Our Team
Christi Cooper
Director, Producer, Writer
An Emmy-award winning cinematographer with a PhD in Neuroscience and an MS in Microbiology, Christi focuses her storytelling and visual narratives on issues of justice and impact by creating human connections to the most pressing issues of our time. She left a successful academic and research career in Europe to obtain an MFA in Science & Natural History Filmmaking (graduate thesis: Contemporary Advocacy Filmmaking: Campaigns for Change). In 2011, Christi co-created Stories of TRUST: Calling for Climate Recovery, a 10-part documentary series featuring youth plaintiffs suing their state governments over climate change, with WITNESS, a social justice/human rights organization focused on using film for social change. The campaign was used to reach decision-makers and judges who were ruling on climate litigation brought to the courts by young people. Her film awards include Wildscreen’s Panda Award for Best Campaign Film, Best Environmental Film from Backcountry Film Festival, Best Youth Film from Colorado Environmental Film Festival, and Best Made in Montana from the International Wildlife Film Festival, among others. Christi is the inaugural SFFilm/Vulcan Productions Environmental Film Fellow and the first Jacob Burns Film Center Focus on Nature Artist-in-Resident.
Olivia Ahnemann
Producer
Olivia Ahnemann has been producing and directing documentary films for over 20 years. Most recently, she produced The Human Element featuring James Balog, which premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2018 and was distributed by The Orchard. Previously she produced Under the Gun with director Stephanie Soechtig, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was distributed by EPIX/Lionsgate; and Racing Extinction with director Louie Psihoyos, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and was distributed by Discovery. In 2016, Olivia was nominated for an Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Olivia was co-producer of The Cove, which has garnered over 70 awards globally, including the 2009 Academy Award for best documentary and the Producers Guild of America documentary award.