STRAIN CV !1

TRACY HEATHER STRAIN

EDUCATION

DATE DEGREE INSTITUTION

1995 Ed.M., Technology, Innovation & Education Harvard University 1982 A.B., American Studies Wellesley College

Additional Coursework

Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education 2011–2012 Digital Design for the Screen; HTML: The Language of the Web; Web Design with Dreamweaver; Videography; JavaScript for Non-Programmers; Cascading Style Sheets; Digital Photography: An Introduction; Introduction to Dynamic Content Generation with PHP.

Harvard Extension School 1992 Social Documentary Photography 1988 Beginning Screenwriting

Harrisburg Area Community College 1989 Black & White Photography I Black & White Photography II

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

TEACHING POSITIONS

2013– Professor of the Practice, College of Arts, Media and Design, , Boston, MA 2013 Part-Time Lecturer, Spring Semester, Media and Screen Studies, College of Arts, Media and Design, Northeastern 2004–2011 Instructor, Production Management/Budget & Scheduling Session, Annual WGBH Producers Workshop, CPB/PBS Producers Academy, Boston, MA 2007–2008 Adjunct Instructor, Documentary Producing, New England Institute of Art, Brookline, MA 2005–2006 Humanities Teacher, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA

MEDIA WORK EXPERIENCE

2014– Authorized Manager & Project Director, Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project, LLC, Boston, MA 2010– President & CEO, The Film Posse, Inc., Boston, MA 2008–2010 CEO, The Film Posse, Inc. 2005–2008 CEO, Yellow Jersey Films, Inc., Boston, MA 2005–2008 Managing Member, The Film Posse, LLC, Boston, MA 2001–2002 Producer/Director/Writer, Northern Light Productions, Inc., Boston, MA 2000–2001 Producer, Director, Writer & Researcher, WGBH Educational Foundation, Boston, MA 1999–2005 Owner, Diner Media, Boston, MA 1997–1999 Producer/Director/Writer, Blackside, Inc., Boston, MA 1996 Freelance Producer, Associate Producer, Production Assistant & Researcher, Boston, MA 1995–1996 Producer/Director/Writer, Northern Light Productions STRAIN CV !2

1995 Production Assistant, Children's Programming, WGBH 1994–1995 Media Production Assistant, Media Library, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA 1991–1995 Series Researcher, Associate Producer & Researcher, Blackside 1990–1991 Development Coordinator, SCS Films, SCS Communications; Acquisitions/Production Coordinator, Cinecom Entertainment, New York, NY 1989–1991 Freelance Syndication Assistant, Production Manager, Production Assistant, Grip, Art Department Coordinator, Photographer's Assistant, Washington, DC, Harrisburg, PA, New York, NY 1989 Production Manager, WITF, Inc., Harrisburg, PA 1986–1989 Associate Producer, Production Assistant, Production Secretary, Chedd-Angier Production Company, Inc., Watertown, MA 1984–1986 Associate Program Manager, Program Coordinator, Digitas, Inc. (formerly Eastern Exclusives Incorporated), Boston, MA 1983–1984 Account Coordinator, Arnold Worldwide Inc. (formerly Cabot Advertising), Boston, MA 1982–1983 Account Coordinator, Intern, Marvin & Leonard Advertising, Inc., Boston, MA

FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS

2017 Nominee, Outstanding Research, 38th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Award, American Experience “The Mine Wars” 2016 Independent Television Service (ITVS), Series and Special Projects Fund Award 2015 LEF Foundation, Documentary Grant 2014 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Media Projects Production Grant 2011 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Arts on Radio & Television Grant 2009 Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award, Unnatural Causes, (shared) 2009 The Boston Foundation, Brother Thomas Artist Fellowship 2009 Doc Lab @ Hot Docs, the Canadian International Documentary Festival 2008 NEH, America's Media Makers Development Grant 2007 LEF Foundation, LEF Documentary Fellowship 2007 Massachusetts Cultural Council, Artist Fellowship, (shared with Randall MacLowry) 2006 Independent Filmmaker Project, Film Week, Spotlight on Documentaries selection 2006 NEA, Arts on Radio & Television Grant 2006 National Black Programming Consortium, Open Call Award 2005 Independent Television Service (ITVS), Diversity Development Fund Award 2005 Color of Film Collaborative Mini Grant 2003 LEF Foundation, Development Grant 1999 Independent Filmmaker Project, Film Week, Spotlight on Documentaries selection 1999 Erik Barnouw Award, Organization of American Historians, I’ll Make Me a World, (shared) 1999 George Foster Peabody Award, I’ll Make Me a World, (shared)

