M.David Mullen, ASC

Visit My Website
M. David Mullen, ASC has earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations for best cinematography, for Twin Falls Idaho in 1999 and for Northfork in 2003, and has photographed over thirty films, including The Astronaut Farmer (2007), Solstice (2006) Akeelah and the Bee (2006), and Shadowboxer (2005).
Thomas Ackerman, ASC
 
Visit My Website
Director of Photography Thomas Ackerman, ASC is best known for his work on Jumanji, Tim Burton's classic Beetlejuice, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. With a filmography of over 30 titles, Ackerman has worked on a wide variety of films, lensed the box office hit comedy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the hit comedy, Are We There Yet?, and The Benchwarmers, Scary Movie 4, and action/sport/comedy, Balls of Fury.
Peter Kiwitt
Visit My Website
Peter Kiwitt is an Assistant Professor in the School of Film & Animation at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He is also a member of the Directors Guild of America with years of professional film and television industry experience as a director, writer, producer, editor, and executive. http://peterkiwitt.wordpress.com/bio/.
Scott Essman
    
Visit My Website
Since the mid-1980s, Scott Essman has been writing and producing projects about motion picture craftsmanship. He has published over 350 articles as a freelancer and has produced over twenty publicity projects for Universal Studios Home Entertainment where he made video documentaries and wrote publicity materials. He published his first book, "Freelance Writing for Hollywood," for Michael Wiese in 2000, and has a new book about Tim Burton.
David Lent
David Lent's career in television spans thirty-five years. David co-produced and shot the critically acclaimed PBS special "Life Without...Inside San Quentin." With Susan Burgess-Lent, he co-produced the documentary feature "Staying Alive," based on Studs Terkel's best seller "Working." David currently works as a news and documentary cameraman for numerous domestic and international clients including BBC, CNBC, BRAVO, FOX News, MTV, GRANADA, TV ASAHI, YLE, ARD, and ORF. David is the author of "The Laws of Camerawork" and soon to be released book, "Video Rules."
Pamela Jaye Smith
  
Visit My Website
Pamela Jaye Smith is a mythologist, writer, story and production consultant, and award-winning producer-director. Credits include Microsoft, Paramount, Disney, Universal, GM, Boeing, and the US Army. Pamela attended UT Austin film school and has taught at UCLA Ext., USC, AFI, RAI-TV Rome, National Film Institute of Denmark, Pepperdine, and many others. Her books for media makers include "Inner Drives," "Power of the Dark Side," "Beyond the Hero's Journey," and "Symbols.Images.Codes."
William F. Vartorella, Ph.D., C.B.C.
   
Visit My Website
William F. Vartorella, Ph.D., C.B.C., has taught screenwriting, developed venture capital pro forma for independent Hollywood films, and offered advice for state and international tax incentive packages for motion picture production. He co-authored the book, "Funding Exploration," and wrote articles and professional papers on college television studio construction, film production in Central Europe, and global motorsports sponsorships. He recently negotiated a TV deal for a team retrieving a rare WWII aircraft from beneath 150 feet of water for a one-hour documentary entitled, "The Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project."
Scott Spears
 
Visit My Website
Scott Spears has been working in independent production for over twenty years. He has shot nineteen feature films, numerous short films, commercials and music videos. Scott won an Emmy Award for his photography on the short film, "The Birthmark" which aired nationally on PBS. Recent projects include the 35mm feature "Cold Ones" starring C. Thomas Howell and "Horrors of War".
Tony White

Visit My Website
Tony White is an award-winning director, animator, author and educator. Currently a full-time senior lecturer at DigiPen, Tony studied animation with industry legends Ken Harris (Warner Brothers), Art Babbit (Disney) and apprenticed with Richard Williams - 3 times Oscar winner/author "The Animator's Survival Kit". Tony has written three best-selling animation books and is now proud to add a fourth, "Jumping Through Hoops: The Animation Job Coach."
Saro Varjabedian
  
