Skills: Documentary Development Workshop

Caitlin Mae Burke is the Co-Director of IF/Then Shorts at Field of Vision, where she’s overseen over 95 short documentary films from development through distribution. An Emmy-winning producer, Caitlin’s work has been broadcast and screened worldwide, recognized with Emmy, Grand Clio, and Gotham Awards, and nominated for Critic’s Choice, Independent Spirit, and Cinema Eye Honors, as well as numerous “Best of” designations at festivals. Highlights include NUTS! (dir. Penny Lane, Sundance Special Jury Prize); ANBESSA (dir. Mo Scarpelli, SIMA Award, Arte/ZDF); OBIT. (dir. Vanessa Gould; Entertainment Weekly’s “Top Ten Films 2016”); APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT (dir. Amanda Wilder, Gotham/Independent Spirit Award noms) and WE COULD BE KING (dir. Judd Ehrlich, Emmy/Grand Clio winner.) She is an inaugural inductee into DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 and alumna of Berlinale Talents, as well as a voting member of the Television Academy (Documentary Programming branch.)

Merrill Sterritt (Co-Director of IF/Then Shorts) is a Burmese-American field-builder and filmmaker advocate with 15 years of experience supporting artists. Previously as the Head of Alliances and Cultural Engagement at Cinereach, Merrill expanded Cinereach’s impact by developing methods of support for regional and community-focused film organizations and collectives. In 2010 Merrill co-founded Film Presence where they led theatrical outreach campaigns to connect films with crucial audiences outside the arthouse bubble. They also worked in post-production and managed the Production Assistance Program at Women Make Movies. Merrill was named as one of DOCNYC’s inaugural New Leaders cohort and is a 2022 Rockwood Documentary Leaders Fellow.

Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans. McKinnon’s recent work includes the upcoming docuseries Algiers, America (NOFF22 Audience Award Winner, Hulu), Sundance 2023 short Under G-d (dir. Paula Eiselt), Hulu’s Look at Me! XXXTENTACION (dir. Sabaah Folayan, SXSW 2022 ) and the Emmy nominated The Neutral Ground (dir. CJ Hunt, Tribeca 2021, POV). McKinnon is currently in production on Nailah Jefferson’s Commuted, Katie Mathews’ Roleplay, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers’ The First Plantation and Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez. Her prior work (A Fine Girl, Animals, Maquilapolis and Live Nude Girls, UNITE!) has screened and been broadcast internationally, and has been supported by SFFILM, CAAM, Chicken and Egg, Firelight Media, ITVS, Black Public Media, Sundance Institute and the Tribeca Film Institute.

Jayme Kaye Gershen is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer based in Miami, FL. Her work uses universal experiences to shed a surprisingly relatable light on issues that at first glance may seem unfamiliar. Gershen’s first short film, Six Degrees of Immigration, about her own marriage divided by immigration policy, found a home on New York Times Op-Docs and PBS where it won a 2019 regional Emmy. Gershen’s first feature documentary, Birthright, which follows electro-funk duo, Afrobeta, on a musical journey to discover their roots in Cuba, had its world premiere as the closing film at the 2021 Miami Film Festival and will premiere nationally in the Fall of 2023. Her second short, Garden High, a surreal journey into the magical realm of a backyard community garden, will premiere in Fall 2023. Gershen is currently in development for her second feature documentary which has garnered local and national support through the ITVS Humanities Documentary Development Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was a 2022 Oolite Arts Ellies recipient.