Fifty-nine women fight their way through bootcamp, shattering societal expectations as they transform from teenage civilians into the first female Marines trained on the west coast.

Alums Lisa Hornak (’19), Rafael Roy (’18) and Mallory Newman (’19) along with Kelin Verrette and Anna Kayes team up to tell the story in this feature length documentary currently in post-production.

Join us for a reception, screening and Q&A with the filmmakers. RSVP HERE.

Lisa Hornak
Director // Producer // Cinematographer

Lisa (she/her) is a visual journalist and filmmaker based in San Diego, CA, who has worked for newspapers, magazines and wire services since 2004. Her work focuses on women’s issues, human rights and the impacts of climate change. Lisa’s award-winning photojournalism has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Time, and Vanity Fair among other publications. Her first short documentary film, Losing Ground, was featured in The Atlantic. Her second film, The Loving of Caridad, examines cycles of abuse and generational trauma through the eyes of a 22-year-old woman on the verge of exiting the social service system. In between projects, Lisa teaches photojournalism and filmmaking to high school students through National Geographic. She is starting a nonprofit organization – Film Farm Collective – to mentor young women in film and photography, empowering the next generation of visual storytellers. She holds a BA in English Literature from Boston University and a Masters of Journalism in Documentary Filmmaking from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kelin Verrette
Producer // Editor // Cinematographer

Kelin (she/her) began making documentary films after a career in archaeology and museum work. Born and raised in South Louisiana, she entered the craft through editing the short documentary Cipher and the 2020 narrative short film The Women. Her most recent credits include Story Producer on Family Tree, a feature length documentary film directed by Peabody Award winning filmmaker, Jennifer MacArthur, and as Co-Producer on I am Ready, Warden, a short film for MTVDocs directed by Academy-Award nominated director, Smriti Mundhra. She was the Field Producer for the upcoming NatGeo doc- series, Legends (directed by Smriti Mundhra and produced by Joe Lewis).

Rafael Roy
Producer // Cinematographer

Rafael (he/him), a native New Yorker and former editorial photographer, earned a degree in documentary filmmaking at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He is the Director of Photography for the upcoming Nat Geo doc-series Legends, the MTV Docs short film, I am Ready, Warden (Executive Produced by Sheila Nevins), and the feature length documentary Family Tree (World Premiere, Full Frame Film Festival 2024). He contributed camerawork on several critically-acclaimed films, including Ferguson Rises (Audience Award Winner, Tribeca 2021), and Anthem by Emmy Award winning director, Peter Nicks (Tribeca Film Festival 2023). He was a Co-Producer and Cinematographer on the feature length documentary, Lady Buds, which premiered at Hot Docs 2021.

Anna Kayes
Co-Producer // Impact Producer // Sound Recordist

Anna Kayes (she/her) is a storyteller, coach, and educator passionate about elevating women’s perspectives through film. With a background in anthropology and experiential education, Anna joins the team with a decade of experience in program design, production, facilitation, and leadership in international cultural exchange. When not working in film production, she is an Expedition Leader for Lindblad-National Geographic Expeditions, leading voyages in Cambodia, Vietnam, Baja California-Sur, Alaska and British Columbia.

Mallory Newman
Consulting Producer

Mallory Newman (she/her) is an independent journalist and filmmaker. She was an associate producer on the feature documentary The Grab, from the Center for Investigative Reporting. From 2007 to 2014, Newman was an enlisted Marine Corps police officer and civil affairs officer. She deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to Musa Qalah, Afghanistan in 2011. In country, she helped manage 30 small scale projects with budgets totaling nearly $350,000, including the construction of a women’s and girls school. Her experience as a service woman informs her perspective on the Marine Corps’ integration efforts and the challenges it presents on a structural and personal level. She is an alum of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Mallory Newman, ​Kelin Verrette, Rafael Roy, Lisa Hornak and Anna Kayes on location at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.