All the Difference: Filmmaker Bio

Tod Lending (Producer, Director, Cinematographer) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning producer, director, writer and cinematographer whose work has aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and HBO; has screened theatrically and been recognized with awards at national and international festivals; and has been televised in Europe and Asia. He is the president and founder of Nomadic Pictures, a documentary film production company based in Chicago, and the executive director of Ethno Pictures, a nonprofit film company that produces and distributes educational films.

Tod's documentary Legacy was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001. The film aired on Cinemax/HBO in 2000 and received a primetime national PBS release in 2002. Legacy inspired the creation and passing of federal housing legislation on behalf of grandparents rearing their grandchildren. The Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill signed into law on Nov. 30, 2005 included $4 million for LEGACY Housing pilot programs.

His Emmy-nominated documentary Omar & Pete, which followed two men before and after their release from prison, premiered on POV in 2005 and garnered the Henry Hampton Award. In 2008, Tod was awarded a $1.5 million grant by the Wallace Foundation to produce, direct and photograph the documentary film and outreach project The Principal Story for POV. The film, which chronicled a year in the life of two public school principals in Chicago, was licensed by the U.S. State Department and is being distributed to more than 150 U.S. consulates around the world.

Over the last few years, Tod has served as producer, director and cinematographer on assignments for Al Jazeera English. He was a University of Maryland Journalism Fellow in Child and Family Policy and an adviser at the Sundance Institute.

Joy Thomas Moore (Executive Producer) is the president and CEO of JWS Media Consulting, dedicated to finding innovative ways to use media and messaging techniques to further the goals of her clients. She worked for 15 years for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private philanthropy devoted to developing a brighter future for disadvantaged children and families in the United States. She continues to consult for that organization.

Prior to her work in philanthropy, Joy was an award-winning writer and field producer in New York City, where she contributed to numerous local and national television productions, including ESSENCE: The Television Program; Women Into the Nineties; America's Black Forum hosted by Julian Bond; and the acclaimed eight-part documentary series Images & Realities: African American Men and its sequels. She previously worked in Washington, D.C., winning a George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in radio documentaries. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the American University School of Communication.

When media projects aren't consuming her life, Joy happily connects with her three grown children (including Wes Moore) and two grandchildren.

Wes Moore (Executive Producer) is a youth advocate, U.S. Army combat veteran, social entrepreneur and author. His first book, The Other Wes Moore, about the fates of two kids named Wes Moore (one being himself) born in the same Baltimore neighborhood who traveled down different paths, became an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His most recent book, The Work, debuted at No. 15 on the New York Times bestseller list.

He graduated Phi Theta Kappa as a commissioned officer from Valley Forge Military Academy and College and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in international relations. Wes subsequently became a Rhodes Scholar, studying international relations at Oxford University.

He was a paratrooper and captain in the United States Army and served a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan. As a White House fellow from 2006 to 2007, he was a special assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He serves on the boards of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Johns Hopkins University; founded the organization STAND, which works with Baltimore youth and the criminal justice system; and is the founder and CEO of BridgeEdU, which addresses the college completion and job placement crisis. He executive produced and hosted a three-part PBS series about returning veterans, Coming Back with Wes Moore, in 2014. He is a regular contributor to NBC News and was host of Beyond Belief for OWN. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and two children.