The Filmmakers
Director
Janice Engel

Award-winning filmmaker Janice Engel’s feature-length documentary Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins premiered at Sundance in 2019. After winning the Audience Award at SXSW and garnering awards at numerous festivals, it was released by Magnolia Pictures at more than 1,000 theaters and had an 18-week nationwide run from Alabama to Alaska. It premiered in the UK and Ireland via Modern Films. In 2022, Rotten Tomatoes selected it as one of the Best Movies Directed by Women in the 21st Century.
Other credits include Jackson Browne: Going Home (Cable Ace-Award), Ted Hawkins: Amazing Grace (Rose D’Or Special Jury Prize), and the docu-series, Addicted (Prism Award). Under her own banner, she co-created What We Carry, an ongoing multi-media documentary series dedicated to preserving Holocaust survivors’ stories. The series is housed in the permanent collection at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Janice is a Professor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where she teaches film production. She is a member of the International Documentary Association and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Producer
James Egan

James Egan is a veteran independent producer whose narrative and documentary films have won numerous awards at film festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, and SFFF and have been distributed worldwide by Sony, Sony Classics, Magnolia, HBO, Kino Lorber, Visit, Paramount, Apple TV, Hulu/Disney, and more. James was the on-set producer for Wild About Harry, a film released on Apple TV in 2021.
Working with Director Janice Engel, he was lead producer for Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins, which premiered at Sundance 2019 to rave reviews, won the Audience Award at SXSW, was released by Magnolia Pictures theatrically nationwide and is available on multiple streaming platforms.
James founded Wild at Heart Films to create “Media that Makes a Difference.” The first project under the Wild at Heart Films banner was the critically acclaimed independent film Jackpot, winner of the John Cassavetes Spirit Award and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.
Other credits include Angels in the Dust (co-produced with Participant Media), Executive Producer on Kimjongilia, and Sound of Redemption where he partnered with international bestseller Michael Connelly. James was the editor of “John Waters Interviews,” a book in the prestigious series, Conversations with Filmmakers.
Writer
Tim Atkin

Tim is a military veteran who commanded two Coast Guard cutters. As a White House Fellow (1994-95), he served on the National Security Council staff at the White House. In the Coast Guard, he earned numerous unit and personal awards for search & rescue and law enforcement operations. At the White House, he focused on our nation’s response to international crises — the Cuban and Haitian migration crises, the post-genocide recovery in Rwanda and Burundi, and the destruction caused by international organized crime and drug trafficking.
Beyond his career in public service, Tim’s lifelong passion has been storytelling, which led him to begin writing screenplays and to start 40 Years Running Films. In 2021, Tim completed the New York Film Academy’s 15-week Filmmaking program. Since 2022, he has collaborated with director Janice Engel to further develop his screenplay Lillian, Next Door. Tim is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He and his husband live in South Florida.
Cinematographer
Bianca Butti

Bianca Butti’s work has premiered at numerous festivals around the world including Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, New Horizons Film Festival in Poland and the Scenecs Film Festival in Holland.
Bianca recently wrapped production on Lovers, an indie feature directed by Taylor McFadden. She is known for The Uncanny, released in 2023 and An American in Texas, directed by Anthony Pedone. The feature Hank and Asha, directed by James Duff, won her the Director’s Award for Best Cinematography at the Woods Hole Film Festival.
As an “A” Camera Operator, Bianca has worked on the last three Luca Guadagnino films, Bones and All, Challengers (2024), and Queer (2025). Bianca has a BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.
Editor
Phyllis Housen

Phyllis Housen, ACE, has been a feature film editor for more than 30 years. Her impressive list of credits includes editor of Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at Sundance in 2019; editor of the audience award-winning Adam & Steve; assistant editor on Tarantino’s Kill Bill films (Volumes 1 and 2); and assistant editor of Beverly Hills Cop III. In addition to feature films, Phyllis also edits for TV and documentaries.
Phyllis graduated from Tufts University where she studied film theory and English literature and she earned a Master of Fine Arts in cinema production from the London International Film School with a distinction in editing.
Technical Advisor & Associate Producer
Richard Clarke

Richard (Dick) Clarke served for thirty years in national security policy roles in the U.S. Government. First in the Pentagon, then the State Department, Dick later served in the White House for an unprecedented period of continuous service during the administrations of four Presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
An internationally renowned author, his eleven books include the #1 New York Times bestseller Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror.
Dick was an on-air analyst for ABC News for fifteen years. A graduate of Boston Latin School, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT, Dick is a resident of Virginia.
Assistant Producer
Andy Bailey

Andy Bailey is a military veteran who commanded an Air Force ICBM launch crew and was a long-term federal employee with a career in large-scale website management. After early experiences in theater, he largely put his creative pursuits on hold until he joined the Lillian, Next Door team. He’s excited to bring this story to life. Andy is a member of Veterans in Media and Entertainment, The Gotham and Film Independent.
Andy is a graduate of Penn State University and completed the New York Film Academy’s 15-week Filmmaking program. One of his student films was an Official Selection at the Minute Madness Toronto Film Festival. Along with writer Tim Atkin, Andy is a partner in 40 Years Running Films.