Sascha Paladino is a filmmaker and writer. “Throw Down Your Heart” is his first
feature. Sascha’s documentary short, “Obstinato: Making Music for Two” (2004), about
the musicians Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer, premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln
Center, won the Best Documentary Short Award at the Woodstock Film Festival, the
Audience Award at the Newport Film Festival, played at the Full Frame Film Festival
and Nashville Film Festival, and was released on DVD by Sony Classical.

Sascha’s other documentary shorts include “Party For the People” (2005), about a
communist rockabilly band in Northern Italy, (Woodstock Film Festival, Newport Film
Festival), and “The Subway Line” (2002), about a guerilla subway artist in New York
City (Mill Valley Film Festival, Florida Film Festival).

Sascha is also an Emmy-nominated writer and producer for children’s television. He is
head writer and producer of “Ni Hao, Kai-lan” on Nick Jr, and has written and head
written for programs including “Wonder Pets,” “Blue’s Clues,” “ToddWorld,” and many
others. He has worked for companies including Nickelodeon, The Discovery Channel,
Disney, Noggin, the BBC, and Granada UK. Sascha is also involved in many facets of
arts education, and has taught and developed workshops for arts organizations, public
schools and prisons.

Sascha is one of seven international filmmakers invited to participate in the American
Film Institute’s Project 20/20, a program designed to promote cultural exchange,
understanding and collaboration through film, funded by the NEA, the NEH, and the
President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Through Project 20/20, “Throw
Down Your Heart” will screen internationally throughout 2009.

Sascha Paladino, Director/Producer