Who We Are
Beth Murphy
Founder/Director/Producer
Beth founded Principle Pictures in 1999 to do what she loves doing most: meeting inspiring people, telling great stories, and using media as a catalyst for good. She enjoys connecting with audiences and connecting audiences in meaningful ways with our world. Beth has led production crews to all corners of the world, often in war-torn or developing countries in order to focus on human rights and international issues.
She has directed, produced, written (and in some cases narrated) nearly 20 documentary films for national and international media outlets including The Sundance Channel, The History Channel, Discovery International, Lifetime Television, The Sundance Channel, Discovery Health, PBS, NHK, and numerous international outlets. For her work on BEYOND BELIEF (Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Channel), Beth received the One Shared World International Outreach Award from American Women in Radio and Television. She’s now running a nationwide impact campaign with the film designed to foster cross-cultural understanding in collaboration with the Fledgling Fund, Teachers College of Columbia University, PBS LearningMedia and the Mass Humanities Council.
Beth is the author of Fighting For Our Future (McGraw Hill, 2002), a companion book to her film with the same title. The book was heralded by the Library Journal as doing the cancer community “a vital service.” She is a contributing author of Open My Eyes, Open My Soul.
A Little More Personal
Beth’s grandfather was a boxer, and she teaches aerobics and spinning. She has her MA in Int’l Relations and International Communications from Boston University – her Dad’s alma mater, and studied documentary filmmaking at the George Washington University Documentary Center. She is on the boards of the International Institute of New England and the Woods Hole Film Festival. Beth lives on Cape Cod with her adventurous family – husband, Dennis, and daughter, Isabelle. She knows her mother’s meatballs are better than all the rest.
Inspirations
Books, books and more books. Most recently – 1Q84, Red Sorghum, The Sense of An Ending, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and God is Not Great. Inspirations beyond books: Intrepid travelers, loving parents, palindromes. Feeling the power of Cape L’Agulhas. Schubert’s Ave Maria and Eminem’s Lose Yourself. Remembering all the good these women did for others even when they were suffering: Randi Rosenberg, Tracy Pleva Hill and Wendy Jo Sperber.
Kevin Belli
Director / Editor / Director of Photography
Kevin Belli has worked for PRINCIPLE PICTURES since January 2002. Most recently, he was the Director of Photography and Editor for the ITVS-funded feature THE LIST, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2012. Previous credits include co-Director of Photography and Editor for the Sundance Channel’s award-winning BEYOND BELIEF, Co-Editor and Director of Photography for the film DIVIDING LINES, as well as numerous documentaries for television outlets such as the History Channel, History Channel International, Discovery Channel, Lifetime Network and Discovery Health.
In the fall of 2012 he returned to Iraq as the Director of Photography (DP in Iraq only) on the James Demo film THE PEACEMAKER. Kevin’s directorial debut INSTALL premiered at the Camden International Film Festival in September 2012. Currently, Kevin is co-Directing DAKOTA DREAM about the oil boom in North Dakota as well as traveling back to Afghanistan with Director Beth Murphy to complete filming on the documentary feature WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS slated to be completed in 2013.
Beth Balaban
Director/Producer
Beth B. joined the Principle Pictures team in 2010 and works as a Director, Producer, Editor and Director of Photography. Her film work at the company has included special features editor on BEYOND BELIEF (2007) and associate producer for THE LIST (2012). She is currently co-producing WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS and DAKOTA DREAM. Beth is also directing, producing and photographing SON OF SAICHI with Beth Murphy.
Miss Balaban is the Co-founder and Chair of The Non-Fiction Cartel, a working collaborative that supports and creates short form documentary in New England. She also works as a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Extension School for video production and editing. Her academic background includes a B.A. in psychology from Boston University and an M.F.A. in media arts from Emerson College. She directed her first documentary, PEACE AND THE QUIET, as her graduate thesis project.
A Little More Personal
Beth is a travel addict. She lived in Spain and is fluent in Spanish. She spent a year in Israel where she discovered her passion for documentary. Lifetime goals include: becoming a polyglot, completing her novel, and learning how to tell jokes.
Inspirations
Words: John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Paul Bowles, Isaac Asimov, Tony Hoagland. Films: Still Walking, Planet of Snail, Hiroshima Mon Amour, The White Ribbon, Salesman, High School.
Nathan Tisdale
Production Manager
Nathan joined Principle Pictures in 2011 as Production Manager. He also serves as a cinematographer, editor and associate producer. As part of the team, he enjoys the opportunity to travel and share stories from around the world. Nathan was a camera operator and associate producer on THE LIST (2012) and associate producer on INSTALL (2012).
A Little More Personal
Nathan was a costumed tour guide at some of Boston’s famous landmarks and considers himself an unofficial ambassador for the city of Boston. He also lives in the past as a student of ancient and medieval history.
Inspirations
George Orwell, Robert Graves, William Blum, Angst essen Seele auf, Roger and Me, Operation Filmmaker, Waiting for Guffman.
