Team

Joel Woodman
Director & Producer

Joel is an independent filmmaker living and working in Portland, Oregon. Joel founded The Big Gray Mess in 2013 with the goal of elevating previously unheard voices through stories off tolerance, honesty and empathy. TBGM Media launched with a short film series to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. First with Echoes of Vietnam, the story of Vietnamese refugees fleeing Hurricane Katrina, which premiered at the 2017 New Orleans Film Festival. Followed by Road to Reconcile, the story of U.S. veteran peace activists who partner with their former enemies to combat the lingering consequences of war. Fractured States is Joel’s first feature length documentary film.

Justin Benoliel
Executive Producer

Justin Benoliel is a founding member/executive producer of Object & Animal, a creative studio that represents a diverse collective of directors, photographers and multi-disciplinary talent working on the pulse of culture and societal conversations. Based in London, New York, and Los Angeles, Object & Animal produces independent projects as well commercial work.

Justin just produced the documentary “Daughters, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, that premiered at Sundance 2024, which took home the audience award for US documentary competition as well as the festival favorite. This film follows a program that brings incarcerated fathers and their young daughters together for an in jail daddy-daughter dance. Justin also executive produced the Sundance short “Power Signal” that premiered in 2023.

 In the commercial space, Justin is 2X Grammy nominated, 6X winner at Cannes, AICP production of the year winner 2015, UKMVA production company of the year 2019, Ad-Age A-list 2022.

BJ Levin
Executive Producer

BJ Levin is a two-time Emmy-winning showrunner and currently SVP of Documentary & Factual Content at Legendary Entertainment. Formerly senior vice president of development and original programming at NBCU and showrunner of VICE on HBO which garnered eight Emmy nominations over his four-season run, winning in 2014 for Outstanding Informational Series. Levin made his first documentary feature, No One Dies in Lily Dale, for Sheila Nevins and HBO and has served as executive producer, showrunner, producer and director for several networks including A&E, Bravo, BBC, Discovery, Food Network, HBO, MTV, National Geographic, TLC and VICELAND. At MTV, Levin won his first Emmy for producing Made.

Seth Goldstein
Producer

Seth is an independent film producer living in Denver, Colorado. In 2015, Seth founded Active Tone Media, where he has focused on stories that bring a voice to the voiceless. Seth has produced short films all over the world including in East Africa, Europe and across the U.S.