Team

Frank Merle (Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker who served as artistic director of Chicago’s critically-acclaimed Keyhole Theatre Company and directed over 30 professional stage productions before turning his attention to film in 2006. Since then, he has written, directed and produced several award-winning films, including the critically-acclaimed feature thriller The Employer, starring Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Billy Zane (Titanic), and From Jennifer, starring Derek Mears (Friday the 13th) and Tony Todd (Candyman). He also produced the horror anthology film Three Little Creeps, as well as two additional feature films in the Jennifer series: 2 Jennifer and For Jennifer. He is a proud member of the Producers Guild of America.

Dara Frazier (Producer) was born in Detroit and developed a passion for storytelling at an early age. She is a writer, producer, animator, Off-Broadway playwright and award-winning filmmaker. Her plays have been performed throughout the country including at Hollywood’s Stella Adler Theatre, in residence with the Towne Street Theatre and Pasadena’s A Noise Within Theatre. She has worked in the art departments for MTV and Nickelodeon. Her writing experience includes series and development for Disney, HBOMax and Netflix. Dara wrote and produced the holiday romantic comedy Catfish Christmas with Frank Merle and they are developing a slate of films together. She currently lives in Los Angeles and enjoys supporting independent film and theater.

Matt Olson (Production Manager) is a graduate of The University of Iowa with degrees in Cinema production and Theatre. He has worked on numerous independent films around the country, as well as a great deal of corporate and commercial work. Matt has extensive experience as a Producer, Director of Photography and Gaffer. Credits include The Chemistry of Dating, Morgan’s Last Call, Graves Farm, Driver’s Ed Mutiny, Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story, Collapse, Playback, and House of Purgatory.

Carmen Aiello (Casting Director) hails from Chicago Theatre where he cast over forty equity theatre productions and shared several Jeff Awards nominations. Aiello was the casting director of Frank Merle’s award winning feature film, The Employer, starring Malcolm McDowell, Billy Zane and David Dastmalchian. Co-creator, Co-producer and casting director for the upcoming TV series, Adi Shankar’s Gods and Secrets. In 2018, Aiello co–produced and cast Corbin Nash directed by Ben Jagger, which received limited theatrical distribution and is now available on NETFLIX. Aiello has cast and produced several other feature films which have all been distributed and official selections of numerous film festivals including Sundance, Dances With Films and Newport Beach Festival.

Charles Riffenburg (Graphic Designer) is a Chicago-based illustrator, graphic designer, web designer, and marketing consultant. He works primarily with artists and arts & entertainment companies around the world to create authentic branding and solid marketing campaigns. Charles is truly passionate about working with people and companies that make the world a better place. He believes that the arts are a powerful force for good in society and I wants to help bring as much art to as many people as possible. In his spare time, he is also an accomplished cartoonist as well as a theatre actor and director. His work and accomplishments can be found through grabbagmedia.com

Alex Saveliev (Literary Manager) is an award-winning, produced screenwriter, having written for Lifetime and a major computer-animated series, as well as editing, translating and adapting over a dozen screenplays. He is a published author of several books, an established film distributor of over 80 international film titles and a senior film critic for a popular entertainment website. He has traveled all over the world and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.