Visit My Website
Saro Varjabedian is an independent filmmaker and working freelance Director of Photography in New York. As a DP Saro has photographed many music videos, feature films, and short films. Saro Varjabedian is a Columbia University Film MFA graduate student.
Ira Tiffen

Visit My Website
In over 30 years of making optical filters, Ira Tiffen created the Pro-Mist, Soft/FX, Ultra Contrast, GlimmerGlass, and others, netting him both a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a Prime-Time Emmy Award. Elected a Fellow of the SMPTE in 2002, he is also an Associate member of the ASC, and the author of the filter section of the "American Cinematographer Manual."
William Donaruma

Visit My Website
William Donaruma has years of production experience having worked for Universal Studios as well as a variety of production companies and major television networks in film and video production. Returning to Notre Dame to teach production courses, he has won the Kaneb Teaching Award and was granted a fellowship at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His most recent feature documentary is Strong Bodies Fight.
Thomas McKenney

Visit My Website
Thomas McKenney is an Emmy award-winning Director of Photography based in Los Angeles, California who reaches out to spotlight the stories in life and put life into stories. His sports, news and documentary experience propelled him to the role of narrative cinematographer. Tom has taken on Little League Opening Day, Super Bowl Sunday, the Academy Awards, feature and episodic works. Tom treats every subject in his frame with the same respect experienced by Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, among the Hollywood elite and various Heads of State.
Dana Dorrity

Visit My Website
Dana Dorrity is an Assistant Professor of Communications and Media Arts at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. She was a Vice President and Senior Producer for Robert Chang Productions, a corporate video production company, in New York, and worked with clients like PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, and The Platinum Guild on video news releases, corporate communications, a San Diego Emmy –Award winning sports documentary, "America's Cup '88: The Race to Win," and commercials and infomercials. She currently teaches courses in media writing, screenwriting and video production.
Jeff Turboff

Visit My Website
Jeff Turboff is a freelance editor, with credits on many major networks and experience in subjects including war, sports, fashion, true crime, food, nature, medicine, music, and reality. Currently with ABC's Nightline, Jeff is also active in narrative fiction, having edited the indie comedy short "Get the Script To Woody Allen", the courtroom drama feature length film "The Pack" starring Lucie Arnaz, and has directed, shot and edited about twenty short films. Jeff is also a burgeoning screenwriter with several scripts in the pipeline.
Nash Choudhury
Nash Choudhury is a 25 year old graduate from Binghamton University with a BA in Creative Writing. He is currently a freelance writer with a passion for movies.
Bill Jones
Bill Jones graduated California State Long Beach with a degree in English and has been teaching community college part-time in the southern California area for the last several years, specializing in composition and rhetoric. Currently, he is working as a writing instructor for his own tutoring company in the Los Angeles-area. Bill hopes to publish articles online and in print media to further a career move into the editing and publishing world.
Dean Goldberg
Dean Goldberg began his professional life working for a well known New York democratic political consultant, David Sawyer. As a film editor, then producer/ director, he was involved with more than fifty national campaigns, including races for; Senator Ted Kennedy; Senator John Glenn; Senator Frank Lautenberg; Governor Jim Hunt and Mayor Kevin White. He wrote and directed television episodes for, "Missing Reward," "Hard Copy," "A Current Affair" and many other shows featuring dramatic recreations. Dean teaches writing, directing and film studies at Mount Saint Mary College.
Jonathan Moore

Visit My Website
At 7'0", 300lbs, Jonathan Moore could be the largest filmmaker in the world. Occasionally his height allows him to play bit parts in movies. This summer he had the great distinction of shoving Robert Pattinson in the back in a scene for the film Water for Elephants. An assistant professor of Cinema/Digital Media at Vanguard University of Southern California, Moore is currently completing a feature length documentary, Coaches' Wives, about women who are married to the coaches of sports teams. His work has been screened in many film festivals and broadcast on public television. An avid screenwriter and director, Moore loves telling stories that touch the heart.
Sherri Sheridan

