Esther Pearl - Founder/ Executive Director

Esther Pearl is the founder and Executive Director of Camp Reel Stories. She received her Bachelor’s in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego and her M.B.A. in Sustainable Management from The Presidio Graduate School.  She spent 15 years working in Production Management in the entertainment Industry. The majority of Esther’s film career was spent at Pixar Animation Studios where her feature film credits include Academy Award winning films The Incredibles, Wall-e and Monsters, Inc.  Her other credits include Titanic, Starship Troopers, Armageddon and What Dreams May Come. Esther has been honored for her contributions to Bay Area Women in Film, Television, and Media by the San Francisco Women’s Film Institute. She was also a semi-finalist for the Echoing Green Fellowship awarded to a social entrepreneur addressing urgent issues in society today. Esther is on the Advisory Board for Go Girls!, A member of the Alliance for Girls and she was a founding board member and the former President of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp.

Esther believes in the power of great storytelling to create social change.

Heidi Cregge Cabra – President of the Board

Heidi Cregge Cabra is the founder and director of the School of Digital Media at Oakland School for the Arts, and former co-chair of OSA's School of Visual Art. She has B.F.A in Film from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in Visual Effects Programming from Savannah College of Art and Design. She is passionate about her teaching in critical media studies and production, and devotes her extra time to supporting Camp Reel Stories, a media literacy and production camp for girls that works to inspire young women to follow careers in filmmaking.

Penny Krueger – Co-President of the Board

Penny Krueger is a film and video editor.  She is the senior editor at Eleven Inc. in San Francisco.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in film and in recreation administration.  Penny has been editing for the past 12 years prior to editing, she worked for several youth programs including summer camps and year round science camp.

Pamela Darrow - Vice President of the Board

Pamela Darrow is a 14 year Pixar veteran, Pam has been a project manager of production teams for seven feature-length films and two shorts, including Academy Award Winning films Brave, Up, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo.  What she most enjoys is building teams that fire on all cylinders to produce astounding artistry, while staying within budgetary and schedule parameters.  She finds incredible satisfaction in supporting teams of technical and creative artists, fostering collaboration from the early storyboards and conceptual designs to attaining the visual goals of a film, worthy of the big screen.  Superpowers that Pam has gained along the way include brainstorming strategic solutions, herding artists, and the ability to work cohesively with any personality type to get the job done.

In reflecting back on the mentors she has had along the way, Pam aims to pay it forward by sharing organizational, strategic, and film-making skills with younger generations, who are ready to show the world their visionary and leadership capabilities.  When practicing work-life balance, Pam enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, day-dreaming about traveling, making a mess in the kitchen, hosting dinner parties, watching movies, hiking, reading, binge-watching long-format shows, and honing her amateur instagram skills.

Paula Smith Arrigoni - Treasurer

Paula Smith Arrigoni is Youth Speaks’ Chief Operating Officer, directing finance, HR and operations, and the BNV Network Initiative, Youth Speaks’ multi-year organizational development and field-building program. Paula also plays an active role in managing strategic partnerships and supporting the execution of high priority programs. 

Paula first began working with Youth Speaks a decade ago as a loan officer at Nonprofit Finance Fund, becoming an enthusiastic supporter. She went on to serve in the roles of lead consultant and Associate Director for NFF’s Northern California Program, directing large initiatives funded by The California Wellness Foundation, Bank of America and Blue Shield of California Foundation, which provided strategic financial management services to community clinics, women-focused organizations, domestic violence service providers, and many other types of nonprofit organizations. In addition to her positions with NFF, Paula has served as an independent consultant to small and mid-size nonprofits in finance and strategic planning, Grants Manager for Women’s Community Clinic, and Financial and Programs Analyst/Presidential Management Fellow for the US Department of the Treasury, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Paula holds a B.A. in sociology and an M.A. in urban planning, with an emphasis in community development, from UCLA. She is a Zen warrior with a balance sheet and enjoys coaching nonprofit professionals about business planning and management issues. She currently serves on the Board of Camp Reel Stories and is the proud mamma of four kids.

Kelli Lundy - Secretary

Kelli Lundy received her Bachelor's of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a major in Film and Digital Media. She has been working in the entertainment industry for 6 years and loves working as an art or set decoration department coordinator for film and television productions. Her most favorite projects include Chasing Mavericks, Fruitvale Station, and Blue Jasmine.

Anne Smith

Anne Smith has a B.A. in English from Northwestern University.  She teaches film, animation, photography, and English in the Piedmont Unified School District. Anne has been a producer during the 2013, 2014, and 2015 summer sessions of Camp Reel Stories.

Joy Breed

Joy Breed is a senior IT leader with more than 20 years experience improving processes, building and managing teams in both matrixed and non-matrixed environments, delivering strategic projects, IT support and enterprise technology implementation.  As a woman in leadership roles in a profession largely dominated by men and also someone with a passion for the arts and media - Joy is extremely excited to be a member of the Camp Reel Stories Board to help promote its mission of training young girls to be knowledgeable, confident leaders who will shape the future of gender equality through the power of media.

Niema Jordan

Niema Jordan is a journalist and filmmaker from from Oakland, Calif. Inspired by her love of storytelling and magazines, she attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. In 2008, Jordan graduated with a bachelor’s in Magazine Journalism and African-American Studies. Her work has appeared in various publications including ESSENCE, Ebony, KQEDArts and Oakland Local. 

Niema Jordan will receive a Master of Journalism (Documentary Film) and Master of Public Health (Health and Social Behavior) from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016. Recently, her documentary thesis "Oasis" won the Spike Lee Student Filmmaker Award at the 38th Denver Film Festival. 

Jan Miller Corran

Jan Miller Corran produced her first film in 1995. She ha gone on to produce over 20 documentaries, shorts and feature films. She is currently in pre-production for a film she has written and is producing. Jan grew up in Iowa and moved to California nearly 30 years ago. She was a nearo-psychologist and gerontologist by trade but her passion lies in filmmaking. In addition, she owns More Than Friends Film Funding, Inc, a not for profit crowdfunding business dedicated to assisting in raising donations for women driven films. Jan lives in Oakland.