Steve James' affiliation with Kartemquin began in 1987 with the start of production of Hoop Dreams, for which he served as director, producer, and co-editor. He has since then become one of the most acclaimed documentary makers of his generation, with noted works being Stevie, The New Americans, The War Tapes, At the Death House Door, The Interrupters, Life Itself, and most recently the 2018 Academy Award®-nominated Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

Bing is a Chicago-based director and cinematographer who Variety Magazine listed as one of 10 documentary filmmakers to watch. His 2018 critically acclaimed documentary Minding the Gap has earned a total of 28 award recognitions since its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it took home the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking.

Risé Sanders-Weir has supervised production for documentaries appearing on MSNBC, PBS, History, National Geographic, CNBC, A&E, The Weather Channel and others. Her work as a writer, producer, director and supervisor has been recognized with Emmy, Hugo and Telly awards. Sanders has also received nominations for an MPSE Golden Reel and an NAACP Image Award. She is the Producer of America to Me.

From 2008-2015, Justine led Kartemquin Films as Executive Director as well as being an Executive Producer on each new film. She was responsible, in concert with the Board of Directors, for creating and implementing the strategic vision for Kartemquin. Justine successfully transitioned to the ED role in a historic founder-led organization, and made major strides in building a foundation for long-term sustainability.

Artistic Director and founding member of Kartemquin Films, Gordon Quinn has been making documentaries for over 50 years. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun Times, called his first film Home for Life (1966) "an extraordinarily moving documentary." With Home for Life Gordon established the direction he would take for the next four decades, making cinéma vérité films that investigate and critique society by documenting the unfolding lives of real people. 

Leslie Simmer is Kartemquin's Director of Editing as well as Senior Editor on staff.

David E. Simpson is a documentary filmmaker with over three decades of experience. Films he has produced, directed or edited have garnered three national Emmys, a pair of Peabody awards, two DuPont-Columbia batons, an Oscar nomination, a Sundance jury award and best in category at countless festivals. He has worked in close association with Kartemquin Films since 1997.

An experienced director/producer, David deems editing the heart of documentary-practice and spends the bulk of his time in the cutting room crafting impactful works with talented collaborators. 

From game shows to reality shows and everything in between, Chicago native Janea Smith is a Television Producer and a Consultant who always has a new project up her sleeve.

Adam D. Singer began working with Kartemquin Films in 1989, spending 5 years on the critically acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams, and has continued his association with them ever since. He has worked on various productions, both nationally and internationally, as a producer, cameraman and sound recordist.

Zak is an Emmy and PGA award-winning documentary filmmaker who has made films for over 15 years.

Currently, Zak is producing several feature films: City So Real with producer/director Steve James; Until the Lion Speaks (working title), for Concordia Studio, with co-directors Bing Liu and Joshua Altman; and The Ants and the Grasshopper (working title), a film he is also co-directing/producing with Raj Patel and producer Rachel Wexler.

Shuling Yong is a Singapore-born, Chicago-based documentary filmmaker, sound recordist and DP with a passion for social change. She has worked on films like Radical Grace (Hot Docs, 2015, dir. Rebecca Parrish), America to Me (Sundance, 2018, dir. Steve James), and And She Could Be Next (dir. Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia).

Rubin Daniels is a freelance editor based in Chicago, IL. He holds a B.S. in Communications from the University of North Florida, as well as an M.S.

​Ryan Gleeson is a documentary filmmaker based in Chicago, Illinois. After cutting his teeth on his parents' VHSC camcorder and spending a summer editing Hyphenated Humor with the late Jerry Blumenthal, Ryan spent half a decade at Kartemquin Films involving himself in a variety of ways, including but not limited to film production, workflow planning, tape archiving, event planning, and gallery curation. He rose to be Kartemquin's Post-Production Manager.