BIOS

JEREMY KAGAN – PRODUCER and DIRECTOR

Jeremy is an internationally recognized director/writer/producer with eleven feature films including are the box-office hits HEROES about a returned Vietnam vet, the political thriller THE BIG FIX, THE CHOSEN (2 time Grand Prize winner), and THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN (Gold Prize Moscow Film Festival). Among his many television shows are KATHERINE: “the Making of an American Revolutionary”, and HBO’s CONSPIRACY: THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 8 (ACE Award for Best Dramatic Special. He directed the pilot for the hit series DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN. Other television films include, for Showtime THE COLOR OF JUSTICE about racism and BOBBIE'S GIRL about a lesbian couple and CROWN HEIGHTS about the 1991 riots. This movie won the Humanitas Award for "affirming the dignity of every person." He has won an Emmy for Dramatic Series Directing and has directed thirty various dramatic episodes including WEST WING and Steven Spielberg's TAKEN. He produced and directed a ten part series called FREEDOM FILES on issues of social justice including racial profiling, LGBT rights, voting rights, the drug wars, dissent, women’s rights and religious freedom. He has made films for The Doe Fund, which is the most successful program in America helping the homeless, and for Bioneers and Treepeople both organizations committed to sustainability issues. Jeremy is a full tenured professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at USC where he created the Change Making Media Lab – www.cmml-usc.org that has made dramatic, documentary and animated films about homelessness, environmental issues, women's health, ADHD, sustainability and a 10 part television series for the ACLU called FREEDOM FILES.   Professor Kagan served as the Artistic Director of Robert Redford's Sundance Lab and has been on the National Board of the Directors Guild where he is Chairperson of its Special Projects which serves the 17,000 members with educational, cultural and technological information.  He has three books on filmmaking DIRECTORS CLOSE UP, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, the eTestbook KEYS TO DIRECTING -www.keystodirecting.com. He is a Graduate Fellow of the American Film Institute, and has an MFA from NYU and a BA from Harvard University. He has taught master seminars on filmmaking in France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, Estonia, China and Vietnam. His near death experience is recorded in his illustrated eBook MY DEATH: A Personal Guidebook. www.theneardeathandlifeofjeremykagan.com

ANNEKE CAMPBELL – WRITER/ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Anneke was born and raised in The Netherlands, came to America at 17 and has worked as a midwife, nurse, yoga teacher, professor of English literature and composition, poet and scriptwriter. Her first novel, Mary of Bellingham, was published in 2004. She is the co-editor (with Nina Simons) of Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the Heart, and recently, with Thomas Linzey, co-authored We The People: Stories from the Community Rights Movement in the US. She also writes and co-produces, with Jeremy Kagan, advocacy videos for non-profits including the TV series for the ACLU, FREEDOM FILES.

WILL LAMBORN – WRITER

Will is a film and video director living in Los Angeles. Originally from Colorado, Will attended the University of Southern California and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production. In 2007 Will produced, shot, and edited the short film SONGBIRD, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. In 2010, Will’s short film, OUT OF NOWHERE premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival. OUT OF NOWHERE  also secured distribution through Oaut Media, IndieFlix and Two Way TV. In addition to directing, Will also works as a screenwriter. sWill’s recent screenplay, LOST GOD, was both shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and was a Quarter-Finalist in the Nicholl Fellowship, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

