Our Team
Sam Katz
Director / Co-Producer / Co-Scriptwriter
Sam Katz founded History Making Productions in 2007 to create historical documentaries about Philadelphia. His portfolio includes the 13-part series "Philadelphia: The Great Experiment", "Before Hollywood", and "Beethoven in Beijing", a finalist for the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. His documentary, "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit" won the 2021 Ken Burns Prize. His films have earned 18 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Andrew Ferrett
Director & Producer
The leader of our filmmaking team, Andrew is responsible for the creative vision that guides our approach to narrative history. With films such as Philadelphia: The Great Experiment, Before Hollywood, and Sisters In Freedom he aims to shed light on stories long excluded from the public conversation. He is the recipient of seven Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Nathaniel Popkin
Senior Writer & Producer
The writer behind our character and idea-driven narrative documentaries, Nathaniel develops scripts and sees them through research, expert interviews, and post-production. Nathaniel is the author of five books and co-editor of the anthology Who Will Speak for America? He is the recipient of three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards and a Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Jon Kohl
Archival Producer & Editor
Jon Kohl is History Making Productions' archival producer, shaping the visual language of documentaries through materials acquisition, digitization, and licensing. A Temple University film graduate, he produced "Cecil's People," winner of two Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards for Best Cultural Program (2015, 2016). He served as archival producer for "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit", the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize winner, and is senior editor for "In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America."
Rachel Sophia Stewart
Senior Editor
The filmmaker in charge of the editor suite, Rachel joined the HMP team in 2012. Her intuitive approach to pacing and storytelling enhances the emotional impact of our films. She has been recognized with five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Since 2013, she has edited Philadelphia: The Great Experiment, Octavius V. Catto: A Legacy for the 21st Century, Sisters in Freedom, and Beethoven in Beijing.
Daniel Slatkin
Music Composer
Daniel Slatkin is an internationally recognized, award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist whose orchestral concert works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. His film scores include multiple projects for ESPN and the documentary "Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit", for which he conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The film won the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.
