Daniel Mellitz - Producer, Writer, Director

• Daniel Mellitz studied film at California State University Long Beach and has written, produced and directed nine short film projects. Two of these projects, La Femme Pickle and The Lost Mariner, went on to win numerous awards at film festivals including Best of Show for the CSU Summer arts festival, Best of Show at the San Jose State Film Festival, First place in the Marin County Fair, a Gold at the International Cindy Competition, and Silvers at Worldfests Houston and Charleston.

He continues to work in the film industry as a professional Video Assist, Visual Effects Artist and Non-linear Editor. He has also been employed by some of the largest Visual Effects companies in the industry such as Digital Domain, The Secret Lab (a division of Disney) and Rhythm & Hues. Some of the films he has worked on are The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, Garfield, The Cat In The Hat , Daredevil, Kangaroo Jack, Cats And Dogs, Thirteen Days, Mission Impossible II, Anna And The King, The Postman and Dante’s Peak. He has also worked on numerous music videos, commercials and industrials. In addition to The Naked Ape he has also written the scripts Descent, Mercenaries and Amberfield.

Kathy Renee Mattes - Producer

• Kathy Mattes graduated from California State University Long Beach Cum Lade with a double major in Film and Psychology. She served as Production Manager on Daniel Mellitz’s short The Lost Mariner. Following school, she worked for three years at Crest National Film Laboratories in the heart of Hollywood as the office manager, but left to pursue closer involvement with film production. With her skills and experience in accounting working for South West LA College she quickly landed a position on the 1998 production Anna And The King as an Assistant Accountant under Ida Lee Henderson. She has continued to work on Mrs. Henderson’s accounting team on later productions including Planet of the Apes and Daredevil where she was the first team member hired. She is currently working on the motion picture adaptation of Miami Vice.

David Vendl - Producer

• David Vendl is another of the California State University Long Beach film school graduates who also studied Producing at University California Los Angeles. In addition to producing and directing a number of his own short films, David has also been involved in production design and set dressing on short projects, including Daniel Mellitz's short, The Lost Mariner.

Troy Paff - Producer

• Troy Paff is the principal of Cuyahoga Productions, a multimedia outfit specializing in technology-based expression from digital video documentaries and industrials to photography and design for the web. He is a fellow alum of Cal State Long Beach, where he wrote, directed, and produced many shorts before graduation and the subsequent development and production of independent feature films like Pavement Ends (AMPAS screenwriting semifinalist), Nana Carmen (Sundance Institute semifinalist), and Looking For Oscar Tibs. Cuyahoga Productions’ corporate clients have included the American Heart Association, the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2004 Dennis Kucinich for President National Campaign, Monsanto, Oracle, Cadence, Pfizer, and Pharmacia. He resides in Taos, New Mexico.

Sally Yang - Producer

• Sally Yang is a multiple award-winning producer and writer whose work includes features, commercials and documentaries. Originally from Hangzhou, Sally graduated with honors from Beijing Foreign Studies University before immigrating to the United States where she earned an MA in Psychology and an MFA in Film Production from USC’s top-ranked School of Cinema-Television. Sally has spearheaded numerous co-productions with Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang TV including Doolittle Raiders in China, MBA Demystified and Deanna. Her documentaries have been seen in both the U.S. and China, and her films have won various awards including the 2000 Writer’s Digest Screenwriting Award and best short film in Hong Kong’s 2001 Mythical Film Festival. She has also worked for Columbia Pictures as a Coordinator for their story department, Universal Studios as a Project Manager and, most recently, has been Production Manager for Deluxe Digital Studios.

James Renn - Associate Producer

• James Renn is a ten year veteran of the entertainment industry with expertise in marketing and distribution. Since graduating from the film program at California State University Long Beach, he has worked on dozens of feature films. James was a Production Coordinator for The Chandler Group and A Few Miles North where he worked on Flubber, The Peacemaker and A Stir Of Echoes. From there he moved on to the product placement company, David Brown Entertainment, where he served as an Account Representative and most recently worked in Acquisitions for the motion picture distribution company, Xenon Pictures.