JACEK LASKUS - CINEMATOGRAPHER

Jacek is a cinematographer and photographer born in Warsaw, Poland. After graduating from the Polish National Film Academy with a degree in Cinematography, Jacek left for the United States and made his home in New York City, where he worked for BBC TV working on many documentaries. While in New York he also worked on numerous music videos with the Academy award winning director Zbigniew Rybczynski, as well as for SNL with director Jonathan Demme. There he shot his first feature film PARTING GLANCES directed by Bill Sherwood After moving to Los Angeles he worked with the directors such as Donald Petrie Sr. (SQUARE DANCE), Robert Altman (THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARSHAL), Michael Pressman, (QUICK SAND, FRANKIE & JOHNNY ARE MARRIED, and the series THE GUARDIAN). THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARSHAL earned Jacek the 1989 American Society of Cinematographers nomination for the Outstanding Cinematography. In 1996 GARDEN OF REDEMPTION directed by Tom Donnelly, a WWII drama earned Jacek his second A.S.C nomination. In 1997 Jacek co-lensed a full-length documentary COLORS STRAIGHT UP. The film was nominated for a 1998 Academy Award. In 2007 Jacek shot JERRY WAS A MAN directed by Academy Award nominee Michael Tolkin. In 2000 Jacek became a member of The American Society of Cinematographers. In 2011 Jacek became a member of the Polish Society of Cinematographers. Jacek has traveled the globe, shooting films in Canada, Portugal, New Zealand, Italy, Lithuania, Japan, Nepal, India, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Peru. Jacek's second passion is photography. He has participated in two group shows, “Still Moving” at the gallery in Los Angeles and in 2006 “Photographs by the members of the A.S.C.” at the Academy of Motion Pictures. In April 2008 he held his first solo exhibit at the WM Gallery in Amsterdam. Over the course of the past five years Jacek has taught cinematography at a number of colleges including, USC School of Cinematic Arts, California Institute of the Arts, , and The Maine Photographic Workshop. He is currently a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute Conservatory. Jacek speaks Polish, English and French

CHUCK PARKER – PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Chuck and his wife, Lisa, are in the 28th year of their successful marriage. They live and work in Los Angeles where they have raised their three grown children. Chuck is a multi-faceted Production Designer who has designed for Paul Haggis on numerous television projects, Ryan Murphy on the pilot of NIP/TUCK, the Dreamworks Television/ABC series LUCKY 7 and numerous other one-hour episodic television series, such as Detroit 187 for ABC. He designed the multi-award winning and much beloved series MONK in its entirety, as well as directed the Season 7 Finale, MR. MONK FIGHTS CITY HALL. He designed the Hallmark Hall of Fame production, HAVE A LITTLE FAITH, for Jon Avnet, Seasons 4 & 5 of the CW series 90210 and has been nominated for a Best Production Design Award twice at the Milan International Film Festival; in 2012 for the independent film, FT. MCCOYmand in 2017 for the independent science fiction film, TELEIOS. He is currently the National Executive Director of the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800.

NORN HOLLYN - EDITOR

Norman has been described as a “media expert,” a reference to his experience in a wide variety of media types – in both the old media and new media worlds. He is a long-time film, television and music editor(HEATHERS, THE COTTON CLUB, and Oliver Stone’s WILD PALMS, are among his extensive credits) who is presently an Associate Professor and the Head of the Editing Track in the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He has also been a CEO of Hollyn Rinsler Consulting, a company specializing in entertainment and media Internet development, with projects for large entertainment companies and municipal school districts. He is a frequently published author. He has written the standard editing textbook, THE FILM EDITING ROOM HANDBOOK, and has published nearly 100 articles in many magazines and journals. His latest book – THE LEAN FORWARD MOMENT – from Peachpit Press/Pearson. He has recently signed a contract with Peachpit for a new edition of THE FILM EDITING ROOM HANDBOOK. He has delivered papers at the 2005 and 2006 NAB Conferences and the 2005 BEA Convention. He has participated on panels at the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 UFVA Conferences and at the 2004 international CILECT conference in Helsinki, Finland, where he delivered a paper titled “Direct Guidance, Indirect Guidance and Misguidance: Teaching Editing in a Portable Non-Linear World.”. He presented a film-in -progress to the 2008 CILECT Conference in Beijing, China. He  was a featured panelist at a conference sponsored by the Institute for Writing and Thinking at Bard College, New York.. He has also been interviewed for various articles, web sites and podcasts. He lectures widely on editing theory and collaborative techniques and has organized and led seminars at major companies such as Dreamworks Pictures, Pixar Animation, Philadelphia Inquirer and Forbes. He also has worked as an expert witness in cases involving the aesthetics or history of editing. As a teacher, he has worked internationally. He has organized and participated in a series of workshops for the Royal Film Commission in Jordan. He has also worked with Vietnamese filmmakers in a program sponsored by the Ford Foundation. At the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Sundance Film Festivals he developed and ran a series of short editing workshops for filmmakers focusing on storytelling techniques. He has also taught at the AFI and UCLA Extension. In his position as Editing Track Head at USC, he is part of a variety of new technology initiatives and has relationships with companies as diverse as Adobe, Apple, Avid, Fox Searchlight Pictures, and Sony. At USC he has sat on the Executive Board of the university’s Academic Senate and is on many school and university committees, including the Provost’s Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies and the University Committee on Curriculum. He has served on both the graduate and undergraduate admission committees, and has served on several curriculum committees for the School of Cinematic Arts. He was recently appointed to run the Communications Pathway Task Force, a university-wide initiative. He is a member of AMPAS (the motion picture Academy) and A.C.E. (the American Cinema Editors). As an entrepreneur, he has developed web sites and business practices for a number of small and large companies, including Universal Music Group, Fox Video, eveo and Bluecow.

