Kathleen Man Gyllenhaal (Writer/Director) – Kathleen Man Gyllenhaal is an independent filmmaker, Yale graduate, and Fulbright Scholar who hails from Hawai’i. She is the writer/director of a diverse body of award-winning documentaries and dramas including The Interview, a Kafkaesque French-language film set in Paris, Sita: A Girl from Jambu, an ethnographic drama about child sex trafficking in Nepal, and Beauty Mark, a social documentary exploring America’s obsession with body image, perfection and success. Kathleen was also the producer and director of photography of Kind of a Blur, a film festival favorite starring Sandra Oh. She recently wrote and directed the award-winning Hawaiian short, Lychee Thieves. Kathleen taught film production for six years at the University of Colorado, Boulder, then joined the Film Department at Vassar College, where she was awarded tenure. In 2010, Kathleen moved to Hollywood to co-produce the feature film Grassroots, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starring Jason Biggs, Lauren Ambrose and Cedric the Entertainer. She is currently the executive producer of Exquisite Continent, a feature-length documentary on dreams and dream interpretation. In addition, Kathleen is writing and directing her first dramatic feature film, and developing a new dramatic television series with Stephen Gyllenhaal.
Stephen Gyllenhaal (Executive Producer) – Award-winning director Stephen Gyllenhaal’s productions include PARIS TROUT, for which he received a DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials, as well as WATERLAND, A DANGEROUS WOMAN, LOSING ISAIAH and HOMEGROWN. In 2012, he received a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television for GIRL FIGHT. Among his many tv movie and mini-series credits are LIVING WITH THE DEAD, TIME BOMB, A KILLING IN A SMALL TOWN, for which he received an Emmy nomination for directing, and the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated FAMILY OF SPIES. His episodic directing credits include HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, TWIN PEAKS, THE MENTALIST, NUMB3RS, and BLUE BLOODS, among many others.
Gyllenhaal is currently directing the pilot SWORN TO SILIENCE for Lifetime, and his upcoming feature film GRASSROOTS will be released theatrically in June 2012. Gyllenhaal also serves as chair of the DGA’s Independent Director’s Committee.
Titus Chong (Producer) - Titus, raised in Hawai’i, started his career as an accounting clerk at Warner Bros. Television, where he worked with such shows as Friends, Veronica’s Closet, The West Wing, ER and The Drew Carey Show. He then went to work in various capacities on TV projects and feature films such as Mighty Joe Young, Little Richard, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, American Tragedy, The Mind of the Married Man and, most recently, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Titus, a fixture in the Hawai’i filmmaking community, has been involved in many local TV and film projects. He studied Screenwriting at UCLA and is a member of the Hawai’i International Film Festival Screening Committee. One of his great joys is discovering and mentoring talented young filmmakers.
Anne Misawa (Director of Photography) – Anne Misawa was born and raised on O’ahu. She received her M.F.A. in Film Production from USC. Her directorial credits include: Waking Mele (Sundance 2000) and Eden’s Curve (Emerging Film Best Feature, NCGLFF 2003), among others. Her work as a cinematographer include many award-winning films: Kamea (HIFF 2004 Best Short), Time Out (directed by Xelinda Yancy, executive producer John Singleton, HBO Award), Salt (Caligari Award for Innovative Filmmaking at Berlin Int’l Film Festival 2003) and Liv, (directed by Edoardo Ponti, executive producers Robert Altman and Michelangelo Antonioni, Venice Int’l Film Festival 1998). She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Cinematography (Treeless Mountain), directed by So Yong Kim, in Korea, which screened recently in such festivals as the Toronto Int’l Film Festival, the Berlin Int’l Film Festival, and the New Directors/New Films series at Lincoln Center. Anne also teaches film production at the University of Hawai’i’s Academy for Creative Media as an Assistant Professor.
Tyler Nelson (Editor) – Tyler lives and works in Los Angeles. He was the editor of Borland, first assistant editor on bigFATldy, and the assistant editor of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Currently, he is the first assistant editor of Apocalypse, CA and the upcoming network series The Good Wife. Tyler received his B.F.A in film production at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a recipient of the competitive American Cinema Editors fellowship.
Matthew Locey (Producer) – Matthew Locey has been active in the film industry since the late eighties. He has a long history of accomplished work as an assistant director. His credits include Lord of the Flies, Mighty Joe Young, Fantasy Island, North Shore, Snakes on a Plane, and Flight 29 Down.
