Susan Finley a long term meditation student is Director of “Changing Minds at Concord High School,” a documentary about a science and mindfulness program she developed for an at-risk school on Staten Island. Inspired by research on the brain’s ability to change, the students learned strategies to better regulate their attention and emotion. As co-founder and director of the nonprofit, The Producers’ Project for nine years, Susan integrated video-production programs into alternative schools, including a FEMA-funded project on trauma and resilience. The resulting youth-made films screened at many venues including Tribeca Film Festival.
Susan’s film credits as a screenwriter, script consultant, and producer
include: “The First Time,” New Line Cinema, “Wall Street,” 20th Century Fox,” Iron And Silk,” Miramax, “Interstellar Pig,” Paramount and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” New Line Cinema. Susan created, wrote and designed “Lizzy and Gordon Visit The Sculpture Garden,” an original animated web feature for the National Gallery of Art’s Education Department that was featured on CNN and in USA Today and awarded Best Site 2000 by Education World. She wrote “Ocean Voyager,” an adventure game for the Smithsonian’s Ocean Planet Exhibit and “Hi, It’s Me,” AT&T Lab’s interactive exhibit at the Tech Museum.