Ryan Spindell was born in Portland Maine, New Years Eve, 1979. He spent the first 12 years of his life in northern Maine (Stephan King territory), and then was transplanted to Florida where he attended high school, and then college. He received his B.S. in graphic design, and a minor in Film Studies, from Florida State University in 2003. After graduation he worked as a professional graphic designer while simultaneously moonlighting as a production assistant for the ABC news affiliate in Tallahassee. After a year he was promoted to full-time photographer for ABC where he continued until acceptance into the Florida State University graduate film conservatory. In the two years enrolled in the film program, Ryan wrote and directed five short films, including a spec commercial for the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers Awards, and a 23-minute thesis film entitled “Kirksdale”. He has also shot, designed, and produced several other projects along side his extremely talented classmates. Ryan is currently developing several scripts in preparation for his first feature.

Julie Hotz, originally from Dallas, Texas, has been studying and working in the visual arts since 2001.  Starting with a bachelor’s degree in photography and a minor in interdisciplinary art and English from Texas A&M University-Commerce, she began exploring the areas she loves most, photography, design, and writing.  She continued her education by going to the Florida State University graduate Film School program where she concentrated on production design and cinematography.  Alongside her education Julie has shot and written for an award winning college newspaper, assisted professional photographers in the Dallas area, and shown personal work at invitational and solo gallery showings, and juried exhibitions.  She wishes to further her career in film by working in camera and lighting departments, ultimately hoping to travel the world while making films.

Arturo Yepez was born in Ecuador in 1977. He graduated with a B.A. in Visual Communications Graphics and Multimedia in 1999 at the University San Francisco de Quito. He has been working in the small Ecuadorian film industry since 1998, starting as a boom operator in the feature film “Rodents” (a.k.a. “Ratas Ratones Rateros” directed by Sebastian Cordero, 1998.) After that, Arturo decided that filmmaking was his vocation. His credits include: Location assistant in “Proof of Life” (Castle Rock Productions, 1999) and Cronicas (directed by Sebastian Cordero, 2004), and First Assistant Director in the recently released Ecuadorian feature film “Que Tan Lejos” (a.k.a. “How Much Further” directed by Tania Hermida, 2005). From 2000 to 2002 he worked as a sound engineer recording and mixing several records and sound designing for film and TV products. In 2001 he was hired as a professor for the undergraduate section of film and video at the University San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. And in 2004 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in the Faculty Development Program. Today Arturo is a candidate for the MFA degree in film production at Florida State University.  His dream is to be part of developing a strong Ecuadorian film industry.

T. Justin Ross is from the small Midwestern town of Maryville, Missouri; where he grew up watching his father direct plays at the local university, and his mother write plays for various professional outlets.  He began to direct community plays himself while in high school, but soon fell in love with the art of filmmaking when his father gave him a video camera as a Christmas present.  Justin attended Northwest Missouri State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in television production in 2003.  While at Northwest, he produced, wrote, and directed several independent films from thirty minutes to one hour in length.  After graduation, Justin joined the Americorps VISTA program, and was stationed at a non-profit civic engagement initiative in Kansas City, where he spent two years working with inner-city youth.  Justin joined the Florida State University Graduate Film Conservatory in the fall of 2005, to further his filmmaking experience and training.  Throughout the program, Justin wrote and directed several short films of his own, and was able to collaborate with whom he considers to be the best and brightest filmmakers of tomorrow on several projects, including this one.  After graduation in the fall of 2007, Justin plans on moving to Los Angeles, where he intends to start his professional film career. 

Sam Littenberg-Weisberg was born in Miami, FL and began to be interested in film at an early age. Once he completed high school, he attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut, but after two years, felt unhappy. He decided it was time for a change and transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he majored in Film Production. While there, he made numerous films, including a twenty-minute Thesis film.  After graduating with honors in 2005, he felt he still needed to learn and experience more in regards to film production, so he chose to be a part of the Graduate Film Program at Florida State University. Not only has he been able to direct three more films, but he has gotten the opportunity to work in various other positions that have expanded his knowledge of filmmaking as a whole. Upon graduating the summer of 2007, he plans on moving to Los Angeles to continue pursuing a filmmaking career.

Gregory Tripi (BMI) composes music for film and television. He is a classically trained composer and performer on piano, bass, bassoon, and sitar. Having attended Berklee College of Music and The University of Alabama, Greg has studied Film Scoring, Music Synthesis, and Composition with many extraordinary teachers. His music has been awarded the Georges Delerue Film Scoring Award and the Thomas Dolby Production Award. Greg has been a recipient of the BMI Pete Carpenter Fellowship with composer Mike Post, and The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Music Internship with composer W.G. Snuffy Walden. Greg’s compositions are based out of his Los Angeles, CA, studio.