Filmmakers

MARCUS DREEKE

DIRECTOR

The first short film he wrote and directed, “Shoot out”, advanced to the second round of Ben Affleck and Matt Daemon’s 2003 Project Greenlight Director’s Contest, one of their top 250 scenes. Since then he has produced, written and directed over two dozen short movies, ranging from 1 to 20 minutes in length, experimenting and learning visual storytelling. He believes a great director must be familiar with every aspect of the film making process. He is a SAG actor and has acted in many independent productions including the straight to DVD feature, “Ghostwatchers II”, produced by Robert Appenzeller. He learned real world, big production, procedure and practices by working as a production assistant on “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Spanglish”, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, “Wedding Crashers” and “Malcolm in the Middle”. Being attentive he has gained vast amounts of technique and technical knowledge on these cream of the crop sets. He started writing screenplays in 1997, honing and learning over the course of 8 feature

length screenplays and dozen more short form pieces. Many of which he has carried through to production. He founded a episodic web series that he helmed through 5 ten minute episodes still available on the web. He has since move from directing short film and web episodics to feature length productions with his first direct to DVD feature “Keepin’ the Faith: My Baby’s Getting Married”, the 3rd in a series distributed by Vivendi. "This is Who I am" will be his second feature.

DAN VELEZ

PRODUCER

His work as Casting Associate on the new $225 Million Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” may be Dan’s most notable credit but his experience truly comes from his work as Casting Director on over 50 independent feature films ranging in budgets from $25K to $45 Million.

Through these productions, he has learned what works and what doesn’t work when making an independent low budget feature film. This gives him immeasurable confidence as he moves into the Producer seat. His involvement in every single step of Pre and Production guarantees that everything that can be done to guarantee a profitable movie will be done.

Dan is confident that his already successful working relationship with Marcus and Nino, as seen on the short Film “Dust”, the short film “Too Many Girls” and the soon to be released Warner Brothers’ Home Video “Keepin’ the Faith: My Baby getting’ married” will help make his newest producing effort, “This Is Who I Am” a success.

TINA PAVLIDES

PRODUCER

Tina Pavlides arrived in Los Angeles, at the start of 2002. Tina Pavlides hit the ground running, she landed jobs with top level Management and Talent Agencies as well as film production crews. Tina loved making movies, real movies the ones that make you think, feel, love and understand.

In 2006, she started her own company, still standing productions. Past producing projects include, Second Thoughts, adapted from a short story written by Hubert Selby, Jr., Mercy Street, LA Proper, a comedy about life in Los Angeles, The Glitch, Searching For Kandisha, a documentary shot in Morocco and This Can’t Be My Life, Starring Lynn Wactor, Tracie Thoms and Rosario Dawson. Tina has also worked with Macaulay Culkin, Eliza Dushku, Jamie Ray Newman, Alexis Dziena, Jennifer Freeman, Tony Todd and Jason Briggs.

In 2007-2008, Tina worked with HD Films to produced projects for Warner Brothers Studios, an animated series called Chadam and the first two episodes of The Jace Hall Show.

Currently, Tina is working on The Frankenstein Brothers and This Is Who I Am.

STEVE NGUYEN/ THE PRESTIGE GROUP

PRODUCER/PUBLIC RELATIONS

Born and raised in Orange County, Steve is currently undertaking many roles, one being the President of The Presstige Group Public Relations, LLC, where he represents prestigious domestic and international Clients. The Company was formed with the vision of obtaining the right publicity for the right clients resulting in individualized branding.

The Company’s Clientele list includes Fashion Labels, LifeStyle, TV/Film, Corporate, and of course, Musicians. In addition, The Presstige Group has partnered with FIJI water, Vitamin Water, Peroni Italy, Motorola, HP, Apple, Gateway, American Express, Saks Fifth Avenue and a multitude of many other well-established corporations to generate promotional opportunities through events for maximum exposure.

Most recently, The Presstige Group represents Universal Pictures films, one being The Scorpion King 2:Rise of A Warrior and several other pictures (i.e. A Forgotten Innocence and several other Universal Pictures films). Strategies developed by The Presstige Group revolutionized PR so that an emphasis on brand differentiation and unique positioning may generate viable, distinctive and entertaining brand hooks that create opportunity for multi-media coverage and brand awareness. This strategy was soon utilized by Films distributed by Disney, Sony Pictures, Paramount, LIONSGATE, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures with break through success. The Company’s media/press strategies and Contacts have benefit him in several avenues, which led Steve to produce.

