Film Talk | Interviews with the brightest minds in the film industry.

Gurinder Chadha is a director, producer and writer best known for her films “Bride and Prejudice”, “The Mistress of Spices”, “Paris, je t’aime”, and Golden Globe nominated “Bend it Like Beckham”. Her latest film “Viceroy’s House” stars Golden Globe winner Gillian Anderson, and Golden Globe nominated Hugh Bonneville.

Nick Hamm is a BAFTA award-winning British director and producer who has spent many years as a resident director with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His past films include “The Hole” starring Oscar nominated Keira Knightly, and “Killing Bono” starring Ben Barnes.

Emmy nominated Dulé Hill is internationally recognized for his performance in Golden Globe winner “The West Wing”, Emmy nominated “Psych”, and teen movie “She’s All That”, amongst others.

Glen Zipper is the producer of Oscar winning documentary “Undefeated”, as well as “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth”, and Tower Records documentary “All Things Must Pass” directed by Colin Hanks. His new film is “Betting on Zero”, a powerful docu-thriller about controversial hedge fund titan Bill Ackman, who is on a crusade, claiming that global nutritional giant Herbalife is the largest pyramid scheme in history.

Garth Davis is the director of 6 time Oscar nominated movie “Lion”. Originally a fine artist and designer, Garth is an internationally renowned commercials director. He won gold at the London International Award show, the prized Gold Lion at Cannes, and in 2010 received a finalist nomination from the DGA for best commercials director.

Kevin Sorbo is internationally renowned for his performance in television series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”, “Andromeda”, “The O.C.” and “Two and a Half Men”, and his role in films such as “Soul Surfer”, “Abel’s Field”, and the massive box office hit “God’s Not Dead”. In addition, Kevin recently directed his debut feature film “Let There Be Light”.

Jeffrey Hardy is the CEO of Film Profit, an analytics company that aims to provide producers, distributors, and financers of filmed entertainment with the highest quality information. Past clients of Film Profit include 20th Century Fox, Jim Henson Productions, the BBC, ICM, Universal Music Group, Walt Disney, Quincy Jones Media Group, Eastman Kodak and Summit Entertainment. Jeffrey also acts as the Chief Analyst for Baseline Analytics - the industry leading source for film revenue data and cost estimates

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is the CEO of Platinum Studios, one of the world’s largest independent libraries of comic book characters. Scott has played an integral role in creating one of the largest bibles in comic book history: the Platinum Studios Macroverse, which includes anchor titles such as “Cowboys & Aliens”. A constant innovator, Scott established Platinum in 1997, following a successful career as the founder of Malibu Comics, which sold to Marvel in 1994. At Malibu, Scott led many successful comic spin offs into toys, television, and feature films, including the billion-dollar film and television mega-hit, “Men in Black”

Niall McKay is an Emmy award-winning independent producer and director, a shorts programmer for the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Executive Director and Curator of Irish Film New York. Niall has just finished producing a historical documentary about the Filipino farmworkers for PBS. He is producing Oscar nominated writer-director Naomi Sheridan’s Bronx-based indie thriller “Boxes” and has written and directed a comedy TV series about the Irish in New York called “On The Lig”. Niall’s documentary “The Bass Player” was nominated in 2010 for an Irish Film and Television Award. And recently, Niall hosted Irish President Michael D. Higgins for a special screening and discussion about Irish Oscar winning short films at the Lincoln Center. Niall has been on the juries of the Cork Film Festival, the Galway Film Festival, and the student Academy Awards. Niall has also produced documentaries for PBS and RTÉ, commercials for Lego, educational soap operas for Canal Cl@se, and augmented reality games featuring Bill Nye for Chabot Space and Science Museum. As a journalist Niall broke the story about the NSA spying on Europe in the New York Times in 1999. And he has been a regular contributor to The Economist, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Wired Magazine and a columnist for the Irish Times.

Dan Satorius is a world-class entertainment lawyer, with a practice that focuses principally on transactions, intellectual property, business structuring and financing. Furthermore, he is a nationally regarded attorney on clearance issues including Fair Use. His clients include Academy Award, Emmy Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Peabody Award winning independent producers, writers, and broadcasters in the film and television industry. After graduating from film school and law school, Dan produced award-winning documentaries and short dramatic films. His graduate thesis film was selected as a finalist for a student Academy Award. In addition to practicing entertainment law for more than 25 years, Dan has been an adjunct professor at William Mitchell School of Law where he taught Entertainment Law. Dan is an active member of the American Bar Association's Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, Co-Vice Chair of the Film and Television Division, and a member of the Governing Committee.

