Upon graduating from Temple University's film school, Frank discovered that, although he could use phrases like "mise en scene" in mixed company, he hadn't learned much about making films (film schools are hardly the place for such things). After dabbling in local Philadelphia music videos and PSAs, Frank knew he had to move to the Hollywood trenches for some real learning. For fifteen years, he crewed on such films and TV series as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Man On The Moon (1999), "Melrose Place" (1992) and "Charmed" (1998). His short film, Body Electric (2004), was an official selection of the 2004 Cinequest On Line Viewers Voice Awards, the 2004 St. Louis International Film Festival, the 2004 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival and Shockerfest 2004 Film Festival. In 2005, Frank began producing DVD bonus features for Anchor Bay Entertainment. He was honored to write, produce and direct “Working With A Master” for the Masters Of Horror Season One DVD series. Each of the 12 featurettes focused on the careers of such horror luminaries as Stuart Gordon, John Carpenter, John Landis, Mick Garris... as told by the people they worked with. Recently, Frank completed production of Wyrd’s documentary about H.P. Lovecraft. The film features interviews with Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Guillermo Del Toro, John Carpenter, Stuart Gordon, Caitlin Kiernan, Ramsey Campbell, and other who were inspired by the father of modern horror fiction. Lovecraft: Fear Of The Unknown premiered at Comic Con in San Diego. There it won 2008 Best Documentary Film.
After graduating from Temple University's School of Theater, Jim worked locally in Philadelphia theater, music videos and PSAs (there was also a few years in there working as a variety performer, but most people don’t need to hear about that). Jim has lived and worked in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, but eventually settled on Los Angeles where he worked as an actor, fight choreographer and stuntman.
In order to survive in the harsh world of show business, Jim broadened his skill base by working behind the scenes. He has served in many capacities including grip, lighting, set construction and rigging. During this period Jim gained the invaluable production experience needed to actually shoot films and make them manifest.
In 2004, Jim became the Production Manager and Art Director for many of the DVD bonus features produced for Anchor Bay Entertainment. During his tenure, Jim managed over 90 titles. Many of those featurettes involved the scheduling and coordination of high profile individuals in the film industry including David Carradine, Stuart Gordon, John Carpenter, Harry Connick Jr., John Landis, Peter Fonda, Roseanne Barr, Mick Garris and many others.
Recently, Jim formed the production company Wyrd with his partners Frank H. Woodward and William Janczewski. Wyrd completed production of its first documentary Lovecraft: Fear of The Unknown in 2008. In addition to being one of Wyrd’s producers, Jim is also responsible for crafting and designing custom production rigs for their shoots. His partners like to think of Jim as Wyrd’s head of Q branch.
Bill Bigbooté 8th Dimension Films is a Creative Director who has been on the leading edge of marketing, branding and new media for the last 12 years. He has created award-winning print, broadcast and online content for the likes of Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, The Simpsons, the BBC and The Walt Disney Company. After successfully running 8th Dimension Films for 8 years, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles and London, Bill continues to consult and work on special projects. Some of those projects are Wyrd productions including Lovecraft: Fear Of The Unknown.
Bill also teaches communication theory and lectures on User Interface design, production and cross—branding media.
Combining passion and professionalism, Dead House Music’s resident (de)Composer, Mars, has built a solid reputation within the horror community as a musician who consistently delivers what genre filmmakers want.
Born into a family of musicians; Mars is a multi-instrumentalist who began performing professionally at the age of 13. He has played with Symphony Orchestras, as well as Jazz, and Rock bands on tours through Canada, and the United States. He has logged countless hours in recording studios as a session musician, and is himself an accomplished studio engineer. Having grown weary of the road; Mars decided to combine his two greatest loves; music and film, forming Dead House Music in 2005.
Mars has worked with genre veterans like Puppetmaster creator Kenneth J. Hall (The Halfway House, Night Visit), as well as talented young directors Scott Goldberg (All I want for X-mas, Nightmare), David W. Kann (Prison of the Psychotic Damned, Nyarlathotep, Sever), Melantha Blackthorne (The Graveyard Picture Show), S.V. Bell (Rise Of The Ghosts, Crawler) and more.
In 2008, his surreal and chilling score to Witch House: The Legend Of Petronel Haxley accompanied the films theatrical release in the UK.
Mars has appeared in many online publications such as About.com, FearZone.com, Dread Central.com, as well as a feature interview in Canada's Rue Morgue magazine. In, 2006, an interview with Mars for Fangoria TV ran in over 50 theaters across the US, as part of the pre-show entertainment before Fangoria's advance screening of The Descent (Lionsgate Films). He has also appeared as a featured speaker at numerous horror events and film festivals.
Mars says: “I feel like a man on a mission. A great movie score can stand on its own, without the relying on flavor-of-the month bands to attract interest. Im doing my best to return the horror score to its rightful place as genuinely well crafted and respected music.”
Robin Atkin Downes has over 21 years experience in the entertainment industry. He has an extensive and distinguished career in all aspects of the film and television industry, not only as an accomplished Actor but also as a Director, Producer, Voice Over Artist, Mocap Artist and Musician.
Born and raised in the U.K., he was trained in the United States, with a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he subsequently taught acting for three years. He also taught advanced acting/directing at Freedom Theatre, Pennsylvania's oldest nationally recognized African-American Theatre, and has taught workshops in acting throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Robin’s on camera credits include series regular, recurring and guest starring roles on many shows including “Entourage”, "CSI Miami", “The Starter Wife”, “In Plain Sight”, “Rubbing Charlie”, “Wiener Park”, "Babylon 5" as Byron, "Charmed", "Nash Bridges", "Titans", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Arliss", "Angel", and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, among others. He has also worked on Many features including “Transformers 2 Revenge of The Fallen”, “ Body of Lies”, “The Wolf Man”, “Gi Joe”, and Pirates of The Caribbean. His Creature vocal effects can be heard in many films including Wolverine, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Aliens Vs Predator, The Tale of Desperaux and The Wolfman.
As a Voice Over artist, Robin is proficient in over 60 dialects and has acted in 100’s of the top interactive titles in the industry, as well as work on commercials and animated shows. His current animated series work includes roles in the “Clone Wars” and the highly anticipated new Avengers Series to be released in 2011. Robin performed the role of David in Katsuhiro Otomo’s "Steam Boy", with Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina and Anna Paquin. Other credits include Tenzin in “Uncharted 2 Among Thieves”, Atoq Navarro in “Uncharted - Drakes Fortune”, Sean Devlin in “Saboteur”, Daedelus in “Resistance Retribution”, and Captain Slag in “Ratchet & Clank.” His vocal creature skills were used for all of the locust creatures in “Gears of War”and “Gears of War 2”, as well as the characters Kim Minh, Niles and Chaps. He is currently working on many of the new titles to be released on the PS3 and the X Box 360. In addition he also performs promos and trailers for television and film.
Robin’s Stage credits include performances in London, Prague and the United States including John Wilkes Booth in the Philadelphia premiere of “Assassins” “Cyranau De Bergerac” at the famed Walnut Street Theatre. Skinlad/Brink in “Road” performed at The Wilma Theatre and in Prague and The title role in Dracula at the Hermosa Playhouse. An accomplished musician, Robin composes, plays the piano and sings.
Robin Atkin Downes is a los Angeles based actor, producer,director, voice-over artist, and musician. His voice can be heard on hundreds of video games, as well as animated shows and commercials. His recent television appearances include Entourage, Csi Miami, The Starter Wife and Babylon 5.
