Tess Bergeson-Gallun Pro

As a self-employed editor/producer with Root River Films, I have 30 years of experience in documentary filmmaking, television production, promotional ads, and social media campaigns. I also have over 20 years of experience teaching media and production courses at UW-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Area Technical College.

My professional credits include editing documentaries for national PBS outlets, a thirteen-part series for the Discovery Channel, and exhibit videos for museums. Subjects covered include community health, conservation, racism, LGBTQ youth homelessness, and world religions. I've worked as a supervising producer at Milwaukee PBS, lead editor and producer for a documentary production company, and most recently have been contracted to edit social media campaigns designed to support everyday champions working to improve social health and positive change.

Along with a long history of sharing inspirational stories, I am also adept at building and facilitating remote collaborations. For the past five years, I have worked from home to write and edit stories for documentary filmmakers and clients who are based in Milwaukee, WI. In addition, I have been an adjunct online teacher for the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 2007. My Media Ethics course reaches 25-50 students around the world each semester.

My awards include BEST TRUE STORY, NEWSfest Film Festival; AUDIENCE CHOICE, Hollywood International Diversity Film Festival; BEST DOCUMENTARY, Mesa International Film Festival; and HONORABLE MENTION, Hollywood New Directors Film Festival for The Exchange: In White America for C-Bird Prod. (2022) I also received an EMMY 1ST PLACE in Writing & Editing on Tracks Ahead for Milwaukee PBS (2015); TELLY BRONZE (1999) & SILVER WORLDFEST HOUSTON (2000) on A Long Road To Equality for The Duncan Group; EMMY 1ST PLACE in Photography on Worth Fighting For for The Duncan Group (1998); and CINE GOLDEN EAGLE 1ST PLACE, Bali: Island of 1,000 Temples; TELLY BRONZE, Bali: Island of a Thousand Temples; and LENTE DE PLATA, Maya: Messages in Stone on Mystic Lands for The Discovery Channel(1996).