Filmmakers
Writer & Director
Writer Bradford Thomason and Director Brett Whitcomb are award-winning filmmakers from Houston, TX. Their credits include, The Rock-afire Explosion, a documentary that chronicles the rise and fall of Showbiz Pizza Place. The Rock-afire Explosion screened at over twenty film festivals, garnered positive praise from news outlets worldwide, including USA TODAY, Time Out London, and SPIN Magazine, and received a theatrical run in Austin, TX. Their most recent film, GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in 2012, and has since played to sold out crowds in Los Angeles, New York, and London. Most recently, the film was awarded Best Documentary at Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, and has received positive press in Village Voice, /Film, Jezebel, Indiewire, Pro Wrestling Illustrated, and New York Magazine.
Producer
Jason Connell is the president and founder of Connell Creations, a Los Angeles based film and television production company since 2004. The company was formed in Connell's hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1999 where the focus was on creating short films, commercials and corporate videos. The relocation was an opportunity to tell bigger stories to wider audiences and it didn't take long to manifest.
In 2007 Connell produced and directed his first feature length film, Strictly Background, a heart-warming documentary about professional background actors trying to make it in Hollywood. The film won numerous US & International Awards and was released on DVD in August 2008. The Rock-afire Explosion, a touching fan favorite documentary about a small-town disc jockey, a struggling inventor, and an animatronic rock band, was released in 2009. In 2011, Connell produced I Do, I Don't, an insightful look into how one young Christian couple's struggling marriage clashes with their traditional Christian beliefs and Gabi on the Roof in July, an independent feature which won multiple awards on the festival circuit. More films are were released in 2012, including Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians, an inside look at a team of professional blackjack players made up entirely of churchgoing Christians, and Cleanflix, which examines the controversial companies who sanitize Hollywood films for Mormon audiences. GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, takes a behind the scenes look at the rise and fall of the first all-female wrestling show. In 2013, Connell produced Sadermania, the true story about Hulk Hogan and his number one fan, as well as Tough Ain’t Enough: Conversations with Albert S. Ruddy, a bio documentary about the legendary film producer. Connell has even more films in development as he continues to fulfill his mission statement.
Connell is also the founder and director of the United Film Festivals which started in Tulsa in 2002 and then spread to Los Angeles & New York in 2007 and next to San Francisco, Chicago & London in 2009. The festivals have a rich tradition of screening exceptional independent films and have gained a respectable reputation in only a few years time. Connell's distribution division, the appropriately named United Films, has grown rapidly and now represents an impressive and constantly expanding library of independent films.
Editor
Alex Perrault is an Emmy-nominated editor who has worked in film, TV, and web for more than 15 years. His clients include National Geographic, Discovery, PBS, A&E, TLC, Food Network, Animal Planet, Microsoft, and the Gates Foundation. His work was nominated for a Golden Needle at the 2005 Seattle International Film Festival, and has shown at Hot Docs, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival amongst others. He has also lectured on film and television at the University of Washington, American University, 911 Media Arts Center, and the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival.
Music
An art-funk ensemble from the South Bronx in New York, ESG was formed by four sisters: Deborah Scroggins (bass, vocals), Maria Scroggins (congas, vocals), Renee Scroggins (guitar, vocals), Valerie Scroggins (drums), and friend Leroy Glover (bass). ESG have been influential in a wide range of musical genres, including hip hop, post punk, disco, and dance-punk. Their music is centered around the sisters' complex polyrhythms, with atmosphere supplied by bass and pop-flavored guitar.