Kent Speakman is a producer and entrepreneur at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Examiner.com has called him “one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry.” He has won the iMedia Entertainment Marketing Award for “Best Digital Campaign” and “Best Mobile Entertainment Startup,” and he was awarded Evan Carmichael’s “Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow” in 2013 preceded by the “iMedia Top Ten Digital Marketers” in 2009. Kent founded KONNECT – a digital, mobile and experiential agency that works with startups, brands and entertainment properties – before he co-founded FAMEUS, a new social network that connects members of the entertainment industry in innovative ways with a unique technology and that was listed on the Huffington Post’s “Top 10 Startups in LA” in 2015. Kent has an international network of professionals and influencers, having orchestrated a variety of film and technology projects in Canada, the US, the United Kingdom, Asia and India. He has produced hundreds of events across Canada and the US, whilst working with clientele ranging from A-List celebrities, to tech mobile startups.

Scilla Andreen is an Emmy nominated filmmaker, and the CEO and co-founder of IndieFlix, an online platform touted as the Netflix of independent film.     Scilla has spoken at the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and SXSW. She has also been the award-winning costume designer of Golden Globe winning television shows “Party of Five”, and “The Wonder Years”, as well as  “Dawson’s Creek”, “What I Like About You”, and “Jack & Jill”.

Lynnwood Bibbens is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and sold multiple technology and e-commerce companies including American Discount Warehouse, a company he founded in 1996 and sold just 3 years later for over 10 times EBITDA. Lynnwood has formed long-term relationships with corporations such as Samsung, Toshiba, Vizio, Amazon, CBS, and Comcast to name a few. From 2007, Lynnwood has focused on the media and entertainment industry by integrating multiple dynamic content platforms which use proprietary technology that enable top brands to better understand their clients. He has teamed up with syndication partners Dailymotion, Google, Roku, Opera, XBox, Dish, Comcast, Verizon, and Amazon. Lynnwood also sits on the board of several companies: Adelman Enterprises, New England Technology, Moblty, GI Film Festival, and The Invictus Firm. Lynnwood is a co-founder at The Invictus Firm, a private equity and strategic consulting organization. Based on his extensive background in technology, entertainment content, distribution and syndication Lynnwood’s investment focus is on existing and new technology companies that are dynamic and disruptive. His focus is specifically on companies that can capture and monetize content across multiple platforms whilst being able to capture critical data in real time.

Rich Hull is Executive Chairman of Latin Everywhere, a Latino digital media company which owns the Pongalo OTT platform, the largest Latino film and TV network on YouTube, and one of the largest IP assets of Latino film and TV digital rights in the world. Rich has worked on media deals and turnarounds totaling well over a billion dollars with major media companies such as Disney, Universal, MGM, Warner Bros, Microsoft, and many others. Based on these experiences, he co-authored the multi-award-winning book “Dancing With Digital Natives: Staying in Step With the Generation That's Transforming the Way Business Is Done." Rich’s ability to create simple solutions for complicated problems was developed in his former role as an award-winning film and TV financier and producer. His 20+ projects have generated hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, and range from one of the most successful teen movies in history, “She’s All That,” to thought-provoking documentaries such as his collaboration with Halle Berry, “For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots,” winner of the NAACP Image Award. Rich serves on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Board of Directors at Vanderbilt University, and is Co-Founder of Vanderbilt-in-Hollywood, which places about 30 college students each summer into life-changing entertainment internships in Los Angeles. Rich is a well known angel investor, board member, and mentor.

Rob Morgenroth is an Emmy winning visual effects producer and supervisor, as well as a studio management, business development, and marketing executive. He’s a frequent speaker and panelist on the subject of virtual and augmented reality, and VFX. Past projects that he’s worked on include Oscar nominated “Catch Me If You Can”, Oscar nominated “Wag The Dog”, and “Grosse Point Blank”.

Greg Reitman is the founder and CEO of Blue Water Entertainment, an independent production company focusing on environmentally consciousness-based entertainment. Greg produced the 2008 Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary “Fuel”. He wrote, produced, and directed the documentary “Hollywood’s Magical Island – Catalina” and his new documentary film “Rooted in Peace.” Greg was written up in Movie Maker Magazine as one of the top ten film producers creating content that makes a difference in the world.

