Dr. Joanie Mayer Hope

Connie Sankwich

Survivor

Connie Sankwich is a special education teacher from Bethel, a village of 6,000 people in Alaska. She’s Alaska Native Yup’ik and a member of the Orutsararmiut Traditional Tribal Council, a wife to Ken, a mom to Bertina, and the seventh of 10 daughters. She’s also an ovarian cancer survivor.

Connie was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She wants people to know how important it is to advocate for your own body and to raise awareness about ovarian cancer. “It should be as big a deal as breast cancer,” she says. “It’s a very deadly disease and very underfunded. We need the money for research… I think there will be a cure. I’m very optimistic that there will be a cure someday.”

Mario McNulty

Music Producer

Mario McNulty is Grammy Award-winning music producer, mixer and engineer from New York City. He’s worked with David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Laurie Anderson, Angelique Kidjo, Julian Lennon, Justin Tranter and many other well-known recording artists. He picked up his Grammy in the Best Contemporary World Music category for Angelique Kidjo’s Djin Djin in 2008.

Recently, Mario has worked on mixing Badfinger’s upcoming 2020 release, mixing Harry Nilsson’s posthumous 2019 album Losst and Found. He has also worked extensively with David Bowie, producing, recording and mixing his Never Let Me Down album at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City in 2018 and engineering The Next Day and Reality. He has also co-producing and recording Glen Matlock’s Good To Go, recording Siddhartha’s Unicos and much more.

Mario produced the Any Mountain song, recording our talented musicians.

Gabe Harvey

Choreographer

Gabe Harvey is the founder and owner of Underground Dance Company, a hip hop and street style dance company in Anchorage, Alaska. He is also an Adjunct Dance Professor in Hip Hop at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Gabe trained with Motion Underground in Boulder, Colorado, and Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles, California. He has been a dance instructor for 22 years, teaching Hip Hop, Jazz Funk, Tap and Musical Theatre. Gabe and his dancers perform in the Any Mountain music video, bringing the hip hop dance component of the Any Mountain vision to fruition.

Karen Simon

Video Producer

Karen Simon is a producer for Spark Media, a media production company based in D.C. that focuses on igniting social change. She has most recently worked as a field producer on mental health documentary Scattering CJ, lead producer on No Evidence of Disease (which starred Dr. Joanie Mayer Hope), and as outreach director for the GYN awareness campaign What Every Woman Should Know. She previously cast and directed talent for Soul of People, field produced and researched for Partners of the Heart and cast and did costume design for Prince Among Slaves. 

In addition to her work with Spark Media, she has produced educational videos for non-profit organizations like Project Interchange, which helps current and emerging leaders understand Israel and the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. She works extensively with non-profits on social issues, and has created and launched several community outreach campaigns.

Bri Pritchard

Breakdancer

Bri Pritchard was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She has been breakdancing since 2008 and competing domestically and internationally since 2010, earning a ranking as the number four “b-girl” in the entire U.S. She goes by the name “B-Girl Snap One”, because not only is she the only breakdancing girl in Alaska, she’s also double-jointed. She competes exclusively against men because she doesn’t want to be good “for a girl.” She wants to be good as a dancer.

Bri has worked for many years with the Alaska hip hope and urban culture scene, hosting dance events, bringing in outside talent, teaching youth and representing Alaska. Her goal is to train every day to be the best she can be and to show others that, regardless of your environment or circumstance, you can achieve your dreams. When she’s not dancing, she works as a UH-60 Blackhawk Mechanic and Instructor in the Alaska Army National Guard.

Melissa Mitchell

Musician

Melissa Mitchell is a singer-songwriter from Girdwood, Alaska. Living in a small town means her connection to her community is strong, which is a theme that runs deeply through her music. With soulful vocals and a bluesy guitar style, she is constantly blending new styles to create a fresh sound.

A committed social activist, Melissa contributes her time and energy to various charitable organizations. She has performed everywhere from concert halls to bars and classrooms. In 2009, she founded the One Soul Collective, facilitating facilitate workshops and concerts in places like California’s New Folsom Prison and Alaska’s Spring Creek Prison, as well as various events for local non-profits, with like-minded artists. She truly believes in the healing power of music.

KJ Denhert

Musician

KJ Denhert is an award-winning songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and band leader living in Ossining, New York. She is a consummate artist with a rich history and a legend of the urban folk and jazz genre, channeling a wide range of influences to create something completely unique.

KJ regularly performs in New York and around the world. She has shared stages with internationally-renowned jazz and pop musicians, including Grammy Award winters Alicia Keys and Roberta Flack, and she has a residency at The 55 Bar in New York City’s West Village, where she performs with her all-star band (when she’s not touring). She has released 10 albums, including her latest, Destiny, and has three new original projects coming in 2020.

Ari Jazz Mayer Hope

Dancer & Vocalist

Ari Jazz Mayer Hope is a 13 year-old dancer and social justice advocate who has been a part of every step of the Any Mountain journey. She designed the logo, her voice is featured in the song, and she dances in the video. Ari has studied hip hop dance at Underground Dance Company since the age of 5. She now lives in New York City where she is pursuing her dance dreams. Ari is leading the Any Mountain TikTok campaign.

Kat Moore

Musician

Kat Moore is an Anchorage-based musician and a member of the modern Americana band The Super Saturated Sugar Strings. She contributes vocals, piano, keyboard and percussion to the powerful and funky sound, which features virtuosic instrumental arrangements and shout-to-the-rafter vocals.

Kat started playing piano by ear when she was a young child and moved to Alaska in her 20s to devote herself to her passion. She studied piano, jazz and singing at the University of Alaska Anchorage and has performed her solo and collaborative projects all around the United States. Kat’s musical talents are featured in the audio recording of the Any Mountain song.

Matthew Wachsman

Co-Director & Cinematographer

Matthew David Wachsman is an Emmy Award-winning veteran cinematographer, lighting director and producer. He is the cinematographer of documentaries including If You’re Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast and The Bronx USA, which are both currently available on HBO.

Matthew has shot presidential White House interviews for 60 Minutes on CBS and other networks, numerous stories for ESPN E60, Golf Channel, History Channel and more.

Bryan Pentecostes

Cinematographer

Bryan Pentecostes is a filmmaker and photographer from Anchorage, Alaska. He studied Directing, Cinematography and Screen Writing at the Los Angeles Film School and has won the Best Cinematography Award at L.A.’s 48 Hour Film Festival. He currently runs his own studio, Xpreshun Films Studio, in Alaska and he’s also a F.A.A. Certified Drone Pilot.

Bryan has been in love with films and photography since he was a child, and to this day he loves obsessing over all the pieces that bring a full film together, from the photography to the story line and the thousands of behind-the-scene details that tie the final project together.