The Team

Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker whose ESPN 30 for 30 film Pony Excess won the Peabody Award and debuted as ESPN's most-watched documentary premiere, followed by his second entry in the series, the Emmy-winning Brian & The Boz. The Dallas Morning News called him "the Mariano Rivera of sports filmmaking." Texas Monthly named Pony Excess one of the ten best documentaries about Texas.

Beyond sports, Matula has long been drawn to stories at the edge of the world. His conservation documentaries for the BBC, filmed in the Caribbean and Central America, include work on the critically endangered Jamaican Iguana, later celebrated with a year-long installation at the Natural History Museum in London, coinciding with the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards, before touring to institutions worldwide.

He is currently in production on SIRKO, a feature documentary embedded with neurosurgeons performing brain surgery at Mechnikov Hospital in Dnipro, Ukraine, 60 miles from the Russian front line.

thaddeus.film →

John Martinez O'Felan is an Austin-based filmmaker and founder of Order of the Dragon Entertainment. Over a twenty-year creative partnership with Alina Fernandez, he has developed the scripted feature and documentary projects that became Revolution's Daughter. His work centers on stories of cultural identity, exile, and resilience across the Americas.

A champion of Hispanic-Latino mainstream representation, Martinez O'Felan brings a deep understanding of the Cuban-American diaspora and the personal histories that shape this film.

orderofthedragon.co →

Allen Gilmer is the co-founder of Tiki Tane Pictures and former CEO of Enverus (formerly DrillingInfo), the leading energy data analytics company. A technologist, entrepreneur, and patron of the arts, Gilmer brings decades of executive leadership and a passion for independent storytelling to the project.

tikitane.com →

Veronica "Riki" Rushing is an Austin-based Executive Producer whose credits include Frank & Penelope, Death In Texas, Radley, and Castro's Daughter. Most recently, Riki is Executive Producer on Long Shadows and The Assessment (TIFF 2024, Amazon). She has also Executive Produced QT8: The First Eight and an upcoming Tim Burton documentary that premiered at Tribeca.

Her films have screened at Cannes, SXSW, and the Riviera International Film Festival. Riki serves on the board of the Austin Film Society, hosts the Rockport Film Festival, and is a Producer on the 2024 Tony Award-winning musical The Outsiders, executive produced by Angelina Jolie.

tikitane.com →

Javier Gonzalez is an Emmy Award-winning, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning filmmaker based in El Paso, Texas. Through JAG Films, he produces and directs documentary and narrative work rooted in borderland communities and Latinx identity.

His producing credits include the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning Nana, the Cannes-selected Prayers for the Stolen, and line producing on Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. His work has screened at Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Toronto, and SXSW. Fluent in Spanish, English, and German.

jagfilms.org →