three extraordinary new projects: the creation of the Olympic Sculpture Park, the expansion of the museum's downtown building and the renovation of the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. 

SIGNS OF HOPE (15 minutes, 2005)

Winner of a 2007 Arby Award from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting: A short film for the Seattle Presbytery profiling four projects that have become powerful signs of hope within their communities: Vine Maple Place, an apartment home for single moms; Street Youth Ministries, an outreach program for homeless youth in Seattle's University District; El Buen Pastor, a Hispanic church and outreach mission serving the growing Hispanic community in Auburn, south of Seattle; and the New Life Community for formerly homeless men in downtown Seattle.

The Seattle Art Museum: Deepening the Dialogue (2005)

This ambitious project for the Seattle Art Museum included a short documentary film and 21 one to two-minute vignettes featuring the community activists, artists, leaders and educators who have worked with SAM for four years to deepen the dialogue between the museum and the many communities it serves. Produced in partnership with the museum's public affairs firm, Pyramid Communications. Watch the vignettes on SAM's website.

Grace, Madrona and Mercer Island: A Story of Three Churches (25 minutes, 2004)

Winner of a 2005 Arby Award from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting: The story of three Seattle Presbyterian churches that were swept up by the racial stereotyping and prejudice that divided Seattle in the mid-twentieth century. Part One of the story, Grace and Madrona, debuted October 5, 2003 at a standing-room-only public service of reconciliation. In that film, four elders describe their fifty-year struggle for equality and dignity. In 2004, we added a second chapter about the restoration of their church by nearly 100 volunteers of all faiths from Seattle's Building Trades Unions. The film’s executive producer is Museum Without Walls. View the film from the Madrona Church website.

Four Scholars: The Costco Scholarship Fund (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)

Winner of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VIII's 2005 Grand Gold Award for Electronic Media: A short film profiling four outstanding recipients of the Costco Scholarship for minority students at the University of Washington and Seattle University. Reaction has been emotional every year when we show the latest version of this film--which tells four students' stories through their own eyes and through the eyes of their parents and mentors--at the annual Costco Scholarship breakfast, a major fundraising event held annually on one of the two campuses.

The Nordic Heritage Museum: Creating a Landmark (8 minutes, 2005)

A short film celebrating the Nordic Heritage Museum's first 25 years and its plans to move to a new building in the heart of Ballard, Seattle's historic Scandinavian district. The Nordic Heritage Museum is the only museum that celebrates the history and culture of all five Nordic Countries: Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The Dakota Grasslands (7 minutes, 2004)

Filmed in the summer of 2004, this short film for the Dacotah Chapter of the Sierra Club makes the case for protecting two beautiful and historic but still-threatened remnants of the wild Great Plains--the Sheyenne and the Little Missouri National Grasslands.

The Washington State Fathers Network (13 minutes, 2004)

A short film tribute to the fathers who are a part of the Washington State Fathers Network, an incredible organization connecting the fathers and families of children with special needs through advocacy, resources and support.

The Heart of the World: the Historic Missouri River (9 minutes, 2004)

A film for the Sierra Club documenting the beauty and history of the Garrison Reach of the Missouri River in North Dakota, which still looks much like it did 200 years ago when Lewis & Clark camped on the river's banks, guests of the Mandan and Hidatsa people. The Garrison Reach is the last free-flowing section of the Missouri River between St. Louis and the Garrison Dam in northern North Dakota.

A Toxic-Free Legacy (9 minutes, 2004)

Commissioned by the Washington Toxics Coalition, this short film makes a compelling case for the Toxic-Free Legacy Campaign, a statewide effort to end pollution by persistent toxic chemicals with proven track records of harm to human health.

Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center (2004)

One of the only public rowing and sailing programs in the country is located in Seattle at the Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center on Lake Washington. This short film will help Mt. Baker raise money for its upcoming expansion, which will enable the center to serve even more children, teens and adults in its popular rowing, sailing and windsurfing classes.

Global Partnerships (2002, 2004)

For this 13-minute film, Ann Hedreen and Rustin Thompson traveled to El Salvador and Guatemala to tell the story of Seattle-based Global Partnerships, an organization that provides small loans to business owners in impoverished rural areas. The film, which was a finalist for the national Telly Awards, is being used to increase awareness of Global Partnerships' work, encourage donors and inspire similar programs in other countries. In 2004, we produced a short, updated version narrated by film legend Warren Miller.

D.A.D.S.  (2003)

A short film profiling the work of D.A.D.S. (Divine Alternatives for Dads' Services), a Seattle-based non-profit providing one-on-one support, counseling and case management for fathers who yearn to re-connect with their families after estrangement, incarceration, recovery from addiction and other challenges. In the words of founder Marvin Charles, D.A.D.S. "helps men believe that they can be the fathers they never had."

Giving Gives Back (Ten 1-2 minute vignettes/2002)

A series of ten profiles of generosity--from schoolkids to seniors to high-tech millionaires--produced with executive producer Pyramid Communications for PBS station KCTS with funding from The Seattle Foundation. Nominated for an Emmy for best public service series. Watch the clips from the KCTS website.

The Spirit of the Urban League (8 minutes/2003)

A short film celebrating the people behind the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the organization's remarkable recent achievements, including breaking ground on a new mixed-use development that will transform a shuttered landmark school building into an African-American museum, affordable housing and business spaces.

The University of Washington School of Law (2003)

A short film celebrating the University of Washington School of Law’s launch of a new era in its stunning new center on the University campus, William H. Gates Hall.  The film, a tribute to Bill Gates Senior, was shown at the September 2003 dedication gala headlined by President Jimmy Carter.

