Crusading filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson discusses his award-winning documentary, Under Our Skin, and corruption in the Lyme Disease medical community. Also appearing will be the film's senior producer, Kris Newby, an award-winning science writer and Lyme disease survivor. Under Our Skin made this year's academy award "short list" for best documentary of 2009.

Andy Abrahams Wilson Founder and president of Open Eye Pictures, Andy Abrahams Wilson is a multi-award winning, Emmy-nominated producer and director of creative non-fiction films. Andy received a BA in cultural anthropology from Northwestern University, and an MA in visual anthropology from the University of Southern California, where he also studied at the USC School of Cinema. Andy’s approach emphasizes the moving image as a way to bridge disparate parts, peoples and ideas. While his work takes on controversial themes, he uses the filmmaking process as an opportunity to encourage empathy and identification, rather than separation and polarization. His most recent production, UNDER OUR SKIN, is the recipient of six best documentary awards at international film festivals and was an Academy Award semifinalist. Andy's films have been shown on HBO, PBS, CBC, the Showtime Networks, and in theaters and film festivals worldwide. A recipient of a Pew Charitable Trust Fellowship in Dance/Media, he has produced several award-winning films on dance or dancers, and is the two-time Grand Prize recipient at the Dance on Camera Film Festival. Andy is a former budget director of the film distribution cooperative New Day Films and member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He was recognized by the Northern California Marin Arts Council as an Outstanding Artist of the Year, and by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for Outstanding Documentary Achievement.  In yearly workshops at the Esalen Institute, Andy teaches workshops on photography and video as a means of connecting to our environment.

Kris Newby is Senior Producer and researcher for UNDER OUR SKIN. She is also an award-winning screenwriter and science writer, with engineering degrees from Stanford and the University of Utah. Kris combines a strong science and writing background with personal experience as a person with Lyme disease. Past film honors include first place in the Vanity Fair screenwriting competition and the top award in Group 101's screenwriting contest for THE HORSE TRADER. This film was recently produced and has been shown in several film festivals across the country. Kris has also managed video and multimedia projects for Apple Computer and other Silicon Valley companies.

A gripping tale of microbes, medicine & money, UNDER OUR SKIN exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most controversial and fastest growing epidemics of our time. Each year, thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told that their symptoms are "all in their head." Following the stories of patients and physicians fighting for their lives and livelihoods, the film brings into focus a haunting picture of the health care system and a medical establishment all too willing to put profits ahead of patients.

Jane Ganahl has been a journalist, author, editor and arts organizer in San Francisco for more than 25 years. She is the co-founder and co-director of Litquake – the west coast’s largest independent literary festival, the author of “Naked on the Page: the Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife,” and editor of the anthology, “Single Woman of a Certain Age: 28 Women Writers on the Unmarried Midlife.” She has contributed essays to five other anthologies. Ganahl has also been a journalist for almost three decades, most of that time with San Francisco newspapers, covering everything from City Hall to pop culture. During her final five years at the Chronicle she penned the “Single Minded” Sunday column about the unmarried life. Jane has chaired panels at the Commonwealth Club, Book Expo America, Book Group Expo, and various other conferences. She has appeared on numerous TV programs, including “The Today Show,” and innumerable radio shows, from Sirius network to NPR. Her work can now be found on Huffington Post and Match.com; she has also contributed to Harper’s Bazaar, Ladies’ Home Journal, Harp, Parenting, Book, Salon.com, Vanity Fair.com and Rolling Stone.com.