Humbled that Deb and I are on this list of Chicago filmmaking "movers and shakers". Thanks to Ray Pride, to our colleagues at NU who we represent, and to Joe Mazza for the picture. https://newcityfilm.com/2017/09/28/film-50-2017-chicagos-screen-gems/
"7 Debra Tolchinsky and David Tolchinsky
Director, MFA in Documentary Media program and Chairman, Department of RTVF/Director, MFA in Writing for Screen + Stage program, Northwestern University
NU’s ambitious kino-twosome continue to broaden the ambitions of Northwestern’s department of Radio-TV-Film in their respective programs. A range of successes include student film acceptances in festivals like Camden, Locarno and New Directors; alumni staff writing gigs on “The Late Show,” “Late Night” and “I Love Dick”; student, faculty and alumni awards including Guggenheim, PEN America and Writers Guild nominations. Visiting luminaries included documentary elder Frederick Wiseman; Joshua Oppenheimer, (“The Act Of Killing”), Sam Raimi and “I Am Not Your Negro” director Raoul Peck. New facilities include a state-of-the-art recording and performance studio; a new black-box theater for the department’s acting-for-the-screen program; and designs for the Performing and Media Arts Center in downtown Chicago, which will extend the department into the greater Chicago filmmaking community. Dave introduced an emphasis in the department on comedy, based on the department’s alumni pool, which includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert. Debra co-founded the Chicago chapter of Film Fatales, which supports Chicago-based female directors. Debra is also currently directing and producing “True Memories and Other Falsehoods,” a documentary that explores the intersection of contaminated memory and the criminal justice system. Dave is involved in filmmaking and theater as well as projects that bring theater and film together, including the play “An Attempt to Heal in the Contemporary World,” about psychologist Wilhelm Reich, to be combined with Melika Bass’ film, “Creature Companion,” which he also co-produced."
