SUJU VIJAYAN: WRITER/DIRECTOR
Suju Vijayan is a producer, director, and writer with nearly 100 hours of television to her credit.
Her script, EVERY LITTLE THING, was a finalist in the Tribeca Film Festival screenwriting contest, a quarterfinalist in the Slamdance Screenwriting contest, a quarterfinalist in the Fade In Magazine competition, a quarterfinalist in the Page International Screenwriting awards, and Top 25 in the Roy W. Dean writing fellowship.
Suju has written, produced and directed programs for a wide variety of networks, including Fox, ABC, A&E, Lifetime, MSNBC, Discovery, TLC, WE, The History Channel, The Style Network, Animal Planet, HGTV, The Disney Channel, PBS, and the Food Network. She also pitched and sold a movie of the week, BABY FOR SALE, which was produced and aired on Lifetime. Her INTIMATE PORTRAIT of Mackenzie Phillips was nominated for a Prism Award, her INTIMATE PORTRAIT of Rosa Parks won a National Association of Minorities in Cable (NAMIC) Vision Award, and she was nominated for an Emmy for her work on The Style Network series, SPLIT ENDS.
Suju graduated with honors from Princeton University with a B.A., and from the USC School of Cinema-Television with an M.F.A. She is a member of the PGA.
MIKE BLUM: PRODUCER
As a former Executive at Walt Disney Feature Animation and owner/operator of Pipsqueak Films and Blumayan Films, Mike Blum has a wealth of experience creating high-budget animated features, original live-action features, as well as critically acclaimed short subjects.
Mike recently wrote, produced and directed the hit animated series SAMURAI! DAYCARE starring Matt Lillard (The Descendants, Scooby Doo) and Bobby Lee (MADTV) for Alloy Digital. Before that, he directed and produced the Comedy Central series BAXTER & MAGUIRE for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. His animated short THE ZIT screened at over 100 international festivals, garnered over a dozen international awards and aired on PBS. Other notable, award-winning, short subjects include the animated OIL & VINEGAR which he wrote, directed and produced and the live-action, BLESSING, which he produced. He also developed and sold a segment for Disney’s animated feature MICKEY’S TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS.
Previously, Mike served as Technical Supervisor on the animated feature TOY STORY 3 at Walt Disney Studios. Prior to that, he supervised the internal tool development and deployment for over a dozen features, including: CHICKEN LITTLE, LILO & STITCH, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, ATLANTIS, and DINOSAUR.
Mike holds a Masters Degree in Computer Science from the University of Utah, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He is a sought after speaker, having lectured around the world at such places as SIGGRAPH, Australian Effects and Animation Festival, Sedona Film Festival, IndieLisboa Film Festival, Slamdance, ACE Conference (Thailand), and Kre8tif Conference (Malaysia) and Orbit Live (Mumbai).
He is in pre-production on the upcoming live-action feature EVERY LITTLE THING starring Emmy-winner Anna Gunn (BREAKING BAD, DEADWOOD); and is in development on his original feature BELOW, and WHALE OF A TALE — an animated, comedic adventure. Mike is a member of the WGA.
CAROLINA ROCA-SMITH: PRODUCER
Carolina Roca-Smith is a filmmaker/producer whose work attempts to discover the intricacies of the human condition. She received her M.F.A. in film production from Temple University in 2011, but this is not where she got her start in the industry. In 1996, Carolina joined the United States Air Force where she lived and worked in Italy as a television broadcaster and producer. When the crisis broke out in Kosovo she was sent to cover the conflict and shot material for networks around the world. Her footage has aired on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and worldwide affiliates.
In March of 2000, Carolina was honored at the White House with the Photographer of the year award in video editing. After her honorable discharge from the Air Force she moved to Philadelphia to complete her education and pursue her work as a filmmaker.
Carolina has worked in TV/film and commercials and has directed numerous short films including “Members Only” which was nominated for the Iris Prize in 2008 and available for viewing through Frameline Distribution. She recently co-wrote and directed the short film “Daddy Issues” which premiered at LA Shorts Fest in July 2011. Before producing “The Playback Singer” Carolina was associate producer of the feature length film “Future Weather” starring Amy Madigan and Lili Taylor.
