Al Hicks
Co-Founder, Director

Al Hicks is a Grammy Award-Winning filmmaker based in Sydney and Los Angeles. After working as a musician in and around New York, Hicks transitioned to filmmaking, directing his first feature documentary KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON, winning both the Audience Award and Best New Director honors at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. The film also won awards from the IDFA, AFI, Cinema Eye, Seattle Film Festival, Palm Springs, Hamptons Summer Docs and went onto be shortlisted for the Academy Awards Best Documentary Feature in 2015. Hicks then co-directed the documentary feature film QUINCY, following music legend and icon Quincy Jones. QUINCY premiered at TIFF in 2018, before a global premiere on Netflix. The film received the Critics’ Choice Honor for Best Music Documentary, the African American Film Critics Award for Best Documentary. QUINCY was included in the Doc NYC Short List, the Hollywood Reporter’s Top Ten Films of 2018, was honoured as a New York Times Critics’ Pick and won the Grammy for Best Music Film. In 2022 Hicks directed the feature documentary MY SISTER LIV which premiered at Karlovy Vary and Doc NYC. Most recently he Executive Produced PORCELAIN WAR which was nominated for an Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards and won the 2024 Sundance U.S Documentary Grand Jury Prize, and was a Writer / Producer on WHISTLE (TIFF 50).

Camilla Mazzaferro
Co-Founder, Managing Director, Producer

Camilla is the Managing Director of the independent Australian production company Songbird Studios and a producer of the Academy Award–nominated PORCELAIN WAR, which also won the 2024 Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Most recently she produced WHISTLE which premiered at TIFF 50. Camilla began her career at PwC and RadicalMedia, producing a wide range of award-winning commercial campaigns, music videos, and short films, including HOMEBODIES which premiered at SXSW 2016. Her producing credits also include feature documentaries MY SISTER LIV (Karlovy Vary, Doc NYC 2023), A FIRE INSIDE (Sydney Film Festival 2021), MACHINE (MIFF 2019), and NETFLIX Original CHEF’S TABLE. Other projects include THE MEDDLER – EL METIDO (MIFF 2020), ULURU & THE MAGICIAN, THE SWIMMER with IAN THORPE, and GIRLS CAN’T SURF (Tribeca 2021). She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, Screen Producers Australia, AACTA and winner of the 2025 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in broadcast journalism.

Luke Mazzaferro
Co-Founder, Producer

Luke began his career at RadicalMedia when he was seventeen, working as a Directors Assistant collaborating closely with acclaimed filmmakers, eventually becoming a VP of Development. Most recently he was a Co-Writer/Producer on the feature documentary WHISTLE (TIFF 50) and was an Executive Producer on PORCELAIN WAR which was nominated for an Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards and won the 2024 Sundance U.S Documentary Grand Jury Prize. He Co-Wrote/Co-Directed the feature documentary A FIRE INSIDE about Australia’s ‘Black Summer’ (Sydney Film Festival 2021). Other credits include Co-Writer/Producer on the feature documentary MACHINE (MIFF 2019), Producer on the Webby Award winning documentary-short LOSING LENA and as Development Producer on GIRLS CAN’T SURF (Tribeca 2021), and EL METIDO: THE MEDDLER (MIFF 2020). He has previously worked with Director Patrick Hughes on a variety of drama projects including Hughes’ feature debut RED HILL (Berlinale 2010), the acclaimed short film SIGNS, and THE EXPENDABLES 3.

Rebecca Bennett
Producer

Rebecca is an award-winning creative producer recognised for crafting compelling, emotionally driven documentaries. Before joining Songbird Studios, she worked in development and production at several leading companies, most recently at the Emmy Award–winning Stranger Than Fiction Films, where she produced the three-part series AUSTRALIA: AN UNOFFICIAL HISTORY. Her feature documentary GHOSTHUNTER (SHEFFIELD 2018), directed by Ben Lawrence, won the Documentary Australia Award at the Sydney Film Festival, received four AACTA Award nominations – winning the AACTA for Best Editing, and earned an AWGIE Award for Best Writing. Rebecca started her career in musical theatre production on London’s West End before moving to Australia, where she established herself as a respected producer of award-winning commercials and music videos, collaborating with some of the country’s top directing talent. Her additional producing credits include Executive Producer on the feature documentary THE SCARS OF ALI BOULALA (TRIBECA 2021), Line producer on Lynette Wallworth’s EDGE OF LIFE (AFF 2025), and Executive Producer of the Audible Original podcast GHOSTHUNTER, named by Rolling Stone as one of the five scariest podcasts of the year.

Rob Galluzzo
Co-Founder, Executive Producer

Rob Galluzzo has been fundamental in financing and creative shepherding numerous documentary projects, and has a passion for championing emerging talent. His credits include feature documentaries PORCELAIN WAR (Academy Awards nominee, 2024 Sundance U.S Documentary Grand Jury Prize Winner), WHISTLE (TIFF 50), A FIRE INSIDE (Sydney Film Festival 2021), GIRLS CAN’T SURF (Tribeca Film Festival 2020), MACHINE (MIFF 2019), EL METIDO: THE MEDDLER (MIFF 2020), ULURU & THE MAGICIAN, television specials THE SWIMMER with IAN THORPE (ABC), TOUGH CONVERSATIONS WITH HENRY ROLLINS (Network TEN), THE ART OF WALKING (National Geographic) and Patrick Hughes’ narrative feature debut RED HILL.

Paula DuPre’ Pesmen
Producer

Paula DuPre’ Pesmen is an Emmy Award® and Grammy Award Winning producer who produced the Academy Award® Winning feature documentary THE COVE. In 2010 Paula was named Producer of the Year by the Producers Guild of America. Paula launched her film career on the producing teams of such narrative features as: HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, RENT, MRS. DOUBTFIRE, HOME ALONE 2, and STEPMOM. She has produced the renowned documentary features: CHASING ICE (Emmy Award® Winner Best Documentary, Cinematography Award Sundance, Audience Award SXSW), KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON (Audience Award at Tribeca, IDFA and Palm Springs Film Festival). For her philanthropic work starting and running the non-profit ‘There With Care’, which provides daily support to families and children facing critical illness, she was named a Local Hero by Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine. In 2019 Paula produced the feature documentary QUINCY, which won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film. It was made over three years with music and film icon Quincy Jones. Most recently, Paula produced the Academy Awards nominated PORCELAIN WAR which won the 2024 Sundance U.S Documentary Grand Jury Prize, and was Co-Writer / Executive Producer on WHISTLE (TIFF 50).