TEAM & CREDITS
Director, Producer, and Executive Producer—Darcy Dennett directed, produced and was also the documentary The Champions, about the pit-bulls rescued from the dog-fighting ring of NFL’s Michael Vick, an inspirational story of resilience and the significance of the relationship humans have with animals. In 2013, Dennett produced a segment in Nigeria for Oprah’s landmark series Belief. She was the series producer of National Geographic’s Dogtown, directed episodes of Our America with Lisa Ling, and produced a multi-million dollar advertising campaign for HSBC with some of National Geographic’s best photographers, around the world. Darcy studied film at Wesleyan, lives in NYC, and has traveled to over 50 countries.
www.darcydennett.com
Co-Producer Lindsay Rothenberg has been working in documentaries since receiving a BFA in Film and Television Production in 2009 from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She worked as the assistant editor on Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones' documentary A LETTER TO ELIA, for PBS’s American Masters series in 2010. She has worked on several non-fiction specials and documentaries for Vh1 Rock Docs, Nickelodeon, and Ovation, Bravo, and National Geographic, OWN, and Amazon Prime.
Editor and Post Producer Julio F. Lastres is a documentary filmmaker with over a decade of experience in television, film and branded content. Julio's credits include award winning programs for CNN, OWN, Discovery and National Geographic. Most recently, he was an editor on the series Our America with Lisa Ling, winner of the International Documentary Association Award for “Best Episodic Series” in 2014.
Jeff Beal is a composer of music for film, media and the concert hall. With beginnings as a jazz recording artist, Beal composes, arranges, records and mixes his own music—often performing on trumpet, piano and other instruments—giving his scores a unique sound. Recent projects include four seasons of the Netflix series House of Cards, and documentaries Blackfish and Queen of Versailles. Jeff's been nominated for 15 Emmy awards and has won three statues. Past scores of note include the HBO series Rome and Carnivale and theatrical films Pollock and Appaloosa. 2015 commission performances include Light Falls for Brian Greene’s World Science Festival, Six Sixteen, a chamber work for guitarist Jason Vieaux, The Salvage Men, for the LA Master Chorale and Eric Whitacre Singers and new ballet music. Jeff is artistic advisor for The Beal Institute at the Eastman School of Music. www.jeffbeal.com
Director of Photography Justin Hanrahan is an ACS award-winning cinematographer who has been in the TV/Film industry since 1994 operating and working as a Director of Photography all over the world. Justin began his shooting career working in Hong Kong covering major international news and long-format documentaries for nearly every major network and quickly moved into high-end documentaries for clients such as BBC's Natural History Unit and National Geographic. In May 2011, Justin was awarded two Golden Tripods at the Australian National awards for two pieces of his work. In 2012 he was accredited by the Australian Cinematographer Society allowing him the honor of having the ACS letters after his name and has been honored with 12 ACS awards for his work in nearly every category. Justin worked with James Cameron on the Nat Geo adventure Deep Sea Challenge and recently wrapped on a Sam Neil feature documentary that has an AFI nomination for Best Cinematography, Oprah Winfrey’s TV event Belief due out in October, and The Champions a feature documentary about the pit-bulls rescued from Michael Vick with Director Darcy Dennett’s Fireflyfilmworks.
Edit Assistant & Additional Editing Chris Bravo (link: murallamediaworks.com) is a Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker and editor. He received an MFA in Film/Video/New Media from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. His work has been screened at numerous festivals, including the The People's Film Festival, the Oakland International Film Festival, the Berlin Director’s Lounge and the Allied Media Conference. His documentary work includes profiles of artists Brice Marden and Steve Reich, as well as short films about Rikers Island and Occupy Wall Street. His most recent project, Control, completed in 2014, controldocumentary.com is about the impact of mass incarceration on communities and families.
murallamediaworks.com
Fireflyfilmworks presents The Champions
A Film By Darcy Dennett
Directed & Produced By
Darcy Dennett
Executive Producers
Darcy Dennett
Elissa Jones
David Backes
Kelly Backes
Dana Edwards
Editor
Julio F. Lastres
Co-Producer
Lindsay Rothenberg
Director of Photography
Justin Hanrahan ACS
Music By
Jeff Beal
The Dogs
Little Red
Sally
Jonny
Cherry
Handsome Dan
Slater
Mel
Featuring
Susan Weidel
Prof. Rebecca J. Huss
Donna Reynolds & Tim Racer
Nicole Rattay
Steve Smith
Cris Cohen & Jennifer Long
Francis Battista
Michelle Weaver
John Garcia
Dr. Frank McMillan
Dr. Vicki Burton
Paul & Melissa Fiaccone
Ledy VanKavage, Esq.
