exploring the depths of eco-humanist filmmaking
After 20 years of making movies, we continue to gravitate toward telling stories that revolve around the environment and human rights.
From documentaries that highlight the importance of Indigenous lands, languages and cultures to fiction films that pose questions about the place of humanity in an increasingly technological world, EmpathyWorks Films persists in making thoughtful and universally evocative works.
still photo from:
From the Land Came Dreams, 2026,
17-minutes
cinematography credit: Joey Tangradi
actress: K.O’Rourke
Brian McDermott
Owner, EmpathyWorks Films
I am a filmmaker, professor and former social worker who plays way too much chess.
My MFA thesis film - "Cigarettes and Fresh Air" - a work of fiction about aging and assisted living was nominated by Temple University for a Princess Grace Award and screened at a number of festivals.
I wrote, directed and produced four feature-length documentaries: "Language Healers," "We Are All Related Here," "Marathon for Justice," and "Half-Mile, Upwind, On Foot" - award-winning films on Indigenous rights and environmental issues that are now being used as educational teaching tools in Native American Studies, Environmental Studies, and Anthropology departments at over 350 universities worldwide.
I have also written feature screenplays as well as a number of short fiction scripts that I have directed and produced over the years (and I usually type my first drafts using the vintage typewriter pictured below).
I hold an MFA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University, an MSW in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, completed one year of an MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry from the University of Montana (where I learned to speak a bit of the Arapaho language), and earned a BA in Philosophy from Villanova University.
I currently teach writing, directing and doc filmmaking in the TV/Film department at DeSales University.
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