Ramon Govea is a crowdfunding expert whose strategies and tactics have helped filmmakers, comic book artists, and inventors successfully raise over $1 million on rewards-based crowdfunding platforms. His past roles include positions at Crowdfundmastery.com and Krowdster. Ramon is also an experienced Line Producer and Director who has created branded web content for companies like Lion Forge Comics, Jansport, Doritos, and Warner Bros. Ramon primarily works with entertainment companies wishing to make a global impact by expanding innovative brands and IP's into branded web content, comic books, animation, film, and television.

Melanie Aitkenhead is the director of the upcoming reboot of "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?", Oscar nominated James Franco's retelling of the 1996 classic film of the same name. The film stars Tori Spelling, with a cameo by Franco and premiered on Lifetime. She’s also the director of the film adaption of James Franco's popular novel Actors Anonymous, which explores the lives of young actors in Hollywood and stars Franco alongside Oscar nominated Eric Roberts, Keegan Allen, and Scott Haze.

Doug Hodges is an expert in film production insurance with a long tenure at Truman Van Dyke. Today Doug is Vice President at Front Row Insurance, an entertainment insurance firm specializing in the film industry, the music industry, theatre companies, and photography with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and Nashville.  Past productions that Doug has brokered insurance for include “The Boy Next Door” starring Golden Globe nominated Jennifer Lopez, and “Insidious: Chapter 2” starring Golden Globe nominated Rose Byrne.

Rusty Citron has had a lengthy and multi-faceted career in the film industry. As a senior studio executive he was responsible for innovative feature film and television distribution and marketing communications campaigns covering over 300 productions, including Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe winners. He has worked for and with talented teams at 20th Century Fox, LucasFilm, Marvel, Walt Disney, MGM, Sony Pictures, and Universal Studios, amongst others. He led the team that revitalized Marvel Comics and the franchise of classic characters developed by Stan Lee. And as a personal manager he represented amongst others Oscar winner Mel Brooks and Oscar winner Anne Bancroft. 
His work integrating technology with entertainment marketing communications includes deployment of one of the first HD-VOD channels on Comcast. He also led the team that integrated online content with Google, and a national retail and content partnership with Panasonic. Rusty also created and founded The Actors Hall of Fame, a non-profit foundation that is dedicated to restoring dramatic arts education in schools.

Hanala Sagal is an award-winning writer, comedian, keynote speaker and YouTube icon with 106 million viewers. Hanala is also the co-screenwriter and co-executive producer of “Elvis & Nixon”, which stars Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, Oscar nominated Michael Shannon, and Golden Globe nominated Colin Hanks.

Ben Yennie is Co-Founder and VP of Business Development at ProductionNext, a market network for the film, video, television, and advertising industries. He's also the founder and CEO of Guerrilla Rep Media, and founder of Producer Foundry. Ben is also the former Chapter Leader of the Institute for International Film Finance for San Francisco, Vancouver, New York, and Los Angeles, where he hosted and organized more than 50 seminars on film finance. He also screened business plans for an elite group of angel investors known as The Film Angels. Ben has represented projects directed by Christopher Coppola, as well as others starring big name talent like Marvel's “Luke Cage”. In 2015 he had a 100% offer rate for the films he took to AFM. He's also the author of the book, The Guerrilla Rep: American Film Market Distribution Success on No Budget.

Kymberli Frueh is the Vice President of Programming at Fathom Events, a content provider that broadcasts entertainment events in movie theaters throughout the US. The Fathom Network provides access to over 1,700 theatres nationwide and 17,000 promotional screens. In 2015, Fathom was named "Best Distributor in the Americas" and received eight box office awards by the Event Cinema Association.

Atit Shah is a film producer with five films releasing within the next 12 months, including “Jekyll Island” starring Oscar nominated Minnie Driver, Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo, AnnaSophia Robb and Ed Westwick, and “Money” starring Kellan Lutz. He is the CEO of Create Entertainment, and is represented by UTA.

