ECHO PICTURES Common ideals, goals, and interests drew director Michele Ohayon and producer Julia Schachter together. Ohayon, an award-winning director, writer and producer, has over 15 years of professional filmmaking experience worldwide. Schachter has worked in many aspects of film and television development and production, with a strong background in independent and documentary filmmaking. Both are interested in making films that open hearts and minds. Michele Ohayon directed the critically acclaimed feature-length documentary It Was A Wonderful Life, about former middle-class homeless women, narrated by Jodie Foster, with music by Melissa Etheridge. This award winning film has been distributed internationally and domestically. It aired on PBS, and is used as outreach for organizations across the United States. Schachter and Ohayon have worked closely together since 1990 as founding directors of the board of Cinewomen, a non-profit organization formed to promote the advancement of women's careers in the entertainment industry. Looking to make a film about "at risk" children and the arts, Michele and Julia were impressed by the after-school program Living Literature/Colors United, based in Watts. The program teaches inner city kids the performing arts, keeping them off the streets, and easing racial tension between Latinos and African-Americans. Schachter and Ohayon were inspired to make a film about the courage of these young people, determined to create a future for themselves, against the odds. With initial funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, they followed the kids for over two years, resulting in the powerful, in-depth documentary feature, Colors Straight Up. Echo Pictures also produced a series of documentary segments featuring kids for the PBS series "Adventures from the Book of Virtues," which premiered nationally in September, 1996. Ohayon and Schachter continue to research new ideas for future collaborations. Their goal is to make documentary and fiction films of integrity and excellence.