Shmuel Hoffman
Born and raised in East Berlin, Shmuel began his career as a violist, performing with European orchestras and touring with Yo-Yo Ma after winning the Jeunesses Musicales International competition, before transitioning to film while exploring Jewish observance. He founded a production company and has created award-winning commercial and Oscar© qualifying documentary films for institutions such as the United States Holocaust Museum, Museum of Tolerance, Harvard University, Lexus, and MTV. A frequent speaker at the United Nations on Jewish identity and interfaith dialogue, he also serves on the Israeli President’s Voice of the People global council.
Lily Henley
Lily is a singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist working at the intersection of Sephardi Ladino and American folk music. Her album Oras Dezaoradas (2022, Lior Editions Paris) was named Album of the Year by Hey Alma and featured in The Guardian and Songlines Magazine. A Fulbright award winner and Carnegie Hall Musical Explorers artist, she has received support from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the New Jewish Culture Fellowship, the New York Foundation of Arts, and held residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, JArts Boston, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. Lily tours regularly across the US and abroad, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Ethnomusicology at Harvard University.
Justin Goldner
Justin Goldner is a composer, producer, and session musician whose work spans Grammy-, Tony-, and Golden Globe–winning projects with artists across a range of genres. A restless traveler and language junkie, music has taken him to 73 countries in search of exchange and connection with communities from a mélange of traditions. Justin weaves Yiddish language and heritage into contemporary life through original songs and collaboration with other artists who bring fresh vitality to their own cultural idioms.
@jusgold1, @peripatetish
Janice (Jan) Fernheimer
Janice W. Fernheimer is a Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Zantker Professor of Jewish Studies; and James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Fellow at the University of Kentucky where she co-directs the University of Kentucky-Jewish Heritage Fund Kentucky Holocaust Education Initiative and teaches courses in “Bourbon Writing” and “Bourbon Oral History” in the Certificate for Distillation, Wine, and Brewing. She is also a Stave and Thief Certified Executive Bourbon Steward. In 2024 the Bourbon Women Foundation recognized her as a Woman of Whiskey with the Mike Keyes Ally of the Year Award honoring the trailblazing work of the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project, which she founded in 2021. She currently resides in Lexington, KY with her family and when she’s not writing or teaching, you can usually find her shimmying across the dance floor or cycling across the Bluegrass.
Michelle Miriam
Michelle Miriam is a filmmaker, songwriter, and digital storyteller. A creative force behind multiple YouTube channels, she’s grown audiences of over 8 million subscribers and 2 billion views across platforms. Michelle’s work lives at the intersection of film, music, and internet culture; blending emotional storytelling with viral strategy.
Avraham “Abe” Fuzaylov
Avraham Fuzaylov is a digital creator and cultural storyteller based in Queens, NY. He is the founder of Bukharian Bites, a short-form series that preserves Bukharian Jewish heritage through food-centered storytelling and voiceover-driven reels. His work brings visibility to a community rarely seen in mainstream Jewish media, blending tradition, emotion, and narrative to connect past and present.
Ryan Turkienicz
Ryan Turkienicz has over a decade of experience in entrepreneurial businesses, as well as a diverse background in the arts as both a professional musician and a freelance writer. After October 7th he along with this brother Eric Turkienicz – a Canadian Comedy Award nominated sketch comedian and satirist – cofounded The Daily Brine, a satire news page with the goal of fighting antisemitism on social media using comedy.
Yacov Freedman
Yacov Freedman is the Senior Podcast Producer for Turner Classic Movies. He’s worked in TV and podcasts for twenty years and is a proud member of the Directors Guild of America. During COVID he watched more than 100 baseball movies, which just goes to show: never give up on your dreams.
Joshua Kessler
Joshua E. Kessler is a Los Angeles-based showrunner, producer, director, and writer specializing in unscripted, documentary, and docudrama content. A two-time Emmy nominee, he is known for compelling work in true crime, history, lifestyle, and human-interest storytelling. His credits include acclaimed series for Netflix, A&E, and Showtime, such as Unsolved Mysteries, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, and House Hunters International. A member of both the Directors Guild and Producers Guild of America, Kessler actively seeks new creative opportunities with a strong emphasis on collaboration.
Julia Sebastien
Julia Sebastien draws on her Ph.D. research in media psychology at Cornell University and her Master’s in Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology from Harvard in her ongoing quest to uncover how emerging technologies blur the boundaries between narrative, perception, and reality. Like her research, her creative work explores how immersive media shape human thought and behavior—from directing theatrical productions exploring truth and intercultural understanding to designing interactive digital games and VR experiences that foster self-reflection, experiential learning, and prosociality.