Mikaela Beardsley grew up in Tehran, Iran during the 1970s. She studied literature at Princeton, and has been working in documentary film and television since 1993. Her producing credits include James Blunt: Return to Kosovo (Atlantic Records), I Am An Animal (HBO), and Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (TCM). The supervising producer on the seven-part series Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues (PBS), Mikaela is currently working with Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn on the television adaptation of their upcoming book on women and girls in the developing world.