Tamara Perkins

An award-winning filmmaker and changemaker focused on documentaries that inspire transformative change through dialogue, healing and advocacy. Pulling from her work in restorative justice as a grief support facilitator, speaker and nonprofit director, she founded Apple of Discord Productions in 2006. Connecting media, activism and healing, she developed programs such as the Wisdom Project and San Quentin Media Project, which trained at-risk youth and incarcerated men in filmmaking as a tool for transformation.

Tamara’s film Life After Life (2018) began in her yoga class inside San Quentin State Prison when the men asked her to tell their story and continues to be a catalyst for learning and advocacy nationally. As a crime survivor and justice impacted family member, this film is both especially meaningful and provides an often-overlooked proximity to storytelling. Her upcoming films, Clarissa’s Battle and Rebound, were each similarly inspired by a personal connection to the subject matter. Her recent feature script melds present day social, moral, and ethical questions with a Woman-driven SciFi Thriller. As a national speaker, Tamara’s repertoire spans from filmmaking to prison issues and human rights. Notable partners include ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Stanford Law and the Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law. She is a recipient of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Media for a Just Society Award. Tamara received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.