Childhaven (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)

Six short films that tell the story of how Childhaven, an organization dedicated to fighting child abuse and neglect through early intervention programs, changes lives. These 3-5 minute productions screened at Childhaven's annual fundraising luncheons in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. 

The Seattle Foundation (2001)

A film that profiles the work of the Seattle Foundation, which has been the region's foremost bridge between donors and community needs since 1946.  Winner of a 2001 bronze Telly Award, the film is being used to raise awareness of the foundation, attract new donors, and to promote philanthropy in the Northwest.  Produced in partnership with Pyramid Communications.

Zion Preparatory Academy (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)

Five 4-5 minute films for Zion Prep's annual breakfasts: "Still I Rise" (2000), "Lift Every Voice" (2001), "20 Years of Miracles" (2002), "Something about Them" (2003) and "Our Children are worth a Million" (2004).  Zion is nationally known for its commitment to a an academically excellent program grounded in Afrocentric, Christian-based values.  

Project Look (2001)

A short film documenting Project Look (now known as New Futures), an organization that provides after-school tutoring, clothing, healthy foods, and ESL instruction to kids and adults in low-income apartment complexes in the Highline School District, south of Seattle. The film is being used to encourage donations and promote expansion of the program.

Family Services (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)

Six short films profiling Family Services, a Seattle-based agency which offers counseling, support and domestic violence prevention to a range of people in need, including homeless families. The films screened at the organization's annual luncheons in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

National Wildlife Federation: The Copper River Salmon (2001)

A short film vignette focusing on opening day of the Copper River Salmon fishing season in Cordova, Alaska and the impending threats to the Copper River fishery from mining and logging interests. The VNR was distributed to more than 100 TV stations nationwide.  Produced in partnership with Resource Media.

The Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center (8min/2000)
An introductory film about the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center, now known as Islandwood, a non-profit environmental education facility serving students, teachers and families in the greater Seattle area.  Produced in partnership with Pyramid Communications.

A Voice in the Dark (4min/2000)
Fundraising video for the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.

No More Logging Roads (30sec/1999)
Produced for the Washington Wilderness Coalition through Pyramid Communications, this PSA featured Peter Buck of REM and aired on VH1.

Bangladesh: Land of Children (30min/1987)
This documentary depicted the efforts of international organizations to establish birth control education programs in the third world country of Bangladesh.

• *Global Media award winner: Best Documentary

Famine in North Korea (4min/1998)
A CBS news feature shot on location in North Korea detailing the effects of famine on the population of this isolated country.

• *Emmy Winner: Best News Story

Forget Me Not (30min/1991)
This documentary told the stories of people coping with addictions and how they were helped by specific outreach programs.

• *Emmy award winner: Best Photography

The Foster Care Gamble (60min/1994)
A one-hour documentary about the foster care system in Washington state. Produced for and broadcast by KIRO Television.

The Great Stagecoach Mail Run (30min/1990)
A half-hour program produced in conjunction with the Washington State Centennial chronicling the reenactment of a cross-state stagecoach journey. Aired on KIRO TV.

Homeless Voices (15min/1991)
A fundraising documentary produced for United Way that focused on three homeless families and their struggle to find housing. Winner of an Emerald Award of Excellence for Best Documentary.

Hospice and Home Care (15min/1991)
An awareness and fundraising mini-documentary depicting the lives of clients for Hospice and Home Care of Snohomish County.

Jean Jongeward in the Northwest Design Tradition (30min/1994)
A half-hour video profile of interior designer Jean Jongeward. Produced for Bellevue Art Museum in conjunction with their Fall 1995 Jongeward retrospective. Broadcast on KIRO Television.

Of Line and Motion (30min/1993)
A half-hour documentary produced for The Center for Wooden Boats and broadcast on KIRO Television about the art of wooden boat building.

• *Winner of two Emmy awards: for best historical documentary and best editing/documentary.

Operation Nightwatch (12min/1999)
Outreach video documenting the efforts of an emergency shelter program for homeless families and individuals.
 

The Orpheum Theatre (15min/1998)
A video tribute celebrating the history and renovation of San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre. Winner of a PRSA Totem Award and a Mercomm/Questar award.

Patti Warashina: Inside the Studio of a Ceramic Sculptor (12min/1991)
A 12-minute video produced for the Bellevue Art Museum to accompany their mid-career retrospective of the work of Patti Warashina. Winner of an Emerald Award of Excellence (ITVA) for best training video.

The Peace Corps in Haiti and the Dominican Republic (5-part series/1987)
This series, which profiled 5 Peace Corps volunteers from the Northwest, aired on KIRO TV.

• *Emmy award winner: Best News Series

SAM: The Making of A Museum (60min/1991)
Broadcast by KIRO TV, this documentary--three years in the making--explores the history, design, construction, and installation of the new Seattle Art Museum. Packaged and sold for home video use in the SAM bookstore.

• *Emmy award winner: Best Writing; nominated for documentary and photography

Three Voices in Contemporary Sculpture (30min/1992)
Educational documentary for the Bellevue Art Museum profiling three women artists.

• *Nominated for a Nell Shipman (Women in Film) award and an Emmy for best documentary

Views and Visions (30min/1990)
Broadcast on KIRO TV, this documentary chronicled a major Seattle Art Museum exhibition of Northwest modern art.

• *Emmy award winner: Best Editing; nominated for Best Documentary