The film production team behind THRASHER ROAD share bonds forged in the trenches of UCLA graduate school production.
SAMANTHA DAVIDSON GREEN
Writer/Director
The production of Thrasher Road traveled the highways of Samantha's life ~ from her childhood in New England to California where she studied at Stanford University (BA) and UCLA (MFA, Film Directing) to Mississippi, where she has made two films. Her award-winning short films include DEAD END JOB (Tribeca Winner, Best Student Visionary Film Award; UCLA Director's Spotlight Award; Atlanta Film Festival, Audience Choice Award; Ojai Film Festival, Audience Award; Oldenberg Festival, Germany), COUCH ENCOUNTER/ÉNCUENTRO CON EL SILLÓN (LA Latino International; Ciné Las Americas Film Festival; UCLA’s Festival of New Creative Work, Best Screenplay Award), and MR. JIMMY'S BIRTHDAY CHALLENGE (Tupelo Film Festival, Best Director Award; UCLA Festival of New Creative Work, Best Documentary). Her original screenplays DEAD END JOB and GIFTED & TALENTED were official selections of IFP's Emerging Narrative Program. In addition to making her films, Samantha presently teaches film directing at Dartmouth College and chases her three boys.
JONATHAN WYSOCKI
Producer
A graduate of UCLA with a background in theater, Jonathan was a producer on THE HAMMER, distributed by the Weinstein Company. As a writer/director, Jonathan is a Sundance Feature Film Program Fellow, a Film Independent Fellow, a Berlinale Talent Campus alumnus and a participant in IFP's No Borders. His award-winning short films include THE VESSEL PITCHES (co-produced by Samantha Davidson Green), ADJUST-A-DREAM and A DOLL'S EYES. Honors include Sundance's Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship, the James Bridges Award, the Stanley Kramer Fellowship, and two Annenberg Grants. In addition to filmmaking, Wysocki lectures at Chapman University and Cal State Long Beach.
MARIA ROSENBLUM
Producer
Maria grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side, attended Bennington College, and earned her MFA in Film Directing at UCLA. She produced feature art film ROMAN BUILDINGS (2016 Atlas Award, Best Art Film), directed by Brian Katz. As writer/director, Maria's award-winning films, include RAILROAD and MAGNETIC POLES (Sundance, 2007; Brooklyn International Film Festival Audience Choice Award; produced by Samantha Davidson Green), have screened worldwide. Maria is currently co-directing documentary STRIPER - NO ART WITHOUT LIFE.
ERIC LEACH
Director of Photography
Indiana-native Eric has nearly twenty years’ experience in the film industry as cinematographer, second unit director, camera operator, and grip-electric on more than 93 studio and independent productions. THRASHER ROAD will make Eric’s 10th feature film as cinematographer, with recent films The Neighbor, directed by Marcus Dunstan, The Intruders and What Lola Wants both official selections at the prestigious LA Film Festival. With Samantha Davidson Green and Eli Kaufman as producers, Eric collaborated with Maria Rosenblum on Sundance-selected short film Magnetic Poles. He is currently at work on the set of Office Christmas Party (Dreamworks, with Jennifer Anniston).
CHANDA DANCY-MORIZAWA
Film Composer
Chanda is known for her rich musical scores, providing engaging music for films playing in festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, Tribecca Film Festival, Sundance, and Slamdance. Besides composing, Chanda is also a versatile multi-instrumentalist and gifted vocalist, having performed across the United States. Chanda is a recipient of the 2002 BMI Pete Carpenter Fellowship for Aspiring Film Composers and the 2004 APM/YMF Music Business Award, where she was honored alongside great film composer, John Williams. In 2009, Chanda was selected for the prestigious Sundance Film Composer Lab. Over the last decade she has become sought after for her own signature sound and dramatic point of view. Chanda is most noted for her collaboration with filmmaker Ted Chung on films such as “A Thousand Words”, “Mike’s”, and “I.D”. She also scored the Peruvian movie “La Navaja de Don Juan”, “Unmentionables” and the horror film directed by Ning Jungwu, “Lift to Hell,” which saw huge box office success in China. Chanda is also the founder and president of CYD Post (pronounced “sid”), a company dedicated to providing music and sound artistry for films and various other multimedia platforms.
KAREN SMALLEY
Editor
Karen Smalley is an award-winning film editor based in Los Angeles. Her work includes narrative, documentary and reality formats for both independent and studio distribution. She received both her BA in Film and MFA in Editing/Directing from UCLA, where she has been teaching undergraduate and graduate editing classes since 2012. She has also spent a considerable amount of time at the Roger Corman Film School, editing four features and serving as post production supervisor for the Academy Award winning producer. While keeping abreast of the constantly changing technical landscape of modern postproduction, she never loses sight of the role editing plays both in the story-telling process, and in the ultimate emotional response to a film.