Alana Waksman · Writer/Director/Producer
Alana Waksman is an Ashkenazi writer, director, producer, and descendant of Holocaust survivors from Poland. She is an alum of the USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA in Film & Television Production, and Connecticut College BA in Theater and English. As an actor, she trained at Shakespeare & Company, Berkshire Theater Festival, St. Petersburg Dramatic Arts Academy in Russia, and The O'Neill National Theater Institute where she studied under Colman Domingo.
While at USC, Alana was chosen as one of ten top directors to co-direct USC’s first feature film, DON QUIXOTE: THE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA (Palm Springs International Film Festival) with the guidance of James Franco. Her short film BLACKOUT, written by David Haskell, received the Audience Award at the LA Shorts Fest, and Best Actor and Best Cinematography at the Women’s Independent Film Festival.
WE BURN LIKE THIS, Alana's debut feature, stars Madeleine Coghlan (THE ROOKIE) and Devery Jacobs (RESERVATION DOGS) and is executive produced by Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer Neda Armian (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED). The film premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival in April 2021, internationally at Deauville American Film Festival in competition in September, and is currently in the festival circuit.
Alana is in development for her second narrative feature, and in production for a personal documentary about her father’s relationship to Jewish identity, also executive produced by Neda Armian.
Neda Armian · Executive Producer
Neda Armian is an Emmy and Peabody award winning producer with a varied roster of projects. Her company armian pictures produces feature films, documentaries, television, digital content and music videos.
Prior to forming her company, she worked with and produced for Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme for 17 years. Producing credits include: MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN, JIMMY CARTER: MAN FROM PLAINS, THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE, UNION SQUARE, SHE’S THE BEST THING IN IT, THE LONGEST WEEK, WHY STOP NOW, THE LOVING STORY, THE TRIVIAL PURSUITS OF ARTHUR BANKS, A LITTLE CLOSER, BAD POSTURE, THE BETRAYAL, RIGHT TO RETURN: NEW HOME MOVIES FROM THE LOWER 9Th WARD, THE SITUATION, BEAH: A BLACK WOMAN SPEAKS, FITS AND STARTS, WE BURN LIKE THIS. Select additional credits: PHILADELPHIA, ADAPTATION, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THAT THING YOU DO!, BELOVED, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, ULEE’S GOLD and MANDELA.
Eleanor Nett · Executive Producer
Eleanor Nett's 20 year career includes experience as VP, Physical Production of Endgame Entertainment, COO of boutique post house Fancy Film where she implemented MPAA best practices and Head of Production for teen new media studio Brat TV where she spent a year and a half building an in-house studio and production pipeline while overseeing nearly 300 days of shooting. Nett's executive and producing credits cover a wide range of projects including Best Picture Oscar nominee AN EDUCATION, Steven Soderbergh's SIDE EFFECTS, Rian Johnson's BROTHERS BLOOM and LOOPER, Sam Esmail's COMET, over a dozen scripted web series, a number of feature documentaries including LINSANITY and most recently artist David Choe's fout-part television event THE CHOE SHOW for FX.
Marshall Granger · Producer/Editor
Marshall Granger is an editor and storyteller from Montana, based in Los Angeles. He produced and edited the feature film WE BURN LIKE THIS, which had its world premiere at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and screened in competition at Deauville American Film Festival in France.
He discovered his love for connecting images and sounds while working for an art house theater in Missoula, MT, studying new and classic films and creating trailers for film series. Throughout those years, he produced his own short films and documentaries before taking on the editorial for friends’ films. This passion for post-production led him to California, the American Film Institute, and a determination to help bring challenging, emotionally resonant stories to the world.
Marshall was born and raised in Billings, Montana within the small Jewish community, and he has firsthand experience of the anti-semitism and white supremacist movements in the area. He holds special interest in storytelling and themes that shine a non-traditional light on the American West. This summer, Marshall is graduating as an Editing Fellow at the AFI Conservatory, and is currently editing Jared Moshé feature, APORIA. He lives in Glendale with his fiancé and his two cats, Violet and Lucy.
Jeri Rafter · Producer
Jeri is dedicated to making feature narrative films in Montana. She most recently co-produced Gabe Polsky's BUTCHER'S CROSSING starring Nicholas Cage and Fred Hechinger, her other co-production credits include BROKE starring Wyatt Russell and Dennis Quiad as well as Annabelle Attanasio's directorial debut MICKEY AND THE BEAR starring Cami Morrone and James Badge Dale (SXSW, ACID Cannes). She served as production manager for the seminal Ted Kaczyski film TED K (Berlinale 2021) directed by Tony Stone and starring Sharlto Copley. Her other producing credits include a documentary about Native adoptees, DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD and BELLA VISTA (Rotterdam). Her other Production Manager credits include THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN (SXSW) directed by Jared Moshé as well as numerous TV shows, short films and commercials.
She attended the Sundance Producer’s Lab in 2014 and Women In Film + Sundance Women’s Financing Initiative in 2015. Jeri has an MFA in Media Arts from the University of Montana.
B. Rubén Mendoza · Director of Photography
B. Rubén Mendoza is a Salvadoran-American cinematographer from Los Angeles. Most recently he photographed the feature films PUDDYSTICKS, starring Mamoudou Athie and Dan Bakkedahl, and WE BURN LIKE THIS starring Madeleine Coghlan and Devery Jacobs. He received his MFA from USC film school and was recently selected as a mentee in the ASC Vision Mentorship Program under Xavier Grobet, ASC. He enjoys producing imagery that evokes feeling and makes space for empathy.
Mendoza is a 2021 Film Independent Project Involve Cinematography Fellow.
H. Scott Salinas · Music
Award-winning composer, H. Scott Salinas has contributed towards an impressive variety of notable projects including Bruce Lee action fable Birth of the Dragon, HBO and Aaron Sorkin's smash hit The Newsroom, CINEMAX’s Kong Fu action thriller, Warrior, and Academy Award nominated documentary film Cartel Land for A&E.
In 2002, Scott became the youngest Grand Prize recipient of the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition and along with accolades such as the prestigious Cannes Lion, Clio, and BMI awards, Scott's accomplishments have earned him esteem and recognition as a highly versatile yet specialized talent.
From composing the brooding hybrid orchestral score to the Darren Aronofsky produced Zipper, to his original song Jamie Smiles written for the cult comedy classic Just Friends to acting as the instrumental mouthpiece behind the Old Spice whistle, Scott's ability to create a meaningful impact for a wide spectrum is showcased through his work.
His latest projects include Apple TV + The Banker starring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackey, a 1960 civil rights, heist, thriller, with a jazz and orchestra score recorded at the historic Abbey Road London and Capitol Records, Los Angeles; and Baghdad Central, with UK’s Channel 4 and HULU, a film noir detective thriller set in Baghdad during the U.S. occupation in the early 2000’s.
Logan Stahley · Music
Logan is a film composer for film, tv, & games living in Los Angeles, California. He has contributed music to a vast range of projects including Tiger for HBO, The Banker for Apple, Sasquatch for HULU, and Warrior for HBO.
Logan frequently collaborates with composer H. Scott Salinas, and recently composed the score to We Burn Like This, premiering at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
A native of Billings, Montana, He holds a BA in Music Technology from Montana State University Bozeman. He graduated in 2015 with an MFA in Music Composition for the Screen from Columbia College Chicago, where he studied with Kubilay Uner. During the Spring of 2015, he interned for music editor Ethan Stoller on the Wachowskis Netflix series, Sense8. In Summer 2015, he moved to Los Angeles and has been working on Hollywood productions ever since.