KYLE HIGGINS - WRITER/DIRECTOR

Kyle Higgins is a filmmaker out of the comic book world, a #1 New York Times Best Selling author best known for his work on DC Comics’ Batman titles — Nightwing, Batman Eternal, Gates of Gotham, Batman Beyond 2.0 — as well as his critically-acclaimed reinvention of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for Boom! Studios and Saban/Hasbro, which included the Battle for the Grid video game (which Kyle wrote and voice directed) and a live action prelude to his 25th anniversary comic book event, Shattered Grid.

After spending two years at the University of Iowa, Kyle transferred to Chapman University, where he directed a superhero noir titled The League, about the 1960's superhero labor union of Chicago. In addition to opening doors at Marvel and DC Comics, the film served as a creative launch point for Kyle's 2014 Image Comics series, C.O.W.L. 

At present, Kyle is developing several live action properties, including a feature version of The Shadow Hours, an adaptation of his critically acclaimed Image Comics series Hadrian's Wall — for Gunpowder & Sky — as well as co-writing the critically acclaimed reinvention of ULTRAMAN for Marvel Comics and Tsuburaya Productions.

You can follow Kyle on Twitter and Instagram at @KyleDHiggins and find his books at his Author Page.

LINDSEY MORAN - PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Graduating from California Institute of the Arts in May of 2003 with a major in theatrical set design and technical direction, minoring in graphic design, Lindsey began her career in live television working on the Academy Awards. After joining the Art Director’s Guild in 2007, her focus shifted to film and big budget features including The Hunger Games and Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, as well as indies like All’s Faire in Love (starring Christina Ricci) and How to Make Love Like an Englishman (starring Jessica Alba and Selma Hayek). 

As a production designer, Lindsey has designed five feature films including Bad Milo, Fatal Instinct, Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife, and The Frontier, plus high profile shorts like the award-winning The Lord of Catan (starring Amy Acker and Fran Kranz) and nine of Trigger Street’s First Shot series in collaboration with producer Dana Brunetti and starring Kevin Spacey, Willem Dafoe, and Uma Thurman.

Commercials and music videos include Comcast’s X-Finity campaign directed by David LaChepelle, David Blaine’s Target campaign Revolution, Eastbay Shoes’ Hoops Heaven, Sky Ferriera’s music video for Sad Dream, and Soft Moon’s Want. While maintaining a wide variety of productions, Lindsey’s passion resides in scripted work and the development of character driven design.

You can find more of Lindsey's work at lindseymoran.com.

MICHAEL NIE - CINEMATOGRAPHER

Making the pilgrimage from Madison, Wisconsin to Los Angeles, California, Michael Nie was immersed in a variety of work environments early in his career. These included feature films, episodic television, commercials, and music videos. On productions such as Ray (2003), The Kingdom (2007), and Shutter Island (2009), Michael gleaned what he could from talented cinematographers and their union crews. In 2004, Michael first worked with Mauro Fiore, ASC, who remains both a source of inspiration for Michael’s work and a good friend. In 2006, Michael joined the International Cinematographers Guild. He is now a two-time recipient of the ICG’s Emerging Cinematographer Award.

You can reach Michael and see more of his work at michaelnie.com.

BEAR McCREARY  - COMPOSER

In the sleepy port town of Bellingham, Washington, sixteen-year-old aspiring composer Bear McCreary imagined and wrote his own films, just so he could score them. A chance encounter led him to film music legend Elmer Bernstein, who moored his boat in Bellingham harbor. The maestro recognized a passion for musical storytelling in the ambitious high school student, and encouraged him to study composition at the USC School of Music in Los Angeles, where he took him on as a protégé. Two decades later, McCreary has validated Berstein’s instincts, having proven himself one of the most versatile and in-demand composers in the industry.

McCreary recently collaborated closely with producer J.J. Abrams, scoring the Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot hit film 10 Cloverfield Lane. Time Magazine raved “The movie’s finest feature may be Bear McCreary’s playfully malicious score, a beehive of worried-sounding strings that channels the spirit of Hitchcock fave Bernard Herrmann.” USA Today praised the “fantastic wordless opening set to Bear McCreary’s roiling, glorious score.” McCreary’s incorporation of Blaster Beam, yialli tanbur and other exotic instruments into the gripping thriller drew upon his experience from his first job: scoring the influential and revered Battlestar Galactica. His music for that series was lauded by Variety as “innovative,” “like no other” by NPR, and earned him a coveted spot on Io9.com’s “Ten Best Science Fiction Composers of All Time.” From there, he quickly became one of the medium’s most sought-after talents. He currently scores AMC’s record-shattering global phenomenon The Walking Dead, as well as Joss Whedon and ABC’s hit series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

In recent years, McCreary has become increasingly recognized for his musical innovation. He won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme for his theme to David S. Goyer’s epic historical fantasy Da Vinci’s Demons. The theme itself a carefully-constructed palindrome (it sounds the same forwards and backwards), evokes musical homage to Da Vinci’s own writings. McCreary also received Emmy nominations for his work on the pirate drama Black Sails, from executive producer Michael Bay, Outlander, Ronald D. Moore’s smash-hit adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s acclaimed novels and Human Target. He has twice been awarded “ASCAP Composer of the Year – Television” by his peers.

You can find more of Bear's work at bearmccreary.com.