Joanne Friedland Roberts
Co-Producer and Co-Director
A television producer, director, writer and new media pioneer, Joanne has created and led production of three original series, and numerous TV projects, documentaries, videos, political action campaigns and websites. Partners and clients have included major media companies, corporations, not-for profits, museums and local government agencies, such as CBS, ABC Disney, NBC, The Fox Network, HBO, AOL, PBS, Lifetime, Sesame Workshop, the Smithsonian, Revlon, California Capital, the New York City Mayor’s Office, the Franklin Institute, the Boston Museum of Science, the U.S Patent Office and the Brennan Center for Justice.
Over the years Joanne’s projects have garnered top industry awards and set the stage for the expansion of knowledge, conversation and community. A former teacher, she’s passionate about sharing what she learns.
Most recently, she produced and directed THE BONACKERS documentary, about the fiercely independent men and women who've been fishing and farming the east end of Long Island for almost 400 years. Struggling to survive in the mansion-filled Hamptons, they may well be the last of their kind. The one-hour documentary generated much critical acclaim, and a series of community exhibitions and gatherings, at historical societies, cinemas and cultural organizations. THE BONACKERS premiered in primetime on The WNET Group/WLIW-TV in April, 2025, is available on PBS Passport, and Kanopy.com, and is airing on PBS stations across the country.
Stephen Hamilton
Co-Producer and Co-Director
An arts administrator, director, producer, actor, educator, and acting coach, Hamilton has more than three decades of professional experience across theatre, film, television, and arts leadership.
In 1991, Steve co-founded Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, with Emma Walton Hamilton and Sybil Christopher. Over seventeen years as Executive Director, he oversaw the development and production of more than fifty productions, guiding Bay Street’s evolution into a nationally
recognized professional theatre. During his tenure, productions included Jon Robin Baitz’s adaptation of Hedda Gabler (Broadway transfer, Tony nomination – Kate Burton) and Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend (directed by Julie Andrews, followed by a national tour). Additionally, Steve produced new work by Paula Vogel, Lanford Wilson, Cynthia Ozick, Terrence McNally, Marsha Norman, Chris Durang, Rick Dresser, Jon Robin Baitz, and Joe Pintauro. Among the many actors and directors featured during this period are Cherry Jones, Alan Alda, Diane Wiest, Richard Dreyfuss, Mercedes Ruehl, Twiggy, Sidney Lumet, Joe Mantello, Leonard Foglia, Diane Paulus, Nicholas Martin, and Marshall Mason.
Following his tenure at Bay Street, Steve created the MFA in Theatre program for Stony Brook University and founded the annual Southampton Theatre Conference, building professional development pipelines for emerging artists. He then served as Interim Executive Director of Sag Harbor Cinema, providing early organizational leadership and operational support.
As a director, Steve’s credits include Arthur Miller’s All My Sons starring Alec Baldwin and Laurie Metcalf at the John Drew Theatre, and the world premiere of Ira Lewis’s Gross Points starring Alec Baldwin at Bay Street Theatre. Additional directing credits include the American premiere of Ben Woolf’s Angry Young Man (Urban Stages), Neil LaBute’s The Furies (59E59 Theaters), Yasmina Reza’s Art, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan (John Drew Theatre), The Lonesome West (Quack Theatrics), and The Pillowman (Playwrights Theater of EH/Kassar prods.), John Logan’s Red (John Drew Theatre), and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (adapted by Hamilton, Bay Street Theatre).
Julian T. Alvarez
Cinematographer
Julian Alvarez is a Director/Cinematographer based in NYC. After falling in love with visual storytelling while an apprentice for National Geographic and LA Times photojournalists, Julian went on to graduate with a BFA from Tisch School of the Arts.
Since then, Julian has worked freelance shooting music videos, features, shorts, and documentaries. Recently, he turned a focus to his hometown of eastern Long Island to co-direct and shoot Forgotten Founders: David Hempstead, Sr., a documentary showcasing the lost history of slavery in the Hamptons, which went on to win the Audience Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, as well as serving as cinematographer for The Bonackers, a documentary highlighting the underrepresented fishing and farming communities on the East End.
Currently, he is traveling on the festival circuit, showcasing his latest directorial effort, Ahoy!, which has been screened at a dozen Oscar qualifying festivals so far.
Sam Hamilton
Editor
Sam Hamilton is a documentary filmmaker and editor, born and raised in Sag Harbor, NY. Sam is the Communications Manager at Sag Harbor Cinema, where his duties include creating trailers and other promotional films for special series and events. He also works as an editor and assistant editor on documentary films and shows for such networks as HBO, Hulu, and PBS. Sam edited The Bonackers, a documentary airing on PBS about the fiercely independent fishermen and farmers of the East End of Long Island, and co-directed Forgotten Founders: David Hempstead, Sr., a documentary about the Plain Sight Project which aims to unearth the identities and stories of enslaved, indentured, and free people of color on the East End of Long Island. He feels lucky to call Sag Harbor his home and looks forward to participating more in its vibrant artistic community.
Mary Jane Marcasiano
Costume Designer
Marcasiano founded her design company in 1977 after graduating from Parsons School of Design and was honored with the Cartier, DuPont, Cutty Sark and Wool Knit Awards. Her design work is currently centered around costumes for dance, film, theater and for Grammy Award winning singer and Unicef Ambassador Angelique Kidjo. In 2007 Marcasiano created the Made with Love Project, dedicated to supporting women's crafts, and children's aid programs, in Brazil and Africa. Marcasiano has been honored to be invited to work with artists of West Africa and the African Diasporas. Marcasiano serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships to Cinema Tropical, a nonprofit promoting Latin American cinema in the US and as Director of Development to IMPACT Repertory Theater, a program for under-resourced youth in Harlem. In Spring of 2019 Marcasiano received her Masters Degree from NYU Gallatin for her Thesis "UpScale: Scaling Up Nonprofit Capacity". Her Masters studies focused on the intersection of Art, Nonprofits and Social Change. She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Costume Studies at NYU Steinhardt and is working on clothing archival and curating projects. She is an exhibition curator at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum and co-curated the exhibitions Sag Harbor Summers 1882-1907 in 2024, 2025's Wedding Dresses 1840 to 1925 - From Victorian Fashion to the Roaring 20s and 2026’s The Revolution at Hand: Clothing, Work and Daily Life in Sag Harbor.
Forrest Gray
Composer
Forrest Gray gained recognition for scoring And Everything Is Going Fine, a documentary by Steven Soderbergh about his late father, Spalding Gray. He has since contributed additional music to shows like Bridgerton, The Morning Show, and Yellowstone: Marshals. As sole composer, Gray scored Barber (2023), an Irish Neo-noir starring Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, The Wire), and this past summer composed original music for Alec Baldwin's adaptation of The Fitzgeralds, a one-act play about the famous novelist and his wife, Zelda.