WHO WE ARE

DooF's production team brings together a group of talented individuals with a wide range of skills and experience.

 

Mike Axinn / Creator; Executive Producer
As Executive Producer of the first children’s television show to address childhood nutrition issues by entertaining, educating, and changing how kids think about food, Mike has brought together a talented group from the upper echelons of the filmmaking, food, and education communities.

The DooF school outreach program, which he created with funding from Alameda County and the California Nutrition Network, uses DVDs and classroom intervention to show inner-city kids where food comes from.

Under his leadership, the DooF team has developed a format for four pilot episodes, involving silly adult characters, growers, and our diverse team of DooF kids, who seek out ingredients for their own special recipe. In creating DooF, Mike brings his experience from over twenty-five feature films, including Star Wars, Titanic, Moulin Rouge, and The English Patient. (Audio: Listen to an Interview with Mike Axinn)

Chris Brown / Writer; Director; Cinematographer
Having been a member of the DooF team almost since its inception, Chris has been a dynamic force behind the show's formulation. One of DooF's directors and head writers, Chris is also responsible for having shot nearly all of DooF's early episodes.

An award winning independent filmmaker, Chris's films have screened throughout the world. His most recent feature, Scared New World, which premiered at last year's Mill Valley Film Festival, was hailed by VARIETY as "solidly in the tradition of pioneer indie pics like Cassavetes' Shadows." AUDIENCEMAG added, "…it just goes to show what genius can do when pressed." Of his first full-length film, Daughters, VARIETY wrote, "Something as genuinely unpretentious as Chris Brown's debut feature seems an anomaly." To find out more about Chris's films, see www.chrisbrownfilms.com.

Earlier this year, Chris released an album of original songs, Now That You're Fed, which rock critic and radio host Alan Haber calls "the front runner for album of the year in 2006. Flat-out brilliant...a stunning debut." KFOG's Renee Richardson added, "If you like clean, well orchestrated pop you will love this!" To learn more about Chris's music, see www.chrisbrowntunes.com.

Margo Hall / Writer; Producer; “Brenda Timebender”
A key player in story development and outreach, Margo takes children back through time to uncover the origins of food as our own Brenda Timebender. An award winning actor and director, Margo has performed for Arena Stage, A.C.T., Magic Theatre,  Brava!, Word For Word, and many others.  She is an original member of Campo Santo, the resident theater company of Intersection For The Arts in San Francisco, where she recently adapted a hit play from the Dave Eggers novel “Sacrament!”.

She recently collaborated with the Tectonic Group (Laramie Project), on the play  Stories from Jonestown and The Peoples Temple, which premiers at Berkeley Repertory Theater in April 2005. Margo received her MFA from Catholic University in Washington DC, and in her spare time teaches acting and directing throughout the Bay Area. Film credits include Haiku Tunnel with Josh Kornbluth. She was in a recent Chronicle article here.

 

Alan Tangren / Writer; Food Director
Following a brilliant run as Co-Pastry Chef at Chez Panisse, and collaborator with Alice Waters on Chez Panisse Fruit, Alan joined DooF to direct food operations and ensure that food is depicted with historical accuracy and the same attention to detail that enabled Chez Panisse to change the way we think about food.

As Chez Panisse’s forager (1991-97) he developed enduring relationships with farmers, ranchers and suppliers. As sous chef for the Great Chefs Program at Mondavi Winery (1984-91) he worked alongside renowned chefs like Paul Bocuse, Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and Martha Stewart. www.ChezPanisse.com

(Audio: Listen to the Alan Tangren Interview)

Doug Werby / Broadcast Creative Director; Segment Director and Editor
As Broadcast Creative Director and Editor, Doug has overseen the development of the promotional DVDs and episode prototypes that laid the groundwork for DooF’s success. He’s also been instrumental in the success of our DVD-lessons on Tomatoes, Squash, Apples, and Citrus.

An award-winning editor and director, Doug is the founder of several of the most prominent commercial production companies in San Francisco, including Pomegranit Editorial, Red Sky Interactive, and Red Sky Films. In addition to numerous commercial clients like Macy’s, E-Trade, KQED and the SF Chronicle, Doug produced and edited the feature film Farmer and Chase, starring Ben Gazzara, Todd Field, and Lara Flynn Boyle. www.BallisticPictures.com

Maya Owings; Line Producer

Maya joined the Doof team in 2004, with a management background in commercial and feature film production. She spent several years on-staff at a commercial production company in San Francisco and is now a freelance Producer and Production Manager. Maya maintains a personal commitment to documentary film, which she pursues in the Bay area film community and internationally.

As Line Producer for Doof, Maya ensures that each live-action shoot is completed within budget parameters and that the utmost production value is maintained during the often-rigorous process of shooting.

