JUSTIN ELIJAH STRAWHAND

WRITER | DIRECTOR | CO-PRODUCER

Justin’s mission is to use new technology to create modern myths.

His body of work is diverse, ranging from animation, feature documentary and narrative, to live television production, and his work has been seen everywhere from the MoMA to ESPN.

His recent work includes serving as Executive Producer and Creative Director for the cutting edge TV show Karate Combat, serving as screenwriter and co-producer for Birthright, a Western made for Sony Affirm, and running a small animation company focused on Unreal Engine production.

Current projects include a feature animated Biblical epic currently in pre-production, a soon-to-be announced biopic about the wartime exploits of one of Hollywood’s most famous leading men, and various short-form AI films.

DAVID NOLLER

writer

David is a screenwriter, communication consultant, and explorer of forms. He has written feature film scripts for a number of clients, including Scott Derrickson, the director of Doctor Strange, Sinister, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose; and Scott Teems, supervising producer of the Sundance Channel's Rectify, and respected writer/director of independent films starring Hal Holbrook and Michael Shannon.

Prior to becoming a screenwriter, David wrote award-winning corporate video, but he was also a decorated scholar in the fields of Organizational Communication and Rhetoric. One foot followed another down a conventionally-trod path and he walked into an academic's dream—a tenure-track position at a Research One university: at which point he jolted awake and realized it was never his dream to be an academic. So he stepped off that road and beat a more challenging but interesting path to the base of Mt. Hollywood and the world of story and screen.

In addition to the practice of screenwriting he maintains a fascination and connection with other forms, organizational and artistic. These include building healthier organizational structures and cultures through his association with the Center for Innovative Cultures, and authoring the most comprehensive yet comprehensible book on the market about the construction and contents of poetry, Master Poetry Forms, which created the first-ever "periodic table for poetry.”

Although he is a native flatlander, David is a very slow but determined mountain runner who can often be found pounding the trails around the Rose Bowl.

DENIZ DEMIRER

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Deniz is a filmmaker based in New York. His work is characterized by a use of verisimilitude that provokes immediate and visceral relationships between audience and story. His unusual blend of intimacy with hardscrabble urban existence frequently explores such subjects as exile and self-destruction, with an eye toward revealing the fragility of the human condition.

Deniz credits his fearless approach to filmmaking to his years of mentorship under maverick filmmaker Rob Nilsson, the renowned innovator who pioneered the technique of “Direct Action Cinema,” a method that relies heavily on direct experience and improvisation.

Deniz’s work as a writer and director includes five feature films and he currently has two new features in development. He has also written and directed over a dozen short films, including Simon’s Agony (2021), and his forthcoming short Above the Sunset (2023).

Deniz has garnered high praise and critical acclaim from legendary cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins for the extraordinary cinematography on the award-winning short film Forest Born (2016).

MARIO GRIGOROV

COMPOSER

Mario is a Bulgarian-born film composer and pianist. A musical prodigy from the age of five, he became one of the youngest students ever admitted to the Sofia Conservatory. He went on to study music in Tehran, Vienna, Berlin, Sydney before the age of eighteen, becoming an accomplished pianist and improviser.

Some of his most recognisable film work comes from his long-standing collaboration with Academy Award-winning director Lee Daniels, scoring Shadowboxer, Tennessee, the Academy Award-winning Precious, and The Paperboy (starring Nicole Kidman). Other film scores include supernatural thriller, Beyond, starring Academy-award nominee Jon Voight, who went on to say “Mario is a master at his craft and delivered a score that elevated the movie to another level”.

Acclaimed director Susan Seidelman said of Mario’s score for her dramatic romance, Musical Chairs, “Not only is he a brilliant composer and musician, but he is a great collaborative partner, always putting the artistic and emotional needs of the movie first without compromising his own vision”.

In addition to composing, Mario indulges in ambidextrous creative outlets such as his simultaneous two-handed symmetrical drawings. He has also developed an experimental type of keyboard playing known as Mirror Tones™, a creative interpretation of the fundamental structure of the piano keyboard. Mario lives in Berlin with his wife.

Michael Archacki

Sound Designer

Michael is an Emmy Award-winning re-recording mixer, sound designer, and sound supervisor with over 25 years of experience shaping the sonic landscapes of film and television. Most recently, he completed the sound mix for The Boy and the Heron, which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. With nearly 300 IMDb credits, Michael is also recognized as one of the most distinguished alumni of Emerson College’s School of Visual and Media Arts.

