TEAM

 
Din Blankenship, Director & ProducerDin is an adoptive mom and independent filmmaker. After a decade working in architecture, Din made a career shift into documentary filmmaking as a director and producer of REFUGE, which is set to premiere in November of 2021. Din also directed and produced the short documentary, Worthy that is currently in Post Production. In 2021, Din founded her production company, Late Bloomer Films, and while her creative interests span many mediums, she has found her passion in filmmaking. When Din is not making movies, she can be found walking on the Beltline with her husband, daughters, and dogs.

Din Blankenship, Director & Producer

Din is an adoptive mom and an award-winning filmmaker. She is based in Birmingham, AL and was recently selected by the Producers Guild of America to be one of this year’s PGA Create Fellows. Her first documentary, REFUGE, was Executive Produced by Katie Couric and has won both the Audience Award and Jury Award for Best Documentary at multiple film festivals. REFUGE was included in USA Today’s List of Movies to Watch in 2023 and is now available on all digital platforms and all Delta flights worldwide. Prior to filmmaking, Din worked as an architectural designer for over a decade. She has a Masters in Architecture with High Distinction from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Din proudly serves on the board of SUBJECT MATTER, which provides funds to documentary films highlighting urgent social issues and to nonprofits tackling the featured topics.

Elizabeth Lodge Stepp, Producer

Elizabeth Lodge Stepp is an Austin, TX based producer. Elizabeth’s latest film, USERS, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. She is also a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grantee with USERS and a Sundance Feature Film Creative Producing Fellow with MONSTERS AND MEN, which premiered in Sundance’s 2018 Dramatic Competition line-up, and won the festival’s Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature. In addition, she was a co-founder of the Department of Motion Pictures and has produced numerous films, including BRIMSTONE & GLORY which was named 2017 Top 5 Documentaries by the National Board of Review, and KERRI WALSH JENNINGS: GOLD WITHIN which premiered on NBC in 2016, and co-produced KNIGHT OF CUPS (2015) and SONG TO SONG (SXSW 2017), both directed by Terrence Malick.

Alrinthea Carter, Story Producer

Alrinthea is writer on the Emmy-winning Comedy Variety series A Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO, created by comedy giant Robin Thede. Alrinthea was nominated for “Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series” alongside the ABLSS writing staff. She is also a photographer, with an artistic focus on the abandoned spaces of the American South. Widely published, and featured in Art Galleries, Alrinthea was recently noted in The Hollywood Reporter and gave a TED Talk focusing on the connection between her abandoned space photography and living with depression. 

Alrinthea is a Voting Member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 

Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Co-Producer

Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard is a birth mother in an open adoption and a strong advocate for safe, ethical, child-centered adoptions. She has spent the past several years working in the adoption field - both as a paralegal on the west coast and in adoption agencies in the midwest and southeast. She is now the Director of Advocacy and Policy at Ethical Family Building. She is the co-host of the Twisted Sisterhood Podcast, the first podcast by birth moms, for birth moms. Kelsey resides in Northern California with her husband and daughter.

Leigh Johnson, EditorLeigh Johnson is a New York based film editor. She most recently edited Us Kids, that premiered at Sundance in 2020 and won the Human Rights Award at Full Frame. Previously she edited the HBO documentary It's A Hard Truth Ain't It, which premiered at Tribeca, was nominated for an Emmy, and is the first feature film co-directed by men inside a maximum-security prison released for a wide audience. She also edited the HBO documentary Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus, which interweaves the personal, political, and artistic threads of a theater troupe's work under an authoritarian regime. This film premiered at Toronto and won an Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming. She was a Contributing Editor at the Sundance Edit and Story Labs and the 2017 recipient of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship.

Leigh Johnson, Editor

Leigh is a New York based film editor. She recently edited Razing Liberty Square, which premiered at Hot Docs in 2023 and Us Kids, which premiered at Sundance in 2020 and won the Human Rights Award at Full Frame. Previously she edited the HBO documentary It's A Hard Truth Ain't It, which premiered at Tribeca, was nominated for an Emmy, and is the first feature film co-directed by men inside a maximum-security prison released for a wide audience. She also edited the HBO documentary Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus, which interweaves the personal, political, and artistic threads of a theater troupe's work under an authoritarian regime. This film premiered at Toronto and won an Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming. She was a Contributing Editor at the Sundance Edit and Story Labs and the 2017 recipient of the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship.

