About Us

Taggart Siegel has been directing award-winning documentaries and dramas for 25 years that reflect cultural diversity with absorbing style. From spiritual elders struggling to preserve traditions in alien environments to marginalized youth surviving hostile streets, the subjects of his films present vital perspectives rarely seen in mainstream media. Taggart’s newest film Queen of the Sun: What Are Then Bees Telling Us? winner of 20 International Film Festival Awards, takes us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees. Capturing the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world. The Real Dirt on Farmer John won 31 International Film Festivals awards and is currently being released theatrically around the world. Siegel’s films bring compelling voices and visions to a global audience. Siegel is the co-founder of Collective Eye, Inc., a non-profit media organization based in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

JON BETZ
(Director of Collective Eye & Queen of the Sun)

Jon Betz is a Portland documentary filmmaker and Producer for Queen of the Sun. Jon is a graduate from Rhode Island School of Design where he received the Tiffany Rosen Scholarship Award for Excellence in Narrative Filmmaking and Fine Arts Award for Excellence in Film.

Jon’s work strives to maintain a high degree of artistic craft while digging deeply into the spiritual, emotional and ethical issues surrounding his characters. He recently received an award from the Tacoma Film Festival for his film Memorize-you-saw-it, an intimate autobiographical documentary journaling his time as an aid worker living with former-child soldiers in Eastern Uganda.

AMANDA ELDER
(Director of Distribution and Acquisitions)

Amanda Elder graduated with a degree in non-profit communications and marketing with a minor in documentary film. After leaving Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films in Los Angeles, she began with Collective Eye in February of 2010 organizing the grassroots outreach campaign for the theatrical release of Taggart Siegel's newest film; 'Queen of the Sun'. Passionate about social justice and environmentalism, she finds storytelling though motion picture inspiring and effective in engaging critical thinking and ultimately societal change.

At Collective Eye, Amanda devotes her time pursuing acquisitions and developing the distribution department. In her free time she volunteers with several film festivals in the Pacific Northwest.

LORETTA CALLAHAN
(Accounting & Systems Support Consultant)

Loretta's career includes being a Mother, Grandmother and serving over thirty years as a Business Consultant to over 150 organizations, many in the entertainment and film industry. Loretta has used her extensive administrative and financial skills to help organizations from the Sierra Club, Oregon Wildlife Federation to working with the Coast Salish and Hopi people to help preserve their stories, sacred sites, languages and songs. Loretta has worked with filmmakers Lawrence Johnson, Square One Productions and currently works with Jim Blashfield.

Barry Amundson is a technology consultant, web developer & designer for nonprofits, artists and creative firms. When not slumped over a computer somewhere learning the latest css trick, he's busy being a dad to his two-and-a-half year old boy, bicycling and creating collages. He's a huge asset to Collective Eye artistically and technically.

MONET MOLINA
(Graphic Artist Consultant)

Monet Molina has been a graphic designer since her college graduation from Montana State University on 2004. Monet currently works at The Portland Mercury, and freelances design for Collective Eye, Inc., her redesigns include; The Heart Broken in Half, Blue Collar & Buddha, Between Two Worlds, Body Memories, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John—International Release.

CHRISTOPHER UPHAM
(Associate)

Christopher Upham is a writer-director and story consultant living in San Francisco who has worked in the film business since 1979. Sought after as a story consultant, his clients include: writers John O’Keefe (Shimmer, Bronte), Lynn Hershman-Leeson (Conceiving Ada, Technolust) and Lewis Green (Never Talk to Strangers) and documentary directors Ellen Perry (The Fall of Fugimori) and Taggart Siegel (The Real Dirt on Farmer John).

SOPHIE CONSTANTINOU
(Associate)

Sophie’s work has earned international acclaim for tackling difficult topics with artistry and sensitivity; producing, directing and photographing award-winning documentaries for nearly two decades. Sophie co-founding Citizen Film a San Francisco based production company exclusively devoted to non-profit, documentary storytelling. Her most recent project, the Lunch Love Community Documentary Project is a mosaic of web-based short films that support the movement to change the way our children eat. This media campaign explores how a determined coalition of educators, parents, health advocates, politicians and food purveyors are developing a healthy and nutritious school lunch program for all children, including those who are economically disadvantaged.