Gene Massey is the CEO of MediaShares, a crowdfinanced online stock offering company. And MediaShares owns CinemaShares, a crowdfunding film investment platform. Gene has directed numerous award-winning commercials and short films, working with celebrities such as Grammy nominated Alice Cooper, Golden Globe nominated Jane Krakowski, and Grammy winner Smokey Robinson, amongst others. He has won awards from Clio, the Telly Awards, the New York Festival, the Art Director's Club of Los Angeles, and the Homburg Award. Gene's work as a screenwriter has won awards from WorldFest International Film Festival, the Arizona Film Society, and the Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. Gene has also filmed humanitarian documentaries in over twenty countries and frequently speaks on Wall Street and at conferences around the country on film finance.

Steven De Souza is one of few screenwriters whose films have earned over $2 billion at the box office. His work includes Oscar nominated “Die Hard”, “Die Hard 2”, “Commando”, “The Running Man”, and “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”. He has been nominated twice for the Edgar Allen Poe award for best mystery screenplay and twice for the Saturn award for best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film. In 2000 he was honored with the Norman Lear Award for Lifetime Achievement in writing.

Geoff Scott is an Emmy Award nominated and Canadian Screen Award nominated visual effects artist with 20 years of experience in film, television, commercial, and video game work. He is currently the Senior VFX Supervisor at Intelligent Creatures, a top visual effects production house. Geoff has worked on major studio film and television projects, including the Oscar winning “Chicago”, as well as Golden Globe nominated “Orphan Black”, Oscar nominated “Snow White and the Huntsman”, Oscar winning “Hugo”, “Panic Room”, “The Amazing Spiderman”, and many more. Scott is also sought-after for his work in character animation, modeling, texturing, and compositing.

Brad Wyman is the producer of over 40 films including Oscar winning “Monster” starring Charlize Theron, “Freeway” starring Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and Golden Globe winner Kiefer Sutherland, and “Blitz” starring Jason Statham. He’s also an expert in crowd funding - as the lead on the film division of IndieGogo he tripled monthly contributions to $3 million a month in less than a year, and has acted as Chief Crowdfunding Officer for Fund Anything, during which time he oversaw several million dollar crowdfunding campaigns. He now acts as Chief Content Officer for fan driven crowdfunding platform Fanbacked.com.

Entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel is a contributor for the Hollywood Reporter and the author of several books, including “The New Zealand Hobbit Crisis”, which tells the story of an attempt to unionize actors on “The Hobbit”; “Hollywood on Strike!”, which chronicles and analyzes the Hollywood writers strike of 2007-2008; “Entertainment Residuals: A Full Color Guide”, which describes union reuse/royalty payments in the entertainment industry; and “Entertainment Unions and Guilds: An Interdisciplinary Bibliography”. Jonathan is an adjunct professor at USC Law School and Southwestern Law School. He’s also been an adjunct professor at UCLA Law School, associate counsel at the Writers Guild, and a talent lawyer. His writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Los Angeles Business Journal, Daily Journal, Huffington Post, Billboard, Campaigns & Elections magazine, Forbes.com and IMDb.com.

Annetta Marion is an award-winning director and Primetime Emmy-nominated producer. She recently directed the television special “Oprah Goes to Broadway: The Color Purple” that premiered on OWN. Annetta is currently the Co-Executive Producer and a Director on the acclaimed television series “Oprah’s Master Class”. She has directed over 20 scripted projects including award-winning short films, a web series, commercials and numerous PSAs. Annetta is a graduate of AFI’s prestigious Directing Workshop for Women, and she is an active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, the Producer’s Guild of America, and she is a New York Women in Film and Television board member.

Eric Vollweiler is a world-class expert in film festival organization. He is the producer of the Saratoga Springs International Film Festival, the Marketing and Advertising consultant for the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival, and the Marketing Specialist for the Artemis Woman in Action Film Festival. In his role as the Marketing Director of Festivals for Film Marketing Services he has worked on the Culver City Film Festival, the Marina del Rey Film Festival, the Silicon Beach Film Festival and the Film Trailer Festival. Further past events he has worked on include the Ballston Spa Film Festival, Showbiz Expo LA, FilmColumbia Film Festival, Edwood Film Festival, Ruff Cutz Indie Film Conference, Now Casting Film Festival, The Youth Actors Expo, and International Film Festival Summit.

