Taking the Heat: The First Women Fire Fighters of New York City

Anirban Roy was born in India and moved to Los Angeles in 1993. After earning a master’s degree in documentary production from the University of Southern California, Roy began his career as an editor for network television shows. Over the next 11 years he went on to direct the award-winning documentaries Pepino Mango Nance, For Here or To Go? and Six Weeks. Each of Roy’s films, including Taking the Heat, has examined the lives of the marginalized; Pepino chronicles the life of an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles; For Here or To Go? depicts the dilemmas faced by an international student in America; and Six Weeks explores a rehabilitation program for at-risk youth in crime-ridden Compton.

Barbara Multer-Wellin’s work as a documentary writer and producer has aired on HBO, Showtime, PBS, the Discovery Channel, UPN, Lifetime, Fit-TV, TBS, and TLC. She most recently produced Taking the Heat: The First Women Firefighters of New York City, narrated by Susan Sarandon, for the 2006 season of Independent Lens. Multer-Wellin was nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards (in writing and research) for HBO’s Violence: An American Tragedy. She also produced Funny Is Money: Comedy In The 20th Century, directed by Norman Jewison for Showtime; two seasons of The Justice Files, one of the Discovery Channel’s highest-rated series; 16 hours of global wildlife adventure for World Gone Wild: War Games for TBS; Speaking of Women’s Health for Lifetime; and 13 hours of the fitness/nutrition makeover series Ultimate Goals for FitTV.