With the knowledge and experience of producing segments for media outlets for television shows (i.e. Your LA on NBC, Access Hollywood, Extra, The Juice for OC Register, E! News,and Daily 10), he started a company called Young Wind Productions, LLC. Steve Nguyen’s passion and talent for the arts has seen much success with his vast amount of

relations with particular celebrity names, media conglomerates, distribution sources so that producing would be natural to him. With his experience producing segments, he utilized those resources to produce several productions. With his resources, skills, and management control he will succeed in producing.

NICKOLAS DYLAN ROSSI

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Nickolas Rossi first became involved in production by documenting a theatre group run by youth in at risk situations. He attended classes at Chicago's Columbia College after high school, concentrating on fine art photography and installation.

In 1994 Nickolas relocated to the Pacific Northwest, where he spent many years working with street kids and juvenile prostitutes in Portland, Oregon. He occasionally picked up interest in film production, and was given the opportunity to work as camera operator on "Beat Angel' in 1998.

In 1999 he left for London, and worked as a camera operator in various casting agencies in the West End. In 2000, he relocated to Prague, where he worked as a camera assistant on big budget American productions flooding the country, such as Blade2 (2001) and Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001). He relocated once again to Los Angeles in 2002.

Working his way up from camera assistant to operator, Nickolas currently works as a director of photography, and frequently shoots features shorts and music videos. He has worked behind the lense across North America and Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.

SHERRIE HENDERSON

Casting Director

When Sherrie Henderson casts a project, the focus is to make it a "stellar" experience for everyone involved. Producers consistently comment on the fantastic quality of the actors presented for their consideration and how extremely organized the casting process was from beginning to end. Actors receive valuable tips and feedback for their performances to help them reach their best possible understanding of the role.

After earning her BA in Psychology and Child Psychology from the Florida State University and a Masters in Recreational Therapy for the University of North Texas, Sherrie found herself at an interesting crossroad. She moved to California to be closer to her cousin and the water, and decided to take a break before continuing on to receive her Ph.D. in Child Psychology.

A suggestion from her cousin led her into casting, and down a path no one saw coming. As a casting assistant at Rocket Science, and then at the premiere commercial casting offices, Francene Selkirk-Ackerman, 200 South La Brea, she caught on quick and became very sought after to work with top casting directors and their clients. Sherrie then decided to pursue her passion for finding talented actors. She has cast all types of actors for indie features, SAG shorts, and national and international commercials.

Whether casting a promo, series, or film, Sherrie's energy and enthusiasm remains consistent throughout the project.

DAN VELEZ

Casting Director

After his education, which led him to the prestigious University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dan realized that there was nothing more exciting than the casting process; through casting, Dan has the capability to cast a net into a large pool of talent, never settle for the obvious, and always demand the best. He chose not to attend UCLA and instead use his close to 15 years of training in acting to focus on Casting.

Some of his highest profile credits include his work on Fox’s feature film “Dragonball” and MGM’s “Quantum of Solace” as Casting Associate.

In addition to that, he has worked out of the office of established Casting Director Mary Vernieu (Sin City) as associate to Casting Director Carla Hool (Apocalypto) in multiple projects that include Solo Quiero Caminar (with Diego Luna) and This is not a movie (with Edward Furlong).

Before working as Carla Hool’s Associate, Dan worked on multiple independent feature films as Casting Director, working with actors such as Angus Macfadyen, Costas and Louis Mandylor, Daniel Baldwin and William Sadler, among others.

Dan leverages off his culturally-diverse experiences in Latin America, the Midwest, and now the West Coast to create the perfect blend of artistic creativity with every one of the projects that he works on.

Dan carries himself with a keen, energetic, professional, and pleasant attitude so each time he approaches a new project, he seeks to find humanity in every actor he encounters. This, along with his body of work, in his relative short time casting has made his name well known among all levels of industry Professionals. Actors, Agents and Managers respect him, and his Producers and Directors are always pleased with the level of talent he delivers. He has now partnered up with Casting Director Sherrie Henderson and together they are working on multiple feature films out of their office located at Space Station.