Moving toward a better world — one story, one film at a time.
As much as we love our craft of documentary filmmaking—capturing the golden light, uncovering a gem of a story, weaving it all together in the editing room—what really gets us out of bed in the morning is helping social innovators create a more environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just world for all. We are a global team, but we have neither an office nor office hours, relying instead on a culture of extreme flexibility and ongoing innovation to fuel our purposeful mission.Since we started the company in 2009, Micro-Documentaries has become one of the world’s leading short film production companies. Social innovators around the world count on us to produce and distribute short films for them that are authentic, affordable and actionable.
Natasha Deganello Giraudie
Creative Director and Founder
Natasha first became fascinated with visual storytelling as a girl in Caracas, experimenting with her father’s Nikon F3 camera, which she still loves to take pictures with. Today, through her point of view as a a filmmaker, a social entrepreneur and a mother, she is interested in advancing humanitarian missions and inspiring moral courage.
As Creative Director and founder of Micro-Documentaries, Natasha has had the opportunity of pioneering this film genre. The hundreds of short films she has produced with her colleagues in more than 30 countries have helped social innovators like Bono’s [RED], the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Living Goods raise funds, further legislation, grow their audience, win awards and increase thought leadership. Natasha regularly teaches and learns at Stanford and other universities and conferences on topics related to storytelling, social innovation, documentary filmmaking and distribution. As co-chair of the Advisory Council of the Dalai Lama Fellows, Natasha strives to inspire moral courage in young leaders and as a board member of the Biomimicry Institute she champions innovation inspired by nature, for more graceful and sustainable design. Natasha went to film school at UT Austin and received her Master’s degree in Journalism from Stanford, where she was awarded the Donald Kennedy Fellowship to pursue documentary work in Nepal.
Natasha’s heart is still in Venezuela, but her home away from home is San Francisco where she lives with her family and enjoys paddleboarding with sea lions and discovering the joys of the violin.
Susan Nelson
Director of Business Development
Susan Nelson’s background includes 20 years of sales and business development experience, in both large enterprises and start-up environments. She’s served corporate and non-profit communities, with integrity and a passion for building strong long-term relationships.
Susan is an active volunteer in her community and at her kids’ schools, and she has trouble saying “no” to anything involving wine and good food. Susan lives an expat life, moving around the world every two to three years, and is currently living in New Delhi, India, for her husband’s work in the Foreign Service.
Preeti Mankar Deb
Creative ProducerPreeti is a documentary filmmaker who has produced and directed films on topics like the Indian education system (Mad About IIT-JEE), the city of Mumbai (I Am Bombay) and arranged marriages (An Arranged Marriage). She believes in the power of video to inform and connect people, and motivate them to make a difference. Her experience in journalism and documentary has taught her that every single person has a unique and engaging story – it just needs to be told in the right way. Preeti is currently working on a community video art project to further explore this theme.
She has a master’s degree in documentary film and broadcast journalism from NYU. After graduating from NYU, she worked in New York on documentaries for public television. In 2008, she moved to India and started an independent film company, 517 Productions, to specialize in non-fiction content. Under this label she has produced, directed and edited documentaries, corporate films, films for non-profits and Public Service Announcements for TV. She also taught video and documentary film.
Preeti has volunteered with non-profits ever since she was in high school, working as a teacher, in marketing and as a video instructor for underprivileged children and disadvantaged youth.
She has recently moved to the Bay Area, where she lives with her husband Anamitra, and two little boys.
When she’s not working or being a mama, she’s experimenting with new ingredients in the kitchen, watching obscure films or reading old mystery novels on the beach.
Andrew Tolve
Content Strategist
Andrew found his calling on a crisp fall morning on the 125th Street Pier in Harlem. Dozens of fishermen lined the dock. Andrew asked one of them if he ate what he caught. ”Hell no,” he said. “You eat this stuff, you go home, turn off the lights, and you glow.”
Turned out that upriver lay two electrical plants that had discharged more than a million pounds of PCB-laden chemicals into the Hudson since World War II. The article that Andrew ended up writing about the fishermen and the factories launched his journalism career. It also taught him a valuable lesson that continues to guide him as a writer today: Everyone has a story worth telling. Dig down deep enough, that story intersects with humanity’s at large.
As Micro-Documentaries’ Content Strategist Andrew helps tell our story as a company in content across internal and external channels. He manages our blog and monthly blogletter and helps with distribution campaigns to expand the impact of our films. Beyond Micro-Documentaries, Andrew has created website content for Fortune 100 companies and global foundations. His journalism has been published widely, including in The New York Times Magazine, Slate, National Geographic Adventure and The San Francisco Chronicle. When he’s not writing, he enjoys being a dad and a husband and exploring the wilderness with his wife and two children near their home in Vermont.