Jenni Powell

Jenni Powell has been deeply involved in innovative online communities, dating back to the cult internet series Nobody’s Watching and lonelygirl15. She has since worked on many popular web series such as The Guild, Streamy Award-nominated With the Angels, Poor Paul, The Crew, and The Legend of Neil. Recently, she produced The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (Emmy Award Winner), Welcome to Sanditon, Emma Approved, and The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy. For two years she was Director of Content and Social Media for VidCon, the world’s largest online video conference, and was a producer at Felicia Day’s YouTube Premium Channel Geek & Sundry. Currently, she is Head of Production for New Media Rockstars. She doesn’t have a lot of free time.

Sean Patrick Crowell

Sean Patrick Crowell grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and was exposed to movies as a child by his mother. In 6th grade, his mother wrote a note to the manager of the South Hills Theatre to let him in to see “Apocalypse Now”. After seeing that and the documentary, “Anderson’s Platoon,” he knew that filmmaking was going to be his career. Sean has been in the film business for 20 years, starting as Production Assistant on “Unsolved Mysteries.” For the last 15 years, he has worked as a Key Grip on notable productions such as the TV show “SCRUBS” and the “Hangover” trilogy. “GROUNDED” is his second documentary and is the story of Terry and Jimmy Dougherty, two brothers from Sean’s hometown of Pittsburgh that became marijuana smugglers in the 1970′s. Sean received his bachelor of arts in communications from the University of West Georgia.

www.groundedthemovie.com

JOSEPH NEFF, Projectionist and Cinephile

Joseph Neff

As a teenager, Joseph’s film-viewing epiphany came while watching Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog as the movie was broadcast late on a Saturday night by a PBS affiliate in nearby Washington DC. Since then he’s engaged with filmmaking in its many diverse forms, including the breakthroughs of the early silent cinema and the movies of Hollywood’s classic studio era, while simultaneously soaking up the many unique achievements offered by global film culture and taking a deep interest in the progression of contemporary motion pictures, particularly those created in the independent sphere. Along with working at the Winchester VA location of the Alamo Drafthouse, he also attends college part time and writes weekly record reviews for the music website The Vinyl District.

2 Broke Geeks

Mia

Mia Resella is a Los Angeles based writer/artist and one half of the YouTube duo “2 Broke Geeks” on GEEK & SUNDRY. A graduate of UCSB Film and Media Studies and the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program, Mia specializes in animation, comedy, sci-fi/fantasy, and transmedia storytelling. She has worked on projects with the Roald Dahl Estate, Moonbot Studios, and Firefly Online, and has been advanced in such writing fellowships as the WB Writers’ Workshop, the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship, and the CAPE New Writers Fellowship. Originally from College Station, Texas, Mia now resides with her cat, co-host, and one too many Doctor Who collectibles. She is also an improvisational performer and a graduate of the Upright Citizens Brigade. Currently, she continues her work as a “professional geek” and YouTuber, and has been admitted into the competitive Animation MFA program at UCLA.

Omar

Omar Najam is a comedy writer/director living in Los Angeles. He is half of the YouTube channel “2 Broke Geeks” which is part of the Geek&Sundry network. Growing up, Omar used to run around San Jose, California with his parents’ video camera, shooting bad Lord of the Rings fan films. After writing and directing two plays in high school, he went on to study film theory at UC Santa Barbara where he continued his love for low-budget, DIY filmmaking. Since graduating, he has worked on projects for Vertigo Entertainment, Arcana Comics, SMBC Theater, Machinima, Quantum Mechanix and even the Lifetime Network. His recent credits include directing the Comic-Con trailer for the Firefly Online game as well as a music video about film history for the band Anabot. He likes to spend his spare time reading comics, painting cardboard backdrops, figuring out how to use kitchen items as campy special effects and playing with his cat.