Visit My Website
Sherri Sheridan teaches storytelling techniques to digital filmmakers and animators with her books, classes and workshops. She's also the creative director at Minds Eye Media in San Francisco where she directs, produces, animates, writes and designs projects for a wide range of clients. Sherri is the author of the books, "Maya 2 Character Animation" (New Riders 1999) and "Developing Digital Short Films" (New Riders / Peachpit / Pearson 2004). Recently, she created a 20 hour DV workshop based on the books called, "Writing a Great Script Fast."
John Manchester
John Manchester has published over 500 pieces of production music. His music is broadcast daily worldwide on programs and commercials. He played guitar for Livingston Taylor, opening for Linda Ronstadt and Fleetwood Mac. He co-wrote songs with Livingston which are on the Epic label. John is the owner of the Manchester Music Library at www.manchestermusiclibrary.com.
Dr. Linda Seger
Dr. Linda Seger has been exploring the integration of creativity and spirituality for over 30 years. She's an international speaker, writing consultant, and the author of 12 books, including Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success: gaining the goal without losing your soul and Making a Good Writer Great. She has M.A. degrees in drama and religion and the arts and a PhD in Drama and Theology. Her websites are www.lindaseger.com and www.spiritual-steps.com.
Terence Brody
Terence Brody is a screenwriter from New York. He wrote the produced short film titled, "Beer, Chocolate or You," which can be seen on minimovie.com. Most recently he published the novella, "Rescuing Madison," based on the screenplay he wrote.
Fred Ginsburg, C.A.S., Ph.D., MBKS
Dr. Ginsburg is a production sound mixer with over two decades experience in professional filmmaking and video and has recorded production dialogue on feature motion pictures, episodic television, TV commercials, reality, documentary, corporate, government, and music videos. He has a long list of credits including: Beverly Hills 90210, Platoon, The Island, Clear and Present Danger, Terminator 2, and Patriot Games. Fred has written and published more than 100 articles on production techniques and authored the "Guide to the Nagra 4.2 Sync Recorder and Production Sound Recording."
Richard La Motte
Richard La Motte, a 35-year veteran of the business, has worked on numerous movies, serving as Military Costume Technical Advisor ("Last of the Mohicans," "Pearl Harbor"), Costume Designer ("Gods and Generals," "Crazy Horse," "Tecumseh," "Rambo III," "Goonies," "The Island of Doctor Moreau,"), Production Designer, Costume Supervisor, and Property Master. He is the author of the book, "Costume Design 101," published by MWP. Richard's website is www.richardlamotte.com.
Jon Firestone
Jon Firestone is co-owner of Asgard Entertainment and works as a freelance cinematographer and visual effects supervisor. He was one of the first 150 RED camera owners and has been working with the camera both in the field and in post production. Firestone's action/fantasy/science fiction film, co-directed with Mark Steven Grove, "Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords," stars Martin Kove ("The Karate Kid," "Cagney & Lacey," "Rambo: First Blood Part II") and Christopher Atkins ("The Blue Lagoon," TV's "Dallas," the cult favorite, "The Pirate Movie"). www.asgardentertainment.com
Anthony Q. Artis
Anthony Q. Artis has worked professionally in positions as diverse as producer, gaffer, cinematographer, and narrative projects. His feature films and TV shows have screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the IFP Market, MTV, and The Independent Film Channel. He is the author of the books, "The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide" and "The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide: A Down & Dirty DV Production." www.downanddirtydv.com
Dean Yamada
Dean Yamada received his MFA from USC and is an associate professor at Biola University, where he specializes in production and post-production classes. "Jitensha" (www.jitenshamovie.com) has won multiple awards including Best of Fest at the Broadcast Educators Association Festival of Media Arts Festival of Media Arts (2010); Best of Show at the Imago Film Festival (2010); and Best Dramatic Short at the Windsong Film Festival (2010).
Charlie Balch
Ever since taking a trip to Japan at an early age, Charlie Balch has been fascinated by the art of telling stories through a camera. This fascination led him through the Biola University film program in which he has been blessed with the opportunity to shoot multiple short films. Charlie now resides in Los Angeles where he only continues to grow his passion for Cinematography.
