The Team
Stand with Ukraine through Film is benefiting from the participation and support of Ukrainians, Americans, Canadians, Dutch, Australians and others. Key individuals and companies include:
Oles Sanin – Director of THE GUIDE
Sanin is a prominent Ukrainian film director of the post‐Soviet generation. He was trained by Leonid Osyka, one of the leading representatives of the Ukrainian poetic cinema of the 1960‐70. Sanin has worked in tandem with his childhood friend Serhii Mykhalchuk, the internationally recognized Ukrainian cinematographer. Their collaboration has produced works that are visually striking and deeply poetical.
Sanin graduated from the Ivan Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Film and TV in Kyiv and had internships in the Netherlands and the United States. Two of his feature films, the debut Mamay (2003) and The Guide (2014), were official Ukrainian entries for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film.
Sanin is currently in Kyiv along with others in the Ukrainian film industry. He has provided a taped introduction to the film which is being shown at cinemas.
Maksym Asadchyi - CEO of Pronto Films and Executive Producer of The Guide
Since 2004, Pronto Films has produced its own feature films, documentaries, and TV programs. It has also supported the production of films by Netflix, Canal +, HBO Europe, and Film.ua. A co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Industry Association and member of the European Producers Club, Pronto Films has continued to make and release films during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Anton Greene - Lead Role, The Guide
A U.S. citizen born to an American father and Ukrainian mother, Anton was selected by Oles Sanin to play the key role of a young American caught up in the Holodomor in the 1930s. At the time of the film's shooting in Ukraine, he was 9 -- though he became 10 on the last day of the shoot. Fluent in English and Ukrainian, Anton is now a third year undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He has participated in numerous interviews in support of screenings of The Guide across the U.S. and was, along with U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton, a featured speaker at the film's screening on Capitol Hill -- the first Ukrainian film to have that honor.
Yuri Shevchuk – Director of Ukrainian Film Club, Columbia University
A lecturer of Ukrainian language at Columbia University’s Department of Slavic Languages and the Harriman Institute, Dr. Yuri Shevchuk founded the Ukrainian Film Club in 2004. The only permanent forum for Ukrainian film in North America, the Club has one of the largest Ukrainian film collections outside Ukraine including a number of films obtained soon after the Russian invasion.
Shevchuk is a member of the Ukrainian National Filmmakers’ Union and the Ukrainian Film Academy. He lectures widely on Ukrainian film and his original area of expertise, Slavic language and culture.
Shevchuk has published in the US, Canadian, and Ukrainian press and on the Internet on issues of Ukrainian language, identity, culture, and cinema. He authored Beginner's Ukrainian with Interactive Online Workbook, Hippocrene Books, 2011, 2013, 2016, a popular textbook for university students and self-learners worldwide. Its third updated and integrated edition will come out in August 2022. His essay Linguistic Schizophrenia. Whither, Ukraine?, 2015, Diskursus (in Ukrainian) provoked a national discussion in Ukraine on issues of the nation’s identity and decolonization. His most recent book, the Ukrainian-English Collocation Dictionary, Hippocrene Books, New York, N.Y., 2021, 1,000 pages, has no precedents in Slavic or English lexicography and has been described as “one of the most breathtaking scholarly achievements in Slavonic Studies in many years.”
Shevchuk grew up in Northwestern Ukraine (the Province of Rivne) where his family is currently living in proximity to the Belarusian border and a nuclear power plant.
Lisa Vucelich, Communications Director
Lisa leads the national and local publicity efforts for this project, including managing all media relations and arranging press interviews. She also works to further develop and grow partnerships across the country, building relationships with cinemas, art houses and colleges/universities, as they schedule screenings of The Guide.
Throughout her career, Lisa has worked on high-profile, national and international communications campaigns in major markets such as Pittsburgh, New York and Paris. She’s managed clients’ integrated communications projects, encompassing advertising, marketing and public relations efforts.
Lisa is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in both Journalism and French, and she speaks French fluently.
Marshall Strauss – Project Organizer
Strauss has been active in human rights and the US charity sector for decades.
In 2021, Strauss and his wife, Elaine Gerdine, re-opened the three screen Cinema Salem in Salem MA which had shut at the height of the COVID pandemic. They have since expanded the venue by adding a fourth screen.
