The Team
Jenifer Westphal founded Wavelength Productions in 2015 with a mission to develop, fund, and produce films that tell great f**king stories. With a 90% female staff, Wavelength is committed to cultivating a diverse team of creators and filmmakers in all stages of production to create stories celebrate the human condition.
In 2019, the company premiered four titles at the Sundance Film Festival including THE INFILTRATORS by directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? by director Matt Tyrnauer, SELAH AND THE SPADES by writer-director Tayarisha Poe, and KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE by director Rachel Lears. Other notable Wavelength films include Morgan Neville’s highest-grossing bio-doc of all time, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, which premiered at Sundance in 2018; Matt Tyrnauer’s SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD, and other Sundance 2018 titles including NIGHT COMES ON and INVENTING TOMORROW.
With the production of 17 films directed by women under their belt, Wavelength Productions takes a special interest in granting to female filmmakers. Recent projects the company has granted to include Sarah Menzie’s documentary AFGHAN CYCLES, Paula Eiselt’s 93QUEEN, Assia Boundaoui’s THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED and the Amazon Original documentary ONE CHILD NATION by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2019.
RACHEL BETH ANDERSON
CO-DIRECTOR/CO-CINEMATOGRAPHER
Rachel Beth Anderson, a Sundance award-winning cinematographer, began her career filming in hostile environments including Libya, Syria, South Sudan, and Afghanistan for PBS Frontline, CNN, Human Rights Watch, and independent feature documentaries FIRST TO FALL, E-TEAM, and THEO, WHO LIVED. During the 2011 Egyptian uprising, Anderson began to work as a cinematographer and field producer for the journalism documentary series PBS Frontline. Anderson’s directorial debut, FIRST TO FALL, was Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund grantee (2012) and had its world premiere screening at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in late 2013. After screening in festivals across a dozen countries, the film won two jury awards at the investigative journalism festival FIGRA in France, the Grand Prix Jury Award at IRFF in Poland, was featured at the Bayeux-Calvados award for war correspondents, and was awarded the Best of Fest prize at the Columbus International Film Festival.
TIM GRUCZA
CO-DIRECTOR/CO-CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tim Grucza is an Emmy award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker. Before focusing on US domestic issues, he specialized in conflict reporting, having covered wars in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan through to the Egyptian and Libyan uprisings and slaughter in Central Africa. For the past 15 years, he has shot and co-produced dozens of films for PBS’ investigative documentary program Frontline. As a director/DP his awards range from a shared Peabody in 2012 for work with CNN to the 2006 Banff International Television award for his first feature length documentary, White Platoon. Most recently, FIRST TO FALL, garnered two co-director awards at 2014 Figra Investigative film festival. He is currently based in Brooklyn, but was born and raised in Australia.
JENIFER WESTPHAL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Jenifer Westphal founded Wavelength Productions in 2015 with a mission to develop, fund, and produce films that tell great f**king stories. In her role as President and Executive Producer, Jenifer breaks barriers by taking a special interest in fostering female talent both on set and in the studio. Through Wavelength, she works tirelessly to find and support talented filmmakers in all stages of production on projects that resonate with broad audiences. Jenifer is also a benefactor of Chicago Media Project, where she currently sits on the board. Additionally, she recently served as a panelist on the Sundance Catalyst Round Table and is a member of the Women of Sundance Leadership Council.
Outside of her work in film, Jenifer serves as an advisory board member and grantor for the Good Work Foundation, an organization with the mission to lead a digitally-empowered education model for rural Africa and the world. She is also a trustee of Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa.
JOE PLUMMER
PRODUCER
Joe Plummer is currently the Producer for Wavelength Productions and oversees all in-house production, development, investment and co-production of their films. Joe has been with Wavelength since its inception in 2015 and has worked closely with Jenifer on all of the company’s titles.
Joe started his career in the theater space, producing Shakespeare for his award-winning company Poor Tom Productions and The Williamstown Theater Festival. In 2005, he transitioned to network television where he produced and directed shows for TRUTV, Court TV, The Food Network and HGTV. In 2012, Joe started a digital ad agency and full-service production company, Gotta Kid To Feed Productions (GKTF), and made a splash with his Webby-nominated viral series “Real Actors Read Yelp.” At GKTF, Joe created, produced and directed original digital content for brands and networks including ESPN, Nickelodeon, NICK Jr., The Food Network, Cooking Channel, HGTV, Travel Channel and more. In 2015, he released his first short film Love Life; a comedy about online dating gone awry.