JOEL SILL – EXECUTIVE MUISC PRODUCER
Joel began his career as a music publisher and record producer. His first involvement with film was as soundtrack producer for EASY RIDER. In 1980 he became Vice President and head of music for Paramount Pictures, he oversaw and helped design music for the films REDS, 48 HOURS, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN featuring UP WHERE WE BELONG, and FLASHDANCE highlighting “Flashdance-What a Feeling”, both songs won Academy awards. In 1983, he moved to Warner Bros, as head of music for all filmed entertainment. At Warners he worked on such films as BLADE RUNNER, THE KILLING FIELDS, PURPLE RAIN, MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME, THE GOONIES, THE COLOR PURPLE and platformed Madonna with the # 1 recording of her on camera performance of “Crazy for You” in the film VISION QUEST". He then partnered with director Taylor Hackford in the New Visions Music Group, where he supervised music for MANNEQUIN which included the # 1 hit “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, next was LA BAMBA which produced the # 1 single and # 1 and 5x multiplatinum soundtrack album by Los Lobos. He then partnered with my brother Chuck Kaye previously Chairman of Warner Chappell, to form Windswept Pacific, a J/V with Fuji Sankei Communications. They acquired numerous music catalogues, including Tommy James and The Shondells, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, The Four Seasons, Count Basie, The Isley Bros, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Shirells, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Tito Puente, John Cougar Mellencamp and grew Windswept to the 4th largest independent music publisher. He continued his film music work with THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, MY COUSIN VINNY, THE FIRM, FREE WILLY, TWISTER, WAG THE DOG, FORREST GUMP (8 x multiplatinum), TERMINATOR 3, CONTACT, CASTAWAY, BOBBY AND MUNICH. Next was a J/V with Cherry Lane (now) BMG/Chrysalis publishing where his ventures continue with Quincy Jones, Larry the Cable Guy-The Blue Collar Comedy Group and Bold Films (BOBBY, WHIPLASH) and Summit Entertainment (THE TWILIGHT Film series). He has consulted to Sony PlayStation, Associated Production Music, Extreme Music and The Exclusive Media Film Group. With his wife Kim, they produced the Animal Awareness documentary SAVED IN AMERICA. He helped develop Music Revenue Data, a film and TV music royalty assurance company, clients include James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer. He is Co-creator and Executive Producer of the ImageMovers series INFERNO with Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Leslie Zemeckis, Ben Watkins and Jackie Levine. With renowned designer Frank Nuovo, they created “Memory Cubed” (M3), a unique 3D entertainment, memory and education platform helping dementia and Alzheimer victims. Joel also is an underwater photographer and advocate for the preservation of Oceans with Nat Geo.