Vince Lucero (Co-Producer, First Camera Operator and Second Unit DP) - Telly award winner, Vince Keala Lucero, grew up spear-fishing and surfing the oceans of West O’ahu. Lucero has focused on work as a Cinematographer, lensing indie favs of the Hawaii International Film Festival like Public Access, Valtor, Symphony for One, Wahine O Ke Kai, and PBS Documentary Feature Na Kamalei: Men of Hula. The film took the Hawaii Filmmaker Award, and Best Documentary at the Hawai'i International, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, San Diego, and San Francisco International Film Festivals.
Jason Fratis (Gaffer) – Jason received an MFA in film production from USC. He has worked as a gaffer on films such as The Ride, Cutback, and All for Melissa. Jason has worked on numerous commercials in addition to his feature film and documentary work.
Keoki Smith (Second Unit Gaffer/Grip) – Keoki Smith has been active in the film industry for 10 years as a grip and an electrician. He broke into the local film scene as a PA on Baywatch Hawaii and has kept busy ever since. He has carved out a career as a commercial lighting specialist in Honolulu,
the locus of film activity on the Hawaiian islands. Mentored by a small pool of first rate lighting rental associates, Keoki started his very own grip and lighting rental company called 'Gripsmith.’
Everett Galisa (Production Designer) – Everett Galisa has worked as a set dresser on films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Tropic Thunder. His has also taken on the role of leadman in two upcoming features, Julie Taymor’s The Tempest and the romantic comedy You May Not Kiss the Bride.
Alvin Cabrinha (Property Master) – For over twenty years Alvin Cabrinha has worked as a property master on esteemed television shows and films. These productions include Baywatch, Pearl Harbor, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Flirting with Forty.
Kathe James (Costume Designer) – Kathe James has created wardrobe for numerous theatrical productions, Waikiki entertainers, TV series, commercials and films. Her recent credits include serving as Key Costumer for Hawaii Opera Theatre, the movies "Princess Kailulani" and Julie Taymores' "The Tempest" and being the Costume Designer for "Soul Surfer".
Laurie Foi (Casting Director) – Active in the Hawaiian film community in a variety of capacities, Laurie Foi has worked as a co-producer on The Ride and as a line producer on both Final Examination and More Mercy. She has also acted in several episodes of Magnum, P.I.
Timothy Chinn (Location Manager) – Timmy has worked with the location departments on feature films, commercials, music videos, and television movies. Some of his credits include Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Princess Ka’iulani, Flirty with Forty, a Mariah Carey music video, a Coty Perfume commercial with Halle Berry, The Tempest, and You May Not Kiss the Bride.
Angela Laprete (Producer) – Angie hails from O’ahu and is a graduate of Moanalua High School and received her BA in film studies from the UC Santa Barbara. Her love for Hawaii brought her home to pursue her passion in independent filmmaking. Angela, whose company is cre808 Films, produced the homegrown indie film, One Kine Day and the Lifetime movie, Deadly Honeymoon. Her long list of credits as Production Manager/Supervisor/Coordinator include major studio and indie features Princess Kaiulani, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, The Reef: Into the Blue Part 2, Snakes on a Plane, You Me and Dupree, Along Came Polly, and most recently Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, and the remake of Hawaii Five-0. Angie has been VP of the Board for the Hawaii International Film Festival the last 9 years and is currently serving on the Board for the Film and Video Association of Hawaii (FAVAH).
Carsten Kurpanek (Editor) – Carsten received his masters degree in Film Studies from the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany and has directed and edited seven short films. He has participated in the annual American Cinema Editors’ internship program and is a recent winner of the Open Cut editing competition. He has worked as an assistant editor on television shows for The Learning Channel (TLC) and on a number of feature films. He is a member of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild.
Emanuel Heinstein (Composer) – Emanuel is a music producer, composer, and artist with over fifty releases. He has remixed and wrote for many major recording artists. Many networks and production companies including NBC, VIACOM (MTV Networks and VH1) and Sony Pictures Television have used his talent for composing title songs and scoring sequences.
Amanda Weir (Associate Producer) - Amanda was born and raised in Colorado, receiving her BFA in Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. It was during this time in Boulder that she met Kathleen Man. She stayed in Boulder after graduation to work as production coordinator for Warren Miller's Higher Ground (2005), a skiing/snowboarding documentary. She moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to begin a career in Digital Intermediate for Company 3, a renowned post production house specializing in color correction, co-producing the DI for such films as (500) Days of Summer and Star Trek, eventually producing her own DIs on such films as Wild in the Streets, The Mechanic and Lychee Thieves.
