Who We Are

We are helpers, thinkers, and doers who love what we do. 

Our approach is collaborative and responsive. We draw on 25+ years of experience in the impact and engagement field to support films with vision and perspective. Our team understands the power of a good narrative. Our operating principle: We help build mutually beneficial, respectful partnerships that support communities.

ELIZA LICHT

she/her

Eliza has been working in the social-issue documentary field for 20 years as an engagement strategist, impact producer, and television executive. She works closely with clients to develop their goals and vision for engagement and impact to maximize the impact and visibility of their films. At Red Owl, she creates and executes campaigns that implement overall strategy, partnership development, the production of high-quality educational resources, as well as tracking, measuring, and evaluating impact. Before Red Owl, Eliza spent 17 years building and expanding the community engagement and education department at the PBS documentary series POV. As Vice President of Content Strategy and Engagement, she set priorities and direction for the organization, along with EPs and fellow executive staff, oversaw the Community Engagement, Communication, and Programs departments, worked closely with the programming team on series selection, and spearheaded broadcast campaigns for over 250 films. Under Licht’s leadership, POV saw a 1000% increase in events, including over 800 screenings annually, and over 46,000 direct engagements with in-person audience members. Eliza has served on juries for DOC NYC, Hot Springs Film Festival, and Brooklyn Film Festival, and on funding panels for the National Endowment of the Arts, Black Public Media, and the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.

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ALICE QUINLAN

she/her

Alice is a co-founder and partner at Red Owl, a social impact collective working across creative disciplines. As an impact and engagement producer with more than ten years of experience using storytelling to drive social change, she leads campaigns with responsive strategies and an eye for creative partnerships and community-based work. Current and recent campaigns include UNION, SUGARCANE, STORM LAKE, NO TIME TO FAIL, and VICTIM/SUSPECT. Previously, as the Director of Community Engagement and Education at POV, Alice developed national engagement campaigns for POV documentaries, produced resources around POV's features, shorts and digital projects, and facilitated hundreds of free screenings nationwide every year with her team. Prior to joining POV in 2014, she founded the KRTS Youth Media Project in Marfa, TX, a part of PBS Student Reporting Labs. Alice is the director of programming at the Dome House, a community space and studio in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, which seeks to provide artists of all mediums with space for creativity, contemplation and wonder.

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NYASHA LAING

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Nyasha Laing, a founding partner, is a storyteller, producer and seasoned impact strategist who brings experience as an international lawyer into innovations to advance justice, healing, and transformation through storytelling and the arts. Her independent films have been featured in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Indie Memphis, the Pan-African Film Festival, Yes Magazine, and the Eye Museum Amsterdam, as well as on public media channels. Nyasha holds a BA in History from Yale University and a JD from NYU School of Law.

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JAVIER RIVERA DEBRUIN

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Javier Rivera DeBruin (they/he) is an impact producer, playwright, and founding partner at Red Owl with over 10 years of experience in audience engagement for film and theater. Javier has served as a juror for the New Orleans Film Festival Oscar Qualifying Short Film Award, as well as on selection committees for grants and new work development with South Pitch, ITVS, and the Sundance Institute. Some recent impact campaigns include: SURVIVOR MADE, UNION, FROM HERE/FROM THERE (DE AQUÍ/DE ALLÁ), COMMUTED, THE COMMAND CENTER TO BRING WOMEN HOME, COLLEGE BEHIND BARS, PHILLY D.A., and DISCLOSURE. Javier holds a BA from Smith College and lives in Philly with their partner, and dog.

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LILY DONNELL

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Lily Donnell works as an impact coordinator for Red Owl. She holds a B.A in French Language and English Literature from Lewis & Clark College and spent a year studying at Université de Strasbourg in France. After moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles, Lily interned briefly in the legal field before transitioning into impact coordination for films like Roll Red Roll and on Red Owl's various projects. These experiences have solidified her interest in working on documentary films with a social issue focus. A new voice in the documentary space, she continues to broaden her knowledge and experience in social impact and engagement strategy while contributing to impact campaigns as a part of the Red Owl team.

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KATIE SOLITO

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Katie Solito is an impact producer and education specialist with Red Owl. An accomplished educator with fifteen years of experience in diverse public high schools and adult education settings, Katie brings her knowledge of curriculum design, learner theory, and engagement strategy to the impact space. Current and recent projects include: SURVIVOR MADE, ANONYMOUS SISTER, BREAKING THE NEWS, COLLEGE BEHIND BARS, BATTLEGROUND, STORMING CAESARS PALACE and THE GRAB. She holds a Masters from UF, and lives in Gainesville, FL with her family.

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MADELEINE CLAIRE KELLEY

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Madeleine comes from a background in impact and community engagement in theater, and worked previously for The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, whose mission is to humanize global politics through performance by cultivating a community of artists, activists, and citizens to create art that sparks transformation and change. Her theater-making, artistic learning facilitation, and production work has engaged her with diverse global communities in differing contexts. Madeleine holds an MFA from the NYU Graduate Acting Program, and a BA from Georgetown University.

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