PRESENTATIONS / PANELS 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart and Presenter, “Diggin’ in the Crates: Storytelling with Archival Materials,” Scribe Video Center, Philadelphia, PA. 2018 Guest Speaker, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, ‘Iolani School, Honolulu, HI. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Creatively Speaking, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY. Moderator Tracyann Williams, The New School. 2018 Panelist, “The Female Gaze” and filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Athena Film Festival, Barnard College, New York, NY. 2018 Guest Speaker, Professor Soyica Colbert’s “The Psychic Holds of Slavery” class, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Henry Hampton Film Series, co-presenters Department of African and African American Studies, Washington University Libraries and Cinema St. Louis, St. Louis, MO. STRAIN CV !3

2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/New York Public Library, New York, NY. Moderator Michaela Angela Davis with actress Anika Noni Rose, documentary voice of Hansberry. 2018 Panelist, American Masters “Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” press conference, PBS Press Tour, Television Critics of America, Pasadena, CA. With series executive producer Michael Kantor and actor Louis Gossett Jr., A Raisin in the Sun. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, Baltimore, MD. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, IL. 2018 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart excerpt, Georgia Public Television, Atlanta, GA. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston, TX. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Film Studies, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. Moderator Chair Scott Higgins with producer/editor Randall MacLowry 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Cinema and Media Studies, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, African American Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, DOC NYC, New York, NY. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL. Moderator actress/playwright Regina Taylor with documentary narrator LaTanya Richardson Jackson. 2017 Filmmaker Q&A, Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 2017 Speaker, “Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart,” Arts and Entertainment Day, 108 NAACP National Convention, Baltimore, MD. 2017 Featured Guest, “Spotlight on Women in Cinema,” American Black Film Festival, Miami, FL. 2017 Panelist, “Ennobling African-American Expression: Henry Hampton’s I’ll Make Me a World,” Twelfth Conference for Literary Journalism Studies, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 2017 Panelist, “Generations of Struggle and Freedom Dreams: Lorraine Hansberry and Radical Protest from the 1930s to the Present” and “Screening: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. 2016 Invited Speaker, April 20 for Stark Residency with Randall MacLowry, Connecticut College, New London, CT. 2014 Panelist, “The Black Left, the Cultural Front and Black-Jewish Collaboration: Lorraine Hansberry’s Broadway Plays and Harry Belafonte’s The Angel Levine” Black, Jews, and Social Justice in America Conference, , Waltham, MA (June 2014) 2010 Presenter, “The Story on Storytelling” and “Interpreting the Past,” Digital Media Arts Curriculum Webinar, Education Development Center, Watertown, MA. 2005 Panelist, ALANA Conference, Film & TV Panel, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. 2005 Panelist, “Race: The Power of an Illusion,” Wellesley College. 2002 Presenter, “Reel Realities: The Documentary Today & Tomorrow” at “The Arts of Tomorrow: Changing Visions, Values and Boundaries,” Summer Symposium, Wellesley College. STRAIN CV !4

2002 Speaker, “The Challenges of Making a Historical Documentary on African-American Arts,” Arts and Science Dean’s Lecture Series/Black Faculty-Staff Union, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY. 2000 Panelist, Local Filmmakers Discuss Race, Ethnicity & Storytelling, Roxbury Film Festival 1999 Panelist, “Distribution and African-American Images on Film and Television,” Reality on The Big Screen/The Arts and Dialogues on Race Series, Moderated by Charles J. Ogletree, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA. 1999 Speaker, “Finding Henry’s Bridge,” Henry Hampton Award Presentation and Tribute, Full Frame (DoubleTake) Documentary Film Festival, Durham, NC. 1999 Panelist, “Passing the Torch,” Tribute to Henry Hampton, John F. Kennedy Library/Boston Film•Video Foundation/Boston Association of Black Journalists, Boston, MA. 1997 Speaker, “Working with Mira,” Vision Award Ceremony honoring director , Boston Film•Video Foundation, Boston, MA. 1996 Panelist, “Documentaries: Empowering and Difficult,” Broadening the Bandwith/Women in Technology Conference, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AND AFFILIATIONS