Jamie & Mark Buehrle
Brooklyn & Braden Buehrle
Richard Hunter & Jennifer Jones
Heather Gutshall
Mark Stoutzenberger
Ryan Campbell Gutshall
Novellino Fiaccone
Josephine East Stoutzenberger
Tierney Sain
Taz Christensen
Paul Lindley
Executive in Charge of Production
Tanya Kateri
Post Producer
Julio F. Lastres
Additional Editing
Chris Bravo
Simeon Hutner
Researcher/Archive Producer
Lindsay Rothenberg
Assistant Editor
Chris Bravo
Andrew Hassell
Derek Jimenez
Additional Field Producer
Taimi Arvidson
Associate Producer
Norman So
Additional Cinematography
Pablo Durana
Bryan Harvey
Michael Hand
Omar Mullick
Guido Verweyen
Jason Watt
Peter Hutchens
Josh Fowler
Sound Recordists
Spence Palermo
Nejc Poberaj
Roy Marasigan
Octocopter Operator
Bryan Harvey
Octocopter Assistant
Tim Gould
Assistant Camera
Michael Hand
Tim Gould
Jon Sizemore
Production Stills
Darcy Dennett
Michael Hand
Elissa Jones
Lindsay Rothenberg
Hair & Makeup
Jennifer Jones
Title Design & Motion Graphics
Chris Bravo
Derek Jimenez
Jamie Lee Godfrey
Sekani Solomon
Technical Advisor
George Kralovansky
Online Editor & Colorist
Bjorn Bellenbaum
Sound Editor & Mixer
David Wilson
Production Assistants
Crissy Ludens Davies
Monica Sender
Matt Hamilton
Transcriber
Jim Davis
Intern
Ariana Tamar Lutterman
Music Composed, Produced & Conducted by Jeff Beal
Recorded at Many Rooms Music, Agoura CA
Special thanks to all of the musicians
“I’m An Animal”
Written by Neko Case and Paul Rigby.
Published by Nedotykomka, Inc. (ASCAP) and Paul Rigby (SOCAN)
All rights reserved.
Legal Services
Jake Levy
Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C.
Distribution Advisory services provided by Preferred Content
Marketing/Publicity services provided by PMK*BNC
Production Accountant
Jill K. Gordon
Accountant for Fireflyfilmworks
Robert Woloshen, CPA
Consultants
Jenny Raskin
Paul Whitworth
Advisor
James Mackey
Production Insurance
Dewitt Stern Group, Inc.
Special Thanks for Home Videos & Photos Provided by the Families
Stock Footage & Stills Provided Courtesy Of
National Geographic Creative
AP Archive
CNN
NBCUniversal Archives
WAVY TV
Prelinger Archives
Shutterstock
Kane County
KRON
Newsreel Archive/British Movietone
British Pathé
Additional Photos & Footage Courtesy of
The Best Friends Animal Society
Nicole Rattay & BADRAP
Richard Hunter
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®)
The Humane Society of the United States
Adopt-a-Pet.com
USDA Office of the Inspector General
Olga Maderych
Marthina McClay
Lisa Prince Fishler
Additional Footage Originally Appeared On
ABC 7
Adopt-a-Pet.com
The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin
BET
CBS
FOX
KTVI
The Little Rascals
Additional News Photographs Appeared In
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun Times
Very Special Thanks to Paul J. Whitworth for advice & support throughout
Special Thanks
Daniele Anastasion
Sheerly Avni
Joseph Mehlman & Vera Amaral
Brenda Barnette
Alex Bennett
Lucy & Ella Bennett-Fleming
Becky Berman
Colby Bryan
Amy Bucher
Heidi Burke
Christopher Childers
Jim Sommers & Grace Church
Linda Chwistek & Bill Cook
Jeff Cohen
Dawn Danielson
Letti de Little
Bobby Dicks
Amy Egger
Daniel Elias
Heidi Ewing
Hank & Pamela Fiaccone
Stephanie Fitzsimmons
Keith Fleming
Rachel Flotard
Cliff Froehlich
George Garcia
Brian Garcia
Dr. Cystal Gil
Jocelyn Gill
Jim Gorant
Rachel Grady
Keith Grant
Lisa Gray
Delaine Hackney
Deborah Hamilton
Michael Hand
Tim Harkins
Christian Heintze
Greg Henry
Jennifer Hile
Isaac Holub
David Houts
Theodore James
Rachel Johnson
Whitney Jones
Jim Knorr
Marian Koltai-Levine
Ron Kopp
Nell Koring
George Kralovansky
Kelly Krause
Candy Lash
Charlie Lastres
Liz Leiter
Dov Lesel
Kristi Littrell
Ricky Lundell
Annie Macdonald
James Mackey
Traci Madson
Hector Martinez
Debra McCullagh
Dr. Melina Merck
Dena Mermelstein
Melissa Montero
Paul Montney
Abbie Moore
David Murdock
Ryan Murdock
Freida Orange
Dr. Patti Patterson
Andrew Paul (Note to DD: CBS Studio)
Dave Pearson
Marc Peralta
Kathleen Pierce
Liz Streitz & Tom Powel
Mike & Kathy Quattrone
Paul Rigby
Missy Samp
Erica Sashin
Erica Scharf
Kate Schnepel
Tess Sitzmann
B. George Seikaly
Jay Stenhouse
Judy Toohey
Stephanie Twining
Ledy VanKavage, Esq.
Cynthia Wade
Lindsay Washick
Kristen Wenning
Alexis Wheeler
Kimberly Woodard
Eddie Yarborough
Roo & Clara Yori
Special Thanks to the Following Organizations
The ASPCA
The Humane Society of the United States
The Family House
Valparaiso University
The City and County of San Francisco
The City of Los Angeles
Bishop Gorman High School
Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society
University of Wyoming
JR Lighting & Grip
VER: Video Equipment Rentals
Hampton Inn Springfield South Enfield
NYLO Providence Hotel
This Film Was Made Possible By the Generous Support of
David and Kelly Backes — Founders of Athletes for Animals
Dana Edwards
Mr. Bill Coaker
The Sidney E. Frank Foundation on behalf of Jennifer Finkelstein
Zions Bank
Wendy P. McCaw Foundation
Copyright © 2015 by Fireflyfilmworks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.