Sarah Michaelson, Director/Producer

Sarah loves American Sign Language, music, animation, reading and Michael Herzovi. She’s grateful for the opportunity to spend time with all of them in one video. Sarah received her Master’s in Counseling from Gallaudet University and has worked the last 30 years as an employment counselor and advocate in Deaf and disability communities. When she rides her bicycle (named Bucky), she feels like she’s flying.

Michael Herzovi, Co-Producer/Voiceover

Michael spent his boyhood and adolescence reading, much of it in the library. As a Chicago-based voice artist with over 20 years acting and storytelling experience in a variety of voices, he enjoys defying audience expectations as a writer, actor and solo performer. He met Sarah Michaelson after a podcast performance and his life changed forever. In his spare time he studies dialects by binge-watching Netflix.

Learn more about him at herzovitalks.com.

Matt Lauterbach, Supervising Editor/Accessibility

Matt is a bookworm who loves learning about the world with his two sons, Jasper and Roscoe. He is a filmmaker and educator with nearly two decades of experience crafting engaging content for museums, classrooms, the web, and the big screen. Matt’s imagination often wanders, and he has notebooks filled with ideas — some practical, and some fantastical.

You can learn more about what Matt is working on at allsensesgo.com.

Crom Saunders, ASL Master Storyteller

Crom Saunders is an Associate Professor in the ASL Department at Columbia College Chicago, where he has been teaching ASL Linguistics and Interpreting courses since 2009. He is currently the Director of the Deaf Studies BA program, which he helped create in 2014. He holds an MA degree in Creative Writing from California State University, Sacramento (2002). Saunders is developing a body of research based on the representation of Deaf people in the media, and how this ties in with the history and development of ASL and Deaf culture. He’s also researching and developing an ASL translation of the works of Shakespeare because he is a bookworm, just like Calvin.

Visit him online at thecromsaunders.com/

Dianne Lee, Animator/Visual Editor

Dianne Lee is a video editor based out of Chicago with over ten years of experience working with various ad agencies and local filmmakers. She believes a good story can actually do some good in the world, and her job is to make those stories the best they can be. She loves creating experiences for people, whether that is through a visual story or hosting a dinner, or organizing a bike trip around Chicago. Like Calvin, she likes exploring and flying in her own way.

Visit her online at dianneleeis.me/

John Erickson, Composer

John is a huge fan of making AND listening to all kinds of music. As a Chicago based musician, he has played with a variety of jazz, pop, and folk groups in many of the area’s top music venues including The City Winery, SPACE, and the Green Mill. Erickson’s six solo recordings range in style from contemplative solo piano originals to jazz trio treatments of Christmas carols and hymns. He is the pianist for Lake View Presbyterian Church and an enthusiastic private piano instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

While Calvin was in the library, John was likely in the record store. Calvin Can’t Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie is John’s first flight into the adventurous world of ASL Storybook composing.

Visit him at johnericksonpiano.com/

Liz Tannebaum, Actor and Creative Consultant

Liz Tannebaum is a veteran in the film industry and in the theatre world. As a young child, she got her start by watching and learning from her late father Ted Tannebaum of the renowned Lakeshore Entertainment Group. Liz is following her father’s footsteps by supporting the Deaf arts, theatre and film. The feature film, NO ORDINARY HERO: The SuperDeafy Movie, acquired by Netflix, marks her foray in the in the film industry as an Executive Producer. She has an extensive background not only in film, but also in theatre, television, and commercials. Liz is well known for her appearance as Sarah in the theatrical production of Children of a Lesser God and for WHAT WOMEN WANT, a film produced by Paramount Pictures.

Shuling Yong, Cinematographer

Shuling Yong is a Singapore-born, Chicago-based award-winning documentary filmmaker, DP and Location Sound Recordist with a passion for social change. She has worked on films like Becoming (Netflix, 2020, dir. Nadia Hallgren), The Feeling of Being Watched (Tribeca/POV, 2018, dir. Assia Boundaoui), And She Could Be Next (Tribeca/POV, 2020, dir. Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia), Radical Grace (HotDocs, 2015, dir. Rebecca Parrish), In Time To Come (HotDocs, 2017, dir. Tan Pin Pin. Shuling’s most recent film Unteachable premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival 2019 and became the first local film to clinch the Audience Choice Award in the festival’s 30-year history. During production, Unteachable was selected for the Tribeca Film Institute Network Market 2018, Good Pitch² Southeast Asia 2017, and won “Best Pitch” at the CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum 2017.

Visit her at shulingyong.com/

Jennifer Berne, Author

Just like Calvin, Jennifer Berne loves spending time alone with her favorite books about science, nature, cavemen, dinosaurs, and our amazing universe. Unlike Calvin, Jenifer was a longtime contributor to Nick Jr. magazine and a writer for both print media and TV. She has published numerous award-winning books for young readers, including On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein, Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau, On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Live of Emily Dickinson, and Calvin, Look Out! the sequel to Calvin Can’t Fly.

Jennifer lives in the rolling hills of Columbia County, New York. In summer she migrates up to Maine to live aboard her sailboat. Visit her online at jenniferberne.com.

Keith Bendis, Illustrator

Keith Bendis is a cartoonist and illustrator whose work has appeared in many of America’s leading magazines and newspapers, including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Fortune. He has illustrated many books, including the best-selling Casey at the Bat and Calvin, Look Out! Keith lives on an old farm in Columbia County, New York, where he watches starlings fly dipsy-doodles over his house.

Visit him online at keithbendis.com