Laura Collyer Carlson, Writer & Producer / Co-Director
Laura Carlson is a producer, screenwriter and director. She has been a writer for more than 25 years and her latest project is part 2 in the docuseries “Beyond Barriers” called “The Road to Well-being.”
She worked with a crew of very talented creatives on the “Beyond Barriers” series for several years. The pilot “Beyond Barriers/Esperanza sin fronteras” became an official selection at the Cannes Short Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Golden State Film Festival in March 2020. This is now available on PBS video on demand. (See “About” section” for details.)
Laura also has a documentary about clean energy and sustainability in development. She has studied screenwriting at UCLA Extension and other highly-regarded institutes for more than a decade.
As an alumna of the NYU Graduate School of Arts & Science, Laura has a master’s degree in Media Arts and Journalism. She also received her BS in Communication Arts from Cornell University, with a concentration in writing and life sciences.
She has participated in Writers Guild of America West projects, as well as the International Documentary Association Fiscal Sponsorship.
Laura works closely with Spanish translators and editors to make certain the English and Spanish versions match in meaning and intent. She enjoys writing about real people and their life challenges for the film medium, which she believes reveals powerful, enlightening perspectives.
Bjorn Madrid, Multi-Media Designer & Camera Operator / Co-Director
Bjorn is a creative multimedia designer by day and a Director/film editor/camera operator at all the times in between. With more than 20 years in the creative field, Bjorn is a natural in the world of moving pictures and beyond.
He brings an amazing range of talents to “Beyond Barriers.” For more than a dozen years, Bjorn has worked in multimedia design with a digital team for a health organization in San Bernardino. Later, he got more involved in producing and editing videos.
Bjorn says, “I loved the [“Beyond Barriers”] project. A lot of people don’t know that I’m Mexican-American. That’s my people! I love going out there to Mexico. It feels like home. When I go… no matter what’s happening… I love it there.”
He got his first taste of directing at Yucaipa High School when he was just 16 years old – when his art teacher noticed Bjorn’s clever ideas for an entertainment / music video. A local community access channel soon started playing his video.
After high school, he worked full-time while attending Valley College in San Bernardino. During college, he volunteered to direct and handle technical camera work at KVCR, a local community cable channel (affiliated with PBS).
Prior to his debut directorial work in “Beyond Barriers,” Bjorn was an Art Director for a full-length documentary “Father Tony.” This is the tale of a dynamic Black Creole priest in a poor, crime-riddled district of New Orleans after hurricane
Katrina. Bjorn also produced and re-edited a trailer for the pilot.
Bjorn earned his degree in Graphic Design from Platt College in Ontario – and was Valedictorian of his class with perfect attendance! He almost missed perfect attendance while awaiting the birth of his first child – but made it to school to snag that designation and made it to the hospital just in time for the big event! Bjorn lives in Redlands, CA.
Tyler Holtman, Editor
Tyler is a multi-talented individual. When he is not “drawing wild blobs around sketchbooks,” he is deeply involved in filmmaking and animation. He is also an avid photographer, writer and meditator. He holds a bachelor’s degree in film production from Chapman University in Orange, CA.
Besides serving as lead film editor of both the English and Spanish versions of “Beyond Barriers,” he is well-traveled. He has visited Fiji, Mexico, Iceland, various countries in Europe, and 40 out of the 50 states in the United States.
Tyler has done editing and animation work for subsidiaries of YouTube, the Daily Dot, Midnight Pudding, and various other companies. He has worked in production at Warner Bros. for the Golden Globe award-winning TV series “The Kominsky Method” and for their animation department. In addition, he worked as a post-production coordinator on “Space Jam: A New Legacy” released by Warner Bros Pictures.
Tyler has also worked an Assistant Editor at
Bix Pix Entertainment.
Steve Holtman, Composer
As a trombonist, composer, orchestrator and arranger, Steve is an award-winning musical artist based in Los Angeles. He has worked with various performers, including Arturo Sandoval, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Manhattan Transfer, and has recorded for such films as “Proof of Life,” “X Men II,” and “Bad Santa.” Steve has worked with other remarkable composers including Hans Zimmer and André Previn.
