TONJE HESSEN SCHEI - FOUNDER / DIRECTOR
Tonje is a Norwegian filmmaker who has been working with independent documentary film since 1996. Her films focus on human rights, the environment and social justice. She is the director of PLAY AGAIN (2010: winner of seven awards) and directed and produced INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION (2006: winner of two awards). Her films have travelled the festival circuit around the world, screened on five continents in over 100 countries, and are used in educational institutions globally.
In Norway Tonje worked for NRK, the Norwegian National Broadcasting Network. She has a Masters in film from the University of Trondheim in Norway and a BA in film production from the University of Texas in Austin. She has a degree in social anthropology from the University of Trondheim.
Tonje was the festival director for Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival (2011), Scandinavia’s only documentary film festival that solely focuses on human rights. Tonje founded Ground Productions in 2005.
DAVID BEE - FOUNDER
David is a filmmaker and teacher with over fifteen years of professional experience working in documentary, narrative, experimental, and commercial film and video, who specializes in independent productions that deal with essential subject matter. He has edited over five feature-length and short-form documentaries in recent years. His editing credits include GETTING MY CHILD BACK: FIGHTING AUTISM (2006; winner of Best Educational Documentary at NYIIFVF ); the award-winning film INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION (2006); MIRACLE BALL (2008); WHY DANCE FOR PARKINSON DISEASE? (2008); and PLAY AGAIN (2010; winner of seven awards). He has worked as a freelance video editor for over a decade and as a teacher of filmmaking and media studies for fourteen years during which time he has introduced many bright and talented young people to the craft of filmmaking, and overseen the production of over a hundred student videos. David Bee is a co-founder of Ground Productions and Light Motive Films.
LOWAN STEWART, MD - PRODUCER
Lowan is the Executive Producer of PLAY AGAIN (2010). He is a Producer for Ground Productions, and was the Associate Producer for INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION (2006). Lowan is also a practicing Emergency Physician and currently resides in Oslo, Norway and Portland, OR.
JONATHAN BORGE LIE - PROJECT MANAGER
Jonathan has a bachelor in Social Anthropology from the University of Oslo and studied documentary film in Volda, Norway. Jonathan was the film programmer at the Norwegian Documentary Film Festival 2010, and he has worked on TV productions and documentaries broadcasted on NRK, The Norwegian Broadcasting Network. Jonathan is a Film Programmer at Oslo Documentary Cinema, and the project manager for the documentary film festival "Human Rights Human Wrongs. Jonathan established Ground Productions in Oslo with Tonje.