In 1989, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Strauss resigned his position as associate director of the Child Welfare League of America and became a key aide to Chinese dissidents who had fled to the West. In 1991 he organized and participated in the Congressional human rights delegation to China led by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
In 1992, Strauss and Russian human rights activist Mikhail Kazachov co‐founded Freedom Channel. That organization brought together Russian filmmakers, pollsters, and political operatives to produce that nation’s first public service announcement – on behalf of democracy. They then created numerous human rights documentaries.
For years, Strauss was a prominent nonprofit leader of the federal government’s workplace giving program, serving as chair of the National Combined Federal Campaign Committee and then as treasurer of the Combined Federal Campaign Foundation. The CFC has raised more than $8 billion for tens of thousands of charities since its creation.
Strauss launched Stand with Ukraine through Film in late February 2022, soon after Russia's expanded invasion of Ukraine.
Oles Sanin – Director of THE GUIDE
Sanin is a prominent Ukrainian film director of the post‐Soviet generation. He was trained by Leonid Osyka, one of the leading representatives of the Ukrainian poetic cinema of the 1960‐70. Sanin has worked in tandem with his childhood friend Serhii Mykhalchuk, the internationally recognized Ukrainian cinematographer. Their collaboration has produced works that are visually striking and deeply poetical.
Sanin graduated from the Ivan Karpenko-Kary National University of Theatre, Film and TV in Kyiv and had internships in the Netherlands and the United States. Two of his feature films, the debut Mamay (2003) and The Guide (2014), were official Ukrainian entries for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film.
Sanin is currently in Kyiv along with others in the Ukrainian film industry. He has provided a taped introduction to the film which is being shown at cinemas.
Maksym Asadchyi - CEO of Pronto Films and Executive Producer of The Guide
Since 2004, Pronto Films has produced its own feature films, documentaries, and TV programs. It has also supported the production of films by Netflix, Canal +, HBO Europe, and Film.ua. A co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Industry Association and member of the European Producers Club, Pronto Films has continued to make and release films during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Anton Greene - Lead Role, The Guide
A U.S. citizen born to an American father and Ukrainian mother, Anton was selected by Oles Sanin to play the key role of a young American caught up in the Holodomor in the 1930s. At the time of the film's shooting in Ukraine, he was 9 -- though he became 10 on the last day of the shoot. Fluent in English and Ukrainian, Anton is now a third year undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He has participated in numerous interviews in support of screenings of The Guide across the U.S. and was, along with U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton, a featured speaker at the film's screening on Capitol Hill -- the first Ukrainian film to have that honor.
Yuri Shevchuk – Director of Ukrainian Film Club, Columbia University
A lecturer of Ukrainian language at Columbia University’s Department of Slavic Languages and the Harriman Institute, Dr. Yuri Shevchuk founded the Ukrainian Film Club in 2004. The only permanent forum for Ukrainian film in North America, the Club has one of the largest Ukrainian film collections outside Ukraine including a number of films obtained soon after the Russian invasion.
Shevchuk is a member of the Ukrainian National Filmmakers’ Union and the Ukrainian Film Academy. He lectures widely on Ukrainian film and his original area of expertise, Slavic language and culture.
Shevchuk has published in the US, Canadian, and Ukrainian press and on the Internet on issues of Ukrainian language, identity, culture, and cinema. He authored Beginner's Ukrainian with Interactive Online Workbook, Hippocrene Books, 2011, 2013, 2016, a popular textbook for university students and self-learners worldwide. Its third updated and integrated edition will come out in August 2022. His essay Linguistic Schizophrenia. Whither, Ukraine?, 2015, Diskursus (in Ukrainian) provoked a national discussion in Ukraine on issues of the nation’s identity and decolonization. His most recent book, the Ukrainian-English Collocation Dictionary, Hippocrene Books, New York, N.Y., 2021, 1,000 pages, has no precedents in Slavic or English lexicography and has been described as “one of the most breathtaking scholarly achievements in Slavonic Studies in many years.”
Shevchuk grew up in Northwestern Ukraine (the Province of Rivne) where his family is currently living in proximity to the Belarusian border and a nuclear power plant.
Lisa Vucelich, Communications Director
Lisa leads the national and local publicity efforts for this project, including managing all media relations and arranging press interviews. She also works to further develop and grow partnerships across the country, building relationships with cinemas, art houses and colleges/universities, as they schedule screenings of The Guide.
Throughout her career, Lisa has worked on high-profile, national and international communications campaigns in major markets such as Pittsburgh, New York and Paris. She’s managed clients’ integrated communications projects, encompassing advertising, marketing and public relations efforts.
Lisa is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in both Journalism and French, and she speaks French fluently.