Marcia Basichis was Senior Vice President of Aaron Spelling Television, during which time she headed development for series, movies and miniseries. She worked with key players in the entertainment industry, selling, developing and putting into production feature films and television series, including “Beverly Hills 90210”, “Melrose Place”, and the Emmy Award winning HBO movie “And the Band Played On”. Marcia took Spelling Television from zero to seven primetime on-air series. And in 1995 Marcia was named one of Hollywood Reporters "Power 50 Women in Entertainment." Early in her career, Marcia gained network television experience as a dramatic series executive at ABC Entertainment, where she was the original executive on “Dynasty” and “Battlestar Galactica”, among others. Today she is the managing partner at Brentwood Search, a boutique executive search firm. Marcia has served on the Executive Committee and Awards Committee of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has been a member of the American Film Institute.

J. Todd Harris has produced 40 films, including five Sundance Film Festival entries, two films that have appeared in the Toronto Film Festival, one that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, and another that garnered a Special Mention for the Camera D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His most recent productions include “Bottle Shock” starring Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman and Chris Pine, “The Kids Are Alright” starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore, Oscar nominated Annette Bening and Oscar nominated Mark Ruffalo, and “Piranha 3D” from The Weinstein Company. In theatre, he produced “Heathers the Musical” off Broadway and Broadway productions “Doctor Zhivago” and Tony-nominated “American Psycho”. Additionally, Todd is a founding member of the board of the newly created Napa Valley Film Festival. He has been a member of the Producers Branch of the Motion Picture Academy since 1999, the Broadway League since 2015, and the Producers Guild since 2016.

Leanne Pooley is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished documentary filmmakers, having directed over 20 films. Leanne has made documentaries for major broadcasters including the BBC and PBS, and her documentaries have screened in more than 100 countries. Her work includes “Beyond the Edge” a 3D feature film that was a runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, and “Topp Twins – Untouchable Girls” which won 21 International Awards including Audience Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and the Gothenburg International Film Festival, amongst others. It also won Best Feature at the New Zealand Film & TV Awards, and reached nearly $2 million at the New Zealand box office, making it the most successful New Zealand documentary of all time. In 2011 Leanne’s work was recognized by the New Zealand Arts Foundation, and she was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate. She now serves as a judge for the International Emmy Awards.

Darrin Fletcher is the director and writer of the documentary “The Abolitionists”, which was produced by legendary Oscar winning producer Gerald R. Molen (best known for his work on Oscar nominated “Schindler’s List”, Oscar winning “Jurassic Park” and Oscar nominated “Minority Report”.) Darrin has also acted as a storyboard artist for Emmy Award nominated “High School Musical 2” and “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”, as well as for Emmy Award nominated “Everwood” and Golden Globe nominated “Touched by an Angel”.

Robb Skyler is an actor best known for his work on “Along Came Polly”, "Romy & Michele's High School Reunion", Oscar winning "Forrest Gump" and “Arrested Development”. He will shortly be starring in “Hands of Stone” alongside Oscar winner Robert DeNiro and Golden Globe nominated Edgar Ramirez.

Wendy Blackstone has composed scores for over 130 film and television projects, nine of which have been nominated for or won Oscars. She also holds the distinction of being the first ever female film composer signed by CAA.

Mark Stasenko is the co-founder of WeScreenplay and Coverfly, a script coverage and competition submission service that uses cutting edge proprietary software. As a writer last year he won the ScreenCraft fellowship and Francis Ford Coppola's ZoeTrope Competition, and has been a quarter finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship.

Emmy Award winning cinematographer Sam Henriques is known for his work on “The Farm” which won both the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and an Oscar nomination, and “Riding the Rails” which won the Peabody Award. His camera work includes “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “The Michael J. Fox Show”, as well as work for National Geographic, Viacom, HBO, Showtime, Disney, and Martha Stewart.

Award-winning sound designer Nick Palladino has developed an international reputation for excellence, innovation and hard work. During his 25 years as the owner and creative force behind NPALL Audio Nick has worked on faith-based box office successes including “Courageous”, “Fireproof”, and “Facing The Giants”, and the number 1 box office hit “War Room”. His wide-ranging client list includes: HBO, A&E, Sony Pictures, Provident Films, NASCAR, The Walt Disney Company and CBS.

Patrick De Caumette is an Emmy Award winning composer and instrumentalist. His past work includes “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment”, “Navy Seals vs. Zombies”, and “Fever: 1793”. He has also been the house composer for Walt Disney France, and has taught at Temple University and The University of the Arts.