Scott co-founded Collective Eye with Taggart Siegel in 2003. He directed the San Francisco office until 2008. In 2008, Scott released his poetic, non-fiction feature about his life and periodic death; Black Dog Running. In 2008, Scott created Black Dog Art Ensemble to explore contemporary issues through a wide range of creative, primitive arts. Visit his website at www.blackdogart.org.

KATRINA TAYLOR
(Associate Filmmaker)

Katrina Taylor has been working in the field of documentary film production, completing her first film A Measure of Our Humanity: HIV/AIDS in Namibia in collaboration with Elon University.   She continued to assist the University with additional documentaries in Namibia, as well as ElonDocs, the school's documentary program. She has been an assistant editor with the Academy Award winning Empowerment Project and an associate producer with the Discovery Channel Global Education Project. Through film and photography, she has documented people and places from Guatemala to Zambia. Her award winning film, Green Hair Grey Hair is a look at the punk rock community and a group of African-American senior citizens working together against gentrification and abandonment in Washington D.C.

GREG SNIDER
(Associate Filmmaker)

Greg Snider’s editorial film work includes The Real Dirt On Farmer John. He edited the feature documentary, Purvis Of Overtown, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Florida Film Festival and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Greg co-directed and edited the feature documentary Ridin’ & Rhymin’, winner of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival’s Big Sky Award for best feature about the American West. The film aired on Oregon and Wyoming PBS in 2006. He is currently editing the documentary, Facing The Storm, about the history of American bison for Montana's High Plains Films. Greg is represented by the international post production company, The Whitehouse. More at www.farawayfilm.com

(Associate Filmmaker)

Dawn Smallman co-directed and produced the feature documentary Ridin’ & Rhymin', winner of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival’s Big Sky Award for best feature about the American West. The film received a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant and aired on Oregon and Wyoming PBS in 2006. Her award winning short documentary Richart, has screened at the Smithsonian’s Hirschorn Museum, the American Folk Art Museum the Andy Warhol Museum and aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting. Dawn has produced documentary films for exhibits at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and Calgary's Glenbow Museum. She also produced the show open for Michael Moore's TV series, The Awful Truth. Dawn is currently directing/producing a series of documentaries about a natural wetlands preserve in Nevada. More at www.farawayfilm.com

SARITA SIEGAL
(Associate Filmmaker)

Sarita Siegel has been filmmaking for 9 years in America, New Zealand and England. Sarita Siegel created Alchemy Films with Taggart Siegel. Alchemy Films has made award-winning cross-cultural films and natural history subjects with an awareness of conservation. Alchemy Films documentaries have been broadcast on National Geographic Channels, US PBS, ARTE, and France Channel 5. Titles include The Split Horn (2001), The Disenchanted Forest (2002), Destroying Angel (1995) and The Beloved (1997).

Jim McSilver has produced and edited documentaries, shorts and feature films since 1990. Along with Taggart Siegel, he produced and edited the award-winning PBS documentary, The Split Horn: Life of A Hmong Shaman in America and online edited The Real Dirt on Farmer John. He has written, produced and cut documentaries ranging from health care and high tech to wildlife preservation and organic farming. He is currently editing Blau Jeans, a one-hour doc about American popular culture in Berlin, and on-lining a series of historical docs for Lucasfilm Ltd.

In the fiction realm, he wrote, produced and directed the 23-minute short film Head to Head. He has also production managed and assistant directed numerous short and feature length independent films.

S. Smith Patrick is a documentary filmmaker and photographer whose work focuses on human rights and social issues. Her first film, The Children of Ibdaa: To Create Something Out of Nothing (30 min. 2002) is about a Palestinian children's dance troupe from a West Bank refugee camp. It has screened worldwide and won numerous awards. She continues to chronicle that refugee community. Other documentary projects currently in post-production include War Within and Singing the Milky Way, for which she was cinematographer. Her latest film, The Booksellers of Siem Reap, is about Cambodian street children. Smith received grants from the Agape Foundation, Vanguard Foundation, and the Middle East Children’s Alliance for her work. More at www.cinesmith.net

Teri Lang is the producer of The Real Dirt on Farmer John. She has produced and directed several short documentaries including Motorcycle Prayers, Bless Your Pets, Evicting Johnny, and Karaoke: A lifestyle. Lang was post-production coordinator for Siegel’s documentary The Split Horn: Life of A Hmong Shaman in America and was Vice President of Alchemy Films. Lang is currently producing The War Within.