Marshall Strauss – Project Organizer
Strauss has been active in human rights and the US charity sector for decades.
In 2021, Strauss and his wife, Elaine Gerdine, re-opened the three screen Cinema Salem in Salem MA which had shut at the height of the COVID pandemic. They have since expanded the venue by adding a fourth screen.
In 1989, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Strauss resigned his position as associate director of the Child Welfare League of America and became a key aide to Chinese dissidents who had fled to the West. In 1991 he organized and participated in the Congressional human rights delegation to China led by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
In 1992, Strauss and Russian human rights activist Mikhail Kazachov co‐founded Freedom Channel. That organization brought together Russian filmmakers, pollsters, and political operatives to produce that nation’s first public service announcement – on behalf of democracy. They then created numerous human rights documentaries.
For years, Strauss was a prominent nonprofit leader of the federal government’s workplace giving program, serving as chair of the National Combined Federal Campaign Committee and then as treasurer of the Combined Federal Campaign Foundation. The CFC has raised more than $8 billion for tens of thousands of charities since its creation.
Strauss launched Stand with Ukraine through Film in late February 2022, soon after Russia's expanded invasion of Ukraine.
Corporate Team Members
Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC) – lead corporate partner
DCDC is a pioneering venture formed by Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, and Regal Entertainment Group, delivering content on behalf of over 3,000 Exhibitor sites representing over 33,000 screens across the US. DCDC has built the world’s largest cinema delivery network and effectively moved the industry standard away from physical hard drives shipped by road transport to encrypted files via digital delivery. The DCDC Network has successfully delivered millions of feature films, events, trailers and special content for 55 different content owners to cinemas across the country.
Human & Civil Rights Organizations of America (HCROA) - lead nonprofit partner
Founded in 1994, HCROA has been a leading federation within the U.S. government's Combined Federal Campaign for almost three decades. It has supported hundreds of other nonprofits who have raised millions of dollars through the CFC.
HCROA is governed by an independent board of directors and is audited annually to ensure that donated funds reach designated beneficiaries. HCROA has received and distributed more than $125,000 of funds donated by cinemas across the U.S. in connection with the screening of The Guide.
More information may be found at www.hcr.org.
Falling Forward Films
FFF was formed by industry executives, Scott Kennedy and Bryce Campbell who have a combined 35 plus years of experience in the film distribution business. Collectively they have worked on well over 350 theatrically released films. Their passionate love of film and the industry as a whole prompted them to create a "filmmaker‐friendly" company that endeavors to continue to bring creative and innovative content to the world.
PaperAirplane
Founded by former Lionsgate executives Mike Polydoros and Will Preuss, PaperAirplane is the first‐of‐its‐kind Cinema Channel Marketing Agency. Designed to work with Exhibitors, Studios and Marketplace Partners to create a one‐stop solution for all cinema channel and in‐theater marketing opportunities. PaperAirplane is uniquely positioned in the marketplace to assist in the creation, coordination and logistical support needed in today’s world of Cinema Marketing.
Deluxe
Deluxe provides innovative, secure distribution and localization services for studios, OTT platforms and content creators worldwide. Deluxe’s cloud-based solutions offer unprecedented flexibility and reach through its customizable, end-to-end solutions that enable customers to create, transform, and distribute content and immersive streaming experiences to audiences on a global scale.
GoTheaterMarketing
GTM was founded by Jeremy M. Devine to assist members of the industry within the theatrical ecosystem. As a movie distributor, exhibitor marketer, film buyer, ticketing aggregator, promoter and vendor he possesses a unique perspective to craft winning campaigns. He can be reached for consulting via LinkedIn.
Stampede Studios
Stampede Studios is an award winning entertainment marketing agency. With locations in Hollywood and Studio City, our team of story tellers and entertainers are able craft a full 360 campaign to cut through the noise and get your project noticed.
2656 Marketing
2656 Marketing, founded by Donna Freed and Sandy Holmes curates’ information to provide leading edge targeting, marketing deployment, analytics and attribution solutions for cinemas, distributors and studios needed to thrive in the competitive entertainment industry.
The Prenner Group
With offices in Los Angeles and New York, The Prenner Group helps you develop and implement marketing communications strategies by providing expertise in media, trends, and business expertise. Services include public relations, communications strategy, and market evaluation. We specialize in taking entertainment campaigns and getting media attention.