His most recent projects include playing trombone in the scores of “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” In addition, he worked on the original motion picture soundtrack for “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and “Coco.” The creative team of “Beyond Barriers” has been so fortunate to have Steve’s incredible musical talent bring out the passion within this film.
Laura Alvarez, Spanish Dialogue Editor
Laura M. Alvarez is a professional Bilingual Communications Writer with more than 20 years of experience in varied fields. These range from health care to municipal and educational communications. She brings a remarkable depth and breadth of knowledge to the current film project.
Laura got involved in this project because she wanted to do something innovative to help more people. She also urged the English-speaking producer to contact Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos, an important voice for the Latino community. In the “Beyond Barriers” movie, Jorge Ramos shared his viewpoint that “the solution
isn’t a wall, but rather a multinational relationship that manages, protects and stimulates legal immigration.”
A native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, Laura is currently a Bilingual Communications Writer at the Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) in Southern California. At IEHP, Laura does translations to communicate with IEHP members and the community to make sure they can understand messaging in their native language and culture.
For nine years prior to joining IEHP, Laura was translating and editing materials for programs within the City of Chino Community Services Department. Her work in Chino also branched out to help the Police Department and the school district. Chino City Hall would also send her a variety of communication materials for translation from time-to-time. That’s when she noticed her passion was working with the public and helping people who didn’t speak English to understand. The Spanish speakers could now get information in their own language.
Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Universidad de Guadalajara. Her research interests include leadership development for Latino people, and mentoring them in accessing different services and resources. Laura also studies at University of California, San Diego for certification in Translation and Interpretation.
She lives in Southern California with her three children. Laura says, “I like to help people who speak Spanish to get their voices heard and their needs met. It is so rewarding!”
Bijoyini Chatterjee, Camera Operator / Photographer
Bijoyini Chatterjee is a filmmaker, photographer and dancer, and is the co-founder of Onirica Productions.
Her short film “When I Was” was selected for the Cologne Online Film Festival, and was also shown at the Budapest Short Film Festival (BuSho) in 2010.
Bijoyini was an assistant director for Indian filmmaker Gayatri Chatterjee’s “Homes for Gods and Mortals” (2010).
She has collaborated with many international artists and dancers and was part of the Boston-based initiative – Community Supported Film.
Currently, Bijoyini is working on a third feature-length documentary “Exodus.” Binational Arts Institute and Onirica Productions, in collaboration with Centro de Atención al Migrante “Exodus” (CAME) is producing this film about the migrant experience and the ecosystem that arises, told through the migrant shelter CAME in Agua Prieta, Mexico as a focal point.
Her background includes an impressive variety of documentaries. Among them is “What Happened to Our Dreams?” (working title). This is a portrait of the ‘60s generation from the counterculture movement that changed the social and cultural landscape of a ghost mining town called Bisbee, AZ.
“Flamenco Syndrome” (2018) is her first feature- length documentary. “Conference of the Birds” is her second feature-length documentary.
Bijoyini produced “Conference of the Birds” (2020) in collaboration with Juan Carlos Barrera Romero. This film is about a group of eight dancers from eight different countries who meet in Boston to interpret a 12th century Sufi poem by the same name.
Juan Carlos Barrera Romero, Colorist / Sound Mixer / Editor
Juan Carlos Barrera Romero is a musician, film editor, producer and the co-founder of Onirica Productions, an audio-visual production company based in Boston, MA., and Bisbee, AZ.
Originally from Spain, he founded Zapallal, a Spanish NGO dedicated to empowering children all over Peru.
In 2014, he directed and produced a short film “Las Raices de Nuestro Futuro (The Roots of Our Future)”, a film about a remarkable university called Nopoki in the Central Amazonian region of Peru.
Juan Carlos has produced “Flamenco Syndrome” (2018), a feature-length documentary film that explores the generations in the flamenco community (gypsy, locals and foreign) in a small town in south Spain, considered one of the cradles of flamenco culture.
Currently, he is producing and directing his first feature-length documentary that follows the past and present lives of a legendary septuagenarian musician and his extended family who live in the tiny border town of Naco, Mexico.