The Filmmakers

Jeffrey Seckendorf, Director, Co-Writer

After several decades as a Director of Photography and Director/Cameraman, "The Crux" marks Jeff's debut as a dramatic director for the screen. Dividing his time between New York City and Los Angeles, he began working as a stills photographer in 1972 and switched to film production in 1979.

Jeff photographed "Judy Berlin", a black and white feature film for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best cinematographer. The film won the Director's Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Jeff recently completed principal photography on the feature films "Finding Home" and "Jesus the Driver". He has photographed and/or directed commercials for Pepsi, Nabisco, The NYC Ballet, Saranac Beer, Kaiser Permanente, Showtime, and The Movie Channel.

Eric Mofford, Producer

Eric recently completed Co-Producing duties on the 13-part PBS documentary series, SENIOR YEAR, made possible by funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He also produced the web site at www.pbs.org/senioryear. Other recent production credits include THE SIMPLE LIFE for Fox Television, THE IT FACTOR for Bravo and the feature film MY GARDENER. He has served as Production Consultant on the feature film FINDING HOME, featuring Louise Fletcher and Genevieve Bujold, THE MEDICINE SHOW (airing on The Movie Channel in May) starring Jonathan Silverman and Natasha Gregson Wagner, FOREVER FABULOUS starring Jean Smart and Robert Wagner, and the Lifetime film JAZZ NIGHT directed by Wallis Nicit and starring John Heard and Beverly D'Angelo. He has worked as an Assistant Director and Production Manager on over 30 feature films and television programs including CLOCKWATCHERS, LOVER GIRL, KALIFORNIA and DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST. His numerous music video credits include Aerosmith, Sheryl Crow and Alan Jackson.

Eric has taught numerous media workshops (including the International Film and Television Workshops) and been a panelist on funding councils and film festival semiars. In 1998, he was a judge at the Nashville Film Festival. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and a member of the DGA Mentor Committee. He has written and directed projects for Disney Interactive, Saban Entertainment, The Discovery Channel, Why Communications, United Way, the Atlanta Project, Georgia Institute of Technology and Crawford Communications. His extensive knowledge of music lead to writing and directing the short dramatic blues film, TRAVELIN' TRAINS, which aired nationally on A&E. The film won a dozen national and international film festival awards including the CINE Golden Eagle. Born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, a graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in film, Eric still considers his most challenging work to be his two daughters.

Judith Barnes, Co-Writer, Executive Producer

Judith Barnes likes doing new things, working with a lot of interesting people in different fields, and being independent. So for over 30 years she has had her own national consulting practice in communication and marketing. She is also currently a founding officer of a company commercializing micro fuel cells as a future power source for portable electronics. She has a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and is committed to mentoring and teaching, particularly in graduate and executive management programs at Rensselaer; to giving back to her community - having served on the board of directors of over 25 civic, cultural and educational organizations in the Albany, NY area; and to collaboration and good communication - which result in good times and good works like this film.

Ruthann Marcelle, Executive Producer

Ruthann Marcelle grew up in upstate New York, and currently divides her time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Albany, NY. She received a BA in Economics from Bowdoin College and a MBA from Northwestern University. Despite being compromised by her background in finance, she has always had a strong interest in the arts. She has been a longtime board member of the Arts Center of the Capital Region, located in Troy, NY, and has helped people gain opportunities in the arts and education through her foundation work. "When Judy and Jeff presented me with the idea for THE CRUX I jumped at the opportunity to be involved in its production."

Alex M. Stein, Associate Producer

 

Tom Houghton, Director of Photography

Tom Houghton's feature work as Director of Photography also includes the Warner Brothers release, "Fire Down Below" starring Steven Seagal, Marg Helgenberger, Stephen Lange, Kris Kristofferson and Harry Dean Stanton directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá. He also DP'd "Tiara Tango", an independent film starring Jean Smart, Robert Wagner, Jorja Fox, Emily Procter and Jennifer Elise Cox, directed by Werner Molinsky.

He photographed the digital feature "Barstow 2008" a comedy that won the Grand Jury Prize at the NoDance Film Festival in Park City, 2001.

His work as Director of Photography on short films has also garnered special attention. "Who Was That Man" directed by Jon Korkes, starring Paul Willson, Paul Benedict and Pat Willson, premiered at the Sony Lincoln Square Theatre in New York City as part of the Shorts International Film Festival. "Gully", starring Tyson Beckford and "Hung Up", Starring Yvette Freeman, David Eigenberg and David Keith are two shorts that Houghton Dp'd in 2002, directed by Roderick Gilles. He also DP'd the 24p project "The Hit" directed by Martha Elcan. "Jazz Night", directed by Wallis Nicita, starring Beverly D'Angelo and John Heard, was presented as part of Lifetime Television's Third Annual Women's Film Festival. In 2001, "BY COURIER", adapted from a short story by O. Henry, directed by Peter Riegert was nominated for an Academy Award®.

He also DP'd 2nd unit or FX units on "Stuart Little 2", "Deeds", "Spiderman" and "Path to War", directed by John Frankenheimer. He recently worked on "Spiderman 2".

Houghton attended the Slade School of Fine Arts in London and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University Graduate Film Institute.

