Biographies

Emiko Omori, Producer & Director

Omori began her career as a filmmaker and cinematographer in 1968.  Her first job was as camerawoman/editor on the KQED program, Newsroom.  She left KQED in 1972 and, since then, has freelanced as a cinematographer on many award-winning films and traveled extensively with her work in addition to producing her own films.

In 1991, she wrote and directed the highly acclaimed drama, Hot Summer Winds, a co-production of American Playhouse and KCET. In January 1999, her documentary/memoir, Rabbit in the Moon, about her family’s confinement in a World War II American internment camp, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was broadcast on POV, and went on to win a National Emmy and numerous other awards.

At Sundance she won Best Documentary Cinematography award for Rabbit in the Moon and for her work on Academy Award nominee Regret to Inform.  She has produced and directed documentaries for PBS.  With Wendy Slick, she co-produced and directed Passion and Power:  The Technology of Orgasm which premiered at Lincoln Center in New York.

Director’s statement

My friendship with Don Ed Hardy began in 1974 when I got my first tattoo from him and here we are, 36 years later.  It was time to update a film I made on him in 1980 called “Tattoo City.”  It was time to get it done while we still had our memories, our hair, our teeth, and our sense of humor.  To be perfectly honest it was an excuse to explore the unique mind of this phenomenal artist.  Like getting a tattoo, it was a true collaboration.  He allowed me into his most private space – his painting studio -opened his archives and access to all of his works.  Now in our sixties, we’re two artists surprised and delighted to still be friends and still doing our art.

Wendy Slick, Producer

Slick has produced and directed in almost every facet of the entertainment media industry–American Playhouse, Disney, Showtime, PBS, CBS, and VH-1; has made educational and documentary films for Lucas Film Learning, Harcourt Brace, Sundance Institute, Nature Company, and Apple Computer; and has designed and produced a number of CD-ROMS and Web Sites.

She has been honored with several Emmy and ACE nominations, a “1000 Points of Light” award, as well as awards from the New York Film Festival, Houston Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, and several Cine Golden Eagle Awards. She has created film projects for the Herb Alpert Foundation, Carlos and Deborah Santana’s Foundation, Woman’s Funding Network, among others.

Recently she has consulted for the series Pacific Diaries and the show Skin Stories for Pacific Islanders in Communications. She also served as editor for Ripe for Change, one of the shows for the four part PBS series California and the American Dream. In addition to her own productions, she served as producer on Emiko Omori’s Hot Summer Winds. She created the video department at the College of Marin, and has guest lectured at SF State University, University of CA Extension, and Antioch College.