Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

Chris Temple ‘12 is a film director and the founder of Optimist, a non-profit film studio in Los Angeles. He is best known for directing the feature documentaries Living On One Dollar, Salam Neighbor, and Five Years North. His films have been released globally by Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and PBS, and have premiered at Tribeca, DOCNYC, Full Frame, AFI Docs, & MountainFilm. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Variety, and The Atlantic, and has helped raise over $91 million dollars for poverty alleviation and refugee support efforts. He’s been honored with the 2016 Muslim Public Affairs Council Annual Media Award; recognized alongside Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie as one of the top 100 visionary leaders of 2015 by YPO’s Real Leaders Magazine; and accepted by the U.S. State Department into the American Film Showcase.

Zach Ingrasci '12 is a film director and the co-founder of Optimist, a production company committed to making documentaries that nurture optimism and create impact. Best known for directing the feature documentaries Living On One Dollar, Salam Neighbor, This Is Not Financial Advice and Five Years North, Zach’s films have been released by Netflix, Amazon Prime, National Geographic, PBS and HBO. Every Optimist film is accompanied by an impact campaign to create measurable outcomes. His projects have raised over $119 million for the films’ causes and have changed over 606,869 lives.

Kevin W. McNeely '75 is the president and CEO of the KHR Family Fund and the longtime former Executive Director of the Sonoma International Film Festival, where he served for over 17 years. Under his leadership, the festival grew into a celebrated platform for independent film, cultural exchange, and community engagement. Now serving as Director Emeritus, Kevin continues to support the arts through philanthropy and creative advocacy. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Claremont McKenna College and brings decades of experience in film production, festival curation, and nonprofit leadership.

Meta Valentic PO '94 began her career as the youngest member of the DGA Assistant Director's Training Program. Her assistant director credits include “Nixon”, “Castle”, “Lost”, (nominated for 2 Directors Guild Awards) “Bones”, “The Dropout”, and the Emmy and Golden Globe winning musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”. Most recently, she was the Unit Production Manager on the successful action drama “9-1-1” for ABC. Valentic has been Producer’s Guild Diversity Workshop Fellow, and a Sundance Film Financing Intensive Fellow. She is a judge and conference panelist at the annual Austin Film Festival. She spearheaded the Producers Guild of America’s Mentorship Program and helped create new Mentoring pathways for producers. Valentic grew up in Washington D.C. and attended The Sidwell Friends School, where she developed a lifelong love of politics and Quaker values (and believes they are not mutually exclusive). 

Zoe Pinczower '17 is an accomplished post-production professional with nearly seven years of experience at Netflix, where she currently coordinates post-production for animated series. Her background includes roles at Disney ABC Television and CBS Television Studios, as well as research and media production during her time at Claremont McKenna and Scripps College.