Edward L. Rubin, Production Designer

Edward L. Rubin has Art Directed movies, tv specials, miniseries, sitcoms, commercials and prime time television series for over fifteen years. He has worked with notable directors John Frankenheimer, John Madden, Michael Ritchie, Michael Cimino and Rob Marshall.

Edward has received an Emmy Award for Art Direction for "The Wornderful World of Disney's Cinderella," and two nominations: the recent "Annie" starring Kathy Bates, and the Turner miniseries "Andersonville." He won a Cable Ace Award for "Andersonville." He has won the Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design award for "Cinderella," and been nominated for "Annie."

Other credits include "What About Bob," "Final Analysis, "The Fantasticks," "Martial Law," "The Sunchaser," "Golden Gate," "Kate Brasher," "LA Firefighters," and "The Burning Zone."

Recently, Edward has Production Designed the television feature "Frozen Impact," the films "Mud Season," and "Fault," and the pilot for the upcoming Spelling tv series "Summerland." He is currently Production Designing "Oliver Beene" for Fox Television.

Christopher Baird, Editor

Christopher Baird grew up in Canada, Scotland and England. A natural ability at the piano was obvious by age three and after studying at The Royal Conservatory, Queens University (Canada), The Banff School of Fine Art, Dorothy Taubman Institute (NY), musical studies culminated with a Master of Music (Piano Performance). Rather than continue on the road of a concert career, Mr. Baird began exploring his fascination with film editing.

His vast range of film experience as an editor now includes 18 feature films --musicals, comedies, dramas, effects movies, documentaries, IMAX films and episodic television. In 2002 Mr. Baird founded and directed a on-going film editing workshop, enlisting the participation of editing giants Ralph Winters (Ben Hur), Tom Rolf (Taxi Driver), Danford B. Green (M*A*S*H) and Peter Zinner (The Godfather).

Currently, Mr. Baird is serving as Visual FX Editor for director Tony Scott on the upcoming 2004 release of 20th Century Fox's Man in Fire, starring Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken.

Mr. Baird lives in Los Angeles and spends much of his leisure time cruising the seas around southern California on his ocean-going sailboat.

Maxim Vladimiroff, Music

Composer and pianist Maxim Vladimiroff was born in Sochi, Russia. He studied with Dmitri Serov, Philip Lasser, Narcis Bonet, Samuel Adler and Michel Merlet. He was a First Level Winner in the 1997 NACUSA (National Association of Composers USA) Young Composers' Competition. His works have been premiered by the members of the New York New Music Ensemble, the Flux Quartet, the Lafayette College Choir and other performers. His composition Quid ploras, mulier? for women's choir has been recently published by Treble Clef Music Press. Vladimiroff teaches in his private studio in Brewster, NY and at the Schola Cantorum Summer Program in Paris.

Larry Deming, Musician

Classical, Rock, Jazz, Bluegrass, Middle Eastern & other styles have all found their way into Deming's musical vocabulary. A graduate of the Indiana University School of Music, he has performed on stages from Hartford to Hong Kong with such diverse musicians as Chet Atkins, John Denver, Placido Domingo, the Electric Light Orchestra, Luciano Pavarotti, James Taylor and Paul Winter to name a few. Deming is now Concertmaster of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and freelances in the tri-state area (CT/NY/MA). He is the leader of The Danbury Chamber Players and The Deming Project . His work with the Classical/Ethnic fusion band Mythos has brought him wider recognition, with the release of their eponymous CD . He plays a 5-string electric violin crafted by Tucker Barrett of Vermont, a 5-string electric violin with MIDI by Zeta, a 19th Century copy of a Joseph Rocca violin, a viola made by Bruno Franz Paulus, and a Vega mandolin.

Robert McGee, C.S.A., Casting

Robert McGee has been casting on-camera and voice-over talent for film, television and theatre for ten years. He has cast such independent projects as "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss" and "The Virgin Suicides", both of which were Sundance favorites and both of which won him the prestigious Artios Award (the Casting Society of America's highest honor) two years in a row for independent feature casting. Robert has also cast the "Audrey Hepburn" television movie and the WB sitcom "Greetings from Tucson". He likes to keep his resume diverse but takes particular joy in casting rising talent such as Alison Lohman ("White Oleander") and Emmy Rossum ("Phantom of the Opera") in their first starring roles.

After having been a member of the Casting Society of America for only two years he was elected to the Board of Directors and is currently serving his second term. He is determined to be active in furthering the recognition of casting directors in the entertainment industry.

Robert can be reached at mcgeecast@yahoo.com.

Kevin Ackerman, Costume Designer

An Actual Wizard, Kevin worked as a psychic at Wizards Magic Dinner Theater at Universal City Walk for over 9 years. Kevin's credits include features BLACK CADILLAC, which premiered at this years Tribecca Film Festival and THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS shown at this years Method Fest. FANGS, FAMILY UNDERSIEGE and WIND RIVER are among his feature credits seen on cable TV. Film shorts that may be familiar to the festival circuit include BIRTHDAY and BEEKER'S CROSSING, both produced through the cable channel FXM Movies From Fox. At AFI Kevin designed the shorts COLORED BALLOONS and PINFEATHERS, (which won the Silver Platter for Short Film at the Chicago Film Festival). Kevin's theater work includes IF YOU EVER LEAVE ME...I'M GOING WITH YOU and IT HAD TO BE YOU, both national tours with Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor.