Social Impact

SERENA SMITH

COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Serena Smith Joined Odyssey Impact as the Department Assistant in May 2019, shortly before transitioning to her role as the Interim Communications Coordinator. Before joining Odyssey’s team, Serena graduated on the Dean’s List from New York Film Academy in Documentary Filmmaking in 2018. Soon after she began freelance work on short and feature films, taking her to shoots in India, London, and across the US.

CAROLANNE DOLAN

HEAD OF PROGRAMMING

CarolAnne, who is responsible for development of new factual specials and series, has a diverse background in factual television. She’s worked in many genres including history, investigative docs, reality, pop culture, biography, wildlife and adventure, and on subject matter as diverse as shark attacks, crime bosses and how to plan the perfect wedding. She has had success as a network executive, garnering high ratings and awards.

CarolAnne has also worked on the production side of the business, creating successful programs for major cable networks. Prior to joining Odyssey, she was Vice President of Development and Production at WEtv, where she was responsible for a variety of programs such as The Secret Lives of Women and My Fair Wedding With David Tutera. CarolAnne was Executive Producer at NHNZ in New Zealand, where she created shows for National Geographic Channel, Bio Channel, Animal Planet and Discovery, among others. She was Vice President of Documentary Series at A&E Television and also served as executive producer of the Biography series. During her tenure at the helm of Biography, the series won numerous awards, including two Emmys, and was consistently the highest rated series on the network. CarolAnne began her TV career at National Geographic Television, acquiring documentary films for the weekly series Explorer.

David Dreilinger

COO

avid A. Dreilinger is a senior media and entertainment executive with proven leadership qualities and broad experience in large and small, public and private company environments. In addition to being COO of Odyssey Impact, he is currently CEO and Managing Director of Ducksoup Media Enterprises LLC, a consulting firm providing both business and legal services to the entertainment, media and communications industry.

DME partners with distribution, production and content creation companies and their CEO’s in all media to provide individually tailored solutions for their businesses. Its projects have included, among many others, creating business analyses and strategic plans for multi-media organizations, concluding a complex deal licensing the motion picture rights in a major theatrical property, structuring the development of a cross-platform licensing property, and resolving a long-outstanding dispute among the creators of one of the iconic motion pictures of the last 25 years.

Before founding Ducksoup Media Enterprises, Mr. Dreilinger was President and CEO of Lightworks Enterprises, Inc., an integrated television and motion picture production and distribution company, for which he created the strategic plan. Previously, Mr. Dreilinger was President and Chief Executive Officer of Unapix Entertainment, Inc., an American Stock Exchange-listed film, television, home entertainment and music production and distribution company, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Prior to Unapix, he was Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs and a member of the Board of Directors of BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc., handling all of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s business operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Before joining the BBC, Mr. Dreilinger was Head of Business and Legal Affairs and a member of the core management team of D.L. Taffner, Ltd., the privately-held worldwide entertainment company responsible for the importation and distribution of such projects as Three’s Company, Too Close For Comfort and, Rumpole of the Bailey. Prior to that, Mr. Dreilinger was Vice President and General Counsel of Viacom, having the distinction of being the youngest in its history. Mr. Dreilinger has been an Adjunct Professor of Entertainment Law at the Syracuse University College of Law and is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He earned a Masters of Laws in Taxation from the New York University School of Law and is a cum laude graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University.

TERESA DEPAOLA

BOOKKEEPER

Teresa has been a part of the team since January of 2018. She enjoys concerts, traveling, CrossFit and is an avid reader.

Evy Constantine

Screenings Strategist

Evy Constantine joined Odyssey Impact as Screenings Strategist in 2018. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Communication where she earned a Master’s degree in Leadership for Creative Enterprises, graduating summa cum laude. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from The New School in New York City where she majored in Film and Media Studies, concentrating on all aspects of screenwriting. She has produced award-winning films with KaplaniKid Productions, which have had their debut screenings at the Festival de Cannes.

She has held positions at various film and media companies, including Media Strategist at Spark Foundry, and handling Acquisitions and Development Strategy for film streaming start-up, Flix Premiere. She is an IDA, ACLU and NAACP member, and a very proud and active member of both The New School Alumni Association and the Northwestern University Alumni Association, where she serves on the Alumni Admissions Council.

Rev. Katie Givens Kime

Director of City Partnerships

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime has always played an important role in faith-based communities, culminating in her work as Director of City Partnerships for Odyssey Impact. She is an integral part of building and strengthening relationships in key cities, including partnerships with theological and higher education institutions, communities of faith, and secular justice organizations.

With experience that includes congregational leadership, university instruction, community mediation and restorative justice, social justice advocacy, chaplaincy and spiritual caregiving, she brings more than 15 years of experience in motivating theological education and faith communities to take on civic issues.

