Film Team

Vicki Abeles , Producer and Co-Director

As Founder of Reel Link Films, Vicki Abeles combines her passion for creating superb filmed entertainment with seasoned executive management. Through bold and insightful works on film, she intends to bring to center stage critical issues impacting children, women and families. Race to Nowhere is her first feature documentary. Since its premier at the Mill Valley Film festival, the film has screened to thousands of parents, educators and concerned citizens. The film paints a picture that demands each of us to pay attention to what is going on for young people today as they navigate a complex, pressure-cooker culture and education system. Vicki is currently focused on the distribution of Race to Nowhere while also in the early stages of development on her next documentary. Previously, Vicki worked as a corporate attorney on Wall Street and on the business side at Goldman Sachs.  Clients represented a wide range of industries including the media business.  Vicki lives in the Bay area with her husband and three children and is a passionate advocate for women and children. She also facilitates the parents group on Edutopia, part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Jessica Congdon , Editor and Co-Director

Jessica has worked as a commercial and film editor for the last 11 years. She is currently working on the documentary film 'Miss Representation.' She recently completed a 9-spot campaign for Nokia with Weiden & Kennedy in London, as well as the documentary film 'Race to Nowhere.' She co-edited the documentary 'Motherland,' which premiered at SXSW 2009. Her documentary feature film 'Speed and Angels' has been in festivals across the country and is featured on Delta airline flights.

The feature film 'Her Minor Thing,' directed by Charlie Matthau, premiered at the Seattle Film Festival in 2005. Prior to that she edited the feature film 'Dopamine,' directed by Mark Decena, an award-winning film released through Sundance Films. She edited the international productions 'Sök' (Search) in Stockholm, and the Columbia Tri-Star feature film 'Big Girls Don't Cry' in Berlin. Other documentary work includes 'Radius of a Bomb: A Bosnian Diary,' a documentary short.

As a commercial editor, she has edited music videos and national and international television campaigns for clients including Bugaboo, Hilton, Hitachi, Budweiser, Isuzu, Nike, Saturn, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, and Adidas. The NBC11 'Illuminating' campaign, directed by Ron Fricke, won an Emmy in 2005.

Mark Adler , Composer

Composer Mark Adler’s recent projects include “Food, Inc.” produced by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, and “Bottle Shock,” starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine. He won a Primetime Emmy for his work on HBO’s “The Rat Pack” and was nominated for “Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone,” starring Nigel Hawthorne. Other projects include scores for over 40 documentaries (including numerous National Geographic Specials) and numerous TV movies (among them two for Hallmark Hall of Fame). He also composed the theme for the PBS series, “American Experience.” Feature film scores include Paramount Classics’ “Focus,” based on Arthur Miller’s novel and starring William H. Macy and Laura Dern, the Miramax film "Picture Bride,” Wayne Wang’s “Eat A Bowl of Tea” and three Oscar-nominated feature documentaries. Mark attended elementary school in Mill Valley, where he first fell in love with movies at the Sequoia Theater.

Sophia Constantinou , Consulting Director/Cinematographer

Sophia’s work has earned international acclaim for tackling difficult topics with artistry and sensitivity. She has produced, directed and photographed several award-winning documentaries, including "Divided Loyalties ," an intensely personal, feature-length exploration of the conflict in Cyprus (Golden Gate Award, 1999); "Between the Lines ," about women and self-injury (Golden Gate Award, 1998); and "Impact Zone" (Best Experimental Film, NY Underground Film Festival, 1997.) Her cinematography credits include HBO’s "Unchained Memories, PBS’ “Presumed Guilty”, and KQED’S Emmy Award winning "Home Front." She received her BA in Film Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s from San Francisco State University. She teaches cinematography and directing at the City College of San Francisco and has been mentoring at-risk youth in filmmaking and cinematography for much of the past decade.

Maimone Attia , Writer and Cinematographer

Drawn to storytelling since he was 7, Maimone Attia studied creative writing, film production and critical studies at USC, from which he received a B.A. in Cinema-Television. He now works as a children's entertainer, freelance videographer, and writer. Maimone writes, shoots, directs and edits short films independently. His narrative films are expressionistic stories, often psychological thrillers which use fantasy as a metaphor for complex emotional states.

Kira Lancaster , Consultant

Kira Dahlgren Lancaster has spent much of her career on the stage and in front of the camera. Most recently, Kira’s work has been focused behind the camera, on RACE TO NOWHERE as well as on her documentary film, MAKING MOLLY, in which she is acting, as well as writing, and directing. Her educational experiences combined with recent motherhood have made her passionate about improving education and contributing to the well being of young people. Kira Dahlgren Lancaster lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and two year old daughter, Lara Grace.

Steve Relova , Development Director

Steve Relova is the Creative Director of a San Francisco Bay Area Television Station where he has worked for over 20 years. In his tenure there, he’s produced and written for news, sports, travel, special and live programming and documentaries. He’s received awards from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Radio Television News Director’s Association for documentary and special programming featuring stories ranging from the struggle of disenfranchised students to animal rights. He’s worked on projects with hundreds of local and national non-profit organizations and has served on several non-profit boards. He has a Masters degree in Film and is the father of 8 and 11 year old daughters.

Sara Truebridge, Ed.D. , Education Consultant

Sara Truebridge is a Research Associate with WestEd researching, authoring, and presenting best practices in the field of prevention and resilience as it relates to education, school climate, and youth development theory, policy, and practice.

After 20 years of credentialed classroom experience ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school, Truebridge was Founder and President of Sincerely, Kids Inc.®, a child-centered consulting firm providing Educational C.A.R.E. — Consulting, Advocacy, Resources, and Education. Prior to teaching, she was the Legislative Analyst for education in the New York State Senate. Truebridge earned her Ed.D. and M.A. from Mills College and B.A. from Denison University. She holds certificates from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s program, Closing the Achievement Gap and UC Berkeley’s program, Children and the Changing Family. Truebridge is one of two international recipients of the 2005 Howard M. Soule Fellowship for Doctoral Studies: a Phi Delta Kappa Graduate Fellowship in Educational Leadership.