Meet The Team

Steven Pressman is a former newspaper and magazine journalist who worked for a variety of publications in Los Angeles, Washington DC and San Francisco. 

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As a filmmaker, Steve directed and produced 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, which premiered on HBO in 2013 and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Historical Programming. His next film, Holy Silence, premiered on PBS in 2020. Steve’s third film, The Levys of Monticello, won numerous awards while screening at more than 100 film festivals around the country since its release in 2022. His film, Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist, screened at numerous film festivals after its release in 2024.

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Steve is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Documentary Peer group). In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Steve is the best-selling author of 50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple’s Extraordinary Rescue Mission Into the Heart of Nazi Germany (HarperCollins, 2014).

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Steve was born and raised in Los Angeles and received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Richard Levien has been writing, directing and editing award-winning films for 20 years. His editing credits include Barry Jenkins’ short film Remigration and feature documentaries A Fragile Trust and D Tour  as well as Steven Pressman's previous films Holy Silence, The Levys of Monticello and Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist. His motion graphics work for the Center for Investigative Reporting earned him a national Emmy nomination.

Levien’s debut feature film as a writer /director, Collisions, premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2018 and won the Audience Award (US Independent Cinema: Gold). It has gone on to win 13 awards from 19 festivals.

Levien is originally from New Zealand. He is one of the few New Zealanders who played no part whatsoever in the making of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy or The Hobbit. Levien does, however, have a PhD in theoretical physics from Princeton University.

Lisa Stark is a former network news correspondent who has reported for ABC News, Al Jazeera America and the PBS NewsHour. 

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Stark won two Emmys for her broadcast work -- for "The Broken Pension Promise" about pension changes affecting American workers and for "ABC 2000 - The Millennium," ABC’s 24-hour coverage of Year 2000.  Stark also received a DuPont Award for her work alongside anchorman Peter Jennings on the ABC special "9/11: Answering Children's Question,” a live broadcast talking to children about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

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Prior to joining ABC News, Stark worked as a reporter and anchor at local television stations in San Francisco, Portland and Eugene, Oregon. 

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As a filmmaker, Stark served as associate producer for the PerlePress Productions documentaries The Levys of Monticello and Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist. 

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Stark grew up in the Washington DC area and in Santa Barbara, California. She received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

​After graduating from New York University’s film program, Dave began his career in editing rooms and later served as sound editing supervisor for the 1980 No Nukes concert film.  

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Dave’s cinematography credits include more than a dozen feature films ranging from thrillers and horror films to relationship dramas  and experimental films.  

Dave served as cinematographer for the award-winning television series Remember WENN and Mathnet (which earned him an Emmy nomination), as well as for numerous documentaries including the Peabody and Emmy Award winning Billy Strayhorn: A Lush Life and HBO’s Emmy-nominated 50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, his first of several collaborations with filmmaker Steven Pressman. 

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Sperling is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and is also the creator of the OnSet Software computer programs for theater and film. He currently teaches courses in cinematography, visual effects and video editing at Rutgers University.