She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary (NYC) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Religion from Emory University, where she also assisted, guest lectured, and adjunct taught courses at Emory and the Candler School of Theology for more than 8 years. She was a member of the Post-Doctoral Teaching and Research Faculty at the Universität Bern in Switzerland in 2017 and 2018, and served as the Associate Pastor for Mission, Adult Education and Young Adults at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga., for six years. Before that, she worked at Marble Collegiate Church and at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, both in New York City. In her research, teaching, and professional accomplishments, Katie is valued for her success in crossing the boundaries of academy, church, health care, theatre, and the public square.

NANCY DIONNE

OFFICE MANAGER/EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Nancy Dionne is a documentary filmmaker, associate producer and award-winning photojournalist from San Francisco. Her focus is to take one “to a threshold” by producing stories that create possibilities for envisioning a better future. The word “Future” is in most of her personal projects.

She says that “A good film shows you what something or someone looks like but a great film shows you what it feels like to be that someone else.”

No matter what her task at Odyssey, she connects people together to inspire calls to action that foster change for new future outcomes.

Nancy graduated on the Deans List from the New York Film Academy’s intensive documentary program and with honors in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute.

JENISE OGLE

IMPACT AND DATA STRATEGIST

Jenise joined Odyssey Impact as Impact and Data Strategist in August 2019. In 2013, she graduated from Harvard College with honors and an A.B. in Social Studies and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Jenise later joined Unchained at Last, a nonprofit dedicated to ending forced marriage in the United States, where she led a successful legislative campaign to protect domestic violence victims’ safety by allowing crime victims to access their police reports without cost and keep these requests out of the public record. In April 2014, Jenise joined Sanctuary for Families (SFF), the leading service provider for gender-based violence victims in New York City. In her role, Jenise helped domestic violence victims reach self-sufficiency and independence. In 2017, Jenise co-led SFF’s successful campaign to reduce child marriage in New York State by changing the minimum age of marriage from 14 to 17. In 2019, Jenise completed a Master in Public Administration degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. As a graduate student, she co-developed Save Our Moms, a campaign that encouraged more than 6 million people to take greater responsibility for the safety of mothers during and after pregnancy, for the MTV, VH1, and Logo networks.

Anne Faustin

DIRECTOR OF FAITH-BASED COALITIONS

Anne Faustin has over a decade of experience in strategic planning and development in both the private and non-profit sectors. She previously served as the Outreach Producer for Bring It to The Table a Talking Eyes Media documentary where she identified and cultivated relationships with colleges, universities, prospect funders, and national organizations in the civil discourse space.

Additionally, Anne served as the Strategic Development Consultant for the Ciné Institute, where she created a five year strategic development plan that addressed the short, and long term development goals of the film Institute.

Anne served as a Working Group Consultant at the Clinton Global Initiative where she was responsible for building and leading a working group of thought leaders focused on health and wellness in the United States. She has also served as a Regional Vice President and Senior Professional Relations Representative in the Healthcare sector.

Anne was born in Brussels, Belgium, and grew up in New York. She graduated from New York Medical College with a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management and from Manhattanville College with a BA in Management. Anne received her Certificate in Television and Film Producing at NYU.

KIRSTEN KELLY

IMPACT PRODUCER

Kirsten is an Impact Producer for Odyssey Impact, overseeing development and production of long- and short-form documentaries and impact film production. She is an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and her recent film, The Homestretch, a feature documentary about homeless high school students in Chicago Public Schools, was a co-production with Kartemquin Films and Spargel Productions, her company with film partner Anne de Mare. The Homestretch was broadcast on PBS Independent Lens as part of the American Graduate Initiative with Corporation for Public Broadcasting and ITVS. Previous film projects include the award-winning Asparagus! Stalking the American Life and the upcoming The Girl With the Rivet Gun — an animated new media project about Rosie the Riveter.

Her work has been supported by the ITVS, CPB, AmDoc, MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Fledgling Fund, Chicken and Egg, Good Pitch and Bertha Foundation/Brit Docs. She was recently awarded the ‘2015 Spirit of Youth Award” from the National Runaway Safeline for her advocacy work supporting homeless youth surrounding the The Homestretch Impact Campaign. Kirsten is also a theatre director and arts educator and was awarded the President’s 2014 Award for Youth Programs in the Arts & Humanities. She has a diverse background in developing new content for both film and theater which focuses on social justice issues and worked several years on National Geographic’s Explorer series.

Kirsten is a Fellow at the Sundance Documentary Institute and a graduate of the Master’s Directing program at The Juilliard School.

Michelle Budnick

HEAD OF PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION

Prior to joining Odyssey in 2011 to work with its expanding short form production department, Michelle was a freelance Production Manager and Line Producer, working on productions for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, History Channel, National Geographic, TLC, MTV, VH1 and Bravo. With over fifteen years in production on both sides of the Atlantic, Michelle has been involved with the production and delivery of over one hundred hours of broadcast television and produced over 1,000 digital shorts. Since becoming Head of Production in 2016, Michelle has overseen all production, post production and delivery of all short content and documentaries produced by Transform Films, including award winning films Newtown, Lessons from a School Shooting, Milwaukee 53206 and Run for His Life.

