Catherine-Mercedes Judge
She brings expertise in policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement, organizational change, and communications to help institutions and networks grow, adapt, and operate with clarity and purpose. Alongside her public-sector and nonprofit leadership, she has built a parallel career as a publicist, impact strategist, and event producer supporting filmmakers, artists, musicians, and creative entrepreneurs.
Committed to civic engagement, Catherine has served on San Francisco’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Committee, the Transitional Age Youth Board, the South of Market Community Action Network, and the National Alumni Advisory Council for the Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Fellowship Program. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College and a BA in Urban Studies from Queens College.
Catherine deepened her filmmaking practice through the Production Workshop at Third World Newsreel and is a member of the Asian American Documentary Network, Brown Girl Doc Mafia, and the Global Impact Producers Alliance. She recently received a Heritage Projects grant from 4Culture to support the development of her first documentary project, Resistance Sticks. The film explores the revitalization of underrepresented martial arts traditions as practices of resistance, ancestral memory, and intergenerational healing, revealing deeper stories of cultural survival and identity.
Our Approach
We are an impact-driven film production house led by two Asian American women. We partner with mission-driven non-profits, businesses, and community organizations to create cinematic branded documentaries. Shift Focus Narratives grew out of our shared commitment to nonfiction storytelling, social justice, and movement work.
As immigrants and children of immigrants — and as women with ADHD— we know what it feels like to navigate systems that weren’t built for us. To translate. To adapt. To question where we belong. That experience informs our work and the projects we undertake.
We use film to challenge dominant narratives and produce layered, nuanced work. Our approach is intentional, grounded in collective voice and an ongoing engagement with ethics and decolonial storytelling. We carry that through every stage — from strategy to production to distribution and impact.
