filmmakers
Jake Boritt
director/cinematographer
759: Boy Scouts of Harlem is Jake's second feature documentary. His first, Budapest to Gettysburg was selected for the 2007 IFP Independent Film Week in New York and screened at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival. He recently completed Cooking to Live, for the U.N. and Project Gaia filmed in Ethiopia's Ogaden Desert. Jake was Associate Producer on Rory Kennedy's Moxie-Firecracker production The Homestead Strike, part of the Emmy winning History Channel series 10 Days That Changed America. Jake worked with Sarah Teale on productions for HBO, A&E, AMC and CourtTV and on David Grubin's Young Doctor Freud and Kofi Annan: Center of the Storm (PBS). Ken Burns called Boritt's documentary Adams County USA (WITF) “a really good film.” Learn more at www.boritt.com.
Justin Szlasa director/producer/editor
759: Boy Scouts of Harlem is Justin's first film. Like his brother and his father, Justin is an Eagle Scout. He was a member of Troop 42 in Big Flats, New York and went to Camp Barton and Camp Seneca on the Finger Lakes. Justin failed his first dock test. Before starting 759 Justin and his wife spent sixteen months backpacking through twenty-one countries. Before that Justin managed Hubbard One, a technology company he founded with a partner in Chicago. Hubbard was named one of the fastest growing companies in America and is now part of Thomson-Reuters. Justin received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a master's degree in international economic policy from Columbia and has studied film at New York University and SVA, German at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, improv at the Upright Citizen's Brigade in Chelsea and Photoshop at DCTV. Nothing makes Justin happier than spending time with his family. More at www.triplebridgeltd.com.
Patrick Byers
music supervisor
Maurice Patrick Byers began music as an aspiring concert pianist studying with Olegna Fuschi. He studied composition with Louis Mennini, Robert Ward and Karel Husa, and orchestration with Sir Leo Arnaud, with whom their collaboration on the documentary "Amazon!" resulted in an invitation to the Royal Geographic Society for a presentation of the film and music. The film aired on The Discovery Channel and was the first film score to utilize a Peruvian samponia. The 1982 national tour of "Jazz Is", music composed and arranged by Mr. Byers, aired on National Public Television. A journey to find an "African Mozart" produced two films, African Adagio, and Symphony in Soweto, both airing on NC PBS 1992, followed by the composition "Music for Soweto MAMS", for viola and orchestra made possible with an NEA composers grant. Mr.Byers is resident composer for the Laguardia Arts High School in New York City. With a Surdna Foundation fellowship Mr.Byers travelled to Vietnam, 2002, to create a dance score for Tran Van Lai's October Ballet Company. Collaborating with US Probation in Washington he created "Share the Fame" for Native American youth on reservations for their music and dance. Mr.Byers' opera, "Incident at San Bajo"was produced by Riverside Opera Ensemble. More at www.mauricepatrickbyers.com.
Manahi Taber-Kewene
editor
Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Manahi Taber-Kewene has directed, produced, shot, and edited a wide array of documentary projects for both film and television. His credits include Planet B-boy, At the Green Line, TLC's A Baby Story, and commercial work for Ogilvy. Taber-Kewene's work has also appeared in film festivals around the world. He holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University. Learn more at www.reelstoryfilms.com.