Founded by Aaron Sanders and Linda Balaban, Dissection Media develops and produces content that normalizes social issues such as mental illness and trauma.
Aaron Sanders is the writer/director of Garage (2021), a short film based on his experiences as a male survivor of childhood sexual abuse. He is also the award-winning author of Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery (Penguin-Random House, 2016). In the novel, Sanders explores how Walt Whitman’s years as an investigative reporter in 19th century New York City shaped his masterwork, Leaves of Grass. Aaron’s short stories and essays have been published in such places as Lithub, Carolina Quarterly, Writer’s Digest, Library of America, among others. Before moving to Los Angeles to pursue writing full-time, Sanders was a tenured professor at Columbus State University. He earned a PhD in American Literature from University of Connecticut and an MFA in fiction writing from University of Utah. Aaron is currently in development on the feature version of Garage.
Linda Balaban is second generation of the renowned Balaban and Katz theater moguls. Raised in a family that valued a career path in the arts, she was fortunate to study classical music at North Carolina School of the Arts and theatre, speech and communications at Boston’s Emerson College. As a working actor in Chicago, she eventually moved to Los Angeles to continue her career and found herself behind the camera, producing on the hit HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. She has also worked in film distribution (Awake and Home of the Brave with Counterpoint Films). Linda is a Regional Vice President with Arbonne International and is elated to be back on a creative path with Garage. As a result of her experience with her fiance’s PTSD, she has become certified as a HeartMath Coach and Mentor.