DAVE O’BRIEN – PRODUCER

Dave has produced hundreds of social-media campaigns and documentary and fiction feature films including THE HAPPYS, about a naive girl from the Midwest living in LA who must redefine herself when she learns her fiancé is gay, starring Janeane Garofalo and Melissa McBride. IN THE MOMENT, the innovative HIV prevention transmedia campaign Dave created with LA Gay & Lesbian Center and the City of West Hollywood was honored with the Paul Starke Warrior Award for work in HIV prevention. His feature documentary, EQUALITY U received the Outstanding Emerging Talent award at Outfest as well as several Best Documentary and Best Feature awards, was broadcast nationally on Logo TV.  He produced the indie feature THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ, starring Academy-Award winner Ernest Borgnine as a man who overcomes his deep seated racism and comes to value his own life which won a Best Actor award for Borgnine at the Newport Beach Film Festival. In a collaboration with the Keck School of Medicine and Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC, Dave produced two shorts comparing narrative storytelling to an informational, non-narrative approach.  The films were designed to encourage behavior change around cervical cancer prevention and HPV vaccine promotion and were made for Jeremy Kagan’s Change Making Media Lab – www.cmml-usc.org.  The National Cancer Institute funded study was recently honored with the 2013 APHA Public Health Education and Health Promotion Multi-Media Materials Award.

JOSH SIEGEL – PRODUCER

Josh's first feature in 2003, THE LAST LETTER (starring William Forsythe), was one of the first commercially distributed indie features to shoot in HD. His film BETWEEN, shot entirely on location in Mexico (starring Poppy Montgomery), was a Sundance Film Festival selection (in competition) and subsequently purchased by Lifetime Networks. His strong line producing background led to his being hired as Head Of Production at Hannibal Pictures, where he oversaw a slate of $5-15M independent features. In addition to producing SHOT, most recently Josh line produced a TV pilot executive produced by the Jonas Brothers, as well as a bonus episode for the DVD of Fox’s hit TV show 24, and he co-produced the feature film ANY DAY, which starred Sean Bean, Eva Longoria, Tom Arnold and Kate Walsh. Josh is a member of both the Producers Guild Of America and the Directors Guild Of America, and resides in Los Angeles.

JOHN RAATZ – CO-PRODUCER

JOHN RAATZ is the Founder and Principal of the pioneering “transformational” marketing & PR firm, The Visioneering Group, whose mission is Linking Spirit, Vision & Progressive Values with Compassionate Communication to Promote a Positive and Sustainable Future™. Established in 1988, Visioneering exclusively serves the Cultural Creatives (body/mind/spirit) market and was the first such firm to do so.

Through Visioneering, John has represented scores of clients including many of the foremost authors, thought leaders, musical artists, and films in the transformational milieu, such as authors Eckhart Tolle, Fritjof Capra, Peter Russell, Chellis Glendenning, Deepak Chopra; recording artists Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard, Madonna, Donovan, Kitaro, Kenny Loggins, Turtle Island String Quartet, The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos Chant and such films as Mindwalk, Twenty-One, Toto Le Heros, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, Baraka, A Brief History of Time, Raspad, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Illusion, This Island Earth, What the Bleep Do We Know!?, What The Bleep?-Down The Rabbit Hole, Ripple Effect, Peaceful Warrior, The 11th Hour, Darfur Now!, Youth Without Youth, Darshan: The Embrace, Saint Ralph, Unknown White Male, Two Weeks, Toward The Within, A Human Search: The Life of Father Bede Griffiths, Ecological Design: Inventing The Future, Side Effects, Aaron Russo’s America: Freedom to Fascism, and others. Currently John and team represent writer/director Lexi Alexander’s film, Lifted, GhettoPhysics: Will The Real Pimps and Ho’s Please Stand Up! – the follow-on film to What The Bleep.., and writer / director Tom Shadyac’s new film, I AM.

In the 90s’, John produced the 15th Year Anniversary celebration of Yoga Journal magazine with Chynna Phillips, Baron Baptiste and the legendary “First Lady of Yoga” Indra Devi and was a PR guide for other prominent yoga teachers such as Larry Payne and Kali Ray.