Professional Service 2015–2017 Board Member, Family-to-Family Project, Boston 2015 Panelist, National Arts Teachers Fellowship Program 2013 Panelist, Film/Video, Massachusetts Cultural Council 2013 Panelist, National Arts Teachers Fellowship Program 2012 Panelist, America’s Media Makers Grants, NEH 2008–2009 Board Member, Filmmakers Collaborative, Inc. (FC) 2008 Reviewer, Linking Independents and Co-Producing Stations (LINCS), ITVS 2007–2008 Member, Wellesley College Task Force on the Arts 2007–2008 Filmmaker Member, Executive Committee, FC 2006 FC’s Film Talks. Screen works to Boston area schools and community groups. 2006, 2005 Nominator, Media Arts Fellowships, Tribeca Film Institute (Renew/Rockefeller Foundation) 2005 Panelist, Television Development, Scripting, and Production Grants, NEH 2005 Panelist, Cambridge Arts Council 2005 Reviewer, Open Call, Independent Television Service 2004–2008 Co-Manager, Filmmakers Workshop/Center for Independent Documentary 2004–2006 Filmmaker Reviewer, Fiscal Agent Committee, FC 2004 Reviewer, Diverse Voice Project, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 2004 Panelist, Media Consultation Grants, NEH 1991–2001 Reviewer, Fiscal Agent Committee, Boston Film•Video Foundation (BF•VF) 1999 Panelist, LEF Foundation, St. Helena, CA and Cambridge, MA 1999 Juror, New England Film & Video Festival, BF•VF

Professional Affiliations Black Documentary Collective International Documentary Association Color of Film Collaborative Massachusetts Production Coalition CPB/PBS Producers Academy National Association of Black Journalists Film Fatales Organization of American Historians Film Independent Society for Cinema and Media Studies Filmmakers Collaborative/Waltham University Film & Video Association Fort Point Artist Community Women in Film & Video/New England Independent Feature Project STRAIN CV !5

PUBLISHED MATERIALS

Documentaries 2017 Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Director/Writer/Producer, Lorraine Hansberry Documentary Project, LLC. The first-ever feature-length documentary about the artist and activist Lorraine Hansberry who is best known for writing the American classic play A Raisin in the Sun. World Premiere 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The PBS biography series American Masters acquired for national PBS broadcast January 19, 2018.

2016 “The Battle of Chosin,” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Coordinating Producer, The Film Posse/ WGBH, Boston, MA. Two-hour film about one the most harrowing battles of the Korean War. PBS. November 1, 2016 premiere.

2016 “The Mine Wars,” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Coordinating Producer, The Film Posse/ WGBH, Boston, MA. Two-hour film about the efforts to union the coal mines of southern West Virginia. PBS. February 26, 2016 premiere.

2014 “The Rise & Fall of Penn Station,” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Coordinating Producer, The Film Posse/WGBH, Boston, MA. One-hour film about New York City’s celebrated train station. PBS. February 18, 2014 premiere.

2013 “Silicon Valley,” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Producer, The Film Posse/WGBH, Boston, MA. Ninety-minute episode about the birth of Silicon Valley. PBS. February 5, 2013 premiere.

2011 “The Illusion of Time,” THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS, Business Affairs Manager, The Film Posse/NOVA/WGBH, Boston, MA. One-hour program about exploring notions of time in the realm of theoretical physics. PBS.

2010 ROOTS OF HEALTH, Director/Writer/Co-Producer, The Film Posse for Linda Harrar Productions, Boston, MA. Twenty-minute segment set in Oakland, CA about the role of race and place in creating heath disparities and the potential for change through community empowerment that is part of an hour-long program developed for the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health. PBS.

2008 “When the Bough Breaks,” UNNATURAL CAUSES: IS INEQUALITY MAKING US SICK?, Director/Co-Producer, The Film Posse for Vital Pictures, Boston, MA. Half-hour program for PBS presenting hypotheses about the health effects of racism on African-American women that may lead to infant mortality. Series honors include 2009 duPont Columbia University Silver Baton. PBS.

2005 “Building the Alaska Highway,” AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Director/Producer, The Film Posse (formerly Diner Media)/WGBH, Boston, MA. This collaboration with Randall MacLowry—the highest rated episode of the strand’s 2004-2005 season—tells the story of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 1942 construction of the 1,500-mile Alcan Highway during World War II. PBS.

2003 GREATER BOSTON ARTS, Director/Writer/Segment Producer, The Film Posse (formerly Diner Media) for Boston Media Productions, WGBH, Boston, MA. Produced and directed short profiles of area artists—Daniel McCusker, Ambreen Butt, Richard Yarde, Digby Dance, and Junot Díaz—for monthly arts and culture program. WGBH.

2003 “The Story We Tell,” RACE: THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION, Director/Writer/ Producer, The Film Posse (formerly Diner Media) for California Newsreel, San Francisco, CA. One-hour episode in a three-part public television series on the history of race in America. PBS. STRAIN CV !6

2002 ADRIFT, Producer, Night Train Pictures, Boston, MA. Cameraman/director Tom Curran explores his relationship with his late father in this documentary about unresolved childhood grief and parental expectations in his Irish-American family. APT and WGBH Home Video.

