FILMMAKERS

BEN BOWMAN

Director, Co-Writer, Producer

Ben Bowman directed, produced and co-wrote KNUCKLEHEAD. Released by RLJ Entertainment/AMC networks in the U.S. and Canada in the fall of 2016, KNUCKLEHEAD has received critical praise and won awards at film festivals across the North America, including the VH1 Audience Award (ABFF, 2015).

In television, Bowman has directed specials and worked on series for Comedy Central, VH1, ESPN and NBC. Bowman is a graduate of the NYU/Tisch Graduate Film Program, where he has also taught. He studied directing under Spike Lee. Originally from Minnesota, Bowman is a recipient of The Minnesota Independent Film Fund, awarded by the IFP and the McKnight Foundation. He got his start in entertainment in Minnesota as an assistant editor, working on music videos for Prince at Paisley Park Studios.

BRYAN ABRAMS

Co-Writer

Bryan Abrams is a journalist and screenwriter. He has served as the longtime editorial director for The Credits, an online film magazine that covers the filmmaking process through long form interviews with cast and crew. Some of the publications he has written for include Esquire, Details, and Playboy Magazine. In addition to co-writing KNUCKLEHEAD, Bryan’s screen work includes the short film Tokens, as well as series pilots and feature screenplays.

GBENGA AKINNAGBE

Producer

In addition to acting on the Broadway stage, in Hollywood studio feature films, and for series like "The Wire" and “The Deuce" for HBO, Gbenga Akinnagbe has appeared in the casts of network series including “24: Live Another Day," "the Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie," and "The Following". Akinnagbe has also starred in and/or produced several independent feature films.  He produced Director Shaka King’s (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) debut feature "Newlyweeds" which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He starred in and served as Executive Producer on the award-winning "Home_" with Joe Morton. Gbenga produced and stars in KNUCKLEHEAD.

LISA SCHILLER

Co-Producer

In addition to producing award-winning, critically acclaimed films like KNUCKLEHEAD, seasoned NYC indie filmmaking powerhouse Schiller writes series and features. She wrote the Leonardo DiCaprio produced Netflix feature “The Lonliest Whale: The Search for 52”.

JONATHAN GRAY

Executive Producer

Jonathan Gray is a leading independent entertainment attorney and producer.

Starting his career as a trial lawyer in 1990, Jonathan moved to entertainment law with the founding of his first firm.  He has served as production counsel to a substantial slate of the most well recognized and awarded independent feature films and television series in distribution. 

He regularly serves on independent media organization panels, festival juries and has taught at NYU and Columbia University.

As a producer, Jonathan champions a roster of daring independent films from filmmakers with original voices.

DEBRA AZEMAR

Executive Producer

A native of Brooklyn, Debra Azemar is a Writer, Director, and Producer.  She began her role as Executive Producer in the early nineties with the lauded production of Ina Norris’s “Nobody Loves a Black Little Girl When She Becomes a Woman.” After several years of sold out shows at New York’s Symphony Space Theater, she went onto produce other stage plays, comedy shows, and events. 

In 2001, she found her passion for writing. As she began her writing career, her main focus was to develop and build high quality content.   In 2007, she expanded her writing talents with the development of a children’s brand entitled Fanny Fun Facts.  The brand emphasizes positive identity growth along with teaching fun facts about multi-cultures.  In 2007, she produced a soundtrack for Fanny Fun Facts, and became a voting member of the Recording Academy.

In 2011, her screenplay, By My Boot Straps was selected as a finalist at the Urbanworld Film Festival. Quality content with an original voice and point of view is the cornerstone of her brand, so she proudly joined the producing team to bring KNUCKLEHEAD to its audience.

TONY HARDING

Executive Producer

A leading commercial and documentary producer, Tony Harding, with his production company THEM Media, has created groundbreaking work for brands including Coca Cola, Bose, and Pony. He has been responsible for music and performance documentaries about legendary artists including Lemmy, Tower of Power and Roxette. He has cultivated the work of THEM commercial directors to produce several award-winning short films and KNUCKLEHEAD, THEM’s first feature.

KATIE ENNIS

Editor

Katie is a NYC based filmmaker and member of the Motion Picture Editor's Guild. She has cut numerous independent features and shorts that have screened in festivals around the world, including HITS, directed by David Cross, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Katie's work as a television editor includes the Emmy award-winning series “The Americans” and Showtime’s “City on a Hill”. In addition to KNUCKLEHEAD, Katie’s work can be seen in “Crossbones”, “Royal Pains”, I Don't Know How She Does It, Hannah has a Hophase, Absence of Love, Peace After Marriage and Homecoming.

SOOPUM SOHN

Director of Photography

Sohn Soopum is a film director, writer and cinematographer, and holds master’s degrees from the American Film Institute, in cinematography, and from New York University, in directing.
Soopum’s short films include ISLAND TO ISLAND, winner of a 2002 Student Academy Award, and FISH IN THE SEA IS NOT THIRSTY, an official selection for the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. His directorial/screenwriting feature debut, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME (aka FETISH, 2008), premiered as a Gala Presentation film at the 2008 Busan International Film Festival, and more recently was selected by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York as part of the ContemporAsian season in 2010.