Paperback Dreams

The Filmmakers

Alex Beckstead

Producer/Director

Alex Beckstead is a San Francisco-based documentary filmmaker. PAPERBACK DREAMS is his second ITVS-funded project as a director. The first, TRAILER PARK BLUES, was an observational portrait of his grandparents, Bill and Peggy Heiner, is an honest but sensitive portrait of Bill’s lifelong struggle with alcoholism in a trailer park north of Phoenix, AZ. It aired on Public Television stations in over 30 markets.

Beckstead also produced segments in Kenya and Uganda for the 2005 PBS special ENDING AIDS: THE SEARCH FOR A VACCINE. This one-hour documentary tells the story of one of the greatest medical challenges of our time: finding a vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS.

His other credits include Associate Producer of MUHAMMAD: LEGACY OF A PROPHET, a two-hour prime time PBS special that was both a biography of Islam’s founding prophet, and a profile of contemporary American Muslims. He also served as Associate Producer and sound recordist for several companion documentaries for the DVD release of the HBO dramatic series DEADWOOD. These pieces took viewers into the history of the South Dakota gold rush, and into the mind of David Milch, who created the show. Beckstead’s first film, the short documentary SXE, screened at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.

Gail Huddleson

Editor

Gail Huddleson is a documentary editor and producer. Most recently, she edited DON’T FENCE ME IN, a film about the Karen people’s struggle against the Burmese military dictatorship. It is currently screening at film festivals around the world. Gail’s other editing credits include MUHAMMAD: LEGACY OF A PROPHET, winner of the Ciné Special Jury Award, and National Geographic Television’s THE CONQUERORS, the fourth hour in an eight part series about the origins of animal life, THE SHAPE OF LIFE. She was also First Assistant Editor for the series. Gail is the recipient of the Guild Award in Documentary Film from the Princess Grace Foundation USA for her film MY ROOTS ARE BURIED HERE, and a Bronze Apple from the National Educational Media Network for CATCALLS, WOLF WHISTLES & OTHER ORDINARY DANGERS, which was broadcast on PBS. She received her Master’s degree from the Documentary Film and Video Program at Stanford University.

Clark Caldwell

Director of Photography

Clark Caldwell is a New York based Director of Photography and Producer. His credits include such varied outlets as PBS, The Discovery Channel, The Food Network, and The Daily Show. He was recently hired by CBS Interactive to be the Senior Producer for MobLogic, a news and politics web show which will launch in early 2008. He devotes his free time and energy to issues involving environmental sustainability.

Liam Dalzell

Director of Photography

Liam Dalzell has spent roughly equal parts of his life in Asia, Europe, and North America, and he has worked as a freelance documentary cinematographer on all three continents. Variety has said of his work, “Shooting on vid, Liam Dalzell turns a seemingly static activity into one full of filmic interest.”

He received an MA from Stanford University’s Graduate Documentary Film & Video Program in 2004, and since then his own films, PUNJABI CAB and B.A.T.A.M, have won awards and screened at festivals internationally. A sample of his cinematography can be seen at liamdalzell.com.

Petr Stepanek

Director of Photography

Nathan Grover

Composer

Joelle Jaffe

Associate Producer

Joelle Jaffe has been working on public television documentaries and series since college, first with an internship on the PBS series AMERICAN MASTERS. After graduation, she went to work for Bill Moyers on several specials before being part of the staff that launched the series NOW WITH BILL MOYERS. In 2005, she moved to the Bay Area to attend the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, working at FRONTLINE/WORLD for over a season of Rough Cuts and broadcast programs. She was a Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellow, and traveled around the country reporting on religion for the God, Sex, and Family portion of the project. She now works as a freelance producer/editor in the San Francisco area.

Remedy Editorial

PAPERBACK DREAMS had the good fortune of working at Remedy Editorial, a full service post house in San Francisco. The film was part of their Adopt a Doc program. Since 2006, Remedy has been taking indie docs under wing, providing free editorial space and support services to ensure that worthwhile projects can find their way to completion. We were proud to be the second Remedy Adopt a Doc.

KQED/Truly CA

KQED has created an exciting showcase for the best documentary films about California made by independent filmmakers – TRULY CA: OUR STATE, OUR STORIES.

From Mexican fruit vendors in Oakland to the Tenderloin’s history of transgender activism, TRULY CA brings to life true stories from around the Golden State. The series airs monthly on Sundays at 6pm, a time slot that KQED has reserved for independent works.

Rachel Raney is the series producer and Sue Ellen McCann is the executive producer.

ITVS

ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing TV audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans.

ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

California Council for the Humanities

CCH is an independent, nonprofit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Originally a granting organization, the Council began to create and manage humanities programs and projects of its own in the early 1990s and is now a leader in statewide humanities programming, with a grants program connected to its programming efforts.