In 1991, John was the creator and co-founder of New Mind Presents, the first speakers bureau advocating “ideas that make a world of difference” and solely representing influential, leading-edge “new paradigm” scientists, psychologists, economists, ecologists, philosophers, futurists and business specialists for meetings and programs in the business and educational sectors. Clients included: David Brower, Ram Dass, Eric Drexler, Matthew Fox, Willis Harman, Paul Hawken, Dan Millman, Joseph Chilton Pearce, John Robbins, Leonard Shlain, Brian Swimme, Gary Zukav and many others. Since 2005, John and team have been the exclusive speaking agents for Quantum Physicist Dr. Fred Alan Wolf.

In 2006, through Visioneering, John partnered with Gaiam, the global lifestyle merchandiser and mail order company, to form Awakened Media. Under that banner, he designed and implemented the distribution and marketing infrastructure that brought the multi-award-winning documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John and the Kirk Douglas feature Illusion to the marketplace. While working with Gaiam, John was co-producer of the 2006 Inspiration Film Festival, which highlighted the best in inspirational narrative features, full-length documentaries, narrative shorts and animated works chosen from over 1,500 submissions.

Since 2004, John has served as a member of a Grammy Awards screening committee and also serves, since 2008, as a judge for The Posi Awards honoring songwriters and musical artists who are spreading an empowering message through music. John was also a judge on the Blue Ribbon panel of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) 2005 Gold Quill awards, and was an industry judge at the 2005 Inspiration Film Festival in Los Angeles. He also marketed the 1991 Aveda US Environmental Film Festival hosted by Chevy Chase and Olivia Newton-John.

A trailblazing visionary, leader, advocate and speaker in the growing transformational entertainment/media genre, John founded, along with author/spiritual leader Eckhart Tolle and actor/activist Jim Carrey, GATE – the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment – and is its Board Chairman. GATE is a nonprofit organization (501c6 pending) dedicated to mobilizing and supporting entertainment and media professionals, who want to express their own transformational vision and values though the content they write, produce, perform in, or otherwise contribute to.

Recently, John founded Transformational Entertainment Networks (TEN) as an alternative distribution company connecting grassroots venues with films, speakers and special programs/events. Lexi Alexander’s Lifted is their first distribution acquisition. In partnership with TEN, plans are underway for the creation of Wisdom Culture Entertainment, a production company to acquire, develop and produce / co-produce transformational content and Wisdom Culture Media Fund, a financial vehicle to fund a market basket of small budget media projects to be produced by Wisdom Culture Entertainment and distributed by TEN and other distributors.

John has been a personal manager in the entertainment industry, beginning his professional career in 1979 with magician Doug Henning and actor Ned Beatty and learning the managment ropes from industry veteran Dolores Robinson, with whom he managed Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez and LeVar Burton. Under his own banner, he represented high-profile celebrity musicians including Billy Preston (“The Fifth Beatle”), Al Stewart, and several R & B acts including A Taste of Honey, Hazel Payne (of A Taste of Honey), L. J. Reynolds, Beau Williams, Sheree Brown and many others.

In 1984-85 John was the Executive Administrator of one of Southern California’s most forward-looking holistic health clinics specializing in Ayurvedic medicine. He was a successful stockbroker (during the Oct. 87 crash!), an Executive Vice President at IMN in 1988 (a public relations agency representing Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Michael Jackson), and an editor at “New Paradign Digest,” a newsletter of leading-edge ideas and positive news published in the early 90s’, also a Visioneering client. John is a private pilot and wants to earn his instrument rating.

John has had a lifelong love of music, kicking off a professional career as a blues/rock guitarist at age 12! As a lead guitarist with various bands, from age 12 to 17, he opened for several legendary acts including The MC5, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter and others.

Embodying an exceptionally eclectic spiritual path since 1967, John is a teacher of Transcendental Meditation and, since 1976, has instructed thousands in the practice. He led one of the most successful TM centers (Flint, MI) in the country from 1975 through 1979 during the “Merv Wave” when millions of people began practicing TM because of Merv Griffin and Clint Eastwood’s recommendations.