Public bio
Claire Marie Panke is currently completing her second feature documentary, Light Years, that profiles three older adults sculpting their lives with creativity, service, and a knack for reinvention. With Light Years, Claire plans to use the power of media to inspire a broad audience to reimagine later life.
Her first film A Chance to Grow was broadcast on The Discovery Channel, National Geographic & multiple international venues, was shown at film festivals and won several awards. She has also made three short documentaries: Christina, Liberty Street, and Glacé, and serves on several documentary judging panels, including the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
Claire is also a newborn intensive care nurse, does freelance work as a writer/editor, photographer, nurse/consultant for film, television & print ads, and has served for over 16 years as the spokesperson for a national campaign to protect health care funding.