James Atkinson - Associate Producer

• James Atkinson

Douglas Glover - Cinematographer

• Douglas Glover is an award winning Director of Photography. His passion for images began as a photojournalist at Colorado State University. Inspired by Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, Douglas left photojournalism for film school, where his talent quickly distinguished him from his peers. After shooting a multitude of shorts, he obtained a camera fellowship with Steven Poster, A.S.C. Subsequent AC roles for the likes of Haskell Wexler, A.S.C., Caleb Deschanel, A.S.C., and Tami Reiker would prove indispensable to his real world practice of cinematography.

As Director of Photography, Douglas has shot many shorts, music videos, commercials, documentaries, and several feature films in both primary and second unit capacities, and his projects have won awards at international film festivals and in trade competitions worldwide. For his work on The Road Home, Douglas recently won the Best Feature Cinematography Award at the 2002 New York International Independent Film Festival.

Serena Warner - Editor

• Serena Warner graduated from The University of California at Santa Cruz with honors and has since been unable to bring herself to leave the beautiful bay area (try as she might). She has been editing for ten years, primarily in San Francisco, although she has traveled as far as Thailand for a job. Since 2000, Serena has spent the majority of her professional time working for Francis Ford Coppola at his legendary film company in the heart of North Beach, American Zoetrope, where she edits documentaries and featurettes for his dvd lab. Her work has screened at the Telluride Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, among others.

Cathy Tamkin - Music Supervisor

• Cathy Tamkin grew up in Los Angeles and left to study English Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After earning her degree and traveling Europe, Cathy returned home. She went from entertainment publicity to writing for AOL to script reading at John Hughes' company, Great Oaks. Cathy then decided to volunteer for National Public Radio's Southern California flagship station, KCRW (89.9fm). After two years of free labor, she landed her own Friday night music show, Pop Secret. Not only has she deejayed in Mexico, Miami, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and Sun Valley, but she was the music supervisor on Nadine In Date Land, starring Janeane Garofalo, as well as the Sundance-bound film, Dreamland.

Mark Petrie - Composer

• Mark Petrie grew up in New Zealand, where he first studied piano and composition. Passionate about film music from an early age, he traveled to Boston, MA in 1999 after receiving a scholarship to study film scoring at Berkley College of Music. Since completing his degree in 2002, Mark has gone on to compose for a wide range of award winning films including Café And Tobacco starring Enrique Murciano (Miss Congeniality 2, Black Hawk Down) and Corrado Schoner Productions’ Murder Reincarnated starring Cristián de la Fuente (Basic, Driven). In 2004 Mark was chosen amongst hundreds of other composers to work with legendary composer Mike Post, as one of the winners of the BMI Pete Carpenter Fellowship.

Mark Sikes - Casting Director

• Mark Sikes has been casting independent films for fourteen years. His projects have appeared in film festivals all over the world. Mark started in the business working for Roger Corman and has cast 75 films and three TV series since then. Most recently, Mark cast the film Mortuary for Tobe Hooper, the director of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

1421 Productions - Co-producing with Closed Door Productions

• 1421 Productions put it's birthmark on the world in late 2002, 1421 Productions is a small group of talented people who are known for their insight and efficiency in pre-production, production and post-production work. The group is made up of 3 key players highly experienced in this industry. David Cohen, an actor of 13 years with a degree in theatre, has been in over 30 national and regional commercial spots, several movie appearances and has a respectable list of behind-the-camera credits. Jesse Biltz offers knowledge and experience stemming from a marketing degree, having been a business owner and also having worked nearly every job, in front of and behind the camera, on numerous film projects. Michael Galatte, also a business owner, brings insight and organization that are the backbone and structure for the success of 1421 Productions and their associates. 1421 Productions bring key forces to the offering plate with their involvement. Since December, 2002 they have co-produced 12 short films and have two feature films in pre-production. What began in the minds of 3 young “producers at heart” is now an entertainment industry professional, specializing in completing a dream.

Josh Wise - Actor (Alex)

• Josh Wise

Chelse Swain - Actor (Susie)

• Chelse Swain

Sean Shanks - Actor (James)

• Sean Shanks

Amanda MacDonald - Actor (Kristie)

• Amanda MacDonald

Tony LaThanh - Actor (Eric)

• Tony LaThanh

Michael Jackson - Actor, Radio Host (Zoologist)

• Michael Jackson

Corbin Bernsen - Actor (Alex's Father)

• Corbin Bernsen