Crew

Diana Greene produces and directs documentary films that blend inquiry and discipline with the insight and creativity of fine art. Themes addressed in her award-winning work involve the human conditions of community, place, identity, and memory. In 2017 and 2018 she was a Pulitzer Center grantee and produced two short films. Her last film, Home Stretch, funded through Winston-Salem State University, premiered at RiverRun International Film Festival in 2022.

Inspiration for the film
I'm interested in creating an intimate portrait of an artist, community innovator, and colorful legend who has stories and passions as long as the state of North Carolina. Nick Bragg, known for painting 25 historical timelines, turns the gaze inward for the first time at age 87, and paints a new mural visualizing the forces that shaped his life. The process generated epiphanies and revelations about love, support, and the transformative power of art. Our film is witness to that sacred ground.

UNCSA ’22 graduate Bobby Gupton is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker with a concentration in cinematography. He was nominated by the school in 2021 for submission to the international film festival of the art of cinematography CAMERAIMAGE. He is a native North Carolinian who overcame diagnosed agoraphobia in his youth to enter the field of the cinematic arts, where he enjoys exploring the boundaries of visual storytelling.

Inspiration for the film
He’s intrigued by the connections between a person and their work, and is eager to trace a man’s idea of self as Nick Bragg externalizes his life into a canvas.

Lauren Dempster is a recent graduate of UNC School of the Arts with a BFA in Cinematography. Alongside required classes, Lauren also explored her passion for directing by auditing the directing program while at UNCSA, and in her final semester she wrote, directed, and filmed a narrative short titled Eucharist. Born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, Lauren has spent most of her life living in the state, and has a deep fondness and sense of nostalgia for her hometown and North Carolina as a whole. She plans to use her passion for both directing and cinematography to tell raw, human stories based around her experience and the experiences of others growing up and living in the South.

Inspiration for the film
Lauren’s love and and fascination for the South is one of the many reasons she was so drawn to working on a documentary about Nick Bragg, an artist who has been a vital part of his community, and bases a lot of his artwork around North Carolina’s history, architecture, stories, and the people that reside in a place that he is proud to call his home.

Daniel Christie is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts who specializes in Editing & Sound Design.

As a production sound mixer, he's enjoyed setting up multiple microphones to capture Nick Bragg’s beautiful voice, and ensure that they record properly.

Inspiration for the film
Nick is a fascinating man and serves as something of an aspiration point for Daniel. It’s beautiful to see someone with so much lived experience still living in the moment. Daniel hopes that people will see Nick the way that he does, and draws inspiration for their own life.

A graduate of UNC School of the Arts with a BFA in Direction, Ian now resides in San Francisco, CA. His films have screened at the New York Film Festival, AFI DOCS, Fantastic Fest, Miami Art Basel, and Slamdance. He has received a finalist nod for the Golden Eagle Award for Independent and Emerging Media and camera-operated a Smithsonian documentary that earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding cinematography.

Inspiration for the film
For the first time, a prolific muralist is cataloging and painting his identity across his 87 years of life. In a similar challenge, Ian is excited to collaborate on one of the few time capsules we have about an artist who has so uniquely impacted his community.

Anna studied Performing Arts Management at UNC School of the Arts and has an MA in New Media and Global Education from Appalachian State University. She first worked with Nick Bragg when she was the Co-Founder of Peppercorn Theatre and he was on the Founding Board, and first worked with Diana as her Studio Assistant in 2012.

Inspiration for the film
Producing events and gallery shows, she’s collaborated with Nick, Diana, and Ian for over a decade. Anna is currently the Community Manager at Haand Ceramics in Burlington, North Carolina.

Sara Woodmansee wears many hats including shoot producer for the national PBS show 'My Music with Rhiannon Giddens', nature photographer and photo editor. A lifelong love of documentary photo and film has only deepened her view that capturing people's lives through visual storytelling is very much needed in this world.

Inspiration for the film
It's an honor to participate in this project by helping with fundraising! I am intrigued by Nick's path as an artist, and how he overcame obstacles to become who he is today. To be active and passionate about life at 87 is itself a story worth telling!