ALISTAIR MACLEAN: Y'DID NEFESH

Andy Spletzer Director Born just outside of Chicago, Andy Spletzer picked up his first Super 8 camera in junior high, and has continued making short films ever since. After goingthrough the Cinema Studies program at the University of Illinois, his post-graduate employment circled around filmmaking, doing everything from writing industrial videos for a small ad agency to working as an extra in big budget films. In 1991 he moved to Seattle to help start the wildly successful alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger, where he served as the Film Editor for nine years. But the lure of filmmaking was too much, and he quit to freelance in film production. Over the last several years, he has learned the ins and outs of working on a professional set in the role of Script Supervisor, where he logs every shot for the editor and makes sure the continuity is spotless. He has worked in that capacity on nearly a dozen feature films, including Robinson Devor’s critically acclaimed Police Beat and cult Canadian director Guy Maddin’s The Brand Upon the Brain! He has also found seasonal employment with the Seattle International FilmFestival, where he has learned the behind-the-scenes secrets of film festivals, and has been a freelance reporter for The Stranger covering the Sundance Film Festival. Spletzer’s own short films have played at the Seattle International Film Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Science Fiction Short Film Festival, the One Reel Short Film Festival at Bumbershoot, the Northwest Film Forum, and other smaller venues. He is excited about the potential of “Alistair MacLean” in the international festival circuit, of course, but even more because it is a very human and humane comedy that could and should touch the lives of people around the world

Meredith Binder Writer, Producer, Lead Actor Meredith Binder is formally educated in classical dance and electrical engineering.  In 2001 Meredith launched her own film and theater productioncompany, Sleepwalk Productions. In 2003 she left the corporate world to focus her energies on Sleepwalk. In 2005, Meredith’s original short film, Rent's Due ,won the “Gold Kite Award for Best Short Video” in the Nueva Mirada International Film Fesival for Children and Youth in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rent’s Due has also played a dozen other film festivals around the world.  Meredith was a co-writer, the producer and the lead actor.  In addition to producing her own work, Meredith is an actor of considerable range and experience.  She has acted in over 50 independent films and industrials.  In 2003 she played the Lamaze Instructor in Jamie Hook’s multiple award-winning Naked Proof. Meredith and Sleepwalk principal, Ian Stone, are currently in preproduction on their first feature length film, Crossing Lines.

Ian Stone Producer,Writer, Lead Actor Ian Stone attended four years of scriptwriting workshops through Western Washington University before moving to Seattle in 2000.  In 2001 Ian played a principal role in the feature film Dominos, an official selection of the Seattle International Film Festival the same year. Over the past 2 years he has taken on a principal role within Sleepwalk.Ian is an active member of the Seattle theater community.  He has performed with Seattle Children's Theatre’s deaf youth drama program as a voiced actor and performed The Twilight Zones with Theater Schmeater. Ian produced and directed his original play Plate Up in 2002 Seattle Fringe Festival.  He also stared in Christmas Brotherhood in the 2001 Seattle Fringe Festival, which garnered accolades from the Seattle Times.  Ian and Meredith are currently in preproduction on their first feature length film, Crossing Lines

Ryan Purcell Director of Photography Ryan Purcell is a veteran of the Seattle film industry. He's worked with and learned from some of the most respected cinematographers in the world, including Haskel Wexler and Vilmos Sigmund among others. He's shot shorts, corporate pieces and documentaries. His film Kennewick Man: An Epic Drama of the West, which he co-directed and co-shot, has played numerous film festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival, The American Indian Film Festival and many others. It is currently being distributed nationally. He believes the right image can illuminate the message of a film and finds the process of exposing those images rewarding

Nan Avant Music Composer Seattle Composer, Nan Avant, has collaborated with directors from San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and New York.  Avant’s film projects nclude Postcards from Tora Bora, a feature  length documentary by New York directors Wazhmah Osman and Kelly  Dolak. Postcards from Tora Bora had it's World Premier at the Tribeca Film Festival 2007 in New York.   Short films, Alistair MacLean: Y’did Nefesh directed by Andy Spletzer, produced by Meredith Binder. Mindgame directed by D. Allen, Glimpse directed by Greg Sommers, Mr. Chatterbox directed by Edward Rosenblum.Current projects include a feature suspense from Portland, Oregon, Unremembered directed by Greg Kerr and short film projects from Seattle and San Francisco. Ms.Avant graduated from California Institute of the Arts and received a  BFA degree in Piano Performance. Avant studied film scoring and orchestration with two time Emmy Award winner, Hummie Mann. She is a graduate of the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program .Avant is a member of ASCAP, Women in Film Seattle/New York,  IFP Seattle/New York,  The Northwest Film Forum and The Seattle Composers Alliance.Ms Avant writes for an online entertainment magazine. No StringsAttached E-News. www.nanavant.com

Thomas Oliver Editor Tommy Oliver graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 with a double major in Economics and Digital Media with a minor in Business Administration. Tommy is the CEO and co-founder of Black Squirrel Films, a complete service independent film and multimedia production company. Tommy is skilled as a cinematographer, editor, producer and director. His credits include Sofia for Now (producer, cinematographer, and editor), Blank (producer, cinematographer), Break (producer), Alistair MacLean: Y'did Nefesh (editor) and numerous short films. www.tommyoliver.com

Dassie's Theme © 2008 music by Nan Avant

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