1999 “Bright Like a Sun” and “The Dream Keepers,” I’LL MAKE ME A WORLD: A CENTURY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTS, Director/Writer/Producer, Blackside, Boston, MA. Stories of performer Paul Robeson, sculptor Augusta Savage, musician Dizzy Gillespie, writer James Baldwin, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and dancers Raven Wilkinson and Delores Browne for two episodes in this six-part public television special. Series honors include George Foster Peabody Award and Organization of American Historians Erik Barnouw Award. PBS.

1995 ZOOM, Children’s Productions, Production Assistant, WGBH. PBS.

1994 AMERICA’S WAR ON POVERTY, Series Researcher, Blackside. Five-part public television special. Series honors include Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton and Erik Barnouw Award. PBS.

1992–1993 BREAKTHOUGH: People of Color in American Science, Series Development Researcher, Blackside.

1991–1992 “We Have a Plan” THE GREAT DEPRESSION, Associate Producer, Blackside. This fourth episode in a seven-part series about the 1930s economic crisis focused on California and Upton Sinclair’s 1934 bid for governor.

1991–1992 “Mean Things Coming” THE GREAT DEPRESSION, Researcher, Blackside. Completed exhaustive primary-source research in Pennsylvania about steel union organizing.

1990 Production Manager, “Play Date,” SESAME STREET, Mark Harris for Children’s Television Workshop, New York, NY. PBS.

1989 CONSTITUTION’S UNFINISHED BUSINESS, WITF, Harrisburg, PA. Production Manager. PBS.

1987–1989 DISCOVER: THE WORLD OF SCIENCE, Associate Producer, The Chedd-Angier Production Company, Watertown, MA. Researched, developed and produced science segments with producer for public television series hosted by Peter Graves. PBS.

Non-Broadcast Media 2015 Bay State Banner: Unity, Progress and 50-Years of Advocating Change, Producer/Director/ Writer, The Film Posse for Banner Publications. Developed anniversary documentary short with Randall MacLowry for gala event and web.

2011 Law and Justice, Writer/Consultant, The Film Posse for Education Development Center. Wrote and provided feedback for three web-based teacher tutorials for newly created curriculum.

2011 VA4Life, Director/Co-Writer/Co-Producer, The Film Posse for Boston Arts Academy Foundation. Eight-minute fundraising video for Boston’s only public arts high school.

2006–2007 RACE: Are We So Different?, Director/Writer/Producer, The Film Posse for Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN/American Anthropological Association, Arlington, VA. Seven- minute hosted introduction video for traveling exhibit.

2006 Henry Hampton Remembrances, (DVD), Director/Writer/Producer, The Film Posse for PBS Video, Arlington, VA. Developed and produced a 15-minute video of the late executive producer and Blackside, Inc. founder for inclusion on the series DVD release. STRAIN CV !7

2001–2002 “Captive Passages: The Transatlantic Slave Trade & the Making of the Americas,” Director/ Writer/Producer, Northern Light Productions, Inc., Boston, MA/The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA. Six-minute exhibit video plus audio presentations.

2000–2001 “Evolving Ideas: Videos for Students,” Director/Writer/Producer, Educational Productions, WGBH, Boston, MA. Seven short videos for videotape and web streaming based on the Evolution public television series; a 2002 Telly Award winner.

2000 “Thinking Big,” Director/Writer/Producer, Educational Productions, WGBH. Twelve-minute video for middle school students based on the Building Big public television series.

1995–1996 “Call to Lead,” Director/Writer/Co-Producer, Northern Light Productions and National Park Service, Harpers Ferry, WV. Six exhibit videos for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Visitors Center in Atlanta, GA. Honors include CINDY Gold Medal and Worldfest Houston International Film and Video Festival Gold Award, and National Educational Media Network Film & Video Competition Silver Apple Award.

Dramatic Feature Films 1990–1991 Development/Production Coordinator, SCS Films/SCS Communications, New York, NY. Identified domestic and foreign properties for development—evaluated scripts, books, films, videos, and works-in-progress. Coordinated contact with agents, producers, writers, and directors. Monitored production of Masala and assisted in post-production and delivery to distributor.

1990 Acquisitions/Production Coordinator, Cinecom Entertainment/SCS Communications, New York, NY. Assisted executive in identifying properties for acquisition. Projected 35mm films for in-house screenings.

1990 Art Department Coordinator, Mississippi Masala for Masala Films/, Greenwood, MS. Managed the art department's administration and budget, conducted research and purchased materials for director Mira Nair's drama. Aided in set construction, prop creation, painting, and set dressing. Also served as member of second-unit; served as female lead’s driving double; and assisted unit photographer.

updated 02/20/18