Jake Boritt director/cinematographer
759: Boy Scouts of Harlem is Jake's second feature documentary. His first, Budapest to Gettysburg was selected for the 2007 IFP Independent Film Week in New York and screened at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival. He recently completed Cooking to Live, for the U.N. and Project Gaia filmed in Ethiopia's Ogaden Desert. Jake was Associate Producer on Rory Kennedy's Moxie-Firecracker production The Homestead Strike, part of the Emmy winning History Channel series 10 Days That Changed America. Jake worked with Sarah Teale on productions for HBO, A&E, AMC and CourtTV and on David Grubin's Young Doctor Freud and Kofi Annan: Center of the Storm (PBS). Ken Burns called Boritt's documentary Adams County USA (WITF) “a really good film.” Learn more at: www.boritt.com.
Justin Szlasa director/producer/editor
759: Boy Scouts of Harlem is Justin's first film. Like his brother and his father, Justin is an Eagle Scout. He was a member of Troop 42 in Big Flats, New York and went to Camp Barton and Camp Seneca on the Finger Lakes. Justin failed his first dock test. Before starting 759 Justin and his wife spent sixteen months backpacking through twenty-one countries. Previously he sold software to lawyers. He received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a master's degree in international economic policy from Columbia and has studied film at New York University, German at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich, improv at the Upright Citizen's Brigade in Chelsea and Photoshop at DCTV. Nothing makes Justin happier than spending time with his wife and daughter.
Manahi Taber-Kewene editor
Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Manahi Taber-Kewene has directed, produced, shot, and edited a wide array of documentary projects for both film and television. His credits include Planet B-boy, At the Green Line, TLC's A Baby Story, and commercial work for Ogilvy. Taber-Kewene's work has also appeared in film festivals around the world. He holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University. Learn more at: www.reelstoryfilms.com
