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With a body of work that includes over 35 films and notable television appearances including the current Fox hit “The War at Home” and three years as one of the stars of David E. Kelley’s critically acclaimed television drama “Boston Public,” Michael Rapaport has proven himself an actor of uncompromising ability. Rapaport exploded onto the silver screen in 1993 with ZEBRAHEAD, receiving great critical acclaim for his genuine and confident portrayal of a Jewish teenager growing up in a predominantly African-American Detroit neighborhood. The performance went on to garner him an Independent Spirit Award nomination and the film itself won the 1993 Sundance Film Festival’s Filmmaker’s Trophy. People who saw his work recognized the future was promising for an actor whose talent seemed unstoppable. Over the next years Michael starred opposite Woody Allen and Hugh Grant in the DreamWorks comic-caper SMALL TIME CROOKS, gave a controversial performance opposite Damon Wayans and Jada Pinkett-Smith in the New Line/Spike Lee’s comedy BAMBOOZLED, starred in the Twentieth Century Fox period drama MEN OF HONOR with Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding, Jr., co-starred with John Travolta in LUCKY NUMBERS, the Nora Ephron comedy/drama for Paramount Pictures and in Sony’s sci-fi thriller THE SIXTH DAY with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rapaport has been consistently singled out for his memorable performances. From his dramatic roles in John Singleton’s HIGHER LEARNING and Barbet Schroeder’s KISS OF DEATH to his comedic turns in Woody Allens’ MIGHTY APHRODITE and Ted Demme’s BEAUTIFUL GIRLS, Rapaport has exhibited a unique versatility throughout his career. Additional film credits include METRO, A BROTHER’S KISS, COP LAND, KICKED IN THE HEAD, TRUE ROMANCE, THE PALLBEARER, ILLTOWN, PALMETTO and DEEP BLUE SEA, as well as this summer’s hit comedy HITCH, for Columbia, starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes, and New Line’s upcoming comedy GRILLED, starring Ray Romano and Kevin James.
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Bob Teitel is a successful film producer originally from Chicago who has produced such hits as BARBERSHOP 1 & 2, BEAUTY SHOP, ROLL BOUNCE, NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS, SOUL FOOD, and NOTORIOUS. Bob is currently in pre-production on FASTER, a movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton with CBS Films and Sony as well as BOBBY MARTINEZ which is being financed by Participant Media.
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ED PARKS is an award-winning producer & director who has completed numerous projects for domestic and international markets. After receiving his M.F.A. in Film Production from the University of Southern California in 2001, he formed the Santa Monica based Rival Pictures. Rival has produced a number of films and commercials for clients such as State Farm Insurance and Nike, as well as the feature film SPECIAL, starring Michael Rapaport. The film was received to great critical acclaim at Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released by Magnolia Pictures in 2008. Rival is currently prepping SpaceStation 76, a indie feature starring Sarah Silverman and being directed by Jack Plotnick.
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Eric Matthies current documentary film “Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year with Andre Williams” is his debut as a feature length filmmaker. He is also the primary cinematographer and the producer. His short form documentary film, Ayamye* (Goodness, Kindness, Generosity), was nominated for the Social Justice Fund at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2007. Ayamye* is currently part of an ongoing, worldwide festival about sustainable transportation. Eric Matthies is an award winning producer and director specializing in documentaries, video installations and special features for DVD’s. The documentary film “Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year with Andre Williams” is his debut as a feature length filmmaker. His short form documentary film, Ayamye* (Goodness, Kindness, Generosity), was nominated for the Social Justice Fund at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2007 and is currently part of an ongoing, worldwide festival about sustainable transportation. Matthies company, EMP Inc. has produced promotional packages and ancillary content for dozens of films and games including all of The Matrix titles, 300, Watchmen and Sherlock Holmes. Between 1986 and 1994, Eric worked with the seminal production company H-Gun, shooting notable music videos for artists such as Nine Inch Nails, De La Soul, Public Enemy and Soundgarden. As a young director he received recognition from The Chicago International Film Festival for his work with the legendary band Suicidal Tendencies. He has produced video installations seen at both the Venice and Whitney Biennial, as well as in galleries and museums around the world. With experience working in the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, Eric has been responsible for an array of film and multi-media projects on diverse topics ranging from jazz theory to volcanoes.
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Robert Benavides is a Colombian-American Director of Photography working in Commercials, Music Videos and Films. Robert has photographed music videos for Kings of Leon, Cypress Hill, T.I., Snoop Dogg and many other international artists. Commercial clients include Adidas, Kodak, Burton Snowboards, Rockstar Games and many more. Robert has served as the DP on 5 Feature Films, “Krews” being his most recent. Robert lives in Los Angeles
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Debra is a filmmaker and long-time community educator in the Bay Area. In 2001, she became the Founder and Executive Director of Conscious Youth Media Crew, a San Francisco based digital film production program training high risk youth specializing in direct cinema style storytelling. Debra has produced many short films, music videos and promo’s with hundreds of Bay Area youth. CYMC’s work has been recognized by the San Francisco International Film Festival, Cine Chicago Film Festival, Campecine Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival and many others. Honored by the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival for “Outstanding Youth Media”, CYMC’s latest feature length film “A Choice of Weapons” portrays life in San Francisco’s roughest public housing projects facing redevelopment and toxic waste pollution.
Her current work is focused on a green youth media campaign in partnership with Grind for the Green to help bring the hip-hop generation from the margins to the epicenter of the environmental movement.
Debra also does media consulting, and freelance work as a camera-woman, editor and producer, but her focus and commitment is to helping young people manifest their divine potential in life through film, music, and art.
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Lenny Mesina is a film editor whose love of art and pop culture coupled with his instinctive editing style has led him to collaborations with an eclectic group of creatives. Works include projects with directors Marc Webb, Jessy Terrero, Meiert Avis and Motion Theory as well as ventures with non-traditional filmmakers ranging from musicians Beck and Kanye West to actors Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix to curator Aaron Rose, photographer Estevan Oriol and Nylon magazine’s Marvin Scott Jarrett. Lenny’s most recent film is Beautiful Losers, the critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary about contemporary art and street culture directed by Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard and scored by Money Mark of the Beastie Boys. The film won the Documentary Jury Award at CineVegas’ 2008 film festival and was selected for the South By Southwest, Hot Docs, and Locarno film festivals, building a grassroots audience of inspired fans. The film’s success helped launch Nike Sportswear’s Make Something!! initiative where Lenny, along with artists like KAWS, Mike Mills and Ed Templeton, taught DIY (do it yourself) workshops for young adults in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo. Lenny has edited award-winning music videos for musicians that include AFI, Common, Regina Spektor and Blink 182 among others, and cut commercials for clients like Nike, Nintendo and Lexus. Recently Lenny was in China working alongside Italian production team Sartoria and video artist Robert Wilson to create Nike inspired video installations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Originally from New York City, Lenny has lived in Southern California since 1986 and attended San Francisco’s Academy of Art College. He currently lives in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles and is the author of the blog Chumpchampion.com.
