Watts began working in the film industry in 1960, after two years’ National Service. His first film work was as a runner on the Boulting brothers production A French Mistress. Watts earned his union membership during two years as a runner, and later production manager, at a company based at England’s Shepperton Studios which made TV commercials and documentaries. He then returned to feature films as a second assistant director on the film Man in the Middle.

During the 1960s, Watts worked extensively as a production manager and location manager, including on Darling (1965) starring Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde, the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice and Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Watts was employed by producer Gary Kurtz as production supervisor on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, having met Kurtz several years earlier in Los Angeles. Watts then enjoyed a long collaboration with George Lucas and Lucasfilm, working as associate producer on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and co-producer on Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi; and as associate producer on Raiders of the Lost Ark and producer on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also worked on other Steven Spielberg-presented productions including as producer on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, and with Spielberg’s long-term producer Frank Marshall on Marshall’s second feature as director, Alive.

Chris has been working in Hollywood for over twenty years. His experience includes working as an executive at Universal Pictures and department head of Leap Frog’s home entertainment division. Now an independent producer, Chris works on many diverse projects including several with The Walt Disney Company. His childrens’ entertainment insight and knowledge are invaluable in making CayFilm appealing to all ages.

Adam Kane first became enamored with filmmaking at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he discovered cinematography. Adam photographed eight films during his undergraduate career, winning Best Cinematography two years in a row at the NYU Film Festival. He was then accepted in to the highly competitive and prestigious American Film Institute, where he graduated in the top two of his class. After earning his Masters Degree, Adam continued to work in independent feature films, commercials, infomercials, and low budget television. During this time he also worked for the Associated Press Los Angeles-based video news division, covering national news events including the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City.

Twenty years of filmmaking has made Adam one of the most sought after directors working in Hollywood. Known for his strong cinematic storytelling, Adam’s 2005 directorial debut, THE FIX, won nine major festival awards, including Best Drama, Best of Fest, and Best Director. His political thriller FORMOSA BETRAYED was theatrically released by Screen Media Films in 2010. It won Best Feature and Best Actor at the San Diego Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Philadelphia Asian American Festival. In television, Adam most recently directed and executive produced the Pilot for HIGH MOON, created by PUSHING DAISIES and HANNIBAL showrunner Bryan Fuller. Previously, he was the Executive Producer/Director for SyFy’s hit BEING HUMAN, which he also directed the Pilot. He has directed episodes of the hit series SLEEPY HOLLOW, FALLING SKIES, HEROES, PUSHING DAISIES, SUPERNATURAL, THE MENTALIST, KINGS, MY OWN WORST ENEMY, and the Pilot for the Stephen King series HAVEN. He was the Producer/Director for the Golden Globe nominated hit PUSHING DAISIES and the Supervising Producer/Director for NBC’s medical drama MERCY.

Alexa has represented and advised A-list, award-winning talent, top filmmakers and corporations for over 18 years. She began her career in 1995 with one of the world’s top talent agencies ICM (International Creative Management).  Later she joined iconic agent-turned-manager Michael Black at MBM (Michael Black Management, Inc.), where she has worked for the past 15 years.

As a personal talent manager, Alexa has worked directly with Tommy Lee Jones, Marsha Mason, Tuesday Weld, Timothy Dalton, Anjelica Huston, Richard Lewis, Dabney Coleman, and Wes Studi, among many others including award winning producers and other specific-skill-set individuals. Previously at ICM, Alexa trained under senior level executives in talent, literary, and below-the-line departments working with scores of clients.

In 2007 she began providing advisory and solution services to businesses engaging in the entertainment industry by developing sound business strategies and helping clients make strategic alliances.  Recently she represented Phil Jackson, Jeanie Buss, Kurt & Linda Rambis in a pilot development deal with Showtime (scripted by Ron Shelton), as well as negotiated the rights of well-recognized brands like The Winchester Mystery House and The Queen Mary for feature films.

Throughout her extensive career Alexa has helped her clients navigate the complex mazes of art, labor, compensation and profit participation.  She has secured fair deals for everything from feature film and television lead actor packages (including major and indie studios as well as both network and cable television) to voiceover work, director contracts, spec scripts and for-hire-screenwriters, web series, product endorsements, public and private events totally millions of dollars. Her expertise goes far beyond contract negotiations; she has advised, consulted and coordinated numerous projects to completion from first pitch to premiere.

A graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law (JD) and Mills College (BA), Alexa was admitted to the California Bar in 1995.  She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has volunteered her time and talents to numerous not-for-profit boards and charities.

A native of New York, Michael started in business affairs at ICM (then CMA) after graduating Georgetown Law.  Over his career as an agent, he brought further accolades and awards to iconic stars including Oscar, Emmy, and Tony award winners like Bette Davis, Fred Astaire, Natalie Wood, Audrey Hepburn, Anthony Perkins, Liza Minnelli and Ben Kingsley. Additionally he nurtured and launched the careers of many others including Rob Lowe, Jamie Lee Curtis and Zack Snyder, and was instrumental in the career strategy of Jerry Bruckheimer.  For 30 years he was the key architect in the career of Tommy Lee Jones.

In addition to representing talent, Michael shepherded films such as Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, the mini series Lonesome Dove, and the TV specials Motown 25 and Motown Return to the Apollo, and also represented many writers and directors.  He really made his mark by incorporating the now named idea of “Branding” a decade before its time.  You will find him in featured articles in The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, as well as in books such as The Agency, The Club Rules, and Prairie Tale, and all those other tell-all books about Hollywood’s top deal makers.

Loren revolutionized the entire film industry through inventing rendering and modeling algorithms for image synthesis and visual effects. In 2001 he and 2 colleagues were awarded the only Oscar statuettes ever given for computer science. He recently transitioned from his position as Senior Research Scientist in Disney/Pixar’s research division to that of an IONS visiting scholar.
His groundbreaking work began at the Boeing Company where, while pursuing his master’s degree in computer science at the University of Washington, he started experimenting with computer animation as part of an effort to improve the company’s computer-aided design and modeling tools. That work inspired and led to his creation of the world’s first fractally-generated animation piece, a short film titled Vol Libre, which is available on Vimeo.

In 1980 he presented the two-minute film at the SIGGRAPH Conference, and his film career took off when the Lucasfilm Computer Division immediately offered him a job. There he further perfected his software to create the fractal planet for the Genesis sequence of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a visual effect that worked so well it was used in the next three Star Trek movies. His division at Lucasfilm eventually grew into Pixar Animation Studios, where he became the studio’s first Senior Scientist, and where his software algorithms still beat in the heart of every Pixar movie.
In addition to his award-winning work in computer animation, Loren and his wife Rachel have explored new concepts in interactivity and computer art through their own company, Cinematrix, Inc.

Angelique loves a good story. Tall tales, shaggy dogs and impossible quests. In fact, it’s the story of David and Goliath that’s inspired her to go rogue from big business and found Shed, the small but mighty creative agency specializing in brand innovation where her quest to live a creative life in pursuit of epoch stories that make people laugh, think or act continues.

Early on, Angelique practiced the creative art of story telling in San Francisco and London as a trained actor, improvisational comedian, theater company director and bartender (had to pay the bills somehow!) She turned this art into a retail business career as a skilled global strategist with experience in new brand, people and innovation strategies in over 40 countries throughout Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

Having worked in senior executive positions at Starbucks, LBi, The Marketing Store and Boxer, Angelique brings a unique mix of business know-how and brand innovation to her clients such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Conservation International. She and the good people of Shed are proud to support the CayFilm community.

Vincent is an internationally recognized pioneer in the art and science of digital photography. His passion for natural light photography is manifest not only in his work but also through his role as a creative and technical leader, contributing to innovative breakthroughs across the entire digital image value chain.

Vincent is one of Nikon’s founding Nikon Ambassadors and is considered by Nikon to be “one of the top photography artists and visual storytellers of this era.” Vincent is a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Media Arts & Entertainment and the Shellenberg fine art award. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History. He is the photographer of Immediate Assistants Medical Rescue Go Team. He was commissioned by the San Francisco Presidio Trust to create a body of photographic work to permanently capture this National Park and Historic Landmark.

