meet our team
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TALENT
Stanley Tucci
Voice of Walter Winchell
Stanley Tucci is an actor, writer, director, and producer. He has directed five films and appeared in more than seventy films and a dozen plays on and off Broadway. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony, and a spoken word Grammy, and is the winner of two Golden Globes and three Emmys. He received his first Emmy for his portrayal of Walter Winchell in the 1998 HBO biopic Winchell. His upcoming credits include the films Supernova, The King’s Man, and The Witches.
Photo by Hazel Thompson.
Whoopi Goldberg
Narrator
Whoopi Goldberg is one of a very elite group of artists who have won the Grammy, the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Emmy, and the Tony. Currently, she is the moderator of ABC Television Network’s The View. Whoopi is equally well-known for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of children, the homeless, human rights, education, substance abuse, and the battle against AIDS. Among her many charitable activities, Whoopi is a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations.
Photo by Timothy White.
FILMMAKERS
Ben Loeterman
Director/Writer/Producer
Ben Loeterman is an accomplished writer/producer/director of public affairs and historical documentaries. He founded Ben Loeterman Productions, Inc. (BLPI) in 1996. 1913: Seeds of Conflict, his NEH-funded funded film about the origins of today’s Israeli/Palestinian conflict, aired nationally on PBS in the summer of 2013. His previous NEH-funded film, The People v. Leo Frank, a Peabody Award finalist, broadcast nationally on PBS in 2009 to critical acclaim.
Loeterman’s work appeared on the first eighteen seasons of the PBS series FRONTLINE. He produced programs for PBS/American Experience including Golden Gate Bridge, Public Enemy #1, and Rescue at Sea. He has received national Emmy awards for directing and investigative journalism, Amnesty International's Media Spotlight Award, and two duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards. He was a Peabody Award finalist.
Photo by Hazel Thompson.
Peter Rhodes
Editor
Peter Rhodes has edited dozens of films for PBS and the BBC, as well as several independent documentary features. His extensive edit work with Ben Loeterman includes War & Oil (The Prize, 1992), Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (Frontline, 1993), Apocalypse! (BBC/Frontline, 1999), Real Justice (BBC/Frontline, 2000), Public Enemy #1 (American Experience, 2000), The War That Made America (2004), and John Portman: A Life of Building (2011).
Celina Siegel
Associate Producer
Celina Siegel has worked on Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip since its inception. Previously, she worked as a production assistant on The Feud for PBS/American Experience. Siegel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema Studies from Oberlin College.
Stephen McCarthy
Co-Director of Photography
Stephen McCarthy has served as director of photography for many PBS programs, including American Experience, American Masters, Frontline, Nova, and P.O.V. Recent accomplishments have included work on two Emmy-nominated PBS series: Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies and Your Inner Fish. He is also a visiting lecturer on cinematography at Boston University, Rhode Island School of Design, the Maine Media Workshops and MIT's graduate program in science writing.
Jason Longo
Co-Director of Photography
Jason Longo is an Emmy winning cinematographer, editor, and director. Longo has photographed over 100 documentary films and televisions programs in 55 countries on six continents. He is a frequent contributor to the PBS series Frontline, NOVA, and American Experience, as well as to The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and The History Channel.
Bryan Papciak
Graphics Animator
Bryan Papciak has collaborated with Loeterman on films including the critically acclaimed The People v. Leo Frank (2009) and John Portman: A Life of Building (2011). He is a founder of Handcranked Productions, an independent film/animation company, and has worked with commercial clients Samsung, MTV, HBO, Cartoon Network, PBS, Sesame Street, and many others. He has been a member of the RISD faculty since 2002.
John Kusiak
Composer
John Kusiak has composed and produced music for film, television, advertising and live performance – including several award-winning documentaries. Clients have included HBO (The Jinx), Netflix (Team Foxcatcher), IFC (First Person) and PBS (American Experience). In 2012 he won the Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score for his score for Errol Morris’ Tabloid.