Michael Coleman // Producer & Creative Director:

A Bay Area native, Michael started Colemanfilm Media Group shortly after graduating from Northern California’s arts college, Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, in March 2003.

Michael continued his studies after graduation with legendary Producer/Composer Jack Douglas. As Jack’s assistant, he joined the world-renowned rock band Aerosmith for their 2004 blues album release, Honkin’ on Bobo. During the seven-month project, Michael worked closely with the band and album engineering staff. In addition, Michael captured over 1000+ still images and endless hours of video footage that were utilized for tour and album production.

Aerosmith released the “making of” DVD, You Gotta Move with studio footage from Honkin’ on Bobo, concert footage, interview clips, and never-before seen footage live in the studio. To date the DVD has gone 4X platinum, selling over 400,000 units and the audio CD was certified gold.

More recently, Colemanfilm Media Group has expanded the company with three employees, and their hands deep in the Bay Area and national music scene. Michael had recent success directing the music video “Salty Eyes” with Epitaph, Bay Area band, The Matches— with media attention included numerous film festival entries, FUSETV, MTV, Current TV, and web features on Rolling Stone, USA Today, Youtube, and Spin.com.

Coleman also made a splash in the print and broadcast world. The Bay Area’s “World Class Rock” radio station, KFOG, has brought Coleman on to produce exclusive online video content for their web site, including videos of artists for their “Local Artist Month,” and private concert series. Colemanfilm Media Group is concurrently working on producing online video content for several music and lifestyle magazine web sites, including music magazine SPIN, the music recording industry’s MIX and REMIX, and San Francisco’s lifestyle magazine, 7x7.

Lexus and SF based Articulate Design brought Colemanfilm Media Group on to produce their exclusive Internet campaign promoting sustainable living. Coleman and his team have created over a dozen online video profiles offering inspiration from some of the most stylish and exciting eco designers working today.

Coleman and his team of creative talent continue to expand and work with new clients, both locally and nationally to create authentic and creative media.

Jason Jurgens // Writer & Assistant Producer:

Jason launched TheOwlMag.com, an online music magazine in 2005. Since inception, The Owl Mag has attracted thousands of loyal readers and garnered press from the San Francisco Chronicle and Flavorpill. In addition, the magazine has covered such bands as My Chemical Romance, Silversun Pickups and Snow Patrol while maintaining local integrity by shedding light on numerous unsigned bands.

After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English Literature, Jason found his true calling as a writer and producer. He has written for E! Online, DRUM!, Remix, Diablo, ReadyMade and the Contra Costa Times. Through Colemanfilm, Jason has expanded his writing and researching talents on video projects for Lexus, Spin and Mix Magazine. This experience led him to successfully launch an online video program for 7x7sf.com. To date, Jason has interviewed Billy Bob Thornton, Snow Patrol, The Shins, movie directors Carroll Ballard, Peter Weir and Phil Kaufman, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Cheap Trick, NOFX, +44, Silversun Pickups, innovators in eco-friendly design, various sports figures among an impressive roster.

Brandon Vedder // Assistant Director & Editor:

A talented filmmaker whose passion for film and music has led him through an array of experiences. He realized early on shooting live music and music videos would combine his two passions. Brandon got the opportunity to join rock band Pearl Jam on their 2003 Riot Act tour to shoot the multi platinum selling live DVD “Pearl Jam: Live at the Garden”. Since then Brandon has been shooting for top rock and hip hop artists like; Wu-Tang Clan, Sleater Kinney, Lauryn Hill, OK GO, Mos Def, Sparta, De La Soul, Jet, Dispatch and many others.

Brandon has also produced content for such companies as Mix Magazine, Remix Magazine, Omega Watches, Lexus Hybrid Living, The Collective Sound, Capitol Records, Highway Video and many others. He has also worked as a camera operator on a handful of feature length narrative and documentary films. He has produced and directed many short films of his own, some under contract and some independently. The independently produced short films have garnered festival attention and the most recently produced film was the recipient and made under the coveted Kodak 35mm grant. Brandon is currently in development on his first feature length script with a boutique production company in Los Angeles.

Michael Tucker // Assistant Director:

An accomplished young filmmaker who has been directing and shooting movies since a very young age. Michael has produced numerous independent works of varying lengths, from short 30 second commercials to a full length feature.