Rachael Porter, Cinematographer

Rachael is an award-winning cinematographer based in Chattanooga, TN. She has worked as a Director and Director of Photography on story-driven films of all kinds and is deeply committed to harnessing the power of story to impact, influence, and move viewers. Rachael's recent short film, Greenhouse, is supported by Fujifilm and follows an aspiring flower farmer who begins the journey of growing her first crop. As she works to protect her crop from damaging weather conditions and disease, she encounters a new and unexpected opposition - the debilitating voice of the critic she finds in her own head. Greenhouse is a nuanced portrayal of a universal experience - the paralyzing self doubt brought on by our inner critics and the power of turning inward to confront them. Rachael is also an aunt to her adopted nieces and nephews; she is passionate about capturing this story of adoption with the nuance and care it deserves.

 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Brenda Robinson

Brenda is an entertainment attorney and producer with extensive experience in the film, television and music industries. She has been an advisor to many entertainment and production companies, including Amazon Studios, IMDb, HiddenLight Productions and Wavelength. Brenda was most recently a financier on the Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus, as well as Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Step. She is an executive producer on numerous projects including the BAFTA-nominated Passing, directed by Rebecca Hall and produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker; the Emmy-nominated United Skates, alongside executive producer John Legend;  Jump Shot: The Kenny Sailors Story, alongside executive producer Steph Curry; and Uncharted, alongside executive producer Alicia Keys. Brenda currently serves as the Board Chair of Film Independent and is a board member of the GRAMMY Museum Foundation. Brenda is a member of The Recording Academy, BAFTA and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

 

THE KENNEDY/MARSHALL COMPANY

Established in 1991 by veteran producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, The  Kennedy/Marshall Company is behind award-winning films THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, LINCOLN, and SULLY as well as blockbuster franchises INDIANA JONES, JURASSIC WORLD, and JASON BOURNE to name a few. 

The Documentary Division was created to tell non-fiction stories with the same passion and expertise. President of Documentaries Aly Parker, along with Sr. Vice President of Documentaries Tony Rosenthal, Head of Development Alexandra Bowen, Head of Post Production Adam Borozan, and Coordinator Ellie Vargas make up the lauded documentary department which has produced THE GIFT: THE JOURNEY OF JOHNNY CASH (YouTube), CAROL KING & JAMES TAYLOR: JUST CALL OUT MY NAME, Emmy-nominated docuseries and documentary LAUREL CANYON: A PLACE IN TIME (MGM+) and THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A  BROKEN HEART (HBO/Max), and most recently Grammy-winning JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY (Sony Pictures Classics), Emmy-winning THE REDEEM TEAM (Netflix), THE SPACE RACE (NatGeo), RATHER (Netflix), and THE BEACH BOYS (Disney+).

 

ADVISORY PANEL

We have built an advisory panel of birth moms, adoptees, adoptive parents, and adoption professionals. We believe that a story about adoption should be molded and shaped by a diverse range of voices who are each impacted by adoption. Together, we will ensure that the film is captured with great sensitivity towards the wellbeing of the film’s subjects and that we portray a woman’s journey of pursuing adoption for her child with authenticity and nuance. The advisory panel will also provide insight on shaping the film’s impact and education campaign as we work towards shaping a healthier adoption industry. 

Lydia Berkey

Lydia is an adult transracial adoptee. Lydia is an adoption advocate and mentor. She has a strong desire to cultivate brave spaces for adoptees to share their unfiltered feelings about their adoption journey, while empowering them to discover and embrace their racial identity. Lydia also uses her personal insight as well as her professional insight as a permanency caseworker to educate White Adoptive Parents and help bridge the racial and emotional gaps between them and their transracial adoptee.

