Karmic Release
Ltd.
Frequent Collaborators
Richard Morris
Director and Editor
Richard Morris is a director, editor, and inventor. With over 30 years in every corner of the film industry, Richard began his career with the New York teamsters union. Coming to filmmaking from the Dakota oil fields his career has been nothing if not varied. He holds two Cine Golden Eagle awards for his collaborations with Karmic Release and Sesame Workshop, and his directorial debut "Wallowitch and Ross: This Moment" was short listed for the 1999 Academy Award for best Documentary Feature. He holds the U.S. Patent for his invention of the Windstir, the world's first fully operational helix windmill. The brother of Karmic Release Co-founder Roberta Morris-Purdee, Richard represents another link in the family buisness.
Sue Gandy
Costume Designer
Sue Gandy is a veteran of New York theatre and Hollywood. She has designed or assisted on some of the most iconic wardrobes of the last 30 years. From her work with Anne Roth on their Academy Award winning design for "The Hours," to Stephen Sondheim's original production of "Assassins," Sue has helped to create some of the most iconic characters in the American cannon. Favorite projects include "Bonneville" starring Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates, "Death in Love," "Judy Berlin," "Private Parts" with Howard Stern, "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, "The Bourne Legacy," and 2014 best Picture winner Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). She is currently designing the hit CBS series "Person of Interest." A longitme lover and performer of New York City's caberets, she brought caberet legends John Wallowitch and Bertram Ross to husband Richard Morris for the collaboration that would become "Wallowitch and Ross: This Moment" on which she served as Co-Producer. The most recent addition to the family, Sue is also an acclaimed painter and performer.
Lee Grant
Actress and Director
Lee Grant first rose to prominance at the age of 24 with her oscar nominated performance in "Dectective's Story." Shortly there after she was Black Listed by Joe McCarthy's HUAC. 12 years later, at the end of her would be exile, Grant remained a vital and prolific voice. Playing alongside some of the most iconic performers of her generation in some of the most iconic films of all time. From Sidney Poitier's "In the Heat of the Night," to her Academy Award winning performance with Warren Beaty in "Shampoo." She began Directing in the 1980's, her debut feature "Nobody's Child" won Marlo Thomas the Emmy for Best Leading Actress and a DGA Best Director award for herself. She formed Feury/Grant Entertainment with husband and producer Joeseph Feury to produce "Down and Out in America," the documentary feature that won HBO it's very first Academy Award. She has collaborated with Karmic Release on countless projects including "Our Heroes, Ourselves," "Confronting the Crisis: Childcare in America," and the Emmy, duPont-Columbia, and Peabody award winning "Baghdad ER." Roberta Morris-Purdee and Nathan Purdee are godparents to her daughter Belinda, and granddaughters Rachel and Leah. The most recent collaboration between the Feury/Grant and Morris-Purdee sides of the family is Lee's memoir, "I Said Yes to Everything," from Blue Rider Press.
Michele Latorre
Editor and Cinematographer
Michele Latorre is an ardent editor, videographer, and surfer. She has created content for The Discovery Channel, The CW, Club Med, LO'real, Lancome, and Marriot Hotels. She works internationally with musicians at every stage of their careers to make cutting edge music videos and preserve once in a lifetime performances. She teaches at New York's famed Edit Center. She came to the Karmic Release team on the cult and festival favorite "For the Next 7 Generations," which she co-edited, and has been a frequent member of the team ever since. For more information on Michele please click on this photo to visit her website imagination2manifestation.com.
John Califra
Composer
John Califra is an Emmy nominated composer who has scored over two dozen narrative, documentary, animated, and short films, as well as large scale live events (most notably the MLB World Baseball Classic). His films have become some of the most recognizable Oscar and Emmy award winning documentaries of the decade. His score for "The Matador" won him a 2011 Emmy Nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in an Individual Craft: Music and Sound." John's scores are unique in many ways, including that they are typically never executed with electronic instruments. He specializes in composition, production, and recording of live instruments from small groups, to symphonic and orchestral scores. He came to Karmic Release with the HBO Documentary "A Father...A Son...Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," and has been a constant collaborator ever since. For more information on John please click the photograph to visit his website johncalifra.com.