THE FILMMAKERS

Lucy Ostrander
Producer/Director

Lucy Ostrander, an award–winning documentary filmmaker began to receive accolades for her work with her Masters' thesis from Stanford University, Witness to Revolution: The Story of Anna Louise Strong. In producing the film, she became the first American student to work with the China Film Co–Production Corporation. The film received a national PBS broadcast, and won a Student Academy Award, the Nissan Focus Award and a Cine Golden Eagle. It was funded by the Washington Commission for the Humanities.

Her film East of Occidental, (Producer) on the history of Seattle's International District, and also funded by WCH, won a Cine Golden Eagle, and received a national PBS broadcast. Choices, (Co–Producer/Co–Editor) an hour–long contemporary drama aimed at preventing youth entrance into prostitution, was awarded four regional Emmys. Home from the Eastern Sea (Co–Producer/Co–Director), on the history of Asian-Americans in Washington State, won a Silver Apple at the National Educational Film Festival. This film was produced for the Washington State Centennial Commission and was a co–production with KCTS.

In 2002 and 2003, Ms. Ostrander produced Port Blakely: Memories of a Mill Town which depicts the rise and fall of the largest sawmill in the world and the Native American, Scandinavian, and Japanese immigrants who worked there, and The Red Pines, which depicts the cultural history of Japanese–American immigrants on Bainbridge Island and their relationship to the land. These two films premiered on KCTS in September 2004.

In 2005, Ms. Ostrander received a prestigious Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship. This award is given bi–annually to Washington state filmmakers and comes with a $6,000 cash prize. In 2006, Ms. Ostrander co-produced and co-directed Finding Thea, a documentary on Thea Foss, a 19th century Norwegian immigrant. Finding Thea premiered at the Port Townsend Film Festival and won Best Local Documentary at the Tacoma Film Festival, as well as a Cine Golden Eagle.

In 2007 Lucy Ostrander and Don Sellers completed Tomodachi, a series of three short videos for the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program.  They also completed Island Roots a documentary short on the history of the Bainbridge Island Filipino-American community. Island Roots completes a trio of films Stourwater Pictures has produced for IslandWood, an environmental learning center on Bainbridge Island.

Lucy Ostrander's films are available from the following links:

Witness To Revolution
East of Occidental
Home From the Eastern Sea
Port Blakely, The Red Pines, and Island Roots
Finding Thea

Don Sellers
Videographer/Editor

Don Sellers has been a cinematographer/videographer and editor on documentary films for over 25 years. After receiving a Masters Degree in Film and Broadcasting from Stanford University, Don worked as a cinematographer and editor on numerous programs produced for the PBS series Frontline and Discover. For Frontline, Don photographed around the world covering topics as diverse as the changes in China since the death of Mao, meetings between Afrikaners and the ANC in West Africa, horse racing in upstate New York, papal masses at the Vatican, Hollywood agents, and earthquakes in California. In addition to his work for PBS, Don spent six weeks riding with the graveyard shift of Miami homicide shooting a series for NBC. He has taught film writing and production as a guest lecturer at Stanford University. He has also worked as the cinematographer and editor with Lucy Ostrander on many of her historical films.

When not making films, Don has authored and edited various books on technical subjects. He authored, Zap! How your computer can hurt you – and what you can do about it and Getting Hits, both published by Peachpit Press. His favorite editing job has been Take Control of Booking a Cheap Airline Ticket. Don has also managed the development and production of content for large, commercial Web sites.