Vista Group
Vista Group International Ltd (Vista Group) is a public company, founded in New Zealand in 1996 and listed on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges in 2014 (NZX & ASX: VGL). The Group provides software and additional technology solutions across the global film industry. Cinema management software is provided by Vista Entertainment Solutions (‘Vista Cinema’), the originating business of the Group. Movio (authority in moviegoer data analytics), Veezi (cloud-based software for the independent cinema market), Maccs (film distribution software), Numero (box office reporting software for film distributors and cinemas), Powster(creative studio and marketing platform for movie studios) and Flicks (moviegoer ‘go to’ portal for movie information) provide an innovative range of complementary products across additional film industry sectors, from production and distribution, to cinema exhibition through to the experience of the moviegoer. Vista Group has offices located in New Zealand (Auckland HQ), Sydney, Cape Town, London, Amsterdam, Groningen, Timișoara, Shanghai, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.
Criterion Pictures/Anuvu
Criterion Pictures is one of the largest non-theatrical providers of feature films in North America. Criterion Pictures licenses feature films for Colleges, Universities, Correctional Facilities, Healthcare Organizations, Bus Lines, as well as Public and Private Schools, Museums, Performing Art Centers, Religious Organizations, Resorts, Camps, and Park and Recreation. Criterion offers its customers customizable programming options and supplies its product on all available mediums. Criterion Pictures is part of Anuvu. Anuvu is a full-service non-theatrical leader, offering Lab Services, Connectivity, Gaming, Television and Feature Film content, Post Production Services, as well as Content platforms. Anuvu is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and is a world-wide leader in non-theatrical distribution and connectivity to over 180 airlines worldwide.
Wolfman Productions
Wolfman Productions curates a roster of speakers who shape thoughts and beliefs, warm hearts, challenge paradigms, ignite passions, question behaviors, and, through their engagements with audiences, transform lives. Wolfman Productions is fully committed to the idea that we can make the world a better place.
Creative Collective
The Creative Collective is a group of economic development strategists, small business supporters, activation specialists, and believers in the importance of the creative workforce. Led by John Andrews, the Collective fosters growth, sustainability, and scalability for small businesses, creative thinkers, organizations, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
Total Cinema Solutions
Total Cinema Solutions is a team of professionals led by Brian Vita and Kara Campanirio with extensive experience in the exhibition industry, TCS is dedicated to filling a void in the industry by providing smaller, independent operators with the class of service and support usually reserved for larger cinemas. The company provides the equipment, supplies (other than food items) and support services that theaters need to keep operating.
Screens Without Borders (Australia)
Screens Without Borders (SWB) delivers professional cinematic experiences in partnership with non-government and community organizations combining inspirational movies with important health and welfare content. We embrace our mission to Educate, Elevate and Entertain communities. Watching a film in the company of family and friends can bring people together to take a short transformative journey out of their day to day lives. Born out of a love of sharing cinema with community, SWB is an initiative of the Sun Theatre, Yarraville and supported by like-minded independent Australian cinema operators.
Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC) – lead corporate partner
DCDC is a pioneering venture formed by Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, and Regal Entertainment Group, delivering content on behalf of over 3,000 Exhibitor sites representing over 33,000 screens across the US. DCDC has built the world’s largest cinema delivery network and effectively moved the industry standard away from physical hard drives shipped by road transport to encrypted files via digital delivery. The DCDC Network has successfully delivered millions of feature films, events, trailers and special content for 55 different content owners to cinemas across the country.
Human & Civil Rights Organizations of America (HCROA) - lead nonprofit partner
Founded in 1994, HCROA has been a leading federation within the U.S. government's Combined Federal Campaign for almost three decades. It has supported hundreds of other nonprofits who have raised millions of dollars through the CFC.
HCROA is governed by an independent board of directors and is audited annually to ensure that donated funds reach designated beneficiaries. HCROA has received and distributed more than $125,000 of funds donated by cinemas across the U.S. in connection with the screening of The Guide.
More information may be found at www.hcr.org.
Falling Forward Films
FFF was formed by industry executives, Scott Kennedy and Bryce Campbell who have a combined 35 plus years of experience in the film distribution business. Collectively they have worked on well over 350 theatrically released films. Their passionate love of film and the industry as a whole prompted them to create a "filmmaker‐friendly" company that endeavors to continue to bring creative and innovative content to the world.
PaperAirplane
Founded by former Lionsgate executives Mike Polydoros and Will Preuss, PaperAirplane is the first‐of‐its‐kind Cinema Channel Marketing Agency. Designed to work with Exhibitors, Studios and Marketplace Partners to create a one‐stop solution for all cinema channel and in‐theater marketing opportunities. PaperAirplane is uniquely positioned in the marketplace to assist in the creation, coordination and logistical support needed in today’s world of Cinema Marketing.
