THE RIGHTEOUS ROAD TRIP is Produced, Written, and Directed by Vanessa Roth. Produced by Big Year Productions, Inc. In association with 18Reflections, From The Depths, Memory Workers & The Jewish News. Producers are Jonny Daniels, Stephen D. Smith, PhD, and Justin Cohen MBE. Executive Producers are Eitan Neishlos, Jonathan Zlotolow, Elizabeth Heyman Winter, and Elliott Joseph. Co- Executive Producers are Larry & Beth Chofsky and Yael Shaoulian. Animation is by Paul Donnellon. Joachim Blomme serves as cinematographer, and Michele Loschiavo is editor. Original Score by Joel Simon and JSM Music.
Producer/Writer/Director Vanessa Roth
Vanessa Roth is an Academy Award® and Emmy®-winning filmmaker with more than 25 years of experience writing, directing, and producing documentary films and series focused on social justice, marginalized voices, and overlooked histories. Her work has earned more than 60 major honors, including an Oscar®, the Television Academy Emmy Award for Social Impact, the Alfred I. duPont– Columbia Award, and the Leonard Maltin Humanitarian Award. Her films and series have appeared internationally in festivals & theaters, on Netflix, Amazon, Disney, National Geographic, Hulu, HBO, PBS and as part of major storytelling initiatives around the world.
Producer/Film Lead Jonny Daniels
Jonny Daniels is a British Israeli humanitarian and founder of From the Depths, an internationally recognized organization dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, survivor welfare, and honoring the Righteous Among the Nations. Over the past decade, he has become one of the leading advocates for preserving the stories of non-Jews who risked everything to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Daniels has helped uncover forgotten rescue stories, support aging survivors, restore historical sites, and build bridges between communities of different faiths and backgrounds.
Producer Justin Cohen MBE
Justin Cohen is news editor and co-publisher of the Jewish News. He started work experience at the newspaper in 2001 and has gone on to interview five prime ministers, three Archbishops of Canterbury and two Chief Rabbis as well as the likes of Elie Wiesel, Shimon Peres, Sir Tom Jones and Simon Cowell. In 2018, he conducted the only Jewish media interview with Jeremy Corbyn and also accompanied Princes William and Charles on their historic tours of Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. He has led on several of the paper’s innovations including the Night of Heroes, the world’s first interfaith media project with the Church Times and British Muslim TV, the successful campaign to encourage the Royal Mail to honour Sir Nicolas Winton and the Duchess of Cambridge’s Holocaust survivor photography project. In 2024, he was awarded an MBE for services to the Jewish community and Holocaust remembrance.
Producer Stephen D. Smith
Dr. Stephen D. Smith is a renowned Holocaust scholar, theologian, and the former Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation. He is President of Our Jewish Story and CEO of Lumenairi AI storytelling platform. He is an award-winning pioneer of immersive media technologies for preserving and sharing authentic human stories.
Eitan Neishlos/18Reflections (Executive Producer)
Eitan is an entrepreneur, investor, and executive producer whose work spans technology, philanthropy, and socially conscious storytelling. Through his production company, 18 Reflections, he supports the development of meaningful historical and human stories for international film and television audiences. Eitan takes particular inspiration from the Righteous Amongst the Nations who helped save his grandmother during the Holocaust. This legacy continues to shape his philanthropic and storytelling efforts, including projects focused on remembrance, cultural coexistence, and historical preservation.
Elliott Joseph (Executive Producer)
Elliott Joseph as served as Executive Producer on Holding Liat (2025), A Tree of Life (2022) and Monk in Pieces (2025). Elliot Joseph is advisor and board member for several private equity portfolio companies including TPG Growth, Chicago Pacific Founders, Triple Tree and Epsilon. Mr. Joseph most recently served as CEO of Hartford HealthCare (HHC) a large, highly integrated regional health care delivery system.
Jonothan Zlotolow (Executive Producer)
Jonathan Zlotolow’s multi-faceted career spans the world of publicity and entertainment. Originally a southern California native, Zlotolow was a graduate of University of Southern California followed by grad school at Loyola Marymount University, and has spent decades based in London and more recently in Spain; working as an independent filmmaker/producer/executive producer across genres including TV series, independent films and documentaries.
Elizabeth Heyman Winter (Executive Producer)
Bio on request
Paul Donnellon (Animation)
BAFTA- and Emmy-nominated whose career spans animation, live action, commercials, and film title design. Paul has directed four TV series across animation and live action, including serving as Series Director on CBBC’s Messy Goes to Okido (52 x 11’). His television directing credits also include Floogals (52 x 11’) for Universal, Daisy & Ollie (23 x 7’) for Nickelodeon, and Monkey Dust for BBC Three.
Joel Simon/JSM Music (Score)
Joel Simon is the CEO/Chief Creative Officer of JSM Music. JSM’s collaborations have been awarded 110 Cannes Lions including several of the coveted Titanium, Grand Prix, Glass & Integrated. A former Crain’s Business 40Under40 honoree Simon’s success also includes his philanthropic work including his generous donation of the entire original score for The Righteous Road Trip, working on the campaign for the Foundation to Combat Anti Semitism in partnership with Robert Kraft and VML and he is a trusted benefactor to many charities.
Michele Loschiavo (Editor)
An award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 25 years of experience in the TV industry creating series, films and special projects for HGTV,Animal Planet, A&E Network, National Geographic & Amazon, as well as independent nonprofit films about homeless youth, juvenile justice, Veterans, postpartum, and mental health.