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Akanksha Sood
Akanksha Sood is among India's premiere multi-award winning natural history filmmakers. With two decades of work experience, her work covers the range and breadth of film production, documenting some of the most rare and endangered species across India and bringing them to the audience globally. Her films have been televised across theworld, not just for the strong stories and breathtaking visuals, but also for the empathy her work has created towards the natural world and exposed the need for conservation. Among the 250+ awards and nominations, she has won four National Film Awards given by the President of India, a UN Film Award, and recently, the Diversity Leadership Award by the World Congress of Factual Producers. She is also one of the Jurors for the International Emmy ® Awards – Documentary category and a member of the Advisory Group to Jackson Wild. |
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Lisa Truitt
Lisa traveled the globe as a filmmaker and executive at National Geographic, and her award-winning work has been seen on television, cinema screens, giant screens, and planetariums. She turned entrepreneur as a managing partner and chief creative officer for the start-up that built “National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey”, a groundbreaking, interactive tourist attraction in the heart of Manhattan. Among her latest projects, she is working with a new generation of storytellers, creating the African Conservation Voices program with AWF and Jackson Wild. |
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Michael Cain
Michael Cain is dedicated to changing the world for the better. He believes that media can, more than anything, change people’s hearts and minds toward positive solutions. He is a true champion of filmmakers and their visions. Michael is President & Executive Producer of M3 Films, a film company focused on positive impact media. He co-founded the company in 2003 and has gained recognition for award-winning documentaries with socially relevant content. Among others, Michael directed and produced TV Junkie, awarded the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, and selected for the Award winning HBO’s Addiction series. He worked in partnership with The New York Times on a drug prevention film and educational program, “Faces of Addiction,” that won an AVA Award and was nominated for a PRISM Award™. He has produced more than twenty feature films for HBO & SHOWTIME.Michael co-founded and was President of EarthxFilm, which showcased over 300 environmental films from 2016 – 2021. In September 2020, along with Trammell S. Crow, they launched EarthxTV which is a platform for balanced, inclusive, environmental conversations, programs, emerging media & films. In addition, EarthxFilm created and oversaw immersive technology and youth initiatives EarthXR and EarthxEDU. Since 1999, he has founded and led multiple film festivals including the Deep Ellum Film Festival, Santa Monica International Film Festival, Best of Fests North Texas, AFI DALLAS and the Dallas International Film Festival. He also founded the Dallas Film Society. As a “co-petitor” rather than a “competitor,” Michael works to expand the universe for everyone. His goal is to create positive change through the creation of Media with a Mission. |
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Natalie Cash
Natalie Cash is the Executive Producer in charge of video production at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an international conservation organization founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society. With three decades of experience in the industry, Cash produces short-form programming about WCS projects and stories for multiple platforms. Cash is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and serves on the Board of the New York WILD Film Festival and the Advisory Council of Jackson Wild. Prior to joining WCS, she was a series producer and writer at the Emmy Award-winning documentary production company Pangolin Pictures. |
