Kim Talikoff - Lead Producer

Kim Talikoff spent 12 years practicing hospital based and emergency pediatrics in the Bronx, NY before moving to North Carolina. Seeking a broader mandate and a different context for supporting children, she left medicine to become an elementary school teacher. Her classroom experience gave her a first-hand look at the mechanisms behind education disparities and motivated her to investigate the origins of the crisis in her community. She holds a Masters in the Art of Teaching, a BA in visual arts, a masters in Interactive Communications, and believes that film can help us open our eyes and hearts to one another in powerful and transformative ways.

Dawn McClendon - Impact Producer

A Duke University graduate, Dawn McClendon has 22 years of teaching experience from inner-city to rural schools, and she has held teaching licenses in New York City, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Dawn’s personal academic journey is built by the many ways failure makes an overcomer. Formal education was the most unlikely career move from theatre or perhaps it is the longest gig she ever had. Whether in social services, theater, or traditional education taking someone by the hand at a point in their journey because she believes, “yes you can, and we will figure it out together” is her raison d'être. Education is not about being smart; it is about being in a place where you can grow safely. Watch her story unfold as a presenter in The Hill Center Presents the Monti.

Alexandra Odom - Historian/Associate Producer

Alexandra Odom is a third year History PhD student with a focus on twentieth century African American history. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow at Grinnell College, Fulbright Scholar at Queen Mary University of London, and Clein Fellow at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, she has conducted multiple long-term history projects that investigate black communities during and in the wake of the long civil rights movement. Her primary research interests lie in the history of desegregated education, the black family, and digital history. As an associate producer for the I’m Smart Too documentary project, Alex has won the UNC Graduate Schools Impact Award, which recognizes graduate students whose research has a direct impact on the state of North Carolina.

Darian Woehr - Lead Editor/Cinematographer

Darian Woehr is an award-winning documentary filmmaker currently based in Washington, DC. She focuses on stories of conservation, climate change and defining home. Darian was named the 2019 Hearst Multimedia National Champion and has also been recognized by The Society of Environmental Journalists, College Photographer of the Year and The Online Journalism Awards. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, AP, HuffPost and NPR. She has created documentary projects in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Argentina. You can find her portfolio here.

Aubrey Patti - Lead Graphic Designer/Cinematographer/Assistant Editor

Aubrey is a producer and editor based in New York City. Currently, she is working as as an associate producer for Condé Nast. Previously she has worked with the National Geographic Society, NOVA PBS, the World Wildlife Fund and UNC-Chapel Hill. Aubrey’s work has been recognized by the Hearst Multimedia Awards, the Society of Environmental Journalists, HuffPost, SXSW and the College Photographer of the Year Awards. You can find her portfolio here.

Jeremiah Rhodes - Cinematographer/Assistant Editor

Jeremiah Rhodes is a video producer and documentary filmmaker from North Carolina. In May 2020, he graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a Bachelor’s Degree in Photo and Video Journalism, and is currently working with the Texas Tribune. Jeremiah has been published in the Washington Post, Texas Tribune, Raleigh News & Observer and NPR. His films have been screened at film festivals across the country, including the New Orleans Film Festival, Blackstar Film Festival and Cucalorus. You can find his portfolio here.

Carlos Serrano - Research Consultant

Carlos Serrano is a third year Geography graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently working on his master’s thesis that examines at how racial and class differences play out in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro public school system. Being committed to conducting research for and alongside the community, he has been awarded grants from the Graduate Certificate in Participatory Research at UNC as well as a Community Engagement Fellowship by the Carolina Center for Public Service and the Humanities Professional Pathway Award by the Humanities for the Public Good Initiative.

Brentton Harrison – Sound Design Lead

Brentton is an educator and creator who went through the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City School system. Brentton has spent the last 6 years working in schools teaching Local Civil Rights and the untold history of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and identity through the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. He also works with Blackspace and the town of Chapel Hill’s Teen Center providing a safe space for young people to find their passions and interests. Brentton loves music and sounds, he enjoys the soundscapes just as much as he loves the scripts of movies and plays. At Blackspace he teaches digital beat production and facilitates conversations and activities around identity, art, civic engagement, and self-determination. Brentton feels like a lot of the story of the documentary is his experience in Chapel Hill Carrboro Schools, although he has no verbiage in this film.