Michael has produced work for such clients as Lexus Hybrid Living/Articulate, Sunsweet Growers, UC Berkeley, MIX Magazine, The Owl Mag, The City of San Francisco, Bay to Breakers, as well as being involved in the production of a number of music videos for Bay Area based bands. He is currently directing a number of projects that include internet shorts and music videos.

Michael recently graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he studied film and Directed numerous short length and feature narratives. Michael has joined Colemanfilm Media Group as a full time in-house Director and is currently developing a series of online short narratives.

Dennis Erokan : President, The Placemaking Group

A pioneer in niche market publishing, Dennis created BAM Magazine in 1976 to give the West Coast entertainment industry a way to reach young people at a reasonable cost. An innovator from the start, he made BAM the first publication to be distributed free at point-of-purchase in retail outlets throughout California.

In 1978, Dennis founded the first Bay Area Music Awards, more commonly known as the "Bammies." He continues to produce the internationally recognized awards program, which attracts over 6,000 music industry leaders annually.

In 1984, Dennis launched MicroTimes. This magazine focused on the heroes in the computing industry instead of the endless descriptions of electronics, and became the nation's largest regional computer magazine with a circulation topping 200,000 when sold in 1999.

Jack Douglas : Producer/Composer

Grammy award winning producer whose credits include some of Rock’s true legends; Yoko Ono, John Lennon, The Who, Supertramp, Slash, New York Dolls, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, and the hit mobster television show “The Sopranos”.

Starting out as folk musician and performer, he worked on Robert Kennedy's senatorial campaign as a song-writer. His first professional job was at a new recording studio Record Plant Studios, not as producer or engineer, but as the janitor.

Soon he was working at the recording desk contributing to projects by Miles Davis, The James Gang, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Moxy and Mountain. Later on as a Record Plant staff engineer Douglas also forged working relationships with Patti Smith, Blue Öyster Cult, the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick and most notably Aerosmith.

Ann Kroeber : Sound Mountain

Ann Kroeber began her film career at the Office of Radio and Television at the United Nations.  One day a colleague there asked her to record fireworks and ambient sound at a Chinese New Year Celebration.  Her world changed that day when she put the headphones on.  The textures and tones surrounding her became intensely fascinating.  She broke recording conventions and returned with an aural pastiche that delighted her employee. After her assignment at the UN was complete she freelanced for the BBC, CBS, ORTF, and also did production sound on docs & low budget features.

She moved to San Francisco in 1978 and was hired there by Alan Splet to record sound effects for the Black Stallion, which won an Academy Award for Sound Fx Editing. Kroeber was a sound fx recordist and later fx editor with Splet on such films as The Elephant Man, Dune, Never Cry Wolf, Wind, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Mountains of the Moon, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Henry and June, The Mosquito Coast, and Dead Poets Society.  She was the production mixer on Blue Velvet.

In 1999 she formed a company called Sound Mountain and has recorded and or provided sound effects for such films as The Star Wars Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Gladiator, The English Patient, The Horse Whisperer, A Bug’s Life, K-19, Polar Express, The Village, Hidalgo etc. and many games. She was Sound Designer on Carroll Ballard’s recent Duma and Fx Editor on his Fly Away Home as well as Affonso Arau’s Zapata. She has also provided sound effects and sound designed for a number of popular Games.   She produced a 3 CD set of sound effects for the Hollywood Edge called “Sounds of a Different Realm. The BBC, NPR, KPFA and Finnish Radio have interviewed her.

Stephen Kopels : Director of Education, San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking

Stephen has been a working filmmaker and television director for the past thirty-five years. His career started in 1968 as a combat photographer in Vietnam, shooting pictures for The United States Army journal Stars and Stripes, The New York Times, Newsweek, and other major publications.

For the next twelve years, Stephen worked for PBS as a senior producer/director. During his time with PBS, Stephen created hundreds of documentaries and live television shows that won him numerous national and international awards (the New York International Film Festival, the Gabriel Awards, and the San Francisco International Film Festival to name a few) and such honors as being named American representative at the Rockefeller International Independent Film Symposium in Venice, Italy and receiving two Peabody nominations.

Stephen currently runs the premier filmmaking school SFDigiFilm located in San Francisco, CA.