Crew
John Jackman
Director
John Jackman, (Pastor, author, and filmmaker) has been involved in video & television production since the mid-seventies, and was one of the early adopters of digital video and digital production techniques. An award-winning director and producer, he is the author of Lighting for Digital Video and Television (2004, CMP Books), Bluescreen Compositing for Television & Moviemaking (2007, Focal Press) and for years was contributing editor to Digital Video Magazine. His Compositing book has just been translated into Spanish, and his lighting book has been translated into Chinese. The third expanded, full color edition of his lighting book was released at the National Association of Broadcasters convention. He is working on an updated fourth edition.
Jackman has broadcast credits with ABC, The Hallmark Channel, The History Channel, UCB-TV in the UK, and numerous public television stations.
Jackman has taught professional workshops on digital production and lighting for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the American Film Institute (AFI), DV Expo, as well as film schools, college, and university programs. He has been consultant to the the Library of Congress. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission. He most recently produced and directed a feature film based on the life of John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace; he is working now on a documentary about Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415.
Jackman is an ordained minister in the Moravian Church. He has served churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and North Carolina. He currently serves as pastor of Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem NC and has served several terms as Chair of the Salem Congregation Board of Elders. He and his wife Debbie and daughter Abigail live outside of Winston-Salem, NC with two cats, six very noisy ducks, and lots of storytelling.
Arledge Armenaki
Director of Photography
Arledge Armenaki (Director of Photography) brought the lush look of Caravaggio’s paintings to Wesley. His creative work earned a Bronze Telly® Award in the Lighting category for the movie.
Arledge’s work has been recognized at numerous film festivals, including a BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY award at the Marco Island Film Festival for the feature film A LETTER FROM FATHER.
He received the NORTH CAROLINA FILMMAKER’S award at the River Run Film Festival for Co-Director/Cinematographer on SURRENDERING IN A CHAMPION’S WORLD.
Other feature films include SOUTH OF HELL, CLUB FED, HOWLING V, and DENNIS THE MENACE.
He has taught cinematography at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and subsequently directed the film production major program at Western Carolina University.
Bruce Keisling
Composer
Bruce Kiesling is a busy composer who is comfortable in a wide variety of musical genres. His film scores reflect an eclectic collection of musical styles from simple, homespun folk songs to more epic/adventure orchestral scores. His projects include the feature films Wesley, Seven Days of Yellow, Foresight, A Noise of Many Waters (winner of the Red Inkworks Screenwriting Competition) as well as the slasher comedy Caesar and Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre and the feature length documentary Di Passaggio.
Scores for live theatrical performances include In Golden Pond at Triad Stage and Swimming off-Broadway in New York City. He was also recently the musical director in Los Angeles for the Reprise Theater’s production of They’re Playing Our Song with Jason Alexander.
Bruce holds a masters degree in Film Scoring from the North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking and several conducting degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Miami, Florida.
Bruce also has an active conducting career. Performances on The Tonight Show, at the Hollywood Bowl (with Stevie Wonder), Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall are highlights of his recent appearances. In addition he is the conductor of the LA Phil’s YOLA program inspired by music director Gustavo Dudamel’s training program in Venezuela. Previously, he served for eight years as resident conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. He served as music director and conductor of the Tulare County Symphony in California. His current Music Director positions include the Adrian Symphony in Michigan and the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra in California. He is also Artistic Director and Conductor of the School of Orchestral Studies at the NY Summer School of the Arts.
Lovinder Gill
Producer
Lovinder Gill acted as one of the producers for Wesley. He has taught screenwriting and film production for over 12 years. He’s written, produced and directed two feature films that both won Best Picture Awards at film festivals and has four produced feature film screenplays including Lost Stallions: The Journey Home starring Hollywood Legend Mickey Rooney and Ball & Chain starring Kal Penn. Lovinder has also written, produced and directed documentaries all over the world including in Nepal on Mt. Everest, India, Guatemala, Bolivia, Canada and, of course, the United States.
He has his BFA in Film Production from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and his MFA in Screenwriting from Hollins University. Lovinder is an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Screenwriter’s Workshop and has also been a finalist in the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Pitch Competition. Lovinder’s script Strawberry Lassi has been chosen for the Development Program with the International Screenwriter’s Association and he has multiple screenplays that have placed in numerous script competitions.
Lovinder teaches production as an adjunct professor at Drexel University continues to be active in the film industry and develop film projects and is currently writing his first novel.
Geoff Thompson
Producer
Geoff Thompson was born on January 14, 1972 in Butler, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Wesley (2009), Chicks 101 (2004), Stalemate (2011), and Hero (2014). He teaches film production at East Carolina University and works as a voice actor.
Carolyn Haywood
Screenwriter
Carolyn Haywood is an award-winning scriptwriter and author. She co-wrote the final version of the Wesley script with John Jackman. Carolyn also served as set designer for Wesley, putting together authentic historic sets. She caught the screenwriting bug when she heard an Emmylou Harris song Red Dirt Girls on the radio and began envisioning the tragic story as a movie. The Red Dirt Girls script was turned into a novel. Her next script, The Angel Gabriel, won the 20/20 competition and was in the top twenty of the Screenwriting Expo and was a finalist in the Writer’s Arc fellowship program. In 2005 she collaborated with Karen Kallis Cheesman on Morning Star and Moon. Conroy Kanter of KK Ranch Productions is producing with Shirley MacLaine attached to play the lead. Tears For The Innocent won Script magazine’s Thrills and Chills contest resulting in an agency deal with Guy Walks Into A Bar, which manages writers & directors for film and television. They also produce films including New Line’s Christmas hit, ELF. Guy Walks Into A Bar has a first look deal with Paramount and is also developing numerous projects at other studios.
Liz May
Sound Mixer
Liz May served as on-set sound supervisor and as sound mixer in post, creating many of the sound effects used in the movie. She has worked on several other films, including Artifacts (2010), Stalemate (2011), and Vulnerability (2013). After training in Nashville in audio production, she started her own recording and sound production company, SoundLizzard Productions. She has been active in organizing many events in the Winston-Salem area focusing on drama and music production. She worked for the HanesBrands Theater as production coordinator, and has served for the last several years as production and facilities manager for the historic Reynolds Auditorium in Winston-Salem, NC.
