Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer are partners in life as well as filmmaking. Both come from other fields; prior to becoming filmmakers, Wilson worked in international development and human rights and Hamer in genetic sciences for the National Institutes of Health. They first came to Docs In Progress when they were looking for guidance on using structuring a documentary they were making about how their wedding announcement in Wilson’s hometown newspaper opened up a larger story about the challenges facing LGBT people in small towns and rural communities. That film OUT IN THE SILENCE premiered at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, received a national broadcast on public television, won an Emmy, and played at more than 1,000 grassroots screenings across the United States. Their subsequent feature documentary KUMU HINA aired on PBS Independent Lens and their short A PLACE IN THE MIDDLE screened at the Toronto and Berlin International Film Festivals. Their work has been supported by Sundance, ITVS, Pacific Islanders in Communications and the Ford Foundation.

Jason Osder is the director of the award-winning documentary Let The Fire Burn about the 1985 confrontation between the group MOVE and the Philadelphia police that claimed the lives of 11 people. The film was work-shopped through Docs In Progress’ Peer Pitch program in 2009. Later supported in part by the Sundance Institute, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival where Osder received a jury special mention for best new documentary director. The film went on to play over 50 film festivals around the world. It won the best editing prize at the Montreal International Documentary Festival, the International Documentary Association Creative Recognition Prize in Editing, the Cinema Eye Honor for Editing, and the Independent Spirit Truer than Fiction Award. Jason is also a long-time media educator, producer, and instructional author with a background in documentary, social sciences, and education theory. He is an Assistant Professor at the George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs.