Why TRUE NORTH?
It began with my own revelation. Staring out at the Chesapeake Bay, I realized I was home. Not just in the physical sense - this was much bigger. This was about finding myself. Knowing I could stay here for the rest of my life, doing the creative work I loved, and feel totally fulfilled. This was where I belonged.
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I initiated production on TRUE NORTH because that realization told me that if I felt this way, others must have similar experiences of finding their TRUE NORTH and wouldn’t it be uplifting to capture and share them?
Why now?
In a world filled with division and othering, our series covers a wide array of topics that cross cultural, racial, generational, and gender divides, emphasizing community and the importance of finding purpose and belonging. This is what it means to find HOME in the truest sense of the word.
Suzie Galler, Series Creator
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Be inspired. Find your TRUE NORTH!
MEET THE DC TEAM
Suzie Galler
Suzie is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 25 years experience in production, marketing, and communications. She began her career working for the major television networks and Disney Studios and subsequently ran two production companies where she produced television specials and on-air ad campaigns for CBS, NBC, Lifetime TV, and many other broadcast outlets. She was commissioned by CBS to produce her first documentary, More Loverly Than Ever: The Making and Restoration of My Fair Lady, and went on to produce a number of biopics before producing two independent documentaries: I Am Beautiful and I Am My Mother’s Daughter, which aired on Lifetime Television and won critical acclaim. In addition to TRUE NORTH, Suzie produces videos, publications, and events for a variety of clients both national and international.
Abigail Landesman
Abigail is a community organizer and filmmaker who believes that media is an important way to make your voice be heard and spread awareness about the topics about which you are passionate. She studied Government & Politics, Theater, Arabic, and International Development & Conflict Management. In 2017, she won Second Place in the C-SPAN StudentCam Competition for her short documentary, The Crisis and the Fear.
Seth Brown
Raised in Maine, living in Venice, California, Seth is a director and editor, focused on stories of empowerment and adventure. Led by a curiosity to discover and translate the abstract and often vulnerable reasons why humans do what they do, his storytelling style has won short and long form accolades as well as marketing innovation awards. His most memorable projects have been traveling the country in rebuilt bus, helping launch GoPro’s ‘GoPro for a Cause’ platform, and living in Cuba to capture their underground story of surf.
James Arterberry
James is a writer, director, and cinematographer hailing from Washington DC. While appreciative of his masters of fine arts in film from Chapman University, James respects that learning the art of cinematic storytelling is a life-long pursuit. And as a proverbial vagabond with an insatiable curiosity towards other cultures, languages, and environments, he firmly believes the best education in becoming a more conscientious, well-rounded, and empathic filmmaker is to seek out compelling narratives that thrust us outside of the comforts of our own familiarity. Having gained an appreciation for the nomadic lifestyle in a past life as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy (with four overseas deployments spanning a seven year career), James brings with him a unique skillset of leadership and a positive problem solving mentality that propel him in the collaborative, teamwork-driven, fast paced world of narrative and documentary filmmaking.
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Back: Alan Brenner, James Arterberry, Jeff Fitzgerald
Front: Tobi Folorunso, Suzie Galler, Matthew Buck
Not pictured: Daniel St. Ours, Fernando Rocha, Miguel “Migs” Martinez, Steve Fixel, and Abigail Landesman