Director/Producer

Marilyn Ness

Marilyn Ness is a two-time Emmy, Peabody, and DuPont Award-winning filmmaker and works as a director and producer and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Most recently, she produced the Netflix Original documentary BECOMING, about former First Lady Michelle Obama nominated for four Primetime Emmys. Ness also produced DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD (dir. Kirsten Johnson), which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction Storytelling, was shortlisted for the 2021 Academy Award® - Best Documentary Feature, nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, the PGA Award for Best Documentary, and four Cinema Eye Honors. The film won two IDA Awards and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature. She directed CHARM CITY which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, was shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Award® - Best Documentary Feature, broadcast on Independent Lens on PBS, and was nominated for an Emmy. Before that, she produced CAMERAPERSON (dir. Kirsten Johnson), which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, was released by the Criterion Collection, and was shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Awards® - Best Documentary Feature. Ness produced TRAPPED (dir. Dawn Porter), which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, received the Jury Prize for Social Impact Filmmaking, broadcast on PBS' Independent Lens, and was awarded a Peabody. She also produced Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman’s feature documentary E-TEAM, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and was bought by Netflix Original, and later earned two Emmy nominations. She directed the documentary feature film BAD BLOOD: A CAUTIONARY TALE that broadcast nationally on PBS in 2011. Ness is a partner at Big Mouth Productions, a women-owned and led documentary production company.

Producer

Beth Levison

Beth Levison is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker based in New York City. Among her recent producing credits are Sean Ono Lennon’s directorial debut, threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE, which premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival and will open theatrically at New York’s Film Forum in fall 2026; KILORAN BAY, a musical fiction short starring Alan Cumming and Jack Wolfe, slated to screen at 40+ festivals in 2026 alone; and Marilyn Ness’s cinematically ambitious POSTMORTEM, which is aiming for a 2027 release. From her career that numbers nearly 25 films, other highlights include THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT, which she produced, premiered at Sundance, was released by Netflix, and received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Short. She also directed and produced the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated STORM LAKE alongside directing partner Jerry Risius, produced the Independent Spirit Award-winning A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, and executive produced the two-time BIFA-winning GRAND THEFT HAMLET, now on Mubi. Levison is the owner of Hazel Pictures, co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.