Maya Brattkus is currently pursuing her BFA at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where she studies acting. Her theatre credits include The Crucible, Chalk Garden, and Animal Farm at Theatricum Botanicum. While at CalArts she has performed in Hedda Gabler, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and in the Center for New Performance’s Fantomas: Revenge of the Image, which had its world premiere at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival in China. Maya has also studied at the British American Drama Academy. Wild Prairie Rose is Maya’s first feature film.
Dr. Koplewicz is one of the nation’s leading child and adolescent psychiatrists and founding president of the Child Mind Institute. He established the NYU Child Study Center in 1997 and was the Director until 2009. Dr. Koplewicz was director of the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research from 2006-2011. An award-winning master clinician and advocate for children and teens with psychiatric disorders, Dr. Koplewicz was named one of WebMD’s 2014 Health Heroes. He has been interviewed on TODAY, Good Morning America, NPR and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and his writing has appeared in The Hill, Time and USA Today. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and author of several books including the textbook Depression in Children and Adolescents; It’s Nobody’s Fault: New Hope and Help for Difficult Children and their Parents, which received the Parent’s Choice Award and was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award; Childhood Revealed: Art Expressing Pain, Discovery & Hope; and his most recent work on adolescent depression, More Than Moody: Recognizing and Treating Adolescent Depression.
Michelle has had the honor of studying under directors John Badham (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER) and Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND) as a Marion Knott Scholar. Born in Japan and raised in Hawaii, Michelle studied directing at the American Film Institute and directed dozens of award-winning short films and documentaries that have circulated film festivals around the world. In addition to writing and directing her own films, Michelle teaches film and involves herself in projects she passionately believes in.
Nikki Thompson moved to Jackson Hole when she was six weeks old, so she’s almost a Wyoming native. After graduating from high school, she attended Western Wyoming Community College to study journalism. A year into her degree, health issues forced her to leave school and return to Jackson. Nikki has been with Vertical Harvest since it opened in 2016. Currently, she is a Senior Associate in Market, Vertical Harvest’s retail store. She aspires to be promoted to Manager and is focused on achieving that goal. Nikki’s interests outside of work include adaptive skiing and biking, computer games and hanging out with friends.
Caroline Croft Estay has dedicated her career to pursuing advocacy and empowerment for people with disabilities. For the past twenty years, she has worked as an independent Medicaid Waiver Provider and Case Manager in Jackson, Wyoming. Caroline is a Co-founder of Vertical Harvest, a 3-story hydroponic farm that provides meaningful and inclusive employment for people with disabilities. For two years, Caroline served as the Director of Human Resources at Vertical Harvest. During that time, she developed the Grow Well Employment Model. Currently, she is the Executive Director of CULTIVATE a non-profit that evolved from the employment model’s success. In her free time, Caroline enjoys spontaneous adventures with her family in the Tetons.
