The Crew
Director/PRODUCER
David Kabbe
IZIDOR marks Dave’s narrative film directorial debut, building on his 20 years of experience producing, coordinating, and directing a diverse range of projects—from independent films and television to live events, tentpole premieres, talk shows, and large-scale multimedia productions. He has collaborated with major studios, including Paramount, Universal, DreamWorks, and Warner Brothers.
Dave’s global upbringing ignited a deep passion for storytelling that amplifies humanitarian issues. His filmmaking journey has taken him from interviewing Filipino warlords to documenting genocide in war-torn Iraq and recording the recent atrocities in Ukraine. As a foster child mentor, he gained firsthand insight into the struggles of at-risk youth, further fueling his commitment to impactful storytelling.
Writer/Producer
Sarah Padbury
Sarah is a producer, writer, actress, and child advocate—now making her producing debut with IZIDOR. She conducted in-depth research on Izidor’s story, interviewing Izidor himself, his family, orphanage friends, former caregivers, and key figures in his rescue, both in the U.S. and Romania.
In 2004, Sarah played a pivotal role in launching Project 1.27, a nonprofit dedicated to equipping foster and adoptive parents. Today, the organization leads a national network of 18 bridge organizations, collectively supporting 7,000 children each year. She has seven children by adoption and has trained hundreds of foster and adoptive parents.
PRODUCER
Izidor Ruckel
Izidor Ruckel is a Romanian-born author, speaker, and filmmaker known for advocating for vulnerable children. He is the producer of a two-time award-winning film, GIVEN OUR CHANCE, a documentary that explores the lives of Romanian orphans who grew up in the country’s notorious orphanage system during the Communist era.
ROMANIA CO-PRODUCER
Elena Beuca Rogers
Elena is a Romanian-American independent filmmaker best known for producing, directing and starring in TALITA (formerly D-LOVE), which won Best Picture at 10 film festivals. THY NEIGHBOURS is her new documentary about the plight of Ukrainian civilians and the volunteers serving them.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Wyland
Daniel is a Romanian-born filmmaker best known for the short film 27 CHILDREN, which won multiple film festival awards. He is a seasoned cinematographer who also is a director, producer and writer for film, music videos and commercials.
composer
Jesper Ankarfeldt
Jesper is a Danish award-winning composer with more than 100 films and tv shows to his credit. His films have been screened at hundreds of film festivals, broadcast in multiple countries, won dozens of awards and earned several Oscar qualifications.
animation supervisor
John Kujawa
John is a computer graphic (CG) artist whose extensive experience includes 16 years as technical director for Comedy Central's Emmy Award-winning SOUTH PARK. He also holds credits for several studios, including Activision, Sony Pictures, Disney and HBO.
editors
Christine Lojko Haslett & Mark Haslett
Christine is an editor best known for BADGUYS (DreamWorks), HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks) and TROLLS (DreamWorks). Mark is a writer/editor best known for LET'S GO LUNA! (PBS Kids), HELIX (Syfy Network) and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (Universal).
animation editor, online editor & colorist
Tony Leech
Tony's work spans both animated and live action films as writer, director and editor. He is best known for HOODWINKED!, ESCAPE FROM PLANT EARTH and VARIANT. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror nominated HOODWINKED! for Best Animated Film (2006).
SOUND DESIGNER
Benjamin Jacquier
Ben is a French sound designer and composer who offers sound production and mixing for films, music videos, web content, games, and advertising. This award-winning artist specializes in creating original soundtracks and foley to capture the emotion of each project.
SURROUND & STEREO SOUND MIX
Dominic Camardella
Dom is an industry-recognized audio engineer and producer. His vast resume includes recording dozens of musicians, as well as audio mixing and dialogue recording for film and television. Dom has received two Grammy nominations, including winning Best Spoken Word Album.
Full Crew & Credits
| DIRECTOR | David Kabbe |
| WRITER | Sarah Padbury |
| PRODUCERS | Izidor Ruckel Sarah Padbury David Kabbe |
| ROMANIA CO-PRODUCER | Elena Beuca Rogers |
| ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS | Jor Van Kline Christine Lojko Haslett |
| EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | Sarah Padbury |
| COMPOSER | Jesper Ankarfeldt |
| DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Daniel Wyland |
| ANIMATION SUPERVISOR | John Kujawa |
| EDITORS | Christine Lojko Haslett Mark Haslett |
| ANIMATION EDITOR | Tony Leech |
| AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY & PRODUCTION STILLS | Paul Plesa |
| 1st AC & 2nd UNIT DP | Stefan Aghitoaie |
| PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER | Daniel Rizea |
| PRODUCTION COORDINATOR | Dave Rogers |
| PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS | Robby Beuca Ruth Beuca |
| SET DESIGNERS | Alexandra Cadar Lumei, Mariana Cadar Lumei, Elena Beuca Rogers, Izidor Ruckel |
| SET DESIGN ASSISTANTS | Florentina Farcas, Maicariu Marius, Dan Opris, Dina Roman, Ramona Ivascu, Adina Covaci, Noemi Boje, Bogdan Boje, Nelu Cadar Lumei |
| ASSEMBLY EDIT | Daniel Lindeen |
| ANIMATION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR | John Kujawa |
| ANIMATION VISUAL DEVELOPMENT | Tony Peluce |
| CHARACTER DESIGN & MODELING | Gabe Leonard John Kujawa |
| ANIMATION STORYBOARDS & ANIMATICS | Marc Sanchez |
| ANIMATED DREAM SEQUENCE | Edgar Tellez |
| BACKGROUND ARTIST | John Kujawa |
| RIGGERS | John Kujawa Ahmed Elmatarawi |
| ANIMATORS | John Kujawa Alani Sanders |
| ASSISTANT ANIMATOR | Tyler Lindsey |
| VISUAL EFFECTS | John Kujawa Tony Leech |
| VOICEOVER RECORDINGS | Fineas Alexa (Cluj, Romania) Axiom Post Productions (Los Angeles, CA) |
| SOUND DESIGN & FOLEY | Benjamin Jacquier |
| SURROUND & STEREO SOUND MIX | Dominic Camardella @ Santa Barbara Sound Design (Santa Barbara, CA) |
| CHILDREN’S WALLA & ADR | Hayden Jinsu Chang 5th Grade Class @ Champagny Primary School (Champagny, France) |
| COLORIST & ONLINE EDITOR | Tony Leech |
| FILM SCORE MUSICIANS: | |
| FLUTE | Karolina Ogrodowska |
| OBOE & ENGLISH HORN | Phil Popham |
| CLARINET | Jason Alder |
| BASSOON | Damian Montano |
| VIOLIN | Leonard Chong |
| VIOLA | Drew Forde |
| CELLO | Klara Krklec |
| “MI-AI DAT MAMA CANTELCU” MUSIC, LYRICS & PERFORMANCE | Irina Loghin |
| ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE | ABC News VideoSource |