Melissa C. Potter

Head of Social Impact and Communications

Using film, technology, entertainment and new media as a catalyst for social change, Melissa C. Potter is at the forefront of impact innovation. As Head of Social Impact and Communications for Odyssey Impact and Transform Films, she has engaged communities across the nation in dialogue around today’s most pressing social justice issues, uplifting the voices and lived experiences of our nation’s diverse and oft-underrepresented populations. Take, for example, her 2018 NAACP Image Award nomination as Impact Producer for the film The Rape of Recy Taylor.

Through her work, Melissa creates a platform for diverse voices to be heard in traditional media spaces. Melissa has been an Impact Producer on several documentary and short-form pieces that focus specifically on the issues of criminal justice, sexual and gender-based violence, and urban gun violence. These films and videos have gone on to much acclaim worldwide, including: winner of Best Documentary Short 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival; winner of the Peabody Award 2018; and winner of Prize for Human Rights at the Venice Film Festival.

In addition to creating inclusive spaces in digital and new media, Melissa is focused on using technology to foster sustainable social impact in underserved communities nationwide. In the past year, she has coordinated over 200 screenings of Milwaukee 53206, a documentary which tells the story of the ZIP code in America with the highest rate of incarcerated African American males. These screenings have served as the catalyst for national campaigns, as well as the formation of prison ministries, community coalitions and reentry and support programs. Melissa believes that diverse storytelling can inspire empathy, awareness and action nationwide.

Prior to her work with Odyssey, she focused on entertainment and advocacy. Potter has worked in public relations with chart-topping entertainment figures such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Grandmaster Flash as a freelance publicist, with Catalyst Group, and Coolhunters and partnered with Amazon, Audible, Scholastic, and Netflix with Think Big… Think You!, always building a philanthropic dimension into her work, an outgrowth of her own interests in bettering the world around her.

She built lasting awareness of issues while at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and ACLU. But it was not until she joined Odyssey Impact that she was able to combine these fields with the new dimension of follow-up among the public as well as policy-makers in the type of long-term social impact campaigns which she now coordinates, going beyond simply releasing media to actually introducing those with various roles to play in discussion. “I hope that we can now build a community of engaged supporters, including those in the entertainment space,” she says, ever making connections.

Ann O’Leary

DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

Ann has been a fundraising professional for over 20 years. As a mission focused professional, Ann has successfully raised millions for organizations such as The United Way, YMCA, Audubon and a private school. Through inspirational partnerships with volunteers, staff and organizations, Ann has managed Annual Fund Campaigns, Capital Campaigns, Festivals, Golf Tournaments, Lectures, Galas and securing transformative million dollar gifts from individuals and foundations. Ann received her BA from Assumption College and a Masters in Education from Cambridge College.

NICK STUART

PRESIDENT & CEO, PGA Member

“If all people said was ‘great film’ but did nothing [about a social issue], then we have failed,” says Odyssey Impact’s CEO and visionary Nick Stuart. He’s talking about the organization’s mission of social impact beyond just making great documentary films. It’s a role that he calls “a calling, not a job” and it’s the culmination of a lifetime of experience in mainstream television news and entertainment production on both sides of the Atlantic, from BBC to Discovery.

His prior experience with traditional media outlets allowed him to explore current issues, but not prompt action afterwards.

On his arrival, Stuart masterminded a wholesale shift in Odyssey from an interfaith cable TV network to a documentary-filmmaking and coalition-building organization that facilitates change via telling stories of spirituality making a difference in people’s everyday lives, no matter the religion. He cites instances where progress would never have been made without faiths working together, such as in “The Troubles,” Northern Ireland, a story he covered extensively for the UK’s largest network, ITV. He says, “Below the surface, there were priests and ministers working to build trust. A Catholic priest and a Protestant minister would work together when someone got killed; they would call on the widow or family of the dead person and offer pastoral care and healing. These were ordinary people, not superheroes, and they weren’t looking for the limelight. Priests also served as go-betweens among the Irish government, the IRA, and the British government.” He also cites the example of faith leaders collaborating with secular activists in South Africa to end apartheid. He continues, “They went into that poisonous space and when things were collapsing around them, managed to hold that country together, playing a part and helping to solve an ‘unsolvable’ problem.”

Odyssey works to take films back into the communities represented as well as to other nonprofits and organizations to continue the conversation on a person-to-person level, even among constituencies that disagree radically. In the case of the film “MILWAUKEE 53206,” about families left behind in a zip code of Milwaukee where 62% of adult Black men are currently in prison or have served time, a local screening and discussion was met with lines around the block.

In generating these outcomes of change, British-born Stuart brings a background of looking at world events and human stories via the role of faith, from his early days at British TV network ITV through time as an MTV producer, as a BAFTA judge, at the Discovery Channel, and in various BBC posts. His experience varies from creating a comedic religious game show to reporting from the front lines of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the rise of Hamas.

A filmmaker must also deal in trust. The subjects of Odyssey’s films know that they’ll be portrayed as real people, not tokens. He reflects, “We deal with the stuff of people’s souls.

Nick is a member of the Producers Guild of America (pga) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).