Our Team
The creation of the documentary film THE FIGHT TO FIGHT is an act of service led by women who have served.
Joy Bronson
Director/Producer
Joy served as a Naval Aviator from 1986 to 1993. During her time in service women were prevented from flying combat aircraft or serving on combat ships.
On her first at-sea deployment aboard an oiler, Joy served as the only woman in the aircraft carrier battle group. Later she flew helicopters from an ammunition supply ship providing combat support to the fleet during the Persian Gulf War.
THE FIGHT TO FIGHT is not Joy’s first project as a filmmaker, but it is her first feature-length documentary as producer/director. Following military service, Joy was Managing Editor of the Discovery Wings Channel and Discovery Science Channels where she created and developed science and aviation programming.
As President of Doppelganger Productions she produced and directed short format social justice videos and provided archival research to award-winning documentary films.
Ellen Haring, PhD
Co-Producer
Ellen entered West Point in 1980 shortly after it opened to women. During Ellen’s time at West Point, women were not well received and when she graduated her options were limited to non-combat, support occupations.
In a 30-year Army career, Ellen achieved the rank of Colonel and witnessed more options opening up to women. However, women were still restricted from ground combat units despite many examples of women heroically performing in combat situations.
In 2012, Ellen joined a suit against the Secretary of Defense for sex-based discrimination. In 2013, when the policy was removed, Ellen stepped up to offer support to the first women who volunteered to qualify for ground combat units.
In 2016, Ellen led a team that launched a five-year study to follow women as they integrated ground combat units. This study and its video diaries form the heart of this film.
Kris Fuhr
Co-Producer
When Kris arrived at West Point, just shy of the year anniversary of the first women graduates, two senior women pulled her aside to give the only advice and support they could offer: “You are on your own – it’s every woman for herself.”
Kris survived an attempted sexual assault while thriving as a cadet, graduating 10th in the Class of 1985. She served in the Army until 1992 as an Intelligence officer and went on to a successful career in brand and film marketing.
Flash forward to the spring of 2015. The first women allowed to attend the U.S. Army Ranger school were facing an uphill battle. Kris decided to provide them with the kind of support she never got at West Point.
Forging relationships with senior leaders at the highest levels of the Army, Kris led efforts to ensure Ranger School stayed true to Army Values as the first women arrived. She continues to support men and women at Ranger School today.
Richard Hutton
Consulting Producer
Since 2015, Richard Hutton has been an independent film consultant/producer. He is a former Executive Director of UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center and Adjunct Professor in Film and Media Studies.
Hutton also ran Vulcan Productions and directed Vulcan’s media projects where he co-produced Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, the Emmy Award-winning series Rx for Survival, the Peabody and Grammy Award-winning No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, the Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues, and the Peabody Award-winning Black Sky: The Race for Space. Feature films include Where God Left His Shoes, Hard Candy, and Far From Heaven.
Megan MacKenzie
Expert Advisor
Megan MacKenzie is a professor and the Simons Chair in International Law and Human Security at Simon Fraser University, Canada. She is a feminist scholar whose work is broadly focused on the ways that gender matters in understanding war and insecurity. Megan has been studying military culture and gender integration in the military for over a decade, which includes projects on military sexual violence, the integration of women into combat roles, and military suicide. Her books include: Beyond the Band of Brothers: The U.S. Military and the Myth That Women Can't Fight and Good Soldiers Don't Rape: The Stories We Tell about Miltary Sexual Violence.
Dan Thomas
Development Director
Dan Thomas’ pursuit of meaningful work has led him through a career that included senior-level positions with major not-for-profit organizations working in the arts and for the betterment of their communities.
Thomas spent 22 years as the Chief Operating Officer of Twin Cities Public Television in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where he led the creation of Minnesota’s statewide television network and an online service - the Minnesota Video Vault - for streaming viewing of Minneapolis PBS video content. Dan also worked with the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County for eight years as its Chief Development Officer and Capital Campaign Director. In addition, Dan is a published poet of two books and a composer/musician.
Joe Skorupa
Story Editor
Joe Skorupa is an award-winning writer and editor who has always believed that a good writer can apply sharply honed skills to produce sucessful work in multiple media.
Skorupa spent 25 years working in senior positions in New York City for travel magazines, Boating magazine, and Popular Mechanics. During this time, Joe also wrote two technical books and produced a documentary for ESPN. Joe worked in San Francisco during the dot-com boom and then shifted to tech writing and web production. Joe has spent the last 25 years as an Editorial Director for a tech website, where he wrote an award-winning blog, and was a frequent speaker at global technology conferences.