A recipient of multiple accolades, including an MPSE Golden Reel Award nomination, Michael holds an Avid-Pro Tools Expert Certification. His work spans independent films to major studio productions, underscoring his expertise and commitment to sound excellence.

In 2018, Michael founded Ascension Post, a state-of-the-art sound studio in Burbank, CA. His mission is to provide independent filmmakers with the same world-class sound design typically reserved for large-scale studio productions. Through Ascension Post, Michael continues to redefine the auditory experience in film, pushing creative boundaries and elevating every project to a new level of artistic achievement.

ANTHONY FREDA

ILLUSTRATOR

Anthony is an artist, educator, advocate and digital designer whose passion for peace and human dignity guides every creative endeavor. He holds a degree in Communication Design from Pratt Institute and has studied art and art history at The Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.

Anthony’s award-winning and often provocative illustration work has graced the pages of Time, The New Yorker, and the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. These periodicals comprise a small fraction of Freda’s luminary client list of a career spanning four decades. During his tenure as President of Redline Inc. the business he co-founded, he presided as creative art director for national advertising campaigns for Fortune 100 companies.

During his years on Madison Avenue he learned the potent concepts of Edward Bernays and mass psychology used by the Mad Men to influence the public. He has now redirected the power of visual communication to the front lines of the spiritual battle for peace and human liberty. One of Freda's original works is currently part of the permanent collection of the National September 11th Museum and Memorial in Manhattan. He is also a founding board member of Occupy Peace and dedicates much of his time to the anti-war movement, pro-bono.

Anthony currently contributes art to mainstream and alternative media, and works as a consultant for the R.F.K. Jr Superpac, American Values 24. He also proudly teaches undergraduate and graduate illustration classes as a permanent faculty-member of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Anthony now approaches every creative act as a devotion to God.

IRFAN MERCHANT

TECHNOLOGY WIZARD

Irfan is a founder of Digital Planet Studio and Mobile Motion Mocap, with technical producing experience of 25+ years in film, television, and visual effects.

While serving as the Chief Technology Officer for the host broadcaster in Africa for FIFA World Cup football (‘08, ‘09, ‘10), Irfan also worked on sports and broadcast live and tape-to-air productions around the world. He has also worked as a technology developer for 360 video, virtual reality and broadcast ARP, as well as virtual production in film and television.

Currently, Irfan is a virtual and interactive prodcutions consultant to multiple studios in Los Angeles and worldwide for clients such as Sony, Universal, Netflix, and Paramount Studios.

Irfan studied at UCLA and mentors underprivileged students. He also assists various churches in building out their media departments, production and streaming architecture, as well as upgrading their production systems to the latest technology. Irfan has lived in multiple countries and traveled to many more, experiencing various cultures and lifestyles in an effort to better understand different approaches to life.

Kristine Megrikian

Designer

Kristine is CEO of Patterns World Inc., a Los Angeles-based fashion development firm that specializes in bringing conceptual fashion design to life.

Born in Armenia, Kristine grew up in the foreground of the LA fashion culture when Patterns World was first established by her grandmother, who emigrated from Armenia to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams beyond a communist system.

Today Patterns World is involved with industry-leading celebrity clients such as Lady Gaga, Yeezy by Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Cindy Crawford, and Adele, as well as international clientele including Ugg Australia.

Kristine holds a B.A. in both Philosophy and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles.

TYLER AMENT

MARKETING & TECHNOLOGY GURU

Tyler is CEO and owner of Immaculata Studios and Coldsmoke Networks. His companies deliver technology strategy consulting, web application development services, managed web infrastructure, and managed network services to global stakeholders.

Tyler frequently leads technology solution architecture, digital marketing strategy, and innovation strategy for the likes of GE, Edelman Public Relations, Aramco Americas, 7-Eleven, CSL Behring, and more.

Whether it is a next-generation web interactive experience like the Window to the Womb Interactive or Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) Digital Twin applications for military research stakeholders, Tyler and his team deliver strategic technology and communications solutions that solve complex problems, secure futures, and win.

Tyler has a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language & Literature from Christendom College, and currently resides in a discrete location near Glacier National Park with his family and various species of dangerous wildlife.

“The destiny of a society always depends on creative minorities.”

—Pope Benedict XVI

PRODUCTION TEAM