Meet our team and see the making of the film during Covid. Learn more about who's who in the cast and see photos and letters from the family archive.
Meet the Team
Karen Kruger, Producer-Writer
In the summer of 2019, Karen traveled to Brno and Prague, CZ, and to Cornwall, England to research her mother’s past. She spent 3 months working in archives, meeting with experts from the Jewish Museum of Prague and traveling to Terezin and Boskovice, Alexovice and other towns, to trace her mother’s 1939 journey from her Brno to England.
When Karen returned in the Fall of 2019, she knew that she needed to work full-time on the project. She decided to retire from her school administrator’s position and dedicate her time, effort and finances to researching the family history.
Jeffery Gary, a documentary filmmaker, learned of Karen’s project and offered to interview/film her to record her recent research trip “while it was still fresh in her mind.” During the first 2 sessions of filming, Jeffery realized that the story of Karen’s mother’s family had all the components of a documentary film and he suggested that she consider telling the story on film first instead of writing a book — which she had originally planned to do.
Jeffery L. Gary, Director/Cinematographer
Jeffery L. Gary is an award winning director and cinematographer primarily focused on documentary films. Mr. Gary is a graduate of the USC School of Cinema and Television. His love of film and all things visual was developed at an early age while growing up as the 8th of 13 children in Birmingham, Alabama.
He was Director of Photography on the award winning documentary short Drawn Together and Director/DP/Editor on the award winning documentary short Creating Beauty. In addition to Letters From Brno, Mr. Gary is currently serving as Executive Producer on several upcoming films, including the feature film Seven Lost and the animated short film, Fast Forward To Forever.
Tal Skloot, Editor
Tal Skloot is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor with a credit list of over twenty-five feature-length documentaries and narrative films that have won multiple Emmy awards, screened theatrically, broadcast nationally on network and cable television, streaming platforms and appeared in numerous national and international film festivals.
Tal produced and directed two feature-length documentaries: 4 Wheel Bob, about wheelchair hiker Bob Coomber and his attempt to cross the Sierra Nevada. The film aired nationally on PBS and screened at film festivals in the U.S. and Europe.
Tal's second feature-length documentary, Freeway Philharmonic, follows freelance classical musicians as they perform with regional orchestras while struggling to acquire a permanent position with a major orchestra. Freeway Philharmonic, aired nationally on PBS and toured the globe as part of the U.S State Department / IDA sponsored American Documentary Showcase.