Victoria DiMartile (Torie)

Victoria is a biracial Black transracial adoptee in a semi-open adoption. She was raised in Kentucky and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington where she resides on the Kiikaapoi and myaamia territory. She studies kinship, race, and identity through the lens of the modern U.S. adoption industry. Her research focuses on the experiences of displacement, cultural loss, and identity reclamation for transracial adoptees. She also runs the Instagram account Wreckage and Wonder where she shares about racial identity development, transracial parenting, and advocates for more thorough, anti-racist adoption education. She can be found providing consultation to adoption agencies and organization, leading workshops, speaking at conferences, and sharing as a guest on various adoption-related podcasts.

Brandi Ebersole

Brandi is an adoptee, adoptive mom, writer, mentor, and photographer. Growing up trans-racially adopted is no walk in the park. Her hope is to give adoptees a more holistic view of themselves as they venture through the world. She offers her wide range of experience in the adoption world — transracial adoptee and adoptive parent - as useful tools. Her hope is that these tools, along with her formal education in Social Work and Education, can help other families process their own stories. She also loves to write and advocate about the truth around adoption. She is passionate about her family, alongside anti-racism and equity work, and finds great fascination watching them intersect with her transracial adoptee identity.

Muthoni Gaciku

Muthoni Gaciku is a birth mother in an open adoption since 2016. She is the Back to Basics Director at Lifetime Healing Foundation where she runs the adoptive parent education program. This journey has been a whirlwind and she is most thankful for therapy and the bonds and community she has found with women who have also placed a child for adoption. Muthoni is an enneagram 9 whose love language can be summed up with a cozy blanket, Mexican food, and tequila. She resides in Texas with her husband and their son. Muthoni is passionate about advocating for ethical adoption practices, post-placement care for birthmothers, and rigorous training for prospective adoptive parents who want/are open to transracial adoptions.

Erika Gonzales

Erika Gonzales is a birthmom of 4.5 years in an open adoption with her son & his adoptive family. Shortly after placement, she found her way into the nonprofit sector & is now a devoted CASA where she advocates for & mentors at-risk foster youth. She is a staunch supporter of adoption reform & adamantly believes that every birthmom deserves to be treated with dignity & support, regardless of their motherhood journey. Erika currently resides in California where she practices Real Estate & is a Legal Assistant.

Meshan Lehmann

Meshan is the pregnancy social worker at Adoptions Together, a private nonprofit adoption agency licensed in Maryland, Virgina, and Washington DC where she has been working since 2016. She is passionate about all-options counseling, adoption ethics, and access to post placement resources for birthparents. She also led the adoption doula pilot program in 2023, a partnership with the Baltimore Doula Project.

Celeste Liversidge

Attorney Celeste Liversidge has been practicing exclusively in the field of adoption law since 2001. She is the founder of AdoptMatch, AdoptConnect, and TruAdopt Law. She is a fellow of both the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers and a member of the National Association of Counsel for Children, Christian Adoption Legal Services, National Council For Adoption and the North American Council on Adoptable Children. Celeste is a justice seeker at heart and can always be found advocating and speaking out on issues concerning expectant mothers’ rights in adoption.

Ashley Mitchell

Ashley is a birth mom of 14 years in an open adoption. She is the owner of Big Tough Girl and Founder + Executive Director of Lifetime Healing Foundation, where she has set out to seek increased care, understanding, and resources for birth mothers. For over a decade, Ashley has been one of the most consistent and sought after birth mother voices in the nation. She writes curriculum for effective and life-changing birth mom support groups nationwide and advocates for openness, honesty, and education within adoption. Her mission is the women, and she is riding for them until the wheels fall off!

Alli Mohler 

Alli Mohler is a former adoption professional. Currently, she practices as a medical social worker at an urban hospital. While she is not active in adoption work at the moment, she hopes to have a future impact on this complex field. Alli is passionate about adoption education, reform and quality post placement support becoming the norm for all members of the triad. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, three year old son and two playful pups.

Stephie Predmore

Stephie is an adoptive mama living in the middle of Illinois with her husband, daughter, and their menagerie of cats and dogs. She is passionate about advocating for better adoption education and offers adoption advising for hopeful adoptive and adoptive parents. You can often find her in the kitchen baking up something delicious or on the couch with a craft project. Connect with Stephie on Instagram.