Wendy Bednarz
DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Wendy Bednarz’s career began in New York City’s fashion industry where she worked for Stephen Sprouse in the old Andy Warhol Factory. There she developed a sharpened aesthetic taste for the off-beat and a love of both still and moving images. These early days in downtown New York City, eventually segued into a lifetime career as a filmmaker, photographer and Professor of Film at New York University.

The impetus for “Burning Money” came to Wendy when she was teaching at NYU’s Tisch Asia in Singapore. Each day, on her way to work, she walked through a local wet market and was inspired by the “curious paper objects” she found hanging in the Joss shops. These paper replicas of modern conveniences such as iPads, yachts and designer clothes peaked her curiosity and the idea for ‘Burning Money’ was born.

Wendy’s professional work engages multicultural narratives and has been exhibited and screened internationally, including at New York Museum of Modern Art and garnering such awards as Cine Golden Eagle, Independent Film Award and Sundance Winfemme. Her Fine Art photographic series, “Palimpsest”, an amalgamation of photojournalism and reconstructed images, has been exhibited internationally. With a keen interest in East African tribal culture, Wendy Bednarz’s has traveled to Ethiopia where she initiated an ongoing Fine Art photography project photographing the Omo Valley Tribes, ‘Tribal Exotic; Beauty and Objectification as seen through the eyes of the Western World.’

A recipient of a REF grant, Wendy is currently developing the narrative feature project, ‘Yellow Bus Asfar,’ loosely based on the true story of four-year-old Indian girl who fell asleep on an Abu Dhabi school bus and suffocated in the blistering heat. Germinating from a lecture, Adapting Real Life Stories to Film, ‘Yellow Bus Asfar’ encapsulates Wendy’s greatest passions by bridging her artistic ambitions, the classroom and local communities.

Wendy has taught at The Lee Strasberg Institute and has been a full time faculty member of NYU’s Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Undergraduate Film Program, NYU’s Tisch Asia Graduate Film Program and more recently NYUAD’s Film and New Media Department. She teaches directing, screenwriting and film production.

BILL TUNNICLIFFE
EDITOR, DIRECTOR of PHOTOGRAPHY & PRODUCER

Bill Tunnicliffe is a Director of Photography, Writer, and Director who started out in New York shooting music videos, documentaries, high fashion videos, and commercials. After moving to LA, Bill shot and directed large scale action films focusing on highly orchestrated stunt work.

As Director of Photography, Bill Tunnicliffe has shot a wide variety of features with talent like Jake Gyllenhaal, Selma Blair, and Jared Leto (“Highway”) – Dennis Hopper, Peter Coyote, and Chris Sarandon (“Road Ends”) – and D.J. Qualls and Zooey Deschanel (“The New Guy”).

Bill directed the network series, “LA Heat”, “Team Knightrider”, and Howard Stern’s “ Son Of The Beach”. He has done documentary videography work for “Oprah” and ABC’s Emmy winning newsmagazine shows, “Eye On LA” and “Vista LA”. He shot the first mini-DV documentary shown on a major network, Showtime’s “Outwitting Hitler”, and his digital video work has been featured in Videography magazine.

Bill’s short film, “Political Posture”, was nominated for an Academy Award, and his children’s video, “Cowboys On The Job”, was rated one of TV Guide’s Ten Best Kid’s Videos. Bill also Executive Produced and was Creative Consultant for Judy Lieff’s award winning PBS documentary on deaf poets entitled, “Deaf Jam”.

Bill was Supervising Producer on the TV movie “Crash and Byrnes” starring Wolf Larson and Greg Ellis. Bill also works as a script doctor with producers such as John J Kelly and Gordon Gray.

Bill Tunnicliffe and Wendy Bednarz are currently in pre-production for the feature film “Barren Seed”, a controversial environmental thriller. “Barren Seed” is an international co-production that takes place in India, Dubai, and the U.S..