Ken Close - Producer, Director, Writer

As a top-notch research scientist and lifetime member of Mensa (the high I.Q. society), Ken has tackled such diverse intellectual challenges as the optimum re-basing of fleets of aircraft, advising NBA managers on winning team structures, lecturing Army generals on winning future wars, and creating financial strategies for surviving the aftermath of the Bush economy. So why apply such serious thought, time and effort towards making better movies instead of finding a cure for cancer, solving world hunger or developing a strategy for winning the War Against Terrorism?

“Movies can entertain, enlighten and influence the way billions of people live,” Ken replies, “Imagine how different our world would be if people were ethical, happier and more benevolent. Great movies designed to satisfy an audience’s psychological needs could exert that kind of positive influence.”

Jim Horton - Narrator

Jim is one of the most entertaining radio personalities in America. He and Ken have been best friends since they shared the same home room in the 7th grade (which incidently, was also the last time they were put in the same classroom).

Tom Stamos - Directory Of Photography

Tom got his start in television with a station in Toledo Ohio, but primarily worked in Detroit as a camera operator for Detroit Public Television both in the studio and in the field for nationally syndicated shows. He co-founded Low Fidelity Productions, and when he’s not filming one of their projects he works as a news photographer with a TV station in Detroit Michigan. His keen eye for photography, coupled with his even keener sense of humor, can make a micro-budget documentary look better than any of Michael Moore’s multi-million dollar productions.

Jo-Anne Gembolis - Editor

Jo-Anne grew up in Sylvania, Ohio, and first became interested in film and television while acting in a high school play that was videotaped at the University of Michigan. She went on to major in Communications getting a degree in Video Production at Ohio University where she graduated with $200 worth of 16mm film stock and some condiments in her fridge.

Jo-Anne has been freelancing in film and video since 1994 and teaching college-level Digital Video since 2002. She and her partner, Tom Plapper, have high definition shooting and editing capabilities and have traveled as far as France on jobs with their equipment. Jo-Anne is also an avid scuba diver and hopes Ken secures the rights to "Waterworld II" so she can edit in a tropical locale.

Contact her at jo-anne@gembolis.com

Chris Stoll - Sound Director

Christopher P. Stoll has been making music and recording for over 25 years. Starting in his grade school concert band with a Radio Shack cassette recorder and stretching over the years into many different concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands, percussion ensembles, rock bands, concert halls and recording studios. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music (percussion) from The University Of Toledo, and his Master of Music Composition from Bowling Green State University.

Chris currently co-owns Zeta Recording Studio in Toledo Ohio, teaches music and recording at college and plays drum set with several bar bands and on recording projects. He can be reached at chris@audioflare.com.

Michael Close - Musician

Michael Close has been playing piano professionally since he was 17. He has degrees from Butler University in Indianapolis, and for many years was active in the studio recording scene in central Indiana. He now lives in Las Vegas, where he has performed in the Houdini Lounge at the Monte Carlo Hotel and in The Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower at The Paris Hotel. Michael Close is also considered to be one of the finest sleight-of-hand close-up magicians in the world. He has produced five books, many instructional videotapes, and is the product reviewer for Genii magazine, an independent journal for magicians. (see www.michaelclose.com)

Sam & Simon Mentzer - Rap Musicians

Sam and Simon are Ken’s nephews, and living proof that exceptional talent sometimes comes in plain white rappers.