Timothy Gorski - Director/Producer

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Tim Gorski founded Rattle the Cage in 2003 during his first award winning production Lolita: Slave to Entertainment which went on to win 11 Best Documentary awards in 43 festivals. Gorski’s passions for exploration, social issues, wildlife, and environmental issues have landed him in some precarious positions around the globe. He’s lived with Yanomami tribes in the Amazon, trekked through the Sahara, and was held up at knifepoint in Peru. He’s trekked the foothills of the Himalayas in search of the elusive Red Panda. Gorski has gone undercover in illegal wildlife markets in SE Asia, met with political dissidents on house arrest in Burma and lived with rebel forces in Northern Shan State where he interviewed refugees and rebel leaders. He documented illegal logging and elephant trafficking along SE Asian borders.

In 2004 Gorski found himself face to face with the world’s largest natural disaster of modern times, the Asian Tsunami, barely escaping with his life. He and fellow survivors conducted rescue efforts while stranded on a remote island in Thailand and in 2005 was invited by the Thai government to return and document the recovery efforts. Directly after, Gorski endured a month in the trenches of New Orleans risking his life rescuing abandoned animals from the rising waters. Gorski recently achieved the Haskel Wexler Best Cinematography award for daring to film the Antarctic whale wars in the southern ocean. He received an MFA in film from Miami Univ. of Art and Design. He has a BA in Visual Communications and an AA in Liberal Arts.

Valerie Silidker - Vice President

Val Silidker is co-founder and Vice President of Rattle the Cage Productions. She is also founder of The Voice of the Earth, an organization that offers workshops and humane education programs which focus on the interconnectedness of life and inspire action and active participation in the shift to a life-sustaining society. For the past decade, Val has been active in environmental issues and animal awareness: volunteering, organizing campaigns and speaking as a guest lecturer on environmental ethics at national conferences, for environmental groups and various universities. She has organized dozens of demonstrations to raise awareness about environmental and animal issues as well as several benefits, including: Speak Up! A Benefit to Support Free Speech.

Along with her involvement as an activist, Val has worked in Big Cypress National Preserve as an environmental educator, studied humane education with the International Institute for Humane Education, and is currently in graduate school on a Teaching Assistantship at Florida International University, teaching and working on her degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on deep ecology, education and ethics.

Teresa Sewalelot - Chief operating officer

Teresa is the Chief Operating Officer of Rattle the Cage Productions, Not only does Teresa bring with her a strong background in cause related marketing and international business, she has nearly a decade of experience in eastern medicine, midwifery and humanitarian aid. Teresa merges her love of healing and animals into the world of business.

She's been an ad-hoc volunteer for the Thai Red Cross and the Thai Army since 1998, working diligently to support communities across the globe.

Teresa’s company, Wellness for the World manifests funds for international foundations like The Maasai Association, humanitarian operations like The Dandelion Project, and now Rattle the Cage. Teresa is currently designing an eco-healing center in Northern Thailand. This center will provide shelter, organic gardening and a healing arts birth center for their community.

She believes that she is a verb, not a noun, and in a constant mode of learning and doing to make a difference in the world and communities around her.