Film Credits
Please email info@povertyinc.org if you'd like to book a speaker for your event or workshop.
Simon Scionka began filmmaking at the age of 16 and has filmed in 32 countries, with special focus on stories of orphans in eastern Europe and Africa as well as engaging anti-human trafficking projects and documenting stories of trafficking survivors in Russia, Moldova, Mexico and the USA. In all his work, he focuses on the beauty, dignity and creative capacity of the human person.
Mark R. Weber is the Co-Producer of Poverty, Inc., which has now played in over 40 international film festivals, 100 universities, and 160 cities, earning critical acclaim across the political spectrum as well as the $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award last fall. Mark leads Poverty, Inc.'s distribution and is traveling extensively to speak at screenings around the world. Previously, Mark served as a producer on the PovertyCure DVD Series, an educational curriculum used in over 400 universities. His first feature documentary was Strong Bodies Fight, the story of boxing for Bangladesh, which earned 20 film festival honors and coverage on NBC, ESPN, and FOX.
An avid traveler and graduate of the “Great Books” program at the Notre Dame, Mark is an explorer at heart with a passion for people. He has spent time in Bangladesh, China, Europe, Haiti, Japan, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.
Email Mark at mweber@povertyinc.org and follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @markrweber.
Native to Nicaragua, Anielka Münkel is a founding team member of PovertyCure, where she continues to serve as a Project Manager.
In Nicaragua, she served as advisor to the minister of tourism and coordinator of the Government Investor Network (GIN) at PRONicaragua, the Investment Promotion Agency of the Presidency, where she collaborated on speeches for former President Enrique Bolaños, and negotiated investment opportunities with international corporations. She authored the article "Nicaragua: A UN Pilot Country on the Road to Success" and presented the results of the GIN project at the United Nations in 2005. She was selected to participate in the US Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program.
Anielka earned her bachelor's degree in international relations and holds an MBA with honors from the University of Notre Dame, where she won the grand prize in the Social Venture Plan Competition with Sustainable Health Enterprises.
My passion is identifying messages that I believe need to be communicated in the culture and realizing projects to that end.
Jonathan Witt, Ph.D. is a founding member of PovertyCure and the lead writer of the PovertyCure DVD Series. He is the writer of two other feature documentaries, The Call of the Entrepreneur and The Birth of Freedom, both of which aired on PBS. His academic essays have appeared in The Princeton Theological Review and Oxford’s Literature and Theology, his opinion pieces in The Seattle Times, Breakpoint, and The American Spectator.
Tom Vogt is a CPA with a filmmaker streak. He has spent the last 15 years in financial management of non-profits and is the Director of Finance for the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For this film he served as the business manager but also found himself behind the camera among other decidedly non-bean-counting pursuits.
David Stotts has spent the last 14 years in professional video and media production. His career in documentary production has taken him to 27 countries to shoot and edit films on a wide variety of topics including history, science, religion, homeland security and Bible archaeology. In addition to writing and videography, David’s primary role in media creation is in the editor’s chair, assembling videos and crafting animations. In 2004, he stepped in front of the camera to host the award-winning television series on the history of Western Civilization called Drive Thru History, now in its 3rd season.
Kris Mauren is co-founder and executive director of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, an international educational and public policy organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kris co-founded the Acton Institute after graduating with economics and international relations degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and now travels the world lecturing and consulting in dozens of countries.
In everything that we do, we ask ourselves, "Is it true? Is it beautiful? Does it promote the good?" These three virtues under gird western civilization but are often absent in modern media.
Thomas Small is a director, D.P., editor, and animator who has had a passion for filmmaking since his childhood days of borrowing dad’s monster VHS camcorder to make home movies through RCA cables into the VCR. He has over a decade of professional experience working on about a million different projects. Well, almost a million.
Michael Matheson Miller is the Director / Producer of POVERTY, INC. and a Research Fellow at the Acton Institute, a think tank focused on the intersection between market economics and moral philosophy and theology. He writes and speaks extensively on issues of development, political economy, religion, and culture. He previously taught philosophy and political science at Ave Maria College in Nicaragua and was the chair of the philosophy and theology department. Michael holds graduate degrees in philosophy, international development, and international business. He has lived and traveled in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He has been featured on FOX Business, CNBC, Russ Roberts, and numerous radio shows. He has been published inThe New York Post, The Washington Times, The LA Daily News, The Detroit News, and Real Clear Politics.