Stephanie is a former Hawaii newspaper journalist and an EMMY Award-winning independent filmmaker. She has been developing television documentaries full-time since 1989. Her film awards are many, including a 1993 EMMY. Her Hawaii-based production company, ‘Olena Productions, is her vehicle for expressing her film ideas. This documentary project, NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE INCANDESCENT LIFE OF THOMAS CHAPIN is her 10th documentary film. She has an Executive MBA (2000) from the University of Hawaii and was a 1999 Selected Professions Fellow with the American Association of University Women.
Her 1993 EMMY-winning film was her first documentary, co-produced with Hawaii Public Television. SIMPLE COURAGE told the tragic story of Hawaii’s leprosy epidemic and Father Damien’s courageous intervention. The film drew parallels with how the AIDS epidemic was being handled at the time of that epidemic’s height.Three of her other documentaries were aired by PBS, including AN UNTOLD TRIUMPH, a WWII story that she co-wrote and which aired for four-straight years in PBS national prime time. For more information on her work, go to www.olenamedia.com.
