CREW BIOS

Phillip Scarpaci, Pattie Kelly, Colin Mitchell, Jim Simeone, Chris Worland, Wolfram De Marco, Wendy Samuels, Ellen Greenberg

 

PHILLIP SCARPACI

Director

It was while dong his impression of Peter Falk's  "Columbo" as an actor in a series of off-beat Pontiac commercials that Phillip Scarpaci realized he was more interested in what was going on behind the camera than in what he was doing before them.  "While I stood around in an old, wrinkled raincoat with nothing much to do, everyone else was busy checking camera angles, moving lights and rewriting the script," Scarpaci recalls.  "I was bored and, as far a I could tell, everyone else seemed to be having a great time."   Scarpaci has been having his own "great time" ever since as a full time director/producer/writer and is known for his technical virtuosity and camera work as well as his compatibility with actors.

“A Doll in the Dark”, a taut psycho-sexual thriller, starring Billy Drago and Naomi Kawashima, a leading Japanese actress making her American debut in the title role, was Scarpaci's first feature directorial effort.

With his second feature film, "Welcome To September" Scarpaci gathered together a strong ensemble cast of veteran actors and worked closely with award winning writer, Colin Mitchell, to bring to life this coming of age story about a young man who is trapped in his ill-fated obsession for a woman in a painting with only the love of another to save him.

For Disney, Scarpaci has directed an award winning children's series, "Beyond the Page", as well as numerous other made for television short films, "No Big Deal",  "Big Brother Blues" and "I'm No Fool", all three of which won the Golden Eagle Cine Award, with "Big Brother Blues" also winning a Gold Camera Award of the U.S. International Film and Video Festival and "No Big Deal" taking a Bronze Medallion at the Houston Film festival.

Long form documentary and "docudrama" formats include "Earth Changes",  starring Dennis Weaver, which can still be seen on PBS.  Weaver, a longtime friend and mentor, wrote of Scarpaci's "touch with actors and feel for the material" when recommending him for a project with the American Film Institute.    

Scarpaci is the President of Scarpaci/Kelly Productions.

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PATTIE KELLY

Producer

For as long as she can remember, Pattie Kelly, originally from New Mexico, has had “an insatiable desire to be passionately creative, and have a great time doing it!”  It all began in second grade when she began playing guitar and she was hooked.  At thirteen, she began writing songs and playing and singing in her first band.  Through high school and college she played and sang in numerous bands including two USO tours that took her and her bandmates all over the world.

Always fascinated with movies, she majored in film and television production at West Texas A&M.   After graduating, Ms. Kelly went on the road and toured the United States as a lead singer in rock bands, eventually finding herself transplanted to Los Angeles.  She continued in the music business as a session vocalist, a contributing songwriter and performer on several independent film scores and as a producer on album and demo projects for other artists as well as her own bands.  She also began working in production as a script supervisor, then a production coordinator, a production manager, coordinating producer and eventually a producer for commercials and industrials. 

In theatre, Ms. Kelly produced the world premiere of “The Abbey Yard” at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles and also co-wrote, co-produced and performed on the play’s critically acclaimed soundtrack.    The play was a “passionately creative” collaboration between Ms. Kelly and director, Phillip Scarpaci, and was the catalyst that launched their partnership and their company, Scarpaci/Kelly Productions.

With Scarpaci, she created and produced the award winning Disney Children’s series, “Beyond the Page”  as well as writing the first three episodes.

“Welcome to September” is Ms. Kelly’s first feature film as a producer.

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COLIN MITCHELL

Writer

Hailing from Los Angeles, Colin Mitchell just completed the Paramount Pictures sponsored 2003 Chesterfield Fellowship, finishing two new scripts entitled, “The Isle of Skye” and “Knights of the Broken Table”.  His screenplay “The Silence” was both a 1998 Nichols Fellowship & Sundance Finalist, while his screenplay “Coca-Cola Snakie” was a 1996 Chesterfield Finalist and a 1998 Sundance Finalist.  He has written screenplays for Automatic Pictures, Bee Holder Productions and Bohemia Entertainment and is currently writing a script for Impact Productions. 

Mitchell recently penned a five episode “Spiderman vs. Doctor Octopus” comic book series for Marvel Comics, currently on the shelves and soon to be released as a graphic novel entitled “Out of Reach”.  

His play “Breaking and Entering” was recently featured in the Stamford Center for the Art's 2004 Fringe Festival.  His play “Bitten by a Fly” had its World Premiere last year at Buffalo's Alleyway Theatre, where it was also a finalist for their 2003 Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition.  In Los Angeles, productions include: “Yolanda & the Black Muslim Bakery” at The Falcon Theatre, “Turnips & Passion” at The Sierra Stage, and his one man show “Linden Arden Stole the Highlights” at The Two Roads Theatre, which received Dramalogue Awards for Writing & Acting and an ADAA Nomination for Best Solo Performance. 

In New York, Off B'way productions of “Linden Arden” at The Ensemble Studio Theatre, and “God's Butt”, “At the Break of Day”, “Stolidly Opposed”, “New Jersey”, “Double Take”, “Too Many Sugars in the Tea”, all at the Nat Horn Theatre.  In Seattle, “Like a Beast” and “Musing” at the New City Theatre, and “Stolidly Opposed” at the AHA! Theatre Company.  San Francisco's Edinburgh Castle Theatre produced both the premiere of “Linden Arden” and a collection of one acts entitled “Flurrious”.