Ethel Brennan / Art Director; Education Coordinator
In her capacity as Art Director and Education Coordinator, Ethel brings her numerous talents directly to children in person and through the look and feel of the show. The author and co-author of several cookbooks, including The Children’s Kitchen Garden (Ten Speed Press), Goat Cheese, Citrus and most recently Herbes de Provence, all by Chronicle Books, Ethel has also worked as a food, prop and floral stylist for a wide range of print and video media, including Pottery Barn Kids and the SF Chronicle. Before joining How Now Productions, she managed the gardening program at the East Bay French American School in Berkeley.

 

Josh Kurz, Vegetable Animator/Mr. Worcestershire

Josh Kurz started as an embryo, 53 times smaller than a US nickel. Then, after high school he went to Russia to paint orphanages and clear shrubbery. In his junior year of college he appeared on Comedy Central for 30 seconds at 4am. This overwhelming success was quickly followed up with a multi-year stint on ABC. There, he and his partner Adam teamed up with good friend and reporter Robert Krulwich who let them dress up as sheep and smash dozens of eggs for Nightline and Good Morning America.

Other memorable achievements include running out of gas in Ohio, getting hot gelatin into a balloon, and building a pickle electrifier for Oliver Sacks.

Josh graduated from The University of Southern California, can whistle in German and lives by the motto: “Always smell your food before you eat it.”

His website: www.joshadam.com

B. Quincy Griffin (photo from Filmsight)

B. Quincy Griffin is the owner of and primary composer for Random Cubes Music. Quincy’s credits include scores for the films Daughter from Danang (Academy Award and Emmy Nominee, 2003), My Flesh and Blood (an HBO broadcast which received top honors at Sundance Film Festival, 2003), and Wilderness Survival For Girls. His commercial clients include Microsoft, Adidas, Ultimate TV and The Sharper Image. He is also producer for the Latin Hip Hop band O-Maya. More info and music sampler CD available at www.randomcubes.com

 

Sandra Sanchez, Education Outreach Coordinator/ Voice Talent
Sandra brings a number of important talents to DooF. As an undergraduate at Berkeley, she was involved in a campus and community theater health education program focusing on HIV/AIDS. As volunteer coordinator/ health educator at Highland Hospital, Sandra created and developed an after-school, school-to-career program for underserved high school students interested pursuing careers in the health/medical field.

Sandra is the Asthma Case Manager with the American Lung Association in collaboration with the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Children's Hospital Oakland and OPS. She works with the Spanish speaking community in East Oakland serving the individual needs of children with Asthma and their families.

Sandra received a B.A. in American Studies with an emphasis in Public Health and is currently applying for Masters Entry Nursing Programs in the field of Community Nursing/Public Health.

Alexei Bien, Production Assistant

Alexei Bien is a writer who joined the team in 2007, and whose professional experience continues to straddle media and education. He is currently an editorial assistant at Edutopia magazine (The George Lucas Educational Foundation), and a mentor at Art Links, an after-school arts enrichment program in Napa.

Dave Wong, Webmaster/Digital Media Coordinator
A graduate of UC Berkeley's Film Studies program, Dave brings to the table a multi-disciplinary skillset consisting of backgrounds in graphic design, comic book illustration, web design and computer science.

He is a San Francisco based photographer. See www.DaveWongPhotography.com for wedding photography, www.BluExposure.com for corporate work, and his blog at www.SweetSmile.com

 

The DooF Advisory Board

Anthony Iton, MD, JD, MPH, Alameda County Health Officer.
Alice Waters, Owner/Chef, Chez Panisse. More info at www.ChezPanisse.com
Joy Carlin, Theater Actress and Director, ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre
Lisa J. Zwerling, M.D., M.P.H., Practicing Physician & Writer/Story Editor for NBC series “ER”
Janet King, MD, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Internal Medicine, University of California, Berkeley, Children’s Hospital & Research Center, Oakland, chaired the committee that authored the current U.S Government-adopted nutritional guidelines. More info at www.Chori.org
Derek Lamb, Academy Award-Winning Animator/Producer, Sesame Street, Peep

Anthony Iton, MD, JD, MPH, Alameda County Health Officer. Dr. Iton has worked to position the show at the forefront of “social marketing” initiatives to address obesity and diet-related health issues. As Alameda County’s Public Health Officer, his efforts on behalf of DooF have led to funding for education outreach and show production. Dr. Iton received his medical degree at Johns Hopkins, trained in internal and preventive medicine at New York Hospital, Yale, and Berkeley, and is dually board certified.

Dr. Iton has also received a law degree and a Master’s Of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and is a member of the California Bar. Dr. Iton’s primary interest is the health of disadvantaged populations and the contributions of race, class, wealth, education, geography, and employment to health status.