Ambrica produces documentaries of international scope and interest for broadcast and the web.

Ambrica Productions is an independent production company based in New York City. Ambrica creates documentaries of international scope and interest for broadcast, theaters, and digital platforms.

The company is well known for its award winning documentaries about China. Ambrica’s most recent film, released in 2020, is Denise Ho-Becoming the Song. The documentary profiles the openly gay Hong Kong singer and human rights activist Denise Ho. Drawing on unprecedented, years-long access, the film explores her remarkable journey from commercial Cantopop superstar to outspoken political activist, an artist who has put her life and career on the line to support the struggle of Hong Kong citizens to maintain their identity and freedom.

Death By Design (2016) was filmed partly in China and investigates the secretive world of the electronics industry and reveals the unforeseen consequences of our addiction to our digital devices. The film is still playing on television and in festivals around the world and is also in educational distribution.

Earlier films include: the 3-part CHINA – A Century of Revolution; China in the Red; Young & Restless in China. Ambrica has also produced critically acclaimed biographies of iconic American women – Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Pickford – for the PBS series American Experience.

In 2011 Ambrica launched The Story Exchange, a nonprofit digital media project dedicated to telling the personal and professional stories of entrepreneurial women— and to advancing women’s economic independence. To date, 90 short films have been produced in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore and reached viewers in over 100 countries.

Team

Sue Williams

Producer/Director

Sue Williams started Ambrica Productions in 1986. Under her leadership, Ambrica has produced awarding-winning films on a range of subjects, including feature-length documentaries about China which aired as stand alone specials on PBS, as well as 2 films for the PBS series Frontline. She has also directed biographies of two American icons, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Pickford, for American Experience. In 2011, she co-founded The Story Exchange to inspire women to achieve economic independence through entrepreneurship.

Her films have aired on television in dozens of countries and played in festivals around the world. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including Cine Golden Eagles, Edgar Dale Screenwriting Awards, Hugo TV awards, Chris Awards.  In 2016 she was awarded the Boston Globe Filmmaker Fund Award for Death By Design.

Victoria Wang

Co-Founder, The Story Exchange

Victoria Wang is a former banker and marketing consultant with more than three decades of experience in the financial world. As she rose through the ranks of corporate America, she saw very few role models or even other women to talk to at senior levels. By the time she left she wanted to find ways to mentor women and to encourage them down the path to economic independence. Not one to sit home and retire, Victoria travels the world looking for stories and is learning to play jazz piano in her free time.

Colleen DeBaise

Executive Editor, The Story Exchange

Colleen DeBaise is the former small business editor of The Wall Street Journal and the author of two books on entrepreneurship. During her tenure at The Story Exchange, the organization has won 2020 and 2019 Front Page awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York, a 2019 “Best in Business” award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, and a 2016 nomination for a Gerald Loeb Award, one of the most prestigious honors in business journalism. 

Nusha Balyan

Co-Producer and The Story Exchange Podcast Editor

Nusha Balyan is co-producer of Denise Ho: Becoming the Song, associate producer of Death by Design and The Story Exchange podcast editor. She joined Ambrica Productions in 2011 when she helped launch The Story Exchange, working on featured video profiles, creating short web videos and managing The Story Exchange website. Nusha has worked on long narrative pieces for PBS and BBC World News America, produced radio stories for NPR’s Latino USA, managed various websites and written for the Huffington Post.