Producers & Professionals
Jay Craven, Director
Founding Co-Director, Kingdom County Productions (1991-present) and Semester Cinema (2006-present). Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at Marlboro College (1998-2018) and Guest Professor of Directing and Screenwriting at Sarah Lawrence College (2017-2020). ALSO founder/producer of Catamount Arts and KCP Presents performing arts series - and co-founder of Circus Smirkus
Film credits include: Writer, director, producer: High Water (w/ Greg Germann, Jane MacFie); Where the Rivers Flow North (w/ Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Michael J. Fox); A Stranger in the Kingdom (w/ Ernie Hudson, Martin Sheen, David Lansbury); Windy Acres (w/ Seana Kofoed, Rusty DeWees), Disappearances (w/ Kris Kristofferson); Northern Borders (w/ Bruce Dern, Genevieve Bujold); Peter and John (w/ Jacqueline Bisset, Christian Coulson, Diane Guerrero, Gordon Clapp); Wetware (w/ Jerry O’Connell, Cameron Scoggins, Morgan Wolk) and Jack London’s Martin Eden (w/ Andrew Richardson, Hayley Griffith) and Lost Nation (w/ Eva Ndachi, Kevin Ryan, Matt Ordain and Rob Campbell.)
ALSO Writer, director: The Year That Trembled (w/ Jonathan Brandis, Marin Hinkle, Fred Willard). Documentaries include After the Fog, Dawn of the People, Gayleen, and Approaching the Elephant (producer) and Breaking the Silence (w/ Alice Walker, Rosanne Cash, Bill T. Jones and others).
Festivals and special screenings include: Sundance, SXSW, AFI Fest, Vienna, Vancouver, Avignon, Havana, Lincoln Center, Smithsonian, Harvard Film Archives, Cinematheque Francaise, Constitutional Court of Johannesburg, and Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela.
Awards and recognition: Producers Guild of America NOVA Award; Gotham Award nomination; two National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) film production grants; finalist, Critics Week, Cannes Film Festival; selection to the Sundance Collection at UCLA; NEA’s American Masterpieces Program; selection to American Film Institute’s initial “AFI: Project 20/20” international cultural exchange.
Jennifer Latham, Producer
JENNIFER LATHAM is an award-winning producer of narratives and documentaries. She started her film career in her home state of Vermont - and has worked for more than two decades on films that go beneath the surface in honest and often provocative ways. Her documentary producing credits include TWO TOWNS OF JASPER, the critically acclaimed PBS documentary for which she received a Columbia-Dupont award and Michael Moore's Academy Award-nominated films, SICKO and CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY.
Jen won a primetime Emmy award for her work on YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, a series on climate change that has aired on Showtime and National Geographic Channel. Also, three seasons of work on the weekly PBS program NOW WITH BILL MOYERS. Her narrative credits include work on films by directors Daniel Minahan, Tod Williams, Jay Craven and Nora Jacobson. LIGHT ATTACHING TO A GIRL, a micro-budget narrative completed in 2021, is now screening at festivals, winning awards for cinematography and score, She lives in southern Vermont.
The faculty roster for 2024 is upcoming.
Semester Cinema is committed to gathering a diverse group of film professionals to serve as mentors. Here are some of the professionals who have joined past iterations of our program:
Brad Heck (cinematographer and camera/lighting mentor)
BA, Marlboro College. MFA, Vermont College of Fine Arts. Credits include Northern Borders, Peter and John, Wetware, Shout it Out, After the Fog and, as director (with Willow O’Feral) of Sisters Rising.
Michael Toscano (line producer, assistant director, and production management mentor)
MFA, Columbia University. Undergraduate study: Ithaca College. Film credits include Peter and John, Wetware, Martin Eden, First Match (Netflix), Tramps, (Animal Kingdom) and Cargo (BEF Productions).
Maryam Khosravi (production designer and art department mentor)
MFA NYU/Tisch – Design for Stage and Film; BSC, Art University of Tehran, School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Credits include Martin Eden, Ask for Jane, Glengarry Glen Ross (NYU).
Avery Reed (costume designer and mentor)
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design. MFA, NYU/Tisch - Design for Stage and Film. Credits include Martin Eden, Boardwalk Empire, Hamlet (Public Theater), Only Human, Measure for Measure.
Visiting Artists
During the semester, visiting artists will join the program for master classes, special events, screenings, and field trips. Check back soon for a list of visiting artists!
If you had asked me fifteen weeks ago if I would have a credit for editing on a feature length film, a job lined up working in New York City making music videos for the summer, or dozens of new people met and ready to network - I would have blown you off. The fact of the matter is, I didn’t even know I was coming fifteen weeks ago. My financials weren’t set, I had doubts in myself, and I was afraid to leave my family and friends behind. Now, I feel as if I have grown exponentially. This program has given me the tools to be successful in the film industry and I am eternally grateful.
– Austin Pellegrino, Northern Vermont University