Meet the Team

BRYAN GIBEL

DIRECTOR | PRODUCER

Bryan is a director, producer and cinematographer in Oakland, CA. Originally from New Mexico, he earned a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism documentary film program in 2012, where he was awarded the Mark Felt Fellowship for Investigative Reporting. ‍‍‍While at Berkeley, he directed, shot and edited Chicago Confessional, a 26-minute documentary film about wrongful convictions and an inmate’s fight for a new trial after 30 years in prison. He speaks English, Spanish, & Portuguese.

DIRECTOR’s STATEMENT

I first met Betty in 2016, and we became close friends through countless conversations without the camera rolling. This relationship has guided the film at every juncture, so that Betty’s voice and take on her life are authentically hers, rather than my interpretation of her story. While I don’t share her experience of being an African-American woman, I can relate to her searching for identity while traversing geographic and cultural contexts. Born in New Mexico to Jewish parents who’d arrived only a few weeks prior, I saw a piece of my family’s search for belonging in Betty’s story. Ultimately, both Betty and I found ourselves through artistic exploration – in her case music, in my case film.

  • AK.SANDHU

    CO-DIRECTOR | PRODUCER

    A.K. is a director, producer and an internationally published Photographer and DOP specializing in Fine Art Portraiture, Commercial and Documentary work.

    She began her career in the finance industry in New York in the investment banking and private equity space after earning‍‍‍ a master's degree from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley. ‍‍‍

    A.K. has filmed, edited and produced works that range from short web-documentaries to brand films and promotional pieces for local startups and non-profits. She is also the founder of CURREcreative studio and CinemaButterfly films.

    She speaks English, Punjabi and Hindi.

  • KEVIN JONES

    SENIOR EDITOR

    Kevin is an Emmy-award-winning editor whose cut over a dozen feature-length documentaries. His credits include Dave Chappelle Live in Real Life, which had its premiere as the closing night film of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. He also edited the Emmy-winning documentary A Lion in the House, which premiered at Sundance before airing nationally on PBS. His credits also include Burn, the audience award winner at the Tribeca Film Festival and New York Times Critic's Pick.

  • Elizabeth ray

    ASSISTANT EDITOR

    Elizabeth started out with an interest in traditional animation, attending the CSSSA program at CalArts when she was in middle school, as their youngest attendee to that point. She then explored 3D digital animation before settling on film editing. She has a BFA in Motion Pictures & Television from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since 2011 she has worked as a freelance filmmaker on various short-form projects and web series, and one feature documentary.

  • ALYANA REID

    SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER | POST-PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

    Alyana is Betty Reid’s granddaughter. She graduated from UC Irvine where she studied Film. She previously worked as a Quality Control Technician at Pixelogic Media where she oversees file delivery for Film & TV content. Prior to that she worked as a COVID-safety officer on film sets in Southern California.

  • SARA LAFLEUR-VETTER

    OUTREACH PRODUCER

    Lafleur is a filmmaker and a photographer with a passion for telling stories of the underdog and the underbelly of society. She holds a Masters in Journalism specializing in Documentary Film from the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She balances mom-life with doc film and side hustles.