Donna Kain

Chief Moderator, DEFF Filmmakers Café

Donna Kain's contributions to the Down East Flick Fest (DEFF) have been instrumental in elevating the event to new heights. As the Master Moderator of the DEFF Filmmakers Café, Donna skillfully guides discussions, setting the tone and direction for meaningful exchanges among filmmakers. Her ability to ask the right questions and foster engaging dialogue has made the Filmmakers Café a pivotal forum for creative minds.

Donna is not only a distinguished academic with a prolific career but also a driving force behind the success of the Filmmakers Café. Her tenure at East Carolina University (ECU), where she earned the title of Faculty Emerita Associate Professor, underscores her deep expertise in rhetoric, technical communication, and risk communication. Her scholarly work, especially in areas like climate change and sea level rise, has had a significant impact, further enhancing her reputation as a thought leader.

DEFF is fortunate to have Donna at the helm of the Filmmakers Café, where her leadership ensures that the event remains a cornerstone of the festival. This year, she will once again bring her unique blend of insight and expertise to the Café as she moderates a hybrid event on FB Live and in person at the Greenville Museum of Art on Sunday, September 22. Donna’s strategic vision and moderating prowess continue to make the Café an essential and enriching experience for all participants.

Rick Kain, Actor, Producer, Director, Writer

Panelists Liaison

 Rick Kain is a Maryland native with a prolific career in the film industry as an actor, stuntman, and stunt coordinator. He has amassed over 150 film and television credits. Some of his notable recent works include White House Plumbers (2023), Rustin (2023), and Waiting (2023). His extensive experience in the industry also includes work on popular projects like Jack Ryan, Mindhunter, DC Noir, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Bone Collector. Kain's career extends beyond acting and stunts; he is also involved in production through his company, RSK Productions LLC, based in the Baltimore/Washington area. The company specializes in narrative and documentary filmmaking, video interviews, and multi-camera coverage of live stage shows and events. Recently, Rick Kain completed production on two short films, Unheard Melodies and The Elephant Spiel, which are set to be featured in various film festivals. He is also in post-production on his first feature documentary film, signaling his continued growth and diversification in the film industry.

Anthony Greene (A.M. Greene)

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Anthony Greene is a native Washingtonian DMV based writer, filmmaker and multi-festival founder whose work can be found worldwide and through his latest venture Film Village. He's a self-proclaimed "old man" and "art lover.” Anthony Greene is a writer, director, and producer with projects including Frights and Fears Vol. 1, American Comic television series, and The Henchman’s War.

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 Emmi Shockley- Bio

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Emmi Shockley is a filmmaker and actor originally from Ocean City, Maryland. She entered the independent film world during her teenage years when she was cast in Michael Tully's 2014 Sundance feature, Ping Pong Summer. She graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Television Production in 2019. She has written, directed, and produced two award-winning short films, J-1 and Don't Be a Baby. By the age of twenty-four, Emmi was a producer on her first feature film project: a queer romantic comedy called Throuple (post-production). She is based in New York City.

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Samuel Tressler IV- Bio

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Samuel Tressler IV is a filmmaker based in New York. While working professionally behind the camera and as an editor/vfx compositor, his artistic interests lie in creating narrative, concept-driven motion picture pieces both short and long. In 2023 he released his first feature film, the wordless, 3D Leda, distributed by MVD Entertainment under the GFY label co-founded by Tressler in 2020. Tressler is currently in production of his second feature film and served as cinematographer on a documentary of the French Master Clown Teacher Philippe Gaulier, now in post-production.

Tressler serves on the Advisory Board for Stevenson University's Film and Moving Image Department, the board of producers of 72 Film Fest in Frederick, Maryland and formerly wrote a film column for his hometown newspaper, The Frederick Post.

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Adam Rodgers

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Adam is a Baltimore native and graduate of Duke University, where he studied politics, theater and philosophy, and of New York University’s Graduate Film Program. Adam’s short films have played at festivals worldwide, earning numerous awards. Since moving to Los Angeles, Adam has co-written (with Glenn German) and sold spec feature scripts and pitches to Sony, Universal and Fox, among others. In 2014, Adam co-wrote and directed the indie romance At Middleton, starring Academy Award nominees Vera Farmiga and Andy Garcia. The film won multiple festival awards, was released theatrically in the U.S. and internationally, was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and debuted in the top 10 (Art House) On Demand releases.

Adam teaches screenwriting and chairs the Program in Film and Media Studies at The Johns Hopkins University. A member of the Writers Guild of America, Adam continues to write, direct, and produce for film and television through his production company, 8th Day Pictures. His latest project, the award-winning digital comedy series Turf Valley, is currently streaming on YouTube

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 Harold Jackson  

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Harold Jackson IV is an Emmy-nominated producer known for Once Upon A Time in the District (2023), Last Night (2014), and Liam White: The Forgettable Life of Liam White (2021). He grew up in Los Angeles, California, in a large extended family of film consumers. This is where his passion and interest in IIfilm were born. As he grew older, Harold realized he had a gift for writing, and it was a part of his DNA. He says, “Storytelling through visualization is what drives me.”

Harold has produced, written, and directed multiple films, series, and documentaries and is a critically acclaimed writer, director, and filmmaker. Some of his many award-winning productions include BURN: The Evolution of An American City, a documentary about the current state of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and its history of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Riot; Last Night (ABFF Best Screenplay/Audience Choice Winner); an HBO Best Film-winning project titled Unarmed Man, a film steeped in social commentary when civil unrest erupts after a police officer kills an unarmed man; and the Emmy-nominated series Anacostia, a series about residents of historic Washington, D.C., who struggle to survive.

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