Warren Drummond is a veteran storyboard artist. He has worked for film directors such as Oscar winner Ron Howard, Oscar winner Denzel Washington, and Oscar nominated John Singleton, on shows such as “Agent Carter” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, and on films such as Oscar nominated “Straight Outta Compton”, “X Men: First Class”, “Evan Almighty”, “2 Fast 2 Furious”, and “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift”.

Hummie Mann is a two-time Emmy Award winning composer and arranger. His composing credits include “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, his conducting credits include “The Grudge 2” and Oscar nominated “The Adams Family”. And his orchestrating credits include Oscar nominated “A Few Good Men”, Golden Globe nominated “Sister Act”, legendary TV series “Fame” and “The Simpsons”. He is also a professor at the Seattle Film Institute and the De Tao Masters Academy in Shanghai.

Ido Samuel is a prominent Israeli actor best known for his role as Yossi in "Fill The Void", a film that won 7 Israeli Academy Awards. The film also won Best Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, the New York Film Festival, the London Film Festival, and Best Dramatic Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Samuel was most recently seen in "Unforgivable Sin", a short film which premiered at the New York City International Film Festival. He was recently cast in the indie feature "The Spark" alongside Oscar nominated Abigail Breslin, and can currently be seen in Gavin James' music video for 'Bitter Pill'.

Brian Rawlings was the Vice President of Music at the Walt Disney Company, during which time he grew the revenue six fold over a ten year period, culminating with the “High School Musical”, “Cheetah Girls”, and “Hannah Montana” franchises. Disney reported $1 billion in company wide revenue from “High School Musical” alone. Today Brian is a Senior Partner at the Back Porch Group, an agency that advises media tech startups.

Bob Schultz is the president of ScriptFest America, a non-profit educational and professional development organization for screenwriters. ScriptFest is the biggest and longest-running screenwriting conference and pitching event in the world, holding 20 events in the US, Canada, and London over the last 13 years. It has also been rated the #1 pitchfest and screenwriting conference in the world by Script Magazine. When not running ScriptFest, Bob is a full-time writer, focusing on spec screenplays and work-for-hire.

At fifteen, filmmaker Peter Hyoguchi won George Lucas' youth film festival with a sci-fi short called “The Future's Future”. Since then Peter has written and directed the dramatic feature “First, Last and Deposit” which won the New York Independent Film Festival and the San Francisco Independent Film Festival and aired on IFC. His screenwriting assignments include a collaboration with sci-fi legend Ray Bradbury on a supernatural thriller called “The Waking” for legendary horror director John Carpenter, as well as an adaptation of the New York Times Best-Seller “Killing Elvis”, and an adaptation of Herman Hesse's Nobel Prize-winning novel, “The Glass Bead Game”.

Cinematographer Brad Rushing won the MTV Music Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Moby’s “We Are All Made of Stars”, and the MTV Music Award for Video of the Year for Eminem’s “Without Me”. He has also worked on videos for Britney Spears, Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, George Michael and Joss Stone, amongst others. Brad’s commercial clients include Geico, Sketchers, McDonald’s, Macy’s, and Nascar, amongst others. And his work in independent films includes “Divorce Invitation” starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler, “L.A.X.” starring Dane Cook and “Cook County” which won the Best Film Award at the Nashville Film Festival.

19 time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Nathan Thompson has filmed all walks of life, from short films, music videos, and corporate commercials, to humanitarian efforts in Africa and the war in Afghanistan. In 2012 Nathan was named National Videographer of the Year by the National Press Photographer’s Association.

Steve Hoover is the winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Award and the Sundance Audience Award for his documentary “Blood Brother”, which he directed, wrote, edited, and executive produced. His latest film “Almost Holy” opens on May 20th and is executive produced by Oscar nominated Terrence Malick and Nicolas Gonda.

Independent film producer Franco Sama has an extensive history in public speaking, public relations and a decade of independent film development, production and financing. Franco has executive produced an impressive array of over twenty independent films including "Guns, Girls and Gambling" starring Oscar nominated Gary Oldman, Golden Globe winner Christian Slater and Dane Cook. Other films Franco has produced include "Black Limousine" starring David Arquette, Vivica A. Fox and Bijou Phillips, and "Tooth and Nail" starring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones. Franco also served as executive producer on the film festival darling "Petunia" starring Golden Globe nominated Thora Birch, Brittany Snow, and Oscar winner Christine Lahti.