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After pursuing a career as a fine artist for over twenty years, Jeff turned to motion pictures to better express his thoughts, emotions, and visions. While studying painting as an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 1980s, he minored in film and became dedicated to the highly technical processes involved in 16mm film production and post-production.  This technical side of film-making was a good fit for Kao’s pre-disposition for craft, but it was the time-based aspect of film that sealed the transition for him, allowing him to channel his creativity  more directly into linear, narrative story-telling.

Jeff Kao

 

Deniz has worked as director, actor, producer and cinematographer for numerous films. His continuing 13-year collaboration with filmmaker Rob Nilsson (winner of Camera d'Or at Cannes in 1978 and Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance in 1987) has led to the exhibition and recognition of Deniz Demirer's work in film festivals on a regular basis.Titles he has directed include "American Mongrel", "Ezer Kenegdo", "Not I", and "Nocturnal Jake", and he has done exquisite camera work for films including "Garden of Eden", "Collapse" and "St. Cloud". Deniz can be seen acting  in films such as "Bridge to a Border", "Maelstrom" and "A Leap to Take".

Deniz Demirer

 

 

Kris Caltagirone has been esteemed for his work as an actor in such films as American Mongrel and Ezer Kenegdo. The inherent gravitas which he brings to such character performances is unmistakable. Behind the camera, Kris has written for film as well as the stage, and has put his skill with dialects and accents to good and humorous use in voiceover work. Kris was born in the Hudson Valley to a Frisian/German mother and a Polish/Sicilian father.  He has spent a considerable amount of time in the American South, the American West, Germany, and Austria and is able to approximate almost all American accents as well as the accents of many foreign countries and regions.

Kris Caltigirone

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