Rick Dillwood • Director • Rick studied film at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He made a short documentary in 2009 called How to Make a Heartbeat about Mel and Carey’s first pregnancy. It premiered at aGLIFF in Austin and went on to play at Frameline in San Francisco, as well as some international festivals. The success of that project inspired Rick to continue exploring his relationship with Mel and Carey in film. Between Friends & Family is his first feature documentary.
The D-P Family • Mel and Carey moved to North Carolina in 2008 so that Mel could attend graduate school, and they decided to stay when they realized that the adoption laws in North Carolina would make it a good place to start a family. Their search for a sperm donor eventually led them to ask their neighbor, Rick, for help, and when he agreed, the three decided to document their experience. Mel and Carey hope to one day be legally married and recognized as parents of both of their children.
Carrie Hart • Associate Producer • Carrie met Rick when he was working on an early version of Between Friends & Family and she was completing her Master’s thesis on visual literacies in Women’s & Gender Studies. The two realized that they were approaching similar ideas from different perspectives and began assisting each other with their projects. Carrie is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Educational & Cultural Studies and is working with Rick to develop a web series exploring the idea of queerness as it manifests in various cultural patterns and practices.
Sean Duncan • Composer • Sean is a musician and founder of Way Grimace Records. He has been balancing electronic and acoustic textures in his music for over a decade—as the frontman of Kid Mud as well as in Thombie, his musical collaboration with Rick—but he is working exclusively with digital instrumentation in his new solo project, Seanario. Sean is currently establishing his record label and promoting his roster of artists. Between Friends & Family is the first film in which Sean’s songs have appeared.
Jacqui Haggerty • Composer • Jacqui is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and videographer who currently resides in Greensboro, NC. Since completing a degree in Media Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, she has worked as an independent videographer and recorded with The Fair and the Foul, who recently completed production on their debut album. She created “Something Like This” as an original composition for Between Friends & Family.