JON NAPPA

Founder

Jon Nappa has worked in television, motion picture, and corporate communications for over 35 years. His award-winning work has been featured on PBS, TLC, Hallmark Television, INSP-TV, and other cable networks. He is a traditionally published novelist of historical fiction, including the book, Storm Warriors, which birthed this organization.

Jon lives a life exemplary of compassion for those in need and who deeply believes in the power of inspired communications to awaken others to action. He often says, “It’s not what we believe that matters most, but what we believe strongly enough to act upon that makes all the difference.”

Board of Directors

BRIAN GODING

Executive Director

With a drive to create, and a curiosity to tell stories about the human spirit, Brian wandered in to the world of filmmaking. Brian is a cinematographer with a passion for light and meaningful composition. He has worked at Maine Media Workshops as the Film Technology Manager and a Teacher’s Assistant. Brian has also worked on various, commercials, PSAs and short documentary projects.

When Brian’s face is not glowing from the light of an LCD monitor or computer screen you’ll find him hanging with his wife Casey, son Oliver, daughter Helen or in the great outdoors drawing inspiration from New England’s beautiful landscapes.

Storm-Warrior-At-Large

JESSICA JONES

Production Supervisor

Jessica studied Film & Photography at Ithaca College and then spent six years in New York City at a commercial post production house. In this time, she soaked up the city life, and worked with several agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, BBDO, Leo Burnett, Digitas, and Wolff Olins, before she even watched the series “Mad Men”. About the time her first niece was born, it was the same time the city was wearing her down, and she took this as a sign to move to Boston, closer to home. Jessica spent a year “researching” the craft beer movement for a college friend’s documentary, all the while underestimating Boston’s tight-knit film scene and with her background in production, it was a disappointment to start back at the bottom of the totem pole.

Lucky for her, a start-up television station was brewing back in the Midcoast, and so was a past high school relationship, so her hometown started looking less daunting than it once was. Jessica perfected her editing, graphic and technological skills for over three years with the independent channel, VStv. Her proudest work was bringing life to the logos of several local businesses, and editing for the series, MaineLife. And her most recent source of pride is her daughter, Corrine.

In 2018, Jessica was hired as Production Manager for Storm Warriors Media Foundation, which has brought a new meaning to her creative work. Jessica is excited to be using her skills and talents for the greater (social) good and feels so lucky to be able to work with the amazing humanitarian organizations through SWMF. She may be helping to bring awareness to the crises plaguing this world, but don’t confuse her with the troubled detective in New York, who’s getting paid by Marvel.

Board of Directors

DANIEL STEPHENS

Board President

Daniel Stephens studied filmmaking in the early 1990’s at Loyola University (New Orleans) and the University of South Florida. Subsequently he decided that the best place to apply his storytelling skills was the booming new Internet security industry that blossomed in the mid 1990’s. Eight years later Daniel realized his mistake: filmmakers should make films, not firewalls. In 2000, Daniel left the company he co-founded to return to filmmaking.

In the intervening years, he has served as the Chief Lighting Technician and Director of Photography and producer for numerous music videos, commercials, and short and feature films. He is particularly inspired by the verisimilitude of the unpredictable and feels these moments are the foundation of exceptional storytelling.
Daniel is deeply passionate about the planet’s resources, both environmental and human. He is particularly engaged in the field of social justice and often works with non-profits specializing in this area to document their work and inform the general public about it through film and multi-media. His work with PopTech has taken him across the globe, from Nairobi to Haiti and from Iceland to the streets of Chicago to document and create stories of social change and social justice.
In 2008, Daniel founded the production company goodfocus, specifically to work with non-profits and sustainability-focused companies. As an early adopter of the B-corp structure, goodfocus’ bottom line is focused on social and environmental impact instead of financial return. This model, along with Daniel’s freelance work, enables goodfocus to produce films that shine a light on organizations that might otherwise lose the opportunity to document their work through film.

Daniel first learned of Storm Warriors through a dear friend, Chris Lehmann, a Storm Warrior producer for many years. The experiences he shared of documenting Storm Warriors stories shook, sometimes shattered and always ultimately uplifted Daniel’s heart. The core values and direction of the organization are aligned so very closely with his own and because of this he finds himself continually excited and encouraged by the stories they tell and the organizations with whom they work. Daniel is excited that he is now part of that storytelling process.

Storm-Warrior-At-Large

REBEKAH NAPPA

Production Support

Rebekah Nappa was born in upstate New York but grew up in several different locations as her family moved back and forth between New York and North Carolina on multiple occasions.

In 2010 her family, total of six people, moved up to Rockport, Maine, with their 2 horses and 2 cats. With both her parents working, Rebekah went to public high school for the first time in her Junior year and immediately started loving her classes that had anything to do with production, film, and/or graphic design. Despite this, upon graduating high school, she applied and was accepted to a university for Secondary Education with a focus on U.S. History.

Realizing teaching was not her career, Rebekah moved to Portland Maine and attended Southern Maine Community College. In 2016 she received a degree in Communications and New Media and was immediately invited to intern at WCNY, a PBS television station in Syracuse, New York. Two months later Rebekah was hired as a Production Assistant. Her responsibilities ranged from working Ross Expression and After Effects to video editing and set preparation. She worked at WCNY for nearly 2 years before another calling reached her ears. Rebekah received an invitation to come back to the coast of Maine and work for Storm Warriors International.

Now Rebekah Nappa works as Production Support at Storm Warriors International (SWI). She is being trained for continuing producing, directing and other creative roles within the organization which is dedicated to storytelling for social good. Happy to be back with family, the ocean, the coastal towns, and the friendly locals, Rebekah is thrilled to be working with no end in sight of vital projects on the horizon. She loves meeting and working with other storytellers and learning from and helping many important organizations dedicated to helping others in need. She looks forward to continuing her journey, mastering her craft, and working hard to tell the stories designed to help rescue, recover and restore those in need.

Storm-Warrior-At-Large

JOHN NAPPA

Production Support

John Nappa aspires to one day direct feature-length films. He enjoys working with cameras and learning anything and everything he can about them. He attended MCC in Rochester, NY for 2 years majoring in Cinema and Screen Studies. He interned at the SW Media Foundation for the summer of 2019 and has been a Storm-Warrior-At-Large since September that same year. He is excited to be connected to the Storm Warriors crew, and the team values his strong work ethic, collaborative attitude and commitment to pursuing his craft with excellence.