Meet the Production Team: “The Sing Sing Chronicles”

Dan Slepian

Executive Producer Dan Slepian is an award-winning journalist at NBC News and a veteran producer of its esteemed newsmagazine, Dateline. For more than two decades at NBC, Slepian has spearheaded dozens of documentaries, hidden camera investigations, and breaking news reports. Referred to as “A TV News Gumshoe” by The New York Times, Slepian’s investigations have helped solve cold cases, assisted in exonerating the wrongly convicted, and sparked changes in laws.Slepian was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his eight-episode podcast, “Letters From Sing Sing,” which documents his 20-year journey investigating the wrongful conviction of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. The podcast hit #1 on Apple’s top charts the day of its release. In May 2022, The New York Times published its second feature about Slepian, detailing his 20 years of reporting that helped exonerate six innocent men. His debut book, “The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year fight for Justice” will be released in September 2024. Slepian also conceived, developed and produced “Justice For All,” an NBC News/ MSNBC week-long event that included the Emmy nominated first town hall from a maximum security prison as well as Dateline’s Emmy nominated “Life Inside,” an impactful and emotional hour about mass incarceration in which Slepian and anchor Lester Holt spent two nights inside Louisiana’s Notorious Angola prison. In February 2021, NBC premiered Dateline’s first docuseries, “The Widower,” an epic five-hour network primetime series detailing Slepian’s 13-year investigation into an eccentric murder suspect who’d been married six times, and four of his wives are dead. In May 2019, Dateline debuted its first-ever podcast with Slepian at its helm. The eight-episode series “13 Alibis” chronicles Slepian’s investigation into a confounding murder case and helped exonerate an innocent man. In 2018, Slepian was granted exclusive access to the film rapper Meek Mill on the day of his highly publicized release from prison. Dateline’s special, “Dreams and Nightmares” featured Lester Holt’s exclusive interview with Meek just hours after his release. Most notably, Slepian is known for his in-depth reporting about the criminal legal system and specifically, wrongful convictions. His documentaries on the topic have earned him a total of 14 Emmy nominations. As a volunteer, Slepian works with incarcerated men at Sing Sing prison where he helped create “Voices from Within,” a video featuring deeply personal testimonials intended to help reduce gun violence. Slepian introduced the project during a TEDx talk at Sing Sing.

Dawn Porter

Director Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on ESPN, Netflix, HBO, PBS, and Discovery. Her latest film, Luther: Never Too Much, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it earned accolades from critics and audiences alike. In 2023, Dawn directed The Lady Bird Diaries, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. The groundbreaking, all-archival documentary about Lady Bird Johnson reveals a complex portrait of one of the most influential and least understood First Ladies. Later in the year, her docuseries Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court premiered on Showtime and Paramount+, and would later be named among the 17th Television Academy Honors. Porter’s four-part ESPN documentary series 37 Words premiered in June 2022 and examines landmark civil rights legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, and gave women the equal opportunity to play sports. In 2021, Dawn directed and executive produced The Me You Can’t See, an Apple TV multi-part documentary series with Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry that focuses on mental illness and mental well-being. Other recent projects include the documentary Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain which explores Vernon Jordan’s rise from the segregated South to become one of the most influential African American thought leaders in America; John Lewis: Good Trouble for CNN Films, which explores late Congressman John Lewis’ pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement and decades of political and social activism on important issues including voting rights, immigration laws, and much more; and The Way I See It, about photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as Chief Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and previously as an Official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan. Dawn also directed and produced the acclaimed four-hour Netflix original series Bobby Kennedy for President, which was released in 2018 and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. A two-time Sundance festival Director, her film Trapped which explored laws regulating abortion clinics in the South won the special jury social-impact prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in addition to a Peabody and numerous other awards. Her 2013 documentary Gideon’s Army premiered on HBO and won best editing at Sundance. Gideon’s Army was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy, and is part of the US Department of State’s American Film Showcase. Dawn also directed and produced Spies of Mississippi, a critically-acclaimed historical documentary that was part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. In 2015 Dawn directed and produced Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper, a film for The Discovery Channel chronicling President Obama’s program to help young men of color succeed. Dawn has been commissioned to create films for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Time and Essence Magazines, The New York Times Op Docs, and Amazon. Her work has received generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures and other esteemed organizations. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of America.

Kimberley Ferdinando

Executive Producer Kimberley Ferdinando is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker who specializes in documentary and nonfiction storytelling. She began developing The Sing Sing Chronicles with journalist Dan Slepian in 2016 and is the showrunner and executive producer of the limited series. Directed by Dawn Porter, the four-part exposé examines the criminal legal system and mass incarceration through the personal lens of a journalist and a man guilty of murder. Their unlikely connection, forged in the cell blocks of Sing Sing Correctional Facility, ignites a search for justice in four unrelated homicide cases. In 2023, Kimberley developed and produced the PGA Award nominated theatrical documentary The Disappearance of Shere Hite (dir. Nicole Newnham), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by IFC Films. The critically acclaimed film, now streaming on Hulu, explores the life and work of famed sex-researcher Shere Hite and illuminates the forces that led to the best-selling author’s erasure. Later in the year, Kimberley’s feature documentary Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story premiered at the DC/DOX film festival prior to its debut on MSNBC and Peacock. The film chronicles how politicians and activists on the religious right harnessed Schiavo’s story to advance the agenda of the “pro-life” movement, laying the groundwork for a post-Roe America. Kimberley is Executive Producer at NBC News Studios where she oversees documentary films and series as a creative producer throughout all stages of production. Previously, she directed and produced documentaries, specials, nonfiction series and live events with NBC’s Peacock Productions.