Meet the Team
Yuri Makino, Director & Producer
Yuri started making ROUGH & TUMBLE after getting a playful Bichon Frise puppy who opened her heart and mind to the intelligence and sentience of animals.
Yuri is an award-winning filmmaker and film professor at the University of Arizona. Her films have been invited to screen at film festivals, museums, on public television, in prison, for a foreign embassy, and as in-flight entertainment.
Yuri is the recipient of a Udall Fellowship and the Phoenix Museum Contemporary Forum Emerging Artist Award. She has been awarded grants for filmmaking from the Arizona Institute for Resilience; the University of Arizona Research, Innovation and Impact (RII); the Confluence Center; Hanson FilmTV; the Amazon Foundation; the Roy W. Dean Grant; the Tucson Pima Arts Council; the University of Arizona Faculty Seed Grant; the College of Fine Arts Small Grants, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
Jeff Smith, Cinematographer
Jeff has been photographing people and landscapes in the Sonoran desert for the last 30 years. From tabletop commercial photography to music videos, and from intimate portraits to documenting archeological specimens, Jeff approaches his varied subjects with insightful vision and a playful spirit. Jeff is widely known for his large-scale dramatic lightning photography and he’s at his happiest chasing lightning during the monsoon season.
Katherine Skjerping, Editor, A.C.E.
Katy is a seasoned storyteller with over 20 years of experience in post production. As an editor, she is known for her skills in shaping story, sharpening humor and suspense, building rhythm and tension, and developing tone.
With a background in independent films and documentaries, her cinéma vérité leanings help to craft natural and captivating performances.
Katy’s notable editorial work includes, among others, THE GOOD FIGHT, THE GOOD WIFE, HOUSE OF CARDS and GREY’S ANATOMY.
A curious experimenter with a depression-era work ethic, Katy lives with her family and dog in Tucson, Arizona.