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JIM SIMEONE

Director of Photography

Jim Simeone is originally from Waltham, Massachusetts.  He began his career in production as a 1^st Assistant Camera, moving from there to producing and directing commercials and industrials for his own company based out of Boston.  He fell into the role of Director of Photography quite by accident when a client hired his company to produce a series of commercial spots.  They had known him previously part of the camera department and suggested that he D.P. the spots since his partner was slated to direct them.  He had never been a D.P. on anything, so he went out, bought a light meter, got on a plane and went around the country shooting these spots.  Fortunately for all concerned, they came out well, Simeone was hooked on the process and has been a Director of Photography ever since.

Film projects include “Scammed”, “Ken's Holiday”, “Tornado Lane” (starring James Gandolfini in his first film role) and “Hasty Pudding”, a documentary featuring Robin Williams and Kathleen Turner.

Series work includes “Gardening Naturally” for the Learning Channel, “The Making of….” for MTV, “Beyond the Page” for Disney as well as many promos for HBO, Showtime, CBS News, The Disney Channel and The Sports Channel.  He has shot over 500 national, regional and local spots.

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CHRIS WORLAND

Editor

A native of Sweden, Chris Worland entered the dark world of the editing room through the dark world of the movie theatre, where he spent much of his youth admiring the films of Ingmar Bergman, Eric Rohmer, John Cassavettes and many others.

While working in a sound-mixing studio in Sweden, he discovered the craft of the editor by piecing together outtakes, slates, misprints and anything else he could find on celluloid. Since then he has learned, fine-tuned, and applied that craft to all types of projects.

Since relocating to the United States, Worland has edited over 16 independent features including “Raven” for New Line, “Little Bigfoot” for Republic Pictures, “The Silencers” and “Magic Kid 2” for Showtime and “Steel Frontier” for HBO as well as “Inferno”, an MOW for Paramount.   Television series include “Son of the Beach”,  “Team Knight Rider”, “Silk Stalkings” and “Land of the Lost”.  He also edited “Beyond the Page”, an award winning children's series for Disney Educational.

Worland has also edited numerous promos for BBC Worldwide and many other trailers and promos as well as behind the scenes for “The Apartment Complex”, “The Glass Jar”, “Wrinkle in Time” and “Scarecrow” to name a few.

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WOLFRAM DE MARCO

Composer

 Wolfram de Marco was born in Ansbach, Germany where he received his first violin lessons at the age of 6 and by 14 he had started playing classical and electric guitar, winning awards at the German Jugend Musiziert competition. After high school, he studied classical guitar and piano at the university Hochschule fuer Musik in Wuerzburg, Germany. During this time, he also worked as a live and session player in many different styles and bands.  After finishing his studies, he recorded a classical solo album for guitar and started working as a composer/producer for Gerryland Studios doing music for radio commercials.

In 1994, de Marco moved to Frankfurt Germany for the opportunity to work with Fundemental Studios, one of the biggest music production companies in Germany.  He also started publishing his own electronic Drum and Bass/Triphop tracks and did his first scoring for German Television.  In 1999, he moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his work in advertising for the US and Europe, while composing music for films.

In 2000, he composed and produced the music for the award-winning movies "Leading to Results” from Deutsche Bank. (“Bronze” at the New York Film Festival) and the 2002 ”Fueling the Fire” (DGA Award)

In 2003, de Marco was selected out of 300 contestants worldwide to participate in the yearly “ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop” – where he conducted his own composition in a recording session at the Newman Scoring Stage of Fox Studios.  The same year, he also worked as an arranger/composer for Klaus Badelt and Ramin Djawadi at Hans Zimmer's company "Mediaventures".

Wolfram de Marco lives with his wife, actress Marie-Alise Recasner in Los Feliz.

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ELLEN GREENBERG

Costume Designer

Ellen Greenberg hails from Philadelphia where she got her start designing her own line of couture wear. This segued into costuming and art directing commercials, documentaries and industrials.

In 1981, she moved to Los Angeles and expanded into theater, television, music videos, and feature films. She has worked with John Travolta, Morgan Fairchild, Sean Connery, John Houseman, Bonnie Hunt, Demi Moore, Antonio Sabato, Jr., Amy Smart, Martin Mull, Phyllis Diller, Robert Stack, Peter Ustinov, Jay Leno, Michael McKean, Robbie Robertson, Judge Reinhold, Milton Berle, Dom DeLuise, Herbie Hancock, Richard Kind,  Shirley Jones, and many others.

Projects have run the gamut from a world premiere of a period dramatic play, “The Abbey Yard” at the Odyssey Theatre, episodic TV, “The Power Rangers”, ”Unsolved Mysteries”, “True Confessions” to feature films, “High Voltage”, “Space Baby and Mental Man”, “April’s Shower” and  “Laughing it Up”, to over 250 commercials. 

Ellen has also authored a book on chocolate, Inside Chocolate, Harry N. Abrams, Publisher, New York, 1985, and is a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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