BOBBY REED
PRODUCER
With 17 years of broadcast and film experience, Bobby Reed began working in live & post production as a professional for Fox Sports Midwest in St. Louis. He later moved into the Pre & Post game producer role for FS Kansas City, producing 280 shows for the Kansas City Royals. Over the past 5 years he’s moved on to become a national editor at Versus and NBC Sports, as well as working live events for such clients as FOX, NBC, ESPN and CBS – highlighted by Super Bowl LI, The 2018 Winter Olympics, 2010 World Series and 2011 Stanley cup final. He founded his own production company, Loaded Pixel, in 2012, producing content for NBCSports and Wawa. He first produced a short film, ELEVEN PAST TEN, in 2014 which screened at local film festivals. In 2013 he ventured into documentary film co-producing UNSCHOOLED. Currently, he’s in pre-production for his first narrative feature, a coming of age story based in Philadelphia. He is also working on documentary stories about a single father poet who has devoted his life to kids with disabilities in the inner city. As well as the life of a recovering opioid addict that’s challenging current users to get help.
BRENDA ROBINSON
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Brenda Robinson is a Co-Founder of Gamechanger Films. Brenda is an entertainment attorney whose law practice focuses on entertainment matters on behalf of clients in the music, film and television industries. An active philanthropist in the arts and entertainment community, Brenda is a member of The Recording Academy and Film Independent and sits on the boards of the Grammy Music Education Coalition, The Representation Project, Chicken & Egg Pictures and the International Documentary Association. She is actively involved in the Sundance Institute as a member of the Women at Sundance Leadership Council, is an advisor to The Redford Center and a founding advisory board member of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Brenda is a graduate of the University of Michigan and obtained a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a certificate in Business and Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. Brenda was most recently an equity investor on the Academy Award winning documentary ICARUS, as well as WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR, and is currently an executive producer on numerous projects including UNITED SKATES alongside executive producer John Legend, THE GREAT AMERICAN LIE by director Jennifer Siebel Newsom, JUMP SHOT: THE KENNY SAILORS STORY, alongside executive producer Steph Curry, and CLARKSTON: THE MOST DIVERSE SQUARE MILE IN AMERICA, alongside executive producer Katie Couric.
STEVEN CANTOR
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Steven Cantor is the founder of New York City-based Stick Figure Productions. In 2017, Steven produced STEP, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize. The film was acquired by Fox Searchlight in a record-setting deal and won numerous awards after its worldwide theatrical release. Prior to that, Steven produced and directed DANCER, which tells the story of the controversial ballet star, Sergei Polunin. A BBC Film, it was theatrically released in 35 countries and won Audience Awards at both the Warsaw and Amsterdam Film Festivals as well as a nomination for a 2017 PGA award for Best Documentary. Steven received an Oscar nomination for his first film, BLOOD TIES: THE LIFE AND WORK OF SALLY MANN, about the notorious photographer. He also received an Emmy Award nomination for the HBO/Channel 4 UK DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, about the rebellious tendencies of Amish teens and two nominations for the HBO/BBC film WHAT REMAINS, which revisited Sally Mann to follow the creation of a body of work on the nature of decay. Steven won an Emmy award for his PBS American Masters film WILLIE NELSON: STILL IS STILL MOVING and was nominated for an Emmy for producing and directing the ESPN film CUTTHROAT, about injured NHL goalie, Clint Malarchuk.
In addition, Stick Figure has an ongoing partnership with Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Executive Producer, Elisabeth Moss to create films and series on the classical arts, in particular, ballet. Their first feature, BALLET NOW, which Steven produced and directed, follows NYCB superstar, Tiler Peck, as she curates and stars in a show at LA’s Music Center.
BEN GOLD
EDITOR
Ben Gold is a New York based editor who has worked extensively in the documentary field. He has worked on numerous episodes of FRONTLINE on PBS, including the DuPont Award winning UNITED STATES OF SECRETS and TRUTH, WAR AND CONSEQUENCES, and the Emmy winning MONEY, POWER AND WALL STREET. He also worked with director Kristi Jacobson on her Emmy winning SOLITARY, and the documentary features REVERSITING and FAR FROM THE TREE (based on the book by Andrew Solomon).