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The Production Team
Who we are
Sam Katz
Director / Co-Producer / Co-Scriptwriter
Sam Katz founded History Making Productions in 2007 to create historical documentaries about Philadelphia. His portfolio includes the 13-part series "Philadelphia: The Great Experiment", "Before Hollywood", and "Beethoven in Beijing", a finalist for the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. His documentary, "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit" won the 2021 Ken Burns Prize. His films have earned 18 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
James McGovern
Co-Producer / Co-Scriptwriter
James C. McGovern is the founder of JCM Films, bringing two decades of experience crafting short-form and long-form documentary projects. His Emmy-nominated work began with portraits of musicians before expanding to character-driven storytelling. He co-directed and edited "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit", winner of the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. His commercial work includes projects for Apple Music, Ford, Microsoft, and American Express.
Paul Van Haute
Director of Photography
Paul Van Haute brings more than 30 years of experience as a gaffer and cinematographer. His work has been recognized with six Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards for "Philadelphia: The Great Experiment" and "Before Hollywood". He served as director of photography for "Beethoven in Beijing", a 2020 finalist for the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Van Haute is also cinematographer for the forthcoming series, "In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America."
Adam Rosenbloom
Editor / Graphic Designer
Adam Rosenbloom is an Emmy Award-winning offline and online video editor with experience across film and television production. A specialist in visual effects and compositing with Adobe After Effects, he has created films for large-scale theater installations and signature promos for MLB Network and the MLB Postseason. His work spans multi-screen media walls, 360-degree theaters, and innovative camera technologies including 8K systems for the NFL, NCAA, and Major League Baseball.
Jon Kohl
Editor / Archival Producer
Jon Kohl is History Making Productions' archival producer, shaping the visual language of documentaries through materials acquisition, digitization, and licensing. A Temple University film graduate, he produced "Cecil's People," winner of two Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards for Best Cultural Program (2015, 2016). He served as archival producer for "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit", the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize winner, and is senior editor for "In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America."
Daniel Slatkin
Music Composer
Daniel Slatkin is an internationally recognized, award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist whose orchestral concert works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. His film scores include multiple projects for ESPN and the documentary "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit", for which he conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The film won the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.
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