Deaf School:
A Documentary Film
A coming-of-age story about students at California State School for the Deaf.
Our Team
Daniel Ogawa
A producer with a career in public media, including work with PBS. On Deaf School, he is Joshua's producing partner — shaping the story, the outreach to schools and families, and the film's path to audiences.
Producer
Joshua Guerci
A San Francisco documentary filmmaker who grew up signing with his deaf brother. His debut, Baloney (2021) — a portrait of the city's gay all-male burlesque revue — premiered at Frameline and was released by Gravitas Ventures. Deaf School is his second feature.
Director
Cinematographer
John Kiffmeyer
A San Francisco-based cinematographer whose documentary credits include Festival Express, Toxic Hot Seat, The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia, and American Experience. He works as a director of photography across documentary and commercial work.
Our Advisors
Julie Rems-Smario
Co-founded DeafHope, which provides safety and support for Deaf survivors of domestic violence and abuse — she led it as executive director for eight years and later board chair, work recognized by CNN Heroes in 2007. An early-language specialist with an Ed.D., she advocates nationally for language access for deaf infants through the LEAD-K campaign and California's early hearing detection system.
Sam Sepah
A Deaf accessibility leader at Google, where he drives research into sign language recognition and technology for deaf users. A longtime advocate for employment rights for deaf workers, he has keynoted 200+ conferences on leadership and diversity and serves on the boards of the Ohlone College Foundation and NTID's employment advisory committee.