Deluxe
Deluxe provides innovative, secure distribution and localization services for studios, OTT platforms and content creators worldwide. Deluxe’s cloud-based solutions offer unprecedented flexibility and reach through its customizable, end-to-end solutions that enable customers to create, transform, and distribute content and immersive streaming experiences to audiences on a global scale.
GoTheaterMarketing
GTM was founded by Jeremy M. Devine to assist members of the industry within the theatrical ecosystem. As a movie distributor, exhibitor marketer, film buyer, ticketing aggregator, promoter and vendor he possesses a unique perspective to craft winning campaigns. He can be reached for consulting via LinkedIn.
Stampede Studios
Stampede Studios is an award winning entertainment marketing agency. With locations in Hollywood and Studio City, our team of story tellers and entertainers are able craft a full 360 campaign to cut through the noise and get your project noticed.
2656 Marketing
2656 Marketing, founded by Donna Freed and Sandy Holmes curates’ information to provide leading edge targeting, marketing deployment, analytics and attribution solutions for cinemas, distributors and studios needed to thrive in the competitive entertainment industry.
The Prenner Group
With offices in Los Angeles and New York, The Prenner Group helps you develop and implement marketing communications strategies by providing expertise in media, trends, and business expertise. Services include public relations, communications strategy, and market evaluation. We specialize in taking entertainment campaigns and getting media attention.
Vista Group
Vista Group International Ltd (Vista Group) is a public company, founded in New Zealand in 1996 and listed on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges in 2014 (NZX & ASX: VGL). The Group provides software and additional technology solutions across the global film industry. Cinema management software is provided by Vista Entertainment Solutions (‘Vista Cinema’), the originating business of the Group. Movio (authority in moviegoer data analytics), Veezi (cloud-based software for the independent cinema market), Maccs (film distribution software), Numero (box office reporting software for film distributors and cinemas), Powster(creative studio and marketing platform for movie studios) and Flicks (moviegoer ‘go to’ portal for movie information) provide an innovative range of complementary products across additional film industry sectors, from production and distribution, to cinema exhibition through to the experience of the moviegoer. Vista Group has offices located in New Zealand (Auckland HQ), Sydney, Cape Town, London, Amsterdam, Groningen, Timișoara, Shanghai, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.
Criterion Pictures/Anuvu
Criterion Pictures is one of the largest non-theatrical providers of feature films in North America. Criterion Pictures licenses feature films for Colleges, Universities, Correctional Facilities, Healthcare Organizations, Bus Lines, as well as Public and Private Schools, Museums, Performing Art Centers, Religious Organizations, Resorts, Camps, and Park and Recreation. Criterion offers its customers customizable programming options and supplies its product on all available mediums. Criterion Pictures is part of Anuvu. Anuvu is a full-service non-theatrical leader, offering Lab Services, Connectivity, Gaming, Television and Feature Film content, Post Production Services, as well as Content platforms. Anuvu is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and is a world-wide leader in non-theatrical distribution and connectivity to over 180 airlines worldwide.
Wolfman Productions
Wolfman Productions curates a roster of speakers who shape thoughts and beliefs, warm hearts, challenge paradigms, ignite passions, question behaviors, and, through their engagements with audiences, transform lives. Wolfman Productions is fully committed to the idea that we can make the world a better place.
Creative Collective
The Creative Collective is a group of economic development strategists, small business supporters, activation specialists, and believers in the importance of the creative workforce. Led by John Andrews, the Collective fosters growth, sustainability, and scalability for small businesses, creative thinkers, organizations, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
Total Cinema Solutions
Total Cinema Solutions is a team of professionals led by Brian Vita and Kara Campanirio with extensive experience in the exhibition industry, TCS is dedicated to filling a void in the industry by providing smaller, independent operators with the class of service and support usually reserved for larger cinemas. The company provides the equipment, supplies (other than food items) and support services that theaters need to keep operating.
Screens Without Borders (Australia)
Screens Without Borders (SWB) delivers professional cinematic experiences in partnership with non-government and community organizations combining inspirational movies with important health and welfare content. We embrace our mission to Educate, Elevate and Entertain communities. Watching a film in the company of family and friends can bring people together to take a short transformative journey out of their day to day lives. Born out of a love of sharing cinema with community, SWB is an initiative of the Sun Theatre, Yarraville and supported by like-minded independent Australian cinema operators.