Production Team
CHRIS HALEY — Host
​Chris is the Director of Research and the Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland at the Maryland State Archives, and a founding member of the Maryland Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first state commission of its kind in the U.S. A historian, filmmaker and poet, Haley co-directed the Emmy-winning documentary, Unmarked, which investigates the preservation of historic African American cemeteries. His work bridging genealogical research and social justice has earned him the Society of American Archivists Diversity Award, the AASLH Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence, and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom’s Robert G. Stanton Award. He serves on the boards of the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, the Annapolis Film Festival, Compass Rose Theatre, and Annapolis Pride, and has authored seven collections of poetry. You can learn more about Chris at www.chrishaleyspeaks.com. ​
ANDREA KALIN — Creative Director / Producer
​Andrea is founder and Executive Director of Stone Soup Productions, as well as its production arm, Spark Media. Her projects have been funded by the NEH, CPB, PBS, HBO, NBPC, Smithsonian Channel and the humanities councils of Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC. Andrea Kalin directed Soul of a People and twelve other award-winning feature documentaries. Her awards include a Prime Time Emmy, Golden Globe and WGA nominations. Her work explores contemporary and historical topics. Before becoming a filmmaker, Kalin began her career in radio, contributing reports to the AP, Mutual Radio, 2 GB Australia, CBC, NPR and Israel Radio. Kalin, a member of the WGA and PGA, oversees the creative direction of The People’s Recorder.
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DAVID TAYLOR — Producer / Writer
​David is an award-winning author who collaborated with Stone Soup as the lead writer and co-producer on the Soul of a People documentary. He wrote that film’s companion book, as well as four other books on historical topics, including Cork Wars: Intrigue and Industry in World War II, which received an Independent Publisher Book Award for history. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Scientific American, Discover, and Smithsonian, and received an Outstanding Feature Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists. He has given talks at the National Book Festival, the International Spy Museum, the Texas Book Festival, the FDR Library and Museum, and the Oral History Association. He teaches at Johns Hopkins University. You can learn more about David Taylor at www.davidtaylor.org. ​
JAMES MIRABELLO — Producer / Writer
​James has worked with Spark Media since 2000 as production manager and producer, helping shepherd projects to completion. In addition to co-producing The People’s Recorder, he was co-producer and lead researcher on Soul of a People and its accompanying outreach campaign, and has fulfilled the same role on Spark Media’s other projects, including First Lady of the Revolution, which won over ten awards on the festival circuit and was broadcast on public television as part of Reel South.
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ETHAN OSER — Editor
Ethan has a decade of experience telling perspective-shifting stories. With Spark Media since 2013, he’s helped bring many of the company’s award-winning productions to life. Beyond editing The People's Recorder, he was most recently a producer and director of photography on Public Defender. Oser’s work has screened at international festivals and been broadcast and streamed worldwide on PBS, HBO, The New Yorker, Amazon, Apple TV, National Geographic, Tubi and FreeSpeech TV.
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