Walking Cinema Team
Michael Epstein
Founder, Director, Executive Producer
Michael is a screenwriter, transmedia director, and expert in place-based storytelling. He has a M.S. degree in Comparative Media Studies from M.I.T. where he specialized in developing multiplatform documentary films. In 2006, Michael founded Walking Cinema. The company has developed cross-platform apps for The Smithsonian, PBS, the Venice Biennale, Audible and many museum and broadcast clients. Epstein is also an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts, teaching studio courses in landscape history and interactive media production. In 2019, Michael was selected as a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow at the University of Missouri. Michael has served as a Peer Reviewer and Principal Investigator on several National Endowment for the Humanities programs.
Maxim Antinori
Developer
Maxim is a web and mobile app developer specializing in interactive educational media. Before joining Walking Cinema, Max worked at Tom Snyder Productions, Inc. in Boston, where he helped produce award-winning software titles for K-12 schools. These titles include Rainforest Researchers, Math Mysteries, The Other Side, Minds-On Science, and others. His educational interactives have used Flash, mobile, Unity 3D, and engaging text to bring content to life for museum visitors around the country.
Natalia Arévalo
Producer
Natalia is a filmmaker and producer from Bogotá, Colombia, based in San Francisco. Her work explores identity, memory, and music through a documentary lens, blending storytelling with immersive technology. She has produced for HBO Max, Paramount+, Netflix, among others, and led productions and festivals across the Americas. Recent projects include Rebecca, premiering at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, and the Emmy-nominated Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo. Fluent in Spanish, English, and French, Natalia tells stories that connect people across cultures, using language and narrative as bridges between communities.Current Production Team
Michael French: Director, The Fillmore Eclipse
Jan Gilbert: Voiceover Director, Petlenuc Interrupted
Joey Clift: Actor, Petlenuc Interrupted
Kyle Randall: Sound design, scoring, and audio editing, The Curious Case Of The Pheromonophone
Jordan Deang: Actor, Petlenuc Interrupted
Sasha Mandel: Soundtrack, Audio Editing, Petlenuc Interrupted
Clarke Helland: Actor, Petlenuc Interrupted
Margaux Poupard: Actor, Petlenuc Interrupted
Yuhan:
Yuki Li: Graphic Designer, various projects
Camilo Vanegas: 2D/3D Artist, Petlenuc Interrupted
Talent
Walking Cinema has worked with a range of talent, including rising spoken word stars, established authors, eminent scholars, Hollywood stars, and top producers. We also center our storytelling around relatively obscure talents whose voices we aim to amplify.
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer-prize winning author of "The Sympathizer" joined us in SoCal’s Little Saigon.
Ralph Steadman
A cherished cartoonist, Ralph starred in "The Ralph Steadman Audio Guide."
Eric Foner
Eric Foner is a historian and expert in the Reconstruction Era. He was an advisor on the Free & Equal project.
William Finnegan
Author of Pulitzer-prize winning memoir "Barbarian Days," William joined us on Oahu’s best surfing beaches.
Natalie Baszile
Author of "Queen Sugar" joined us in the sugar cane field of her ancestors in Louisiana.
Tim Robbins
A renowned actor, Tim voiced the writing of Hunter S. Thompson for "The Ralph Steadman Audio Guide."
Daniel José Older
Walked us through the portals to other worlds in Brooklyn with his book "Half-Resurrection Blues."
Marcus Amaker
Marcus is Charleston, SC’s first poet laureate. Marcus wrote and voiced original poetry for Free & Equal.
Samuel Getachew
Samuel is a nationally-recognized poet and a high school student in Oakland, CA. Samuel wrote and performed the Architect Character in Museum of the Hidden City.
Ranky Tanky
The Grammy-award-winning Gullah band performed the soundtrack for Free & Equal.
Tianna Bratcher
Tianna, an award-winning poet and educator, performed the voice of Helena Hamilton in Museum of the Hidden City.
La Doña
La Doña is a solo reggaeton singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She scored and narrated "Mission: Coffee Country."