THE FILMMAKERS
Rufus Lusk
CO-DIRECTOR/EP Rufus Lusk is an Emmy-winning producer and director specializing in nonfiction television. He co-created and wrote the series Liquid Science (Netflix/Red Bull TV), starring GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, and is creator, executive producer and director of Shade: Queens of NY, an innovative hybrid of music videos and documentary vérité that explored the complex lives of New York’s drag queens. Rufus also served as Executive Producer of Black Women Own the Conversation, earning his first Emmy for the groundbreaking series.
Rufus is a co-founder of Cowboy Bear Ninja, a social-impact driven commercial and entertainment production company whose latest film credit was Hummingbirds, which won the Grand Prix in its category at the 2023 Berlinale, and was an Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best Documentary.
Elise Hu
CO-DIRECTOR/EP Elise Hu is a multiple-award winning journalist, author and writer based in Los Angeles. A former correspondent for VICE News on HBO and a longtime NPR international correspondent, she has reported inside the communities most affected by political upheaval and disasters from more than a dozen countries around the world. In 2015, she opened NPR’s first-ever Seoul bureau, responsible for coverage of both Koreas and Japan. That experience led to her non-fiction book, FLAWLESS.
A University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism alum, Elise’s work has won the national Edward R. Murrow for video, duPont Columbia and Gracie awards, among others.