When not producing, directing or ADing, Carolina hangs out with her wife and two dogs at their home in West Hollywood.
TARIN MAJA ANDERSON: CINEMATOGRAPHER
A native of Seattle and current resident of Los Angeles, Tarin earned a Masters degree in cinematography at the American Film Institute after studying film at both Vassar and Hampshire College.
Her professional resume contains a wide variety of projects including feature films, commercials, and music videos. She has had the opportunity to work with many talented actors including Academy Award Nominees Ed Harris, Taraji P. Henson, Amy Madigan, and Peter Weller, as well as Hugo Weaving, Brian Cox, Jack Davenport, and Judy Greer. She has shot videos for bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Chris Cornell, CSS, and Lenka and commercials for Honda, Dodge, Bloomberg TV, Disney, Adult Swim, and many more. She has worked all across the US as well as internationally in Brazil, Argentina, and the UK.
Along with her love of filmmaking, Tarin is an avid mountain climber, enjoys reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and speaks Swedish.
ALAN E. MURAOKA: PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Alan E. Muraoka has worked in the entertainment industry as a production designer and art director for film, television, and corporate communication and as a theatrical set designer for over 25 years. He has been honored with 2 Emmy nominations and 3 Art Directors Guild Award nominations.
Alan’s art direction credits include LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, ACE VENTURA – PET DETECTIVE, THE SPECIALIST, WASHINGTON SQUARE, LIBERTY HEIGHTS, the television series NYPD BLUE, and the miniseries THE COMPANY. He recently completed production designing the feature film DIRTY GIRL with Mila Jovovic, Mary Steenburgen and William H. Macy.
Alan’s theatrical projects have included the Long Beach Opera productions of Ricky Ian Gordon’s ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE staged in an Olympic swimming pool and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK staged in an underground parking garage. Regionally, Alan’s work has been seen at the Old Globe theatre in San Diego, the Rubicon Theatre, East West Players, Palm Beach Opera, Michigan Opera, The Julliard School and the June Opera Festival of New Jersey. Alan earned his BA in Music and Art History from Yale University and MFA in Theatrical Design from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Alan has also been an adjunct lecturer at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and has most recently guest lectured at Montana State University, Biola University and the New York Film Academy.
More information at www.alanmuraoka.com
JACOB YOFFE: COMPOSER
Currently the Resident Composer for the American Studio Orchestra, Jacob Yoffee is a concert and film composer based in Los Angeles. Recently, he scored CHILDREN OF THE CORN: GENESIS for the Weinstein Company and has scored nine independent features including SINKING SANDS – an African film that was nominated for Best Score of 2010 at the Ghana Movie Awards.
His concert music has been performed in several cities in the U.S. as well as abroad at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Royal Academy of Music, and on BBC Radio. Also a jazz recording artist, Jacob was signed to Inner Circle Music Records in 2007, releasing his debut album, “Dead Reckoning.” The album’s release concert garnered an article featuring Yoffee in the New York Times and he was featured on the cover of Saxophone Journal magazine for his work.
ALISON B. BUCK: CASTING DIRECTOR
After spending a couple of years in commercial casting with Kris Nicolau, Alison B. Buck moved to the talent management company, Bohemia Group, where she began to manage actors and continued to cast independent projects. BIG HEART CITY (Seamour Cassel), her first gig as casting director on a film, earned strong reviews and played festivals such as the 2008 CineVegas Film Festival. Since then, she has taken on multiple projects, building a diverse resume. Alison has cast both non-union and union films, traditional format and new media, small and larger budget films and she has a knack for being able to attach professional and skilled talent no matter what the budget of a film. Her guiding principal for choosing projects is simple — work only on scripts she is passionate about. Alison’s recent film projects include the just wrapped, BETWEEN US (Julia Stiles, Taye Diggs, Melissa George), THE LAST BEAT (Kevin Corrigan, Cyndi Lauper), and the recently announced A CONTRACT WITH GOD.