Srikant Chellappa, moderator: Srikant is an Indian-American director, producer, actor, and screenwriter based in St. Louis. His film credits include the action-comedy “Bad Grandmas” (2017), the drama “Sleep with Me” (2015), the thriller “Fatal Call” (2012), the horror film “Ghost Image” (2007), and the documentary “Running Against Dick” (2004). Srikant is also a tech entrepreneur and is the co-founder/president of Engagedly, an enterprise cloud software platform, and president of Kalinga Productions, a recording studio and film-production company based in St. Louis. He also makes music with his band Manchester Underground. He is a board member of Cinema St. Louis.
Jamie Christopherson: A multi-award-winning composer, Jamie has built a reputation for consistently delivering unique, fresh, and unexpected scores. Whether writing evocative orchestral music, recording world instruments on location in exotic places, or programming cutting-edge modern synths, he constantly experiments with new ways to create music that gets to the heart of a project, while always infusing his signature style into the vision of the director and producers. Known for his interest and expertise in multiple media and genres, Jamie’s music can be heard in feature films, video games, television shows, documentaries, theatrical trailers, commercial spots, webisodes, and theme parks. Jamie’s most notable works include feature films such as “California Christmas” (Netflix), “Bennett’s War,” “Dirt,” “The Crow: Wicked Prayer,” and interactive scores to bestselling video games such as Fortnite, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth series, Lost Planet 1 & 2, and Lineage II. He has also scored additional music for many TV shows, most notably Showtime Channel’s “Homeland,” “Ray Donovan,” and “The Affair,” and the J.J. Abrams-produced NBC hit “Revolution.” For more information, visit Jamie’s website and IMDb page.
Adam Frick-Verdine: Adam is a sound designer, composer, and sound artist in St. Louis. He maintains an active career of client work producing sound for independent film (including such local productions as “Bad Grandmas,” “Four Color Eulogy,” “Marshall’s Miracle,” “23 Minutes to Sunrise,” “Fatal Call,” and “Shadowland), television, advertising, podcasts, museums, and more. His work has been shown on NBC, Qubo, PBS, Nickelodeon, and Noggin, in national theatrical releases, at film festivals, on DVD, and more. His museum and interactive work includes music production and sound design for festivals and museums in Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, and New Jersey. In 2016, he began pursuing artistic projects of his own creation, beginning with “Pear Blossom,” a children’s podcast he wrote, directed, produced and released in 2018 (fablist-stories.com). He also has co-written, edited, and produced interactive audio maps: UnHeardOfCherokeeStreet.com, a flagship map at www.UnHeardOfSTL.org, and a map of St Louis cemeteries. Adam studied music performance and sound recording technology at DePaul University and received a B.S. in music. He is the recipient of the Miller Prize for Audio from the Missouri Review, Best Sound Design at the Midwest Filmmakers Festival, and a Silver Telly for Sound. Adam has taught in the Audio Aesthetics and Technology department at Webster University since 2011.
Colton Jackson: Colton’s scores and sound design have been featured in television series (AHC’s “Against the Odds”), films, and ads. Born and raised on the East Coast, he found a connection with the guitar and piano at age 12, but his passion for music and sound gained momentum after high school. After being awarded a music scholarship to Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., Colton earned a B.S. in music and creative arts. Other experience includes work as a studio guitarist and as a member of a band that opened for artists such as Gavin DeGraw. Based in Springfield, Colton and his wife run Invent Audio and Design, which specializes in composing and sound design.
Matthew Oliva: Matt is a production sound mixer with more than 15 years of experience in Chicago and the Midwest area. He has helped design the sound for independent films, documentaries, and commercials. Matt’s production work includes corporate videos for United Airlines, TV commercials for Kwik Trip, and feature films such as Brian Jun’s “Sleep with Me,” which was made in the St. Louis area during 2015.
