Award-Winning Writer/Director Ramon Hamilton is a filmmaker committed to combining art and activism. His commitment to social justice comes through in his artistic work, his arts education endeavors and in his engagement with his local community. Hamilton wrote and directed the pilot episode of "The wHOLE," which was shot this past summer in Portland, Oregon, and is currently completing the scripts for the rest of the season, which he hopes to begin filming this summer.

“The wHOLE” follows in the footsteps of “Smuggled,” Hamilton’s multi-award winning feature film that received 5 awards on the film festival circuit in 2012 with 15 official selections. The film, and Hamilton, have been featured by NBCLatino, ABC/Universe and many other media outlets with ABC asserting, “Filmmaker Ramon Hamilton is on a mission to change how Americans think about immigration.”
                        
Since the DVD and VOD release of “Smuggled” in April 2013, the film has been invited to screen at various additional events such as the Palm Springs International Film Society and the Latino Book and Family Festival, as well as at numerous college and university campuses and community organizations across the United States and abroad. Hamilton also participated in an esteemed panel discussion about human trafficking and smuggling as part of the American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco in 2013.    

In addition to “The wHOLE,” Hamilton has two other media projects in development: “Seekers,” which tells the story of four children on a cross-country adventure as they seek to reunite one boy with his mother who has been deported, and “D Street,” a story in which the lives of five residents of Dorchester, MA become tragically intertwined when one of them learns they are HIV positive.

Hamilton has a passion for sharing the art of filmmaking with others and in mentoring young filmmakers through Artist Residences with LA’s BEST, the largest after- school provider for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy and Think Ten Media Group’s Spotlight On Hope Film Camp Program, a free film camp for Pediatric Cancer patients and their siblings.

Producer Jennifer Fischer co-founded Think Ten Media Group with Ramon Hamilton and was the producer of the company's multi-award winning film, "Smuggled." The duo have worked together on film projects for more than ten years. For "Smuggled," Jennifer also served as the Producer of Marketing and Distribution for the film, creating a unique direct distribution model for the film that resulted in theatrical screening events at universities, colleges and community organizations throughout the United States and abroad.

Fischer holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College (2000) and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University (2003). At Harvard, she fell in love with filmmaking, as she saw the power of media to engage individuals around difficult topics, receiving a CMES Fellowship to produce her first short film, "Songs of Palestine,"  a documentary presented in conjunction with her Masters Thesis at Harvard and featured at a Quaker International Relations Conference.

Jennifer followed that documentary short with a narrative short, "Rachel’s Fortune," which she wrote, edited, scored and co-produced and which Ramon Hamilton directed and co-produced. "Rachel’s Fortune" was selected to several film festivals, winning top honors as Best Film for Youth at Toronto’s COMMFest (Community Film Festival). She also served as a technical consultant for "In Conflict With Kismet," a short film from Writer/Director Dani Dixon, which debuted on BET and was featured at the Reel Women International Film Festival.

A piece about Jennifer's personal journey to social justice work, "Coffee Can Change," was published in the book It's Not All About You: Young Adults Seeking Justice, and her writing has been featured on various online websites and blogs.

Executive Producer Jonathan Sanger's films have received a total of 3 Academy Awards, 21 Academy Award nominations, the British Academy Award and the French Cesar (their equivalent).

In 1978, Jonathan made his solo debut as a producer with a small film to be directed by David Lynch in England, "The Elephant Man," starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins. The film made a strong impact on critics and audiences alike, and was rewarded with eight Academy Award nominations in 1980 including Best Picture, as well as the British Academy Award for Best Motion Picture and the French Cesar Award. His next project was the equally passionate story of actress Frances Farmer, "Frances," starring Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley and Sam Shepard, resulted in two Oscar nominations.

Jonathan produced the Academy Award winning and internationally acclaimed "Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall" and the 1992 Academy Award winner, "Session Man," and has also directed more than 15 episodic television shows, including "Twin Peaks" and "L.A. Law." In the late 90s, Jonathan joined C/W Productions (Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's company) producing "Vanilla Sky" and various other films with C/W. Other notable credits include "The Producers" and "Paraiso Travel."

Co-Producer, Five Mualimmak, was released from New York State prison in 2012. While there, he spent 5 years in solitary confinement. Since his release, he has become a vocal advocate for ending solitary confinement. He works with the Incarcerated Nation Campaign, which focuses on assisting individuals with reentry following their incarceration and also monitors those people who are in prison, including those in solitary confinement. He is also a member of the Campaign to End the New Jim Crow and Jails Action Coalition (JAC).

Lead Actor, William Brown, gained his exposure to acting while he was incarcerated at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo through an Arts in Corrections program run by Deborah Tobola, who has since left corrections and is the Founding Director of the Poetic Justice Project, which produces live theater pieces with casts composed of formerly incarcerated individuals. Tobola worked with Brown both at CMC, and after his release, as he performed in various plays with the Poetic Justice Project.

William was born and raised in South Central and went to jail when he was 18. His prison experience included solitary confinement, and he knows first-hand how ineffective and harmful solitary can be. William's audition for “The wHOLE” was so powerful that Director Ramon Hamilton did not audition anyone else for the role of Marcus. William’s ability to step inside the life and mind of Marcus and to take the audience with him as he becomes a man on the verge of insanity and struggles with his time in the SHU allows the audience to more deeply understand what solitary confinement if really like.

Director of Photography, Daniel Cotroneo, has worked in the industry for more than 12 years and is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild. His diverse portfolio includes the upcoming feature "Love Arcadia" and the SyFy series "Ghost Mine." Daniel earned his BFA in Film Production from Chapman University. He has worked under such influential cinematographers as Robert Richardson, Janusz Kaminski and John Schwartzman. His lighting roots are particularly strong, Gaffing 2nd Unit on the Emmy-award winning series "Mad Men" and lighting such films as "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Django Unchained."

Supervising Sound Editor: Ryan Young, has done sound design for award-winning animated shorts from Disney's Cal Arts, the American Film Institute and USC and has worked on Academy Award winning feature films, Emmy Award winning shows, video games, animated series, and commercials for major studios like Universal, Sony, THQ, Fox, Paramount, and Warner Brothers. He is a member of Digidesign's elite family of certified Pro Tools Operators, the I.A.T.S.E. Motion Picture Editors Guild, and is a two-time Golden Reel Award recipient.

Entertainment Education Specialist, Dr. Arvind Singhal, is the Samuel Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor of Communication at the University of Texas-El Paso, and the Director of the Social Justice Initiative in UTEP’s Department of Communication. He is a leader in the field of Entertainment Education having won numerous honors, awards and secured various academic appointments for his work. Singhal is the co-author or editor of 12 books, and his research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, The Dutch Health Research Council, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, The National Science Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, the U.S. Department of State; U.S.A.I.D., Family Health International, PATH, Save the Children, the BBC World Service Trust, International Rice Research Institute, Voice for Humanity, and others.