Chicken & Egg Pictures supports women nonfiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change. We envision an inclusive media industry in which women and non-binary filmmakers, representing a range of experiences and backgrounds, are fully supported to realize their artistic goals, and build fulfilling careers in the documentary film industry.
Since 2005, Chicken & Egg Pictures has awarded $10 million in grants and thousands of hours of creative mentorship to over 400 filmmakers. Films supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures have won numerous awards, including Academy and Emmy Awards, but more importantly, they have resulted in change for the issues they address.
See here for an overview of Chicken & Egg Pictures’ three year strategic plan, including programs, goals, and values.
As the Chief Executive Officer of Chicken & Egg Pictures, Jenni sets the overall vision of the organization and ensures the achievement of its mission. Jenni builds and leads a talented team in implementing Chicken & Egg Pictures’ strategic plan, building financial sustainability, and engaging the film and human rights communities of which Chicken & Egg Pictures is a dedicated member. Before joining Chicken & Egg Pictures, Jenni was the Managing Director of WITNESS, the international human rights video advocacy organization co-founded by musician Peter Gabriel. Jenni has worked for UNICEF, protecting the rights of children affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters, and has served in numerous posts around the world for the United Nations, including the UN International Civilian Mission in Haiti and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda. Jenni wrote and still performs a solo play, RASH, about her experiences as a human rights activist. She has an MA in Human Rights and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Strathclyde.
As Development Manager at Chicken & Egg Pictures, Allison supports the organization’s ongoing fundraising efforts. Prior to joining, Allison worked across multiple academic research centers, government agencies, and nonprofits with the goal of centering and leveraging the impact of mission-driven work. She joins us from Acumen, where she focused on creating collaborative processes to analyze in-house data to gather insights and to further drive Acumen’s larger strategic initiatives. Allison holds a BA in Anthropology, Environmental Studies, and Human Rights from Hunter College and an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Science.
As Program Assistant, Will ensures accurate administrative and logistical support for the growing Program team’s efforts. These include application and selection processes; filmmaker retreats and events; and program, team, and filmmaker travel.
ichelle is the principal of Run It By Byrd, a strategic consultancy working with public, private, and nonprofit media and entertainment entities. For three years she served as Co-President of Games for Change, where she produced the organization’s annual festival and served as an executive producer of the Half the Sky Movement games. Prior to that, for 12 years she served as Executive Director of the Independent Filmmaker Project, where she was honored with a Made in NY award from Mayor Bloomberg for her leadership. Michelle has served on numerous film festival juries and funding review panels, including Tribeca Film Institute’s New Media Fund, Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition, USA Fellows, National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, and on the Advisory Boards of cinelan and Culture Shed. In 2008, Chicken & Egg Pictures presented Michelle with the first ever Good Egg Award to celebrate her work in independent film.
achel has been working in performing arts and film for 30 years. She is Founder and Director of THE OFFICE performing arts + film, a New York City-based programming, consulting, and production company. She is the Curator of Performing Arts and Film for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Director of Programming of the CenterSeries at the ’62 Center for Theater and Dance at Williams College, a Consultant to the Feature Film and Theater Programs for the Sundance Institute, a member of the New York Jewish Film Festival selection committee, and Curator of Music and Family programming at 92YTribeca. She is also the Artistic Director of Celebrate Brooklyn!, New York’s longest running free outdoor performing arts and film festival. Rachel is proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the 52nd Street Project, the Jewish Fund for Justice, the Builders Association, and Working Films. She recently served as Associate Producer for Phil on Film: Shorts, a collaboration with composer Philip Glass and the filmmakers Shirin Neshat, Atom Egoyan, Michal Rovner, and Peter Greenaway. Rachel is also a long time participant in the Theater Development Fund’s Open Doors program, which introduces underserved high school students to the theater.
As Director of Ford Foundation’s JustFilms initiative, Cara Mertes leads a global initiative that supports filmmakers and key organizations that sustain the art of contemporary-issue film and digital storytelling in the service of social justice goals. She was director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund from 2006-2013, annually supporting dozens of social issue films and designing Labs and creative support opportunities for more than 100 Sundance artists each year. While at Sundance, she spearheaded many global partnerships, including the Skoll Foundation Stories of Change partnership, the TED Prize Filmmaker Award and with BritDoc Foundation’s Good Pitch. Prior to Sundance, she was executive producer of the PBS “P.O.V.” documentary series from 1999-2006, where she received multiple Emmy awards, George Foster Peabody awards, duPont-Columbia awards and a Webby award. She has executive produced several Oscar-nominated films, including Street Fight; My Country, My Country; and The Betrayal – Nerakhoon. She served as executive director of American Documentary Inc., has produced and directed for PBS, produced “Independent Focus” for WNET/New York, and taught and written about independent documentary. A graduate of Vassar College and the Whitney Independent Study Program, she is completing a master’s degree in communications from Hunter College. She is a graduate of Harvard University’s Owner/President Management Program and a member of WGA East and AMPAS.
Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and raised in Los Angeles, Lourdes Portillo is an award-winning filmmaker known for her signature hybrid style as a visual artist, investigative journalist and activist. Since her first film in 1979, After the Earthquake/ Despues del Terremoto, she has produced and directed over a dozen works, including the Academy Award and Emmy Award nominated Las Madres: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo; La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead; Columbus on Trial; The Devil Never Sleeps; Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena; My McQueen; and Al Más Allá. Her most recent feature-length film, Señorita Extraviada, a documentary about the disappearance and death of young women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, received a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Havana International Film Festival, the Nestor Almendros Award at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and an Ariel, the Mexican Academy of Film Award. Lourdes’ work has screened at premiere cultural institutions and events around the world, including the Venice Biennale, Toronto International Film Festival, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the New Directors/New Films program presented by the Film Society at Lincoln Center and the New York Museum of Modern Art. She has been honored with eight mid-career retrospectives, including exhibitions at the Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art, and in 2012 she was honored with a Retrospective of her films at NYMOMA.
Amy is the president of Soapbox: Speakers Who Speak Out and the director of educational outreach for MAKERS: Women Who Make America. Amy is also a writer, best known for her books on contemporary feminist issues, including Manifesta, Grassroots and Opting In. She is the creator of 
Zainab Salbi has frequently been named as one of the women changing the world by leading publications ranging from Newsweek to People Magazine. Most recently,Foreign Policy Magazine named her as one of “100 Leading Global Thinkers.” At the age of twenty-three, Zainab founded Women for Women International, a humanitarian organization dedicated to women survivors of wars. Under her leadership (1993–2011), Women for Women International grew from helping 30 women upon its inception to helping more than 420,000 women and distributing more than $100 million in aid.
Joey Soloway is the creator of Amazon Studios’ Golden Globe-winning Transparent, a dark, deep, silly family series about boundaries, love, and secrets. Joey won the US Dramatic Directing Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival for their first feature, Afternoon Delight, which was released by Cinedigm/Film Arcade. They recently founded 
As President of the Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, CEO of Women Moving Millions (WMM), and a Board Member at the Sundance Institute, Jackie dedicates her time and resources toward the advancement of women and girls.