Vincent’s work has been highlighted in American Photo, Popular Photography, The New York Times, Shutterbug, Outdoor Photographer, Pro Digital Imaging, PDN, What Digital Camera, Petersen’s Photographic, PC Camera, Studio Design and Photography, Professional Photographer, Digital Imaging and many more. Nominated multiple times to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, Vincent has been recognized by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals through the creation of the Vincent Versace Award for Digital Photography Excellence. The “Vinnie” is a special category of the Photoshop Guru Awards, considered one of the most prestigious and coveted awards in the international digital imaging industry.

He is the author of the best selling books From Oz to Kansas: Almost Every Black & White Technique Known to Mankind and Welcome to Oz 2.0: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop . His book, Welcome to Oz has been selected as Shutterbug Magazine’s best how-to book of the year. Vincent was the original host of the Epson Print Academy and is a member of the Epson Stylus Pros. He is also a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens, an Xrite Colorotti, Lexar Elite Photographer, Team NiK Elite Photographer, an American Photo Magazine Mentor Trek and Master Class instructor and a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals Instructor Dream Team. He teaches regularly at Photoshop World, B&H, the FBI, US Navy Combat Camera, US Coast Guard, Maine Media Workshops and Palm Beach Photographic Workshops.

Vincent’s passion for photography dates back more than four decades when, at the age of seven, his wedding-photographer uncle introduced him to the magic of the darkroom. Within two years, he had sold his first photo. Within ten, he had booked his first professional assignment. Today, based in Los Angeles, he divides his time between commercial and fine art photography assignments, teaching, and consulting for such suppliers as Nikon, Epson, Nik, OnOne, X-Rite, Adobe, Westcott and others.

Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk is a daytime Emmy and multiple James Beard award-winning Producer with over 25-years of experience in television, film, theatre and live events. Ms. Brencsons-Van Dyk is the Chief Executive Officer of Caliativity Productions and the Chief Creative Officer of Many Road Productions. She is currently producing two documentary films and has several web and television programs in development. Prior to forming these companies, Ms. Brencsons-Van Dyk spent twelve years working on Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Production team, where she spent seven years on The Martha Stewart Show, and worked on a number of television programs including: Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn, Emeril’s Table with Chef Emeril Lagasse, Martha Stewart’s Apprentice Finale, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, Martha Bakes, The Live Finale of the 45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-off\, Whatever, Martha! and Whatever, You’re Wrong as well as seven Hallmark holiday television specials featuring Martha Stewart and her celebrity guests. Additionally, Ms. Brencsons-Van Dyk has produced numerous ad campaigns, print projects, web specials, applications and other programing.

Her work in theatre and on Broadway started at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center where she was the Program Coordinator and Associate Director for Development in the President’s Office. During her tenure, she worked with playwrights August Wilson, Herman D. Farrell, III and Joe DiPietro and was a coordinator for the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Center. Shortly, thereafter, Calia became the assistant to Jacques d’Amboise at National Dance Institute, where she was involved in all facets of production ranging from fundraising, to writing, performing and teaching and was the tour manager for the Company’s 50th Anniversary Celebration tour in Geneva, Switzerland.

In addition to her creative background, Ms. Brencsons-Van Dyk spent some time at the International consulting firm of McKinsey and Company and later in the President’s office of The French Petroleum Institute where she oversaw the merger of HRI International and IFP and later was a part of the transition to Axens, USA.

On Broadway, she was a part of the team at Richard Frankel Productions that conceived and promoted the ill-fated Broadway Hall of Fame and later became the assistant to writer and activist, Trish Vradenburg on her Alzheimer tribute to her mother, Surviving Grace.

Ms. Van Dyk is a State Department Alumna, a member of the Producers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA and NATAS. Calia has been a guest speaker at NYU, New York Women in Film and Television, St. John’s University and the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program for Young Professionals. She is a graduate of Mills College where she was honored last year for her distinguished achievement in the Arts and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts where she was the President of the Alumni Association and a member of the Academic Council. She is currently an alumni- mentor for Cultural Vistas, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Producers’ Guild and an Emmy voter and a member of the Daytime Emmy Award advisory Panel. She is also a member of the Board of Advisors to CayFilm and the Cayman Media Academy…