Christopher Ball, CSC
Christopher Ball, CSC has shot eight theatrical feature films, including Stolen Heart (1998), which he shot and co-produced. He has also produced, shot, assistant directed and directed award winning dramas, TV series, documentaries, commercials, short films and music videos. Christopher's body of work has toured numerous festivals, aired on HBO, TMN, CBC, VISION TV and several foreign broadcasters and played in theatres worldwide.
Stacey Parks
Stacey Parks is a film distribution expert with over 16 years experience working with independent filmmakers. As a Foreign Sales Agent for several years she secured distribution for hundreds of independent features and programs worldwide. Stacey currently specializes in coaching filmmakers on financing and distribution strategies for their projects, both one-on-one and through her online training center www.FilmSpecific.com. Stacey is also the author of the must-have guide, 'The Insider's Guide to Independent Film Distribution' (2007 Focal Press).
David Worth
David Worth's credits include being the Director of Photography on two Clint Eastwood films, "Bronco Billy" and "Any Which Way You Can." He was also the DP of the original, "Bloodsport" and the Director of the original, "Kickboxer" starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He directed the thrillers, "Time Lapse" with Roy Scheider and "The Prophet's Game" with Dennis Hopper and his most recent production is the horror/thriller, "Hardhat." David's book, "The Citizen Kane Crash Course in Cinematography," can be ordered from www.amazon.com. Read it and feel free to contact David if you have any questions at [email protected]. www.davidworthfilm.com
David Kaminski
David Kaminski is the Coordinator for Rockland Filmmakers and currently works with non-profits and other organizations. He also teaches TV Production/Media at Clarkstown HS North in New City, NY about 25 miles north of New York City. David's students have earned five Telly Awards and over 50 national awards for their work. They also have screened their films more than 200 times in festivals across the country and internationally.
Ric Viers
Before becoming a sound effects guru, Ric Viers worked in the trenches on feature films, television shows, video productions, and music videos. Ric has over 100 production credits which include his work on "Rescue Me," "Life Goes On," CNN, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, ESPN, and HBO. Ric is the author of the book, "The Sound Effects Bible." www.soundeffectsbible.com
Lorie Karnath
Lorie Karnath is an author, explorer and educator. She has authored 6 books and numerous articles on exploration, science and the arts. 37th president of The Explorers Club she has traveled the world in search of some of the world's most elusive questions. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and an honorary Ph.D. from Shenandoah University.
Cira Felina Bolla
Cira Felina Bolla is an Emmy nominated Cinematographer who studied film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and trained under Roy H. Wagner, ASC, (a former student of Ansel Adams). Bolla's work is artistic instinct in motion. She is both an EU Italian and US Citizen working on independent features and commercials internationally. Bolla is Rep'd by Angelique & Associates
Hali Gardella
Hali Gardella is a filmmaker from Sarasota, Florida who specializes in independent film production. As a writer, director, and producer, Hali is very interested in making films abroad. She recently traveled to Haiti to film a documentary about reconstruction efforts after the earthquake. She is currently a senior at The Florida State University College of Motion Picture working on her thesis film. She was the producer of the FSU Film Project.
Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson is pursuing his Master's degree in Scientific Computing at Florida State University. His interests include 3D visualization, programming, math, travel and the Chinese language. When he is not online or writing code, he likes to volunteer his time teaching atrisk youth about computers.
Evan Bollig
Evan Bollig is a PhD candidate in Scientific Computing at the Florida State University. He holds a Master's degree in Computational Science from Florida State University, and two Bachelor's degrees (Computer Science and German Studies) from the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities. Aside from an interest in 3D film, Evan concentrates on programming video game hardware, scientific visualization and the occasional outdoor pursuit.