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Third Annual Stand Up for Freedom Contest: Judges
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Anthony D. Romero
Anthony D. Romero is the Executive
Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, the nation's premier
defender of liberty and individual freedom. He took the helm of
the 87-year-old organization just four days before the September
11, 2001 attacks. Romero, an attorney with a history of public-interest
activism, has presided over the most successful membership growth
in the ACLU's history and more than doubled national staff and tripled the
budget of the organization since he began his tenure. In 2007, Romero and
co-author Dina Temple-Raston published In Defense of Our America:
The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror, which takes a critical
look at civil liberties in this country at a time when constitutional
freedoms are in peril. Born in New York City to parents who hailed
from Puerto Rico , Romero was the first in his family to graduate from high
school. He is a graduate of Stanford University Law School and Princeton
University 's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs.
He is a member of the New York Bar Association and has sat on numerous nonprofit
boards. |
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Peter Gilbert
Since his Hoop Dreams success,
Gilbert has gone on to produce, photograph and direct documentaries, feature
films, commercials, and music videos. In 2004, he premiered With All
Deliberate Speed , the
first work in the new series “Discovery Docs,” which he co-founded
with the Discovery Network. He also recently produced Scattered: The
Lost Boys of Sudan (2005); executive produced the award-winning Deadline (2004),
broadcast as a prime-time feature documentary on NBC; and produced
and directed A Time for Dancing (2003). His earlier work includes All
the Rage (1999); the Emmy Award-winning documentary Vietnam ,
Long Time Coming (1998), Prefontaine (1997), as cinematographer
and co-producer; Stevie (2002), as co-cinematographer and co-producer;
and Married in America (2002), as principal photographer. He
is a partner in Foreground Films, in New York ; a director with
Nonfiction Spots, in Los Angeles ; and an associate of Kartemquin Films,
in Chicago . |
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Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones is a Tony Award® winning
playwright, actor, and poet. Her
multi-character solo shows include Bridge & Tunnel , which
was originally produced Off-Broadway by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep,
and went on to become a critically acclaimed, long running smash-hit on
Broadway.
Jones' career has taken her from a sold-out run at The Kennedy Center
to tours of India , Europe and South Africa to performances for
such audiences as the United Nations, members of the U.S. Congress and
the Supreme Court of Nepal. Her multicultural cast of characters
has always been a reflection of her diverse audiences.
A proud Queens, New York native, Sarah attended the United Nations International
School and Bryn Mawr College where she was the recipient of the
Mellon Minority Fellowship, then returned to New York and began writing
and competing in poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café. There she developed
her first show, Surface Transit , which was presented at The American
Place Theatre and PS122. Her next piece, Women Can't Wait! was
commissioned by Equality Now to address the human rights of women and girls. A
subsequent commission by the National Immigration Forum yielded Waking
the American Dream , the inspiration for Bridge & Tunnel .
Most recently, Jones has been commissioned by the WK Kellogg Foundation
for a piece entitled A Right to Care , which tackles themes of
inequality in health. |
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Diane Weyermann
As Executive Vice President, Documentary
Films for Participant Productions, Diane Weyermann is responsible for the
company's entire documentary slate. She is currently overseeing production
of several important new projects: Errol Morris's expose of the Abu Ghraib
prison scandal,”S.O.P.,” Jonathan Demme's portrait of former President Jimmy
Carter, “Carter” and the upcoming releases of the Sundance 2007 opening night
film “CHICAGO 10 and “Angels in the Dust,” a moving profile of an HIV/AIDS
orphanage in South Africa, premiering at the 2007 Full Frame Documentary
Film Festival. In her first 18 months on the job, she witnessed the commercial
and critical phenomenon of “An Inconvenient Truth” and has seen it through
to two Academy Awards capping numerous accolades from around the world.
Prior to joining Participant, Weyermann was Director of the Sundance Institute's
Documentary Film Program. During her tenure, she was responsible
for the Sundance Documentary Fund, a program supporting films
that deal with contemporary issues that address human rights,
social justice, civil liberties and freedom of expression.
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Robyn Lattaker-Johnson
As the Vice President of
Development for Original Programming at BET Networks, Robyn Lattaker-Johnson
is directly responsible for developing original reality-based series, scripted
programming and other on-screen offerings at the network. As the executive-in-charge
of production for programming development, Robyn has been a critical component
of the executive team responsible for the network's soaring ratings, with
a 21% increase in the first quarter of 2006 alone and breaking all records
for premieres, finales, and series ratings. The 30-something executive has spearheaded
the development of BET's most successful and highly-anticipated new series,
including LIL KIM: COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN ,; the revamp of the
top-rated COLLEGE HILL franchise; SEASON OF THE TIGER , The
Ultimate Hustler , KEYSHIA COLE: THE WAY IT IS, DMX: SOUL OF A
MAN, AMERICAN GANGSTER , BALLERS and the upcoming
series HELL DATE, TAKE THE CAKE, IRON RING, BALDWIN HILLS, S.O.B. –
SOCIALLY OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOR, EXALTED, and SUNDAY BEST .
Prior to her arrival at BET, Lattaker-Johnson was the Director of
Development for Alternative Programming and Production at Sci
Fi Channel. Robyn
holds a Master's Degree in Film from the Art Center College of
Design in Pasadena , California and earned her Bachelor's Degree from
the University of Washington in Seattle , with a degree in Broadcast
Journalism.
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