PRODUCTION TEAM

STEVE MCNICHOLAS WRITER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR/MUSICAL SCORE/PRODUCER

Originally from Yorkshire in the UK, Steve McNicholas spent 16 years as an actor, composer, singer, musician, and writer with various theatrical and musical groups, starting out with the Bradford Theatre Group in 1973. Through the eighties, McNicholas worked with Cliff Hanger, Covent Garden Community Theatre and Pookiesnackenburger. Despite being an original member of the a cappella group the Flying Pickets, and a final appearance in The Return of Mr. Bean , McNicholas no longer performs.

Teaming up with Luke Cresswell to create in Brighton, U.K., in the summer of 1991 was the culmination of a 10-year dream and the beginning of a new brand of unique, musical theatre. They share directorial credits on STOMP -based films and commercials as well as their new show, The Lost and Found Orchestra , wherein each section of an entire orchestra is replaced with invented instruments and found objects, bringing the elements of physical theatre and silent comedy from STOMP to an eclectic orchestral concert. Also with Cresswell, McNicholas composed the soundtrack to the Showtime movie, RIOT , and shares an Oscar and Emmy nomination for his work on the film short BROOMS and HBO’s STOMP Out Loud, respectively. More recently, McNicholas co-directed the award-winning giant screen films, Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey and Wild Ocean 3D .

For The Last Reef and as they do on all their projects together, McNicholas and Cresswell wrote the score as part of the editing process, creating one rhythmic whole through the images, narration, sound effects, cut and music.

McNicholas started diving in the mid-nineties and still finds time, although not enough, to play violin, guitar and keyboards. He currently resides in Brighton, UK with his wife Loretta Sacco, their son, Milo and daughter, Maddalena.

LUKE CRESSWELL WRITER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR/MUSICAL SCORE/PRODUCER

A self-taught percussionist from Brighton, UK, Luke Cresswell’s session work as a drummer and rhythm programmer has included recordings with Beats International, , and Bryan Ferry. After working for several years as a street musician and performer, Cresswell created STOMP in 1991 with Steve McNicholas. His work as a performer in STOMP includes the Oscars, the Emmys and Quincy Jones’ album, Q’s Jook Joint . Cresswell first started diving while on tour with STOMP and is now a dive master. Diving remains his main leisure pursuit, although he also enjoys underwater photography and ornithology.

Cresswell co-directed, wrote, edited and scored Wild Ocean and The Last Reef . In addition, he has directed, along with Steve McNicholas, several award-winning commercials and short films.

Cresswell received an Oscar nomination for the film short BROOMS , an Emmy nomination for the 1997 HBO production STOMP Out Loud and co-directed the award winning giant-screen films, Pulse: a STOMP Odyssey and Wild Ocean 3D as well as the STOMP -inspired feature VACUUMS . He has also received a special achievement award from the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. More recently he and McNicholas have created The Lost and Found Orchestra , which explores found sound on an orchestral level.

Cresswell currently resides in Brighton, UK with his wife, Jo, and children Louie and Inka.

DAVID MARKS PRODUCER

David Marks has been working in the film and television industry for over twenty years, bringing a comprehensive knowledge of filmmaking, managing, budgeting, scheduling, production logistics, people skills and common sense to the projects he produces.

Aside from The Last Reef: 3D , he has produced several long-format projects including the highly successful and award winning HBO special, STOMP Out Loud , featuring STOMP , the internationally renowned rhythm and percussive performance group; the large format film, Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey , directed by the creators of STOMP, which brought rhythm and percussion from around the world to the big screen; the 40-minute documentary, Sweet Science , exploring World Heavy Weight Champion boxer Roy Jones Jr., as he trained to move up from Light Heavy Weight to Heavy Weight; the giant screen film , Wild Ocean: 3D , a large format 3D underwater film capturing a marine phenomenon off the coast of South Africa; and currently in production, Great White Shark: 3D , a large format 3D underwater film delving into our imagination and fears about great white sharks, while providing a realistic glimpse into the world of the great white and all the man-made elements affecting their survival.

Marks resides in New York and continues to be involved in the development and production of film-related projects at Yes/No Productions.

DON KEMPF PRODUCER

Don Kempf is president and co-founder of Giant Screen Films, which specializes in the production and distribution of giant-screen/IMAX® films and feature documentaries.

Kempf’s first film release, which he produced and co-directed, was the inspirational giant screen film Michael Jordan to the Max . He also produced the critically acclaimed large-format film Pulse: a STOMP Odyssey , and Wild Ocean, which was selected by the Earthwatch Institute as its Film of the Year in 2009. In 2010 Kempf produced and released the highly successful Tornado Alley. His other producing credits include Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs , Dinosaurs Alive and Waking the T rex: the Story of Sue. Kempf also served as executive producer on the acclaimed political documentary So Goes the Nation .

Kempf founded Giant Screen Films with a mission to bring enriching and impactful theatrical experiences to audiences worldwide. A former history teacher, Kempf’s decision to devote his career to educational documentary film production was a natural one. In 2009, he founded D3D Cinema, a sister company of GSF that is dedicated to digital 3D theater integration and film production. Kempf received a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in marketing and entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Don and his family live in the Chicago area.

BRIAN EIMER SOUND DESIGN AND MIX

Sound designer and supervising sound editor Brian Eimer has been creating soundtracks for all genres of motion picture films for over twenty years and has been involved in creating soundtracks for large format films for more than twelve years. Eimer’s large format credits include Michael Jordan to the Max , The Human Body , Santa vs. The Snowman-3D , Pulse: a STOMP Odyssey , India-Kingdom of the Tiger , Bugs , Dinosaurs Alive , and Wild Ocean 3D , to name a few. Eimer’s work ha s been recognized twice by the Motion Picture Sound Editors in Los Angeles with a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in a Special Venue Film, both for The Human Body and Santa vs. the Snowman . Eimer also shared the GS CA Best Sound Award with Mike Roberts, for Pulse: a STOMP Odyssey , and the GSCA Achievement Award for Best Sound Design for Wild Ocean 3D .

Eimer recently completed the sound design and mix on a planetarium film for National Geographic called Wildest Weather in the Solar System . Eimer is a member of the GSCA, and Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

MIKE ROBERTS SOUND DESIGN AND MIX

Roberts has worked as sound supervisor on all STOMP productions and related film and TV work all over the world. He received an Emmy Nomination for STOMP Out Loud , and won the GSCA award for best sound with the Giant Screen Films, Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey and Wild Ocean 3D .