Writer, Director, Animator, Lawrence Johnson, has been making films professionally since 1983. He has written, produced and directed more than 100 films. His programs for the exhibition Sacred Encounters received the Golden Muse Award, the American Association of Museum’s recognition for the best Audio/Visual program in 1995. He produced the audio/visual components of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute permanent exhibit for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indians.His documentary Hand Game (2000) opened the American Indian Film Festival, and played the Smithsonian’s Native American Film and Video Festival, 2001. His three possible scenes won best dramatic short at the 2004 River Run International Film Festival in Salem, North Carolina. His personal feature-length documentary, called Stuff, received the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship in 2008 and several prizes at film festivals. In 2012, Johnson received the Fellowship Award in Media Arts from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, honoring artists in the Portland area who are the strongest representatives of the range and diversity of art in the Northwest. He is director of animation on My American Waistline, a web series. He has taught at the Sabah Film Academy in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia and the Northwest Film Center. He has worked since 2002 with Wisdom of the Elders, first as producer, writer and story editor for Wisdom of the Elders Radio, then as producer, director and editor for the Native Wisdom Documentary Film Series.
Producer, Vu Pham, recently discovered that he is the luckiest person alive. His life is truly his and he chooses it all. A Vietnamese-American immigrant left to his own devices at an early age, Vu discovered the stereoscopic images of the otherworldly Marvel superhero, Dr. Strange, through his favorite childhood toy, the View-Master. During this same period of American cultural integration he experienced Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on TV, and from that, he learned to love the moving image. His surreal short films have generated a lot of attention in the Northwest. The Cutting Shadow (2017), Baby Ipecac (2014) and The Shining God (2011) are just a few of them. He is currently at developing his feature film The Horizon is a Scar, My Love. Watch for more news on that front.
Director of Photography, Gerald Lewis, has been a film maker since the early 1970s. Formally trained at Swansea College of Art. Wales UK, and graduating in Film Production. From College he started work at BBC Wales, working with both 16mm and 35mm film. Initially starting as an Assistant Film Cameraman Gerald soon worked his way up through Camera Operator to Lighting Cameraman, (the UK term for Director of Photography). During years at the BBC Gerald worked on productions that ranged from Current Affairs and Documentaries to made for TV Movies. A great deal of time was spent in their documentary department where he traveled the world filming for a variety of the BBC productions. From there Gerald turned freelance and has worked for HTV Wales, Swedish Television, Saudi Arabian Television and all of the American Networks as well as the major American and European Cable Channels such as Discovery, A&E, Starz and more. Most of his work has been in the documentary arena, but Gerald also has a great deal of experience in all forms of film and video production. Several of his clients number among the Fortune 500. Many of the productions he has worked on have won awards. Awards from The Cannes Film Festival, The Stockholm Television Awards and multiple festivals both in the US and Europe. Gerald’s work with Lawrence Johnson Productions has spanned over 20 years. Several documentaries produced by them have won awards and International recognition. Gerald is active in the local OMPA (Oregon Media Producers Association) and has taught classes on lighting and cinematography.
Composer, Sound Designer, John R. Smith, is best known as the creative force behind the hit 80’s band NuShooz. He got his start arranging for Latin and Jazz bands in his adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon. In his 40-year career, Smith has scored dozens of indie films and hundreds of commercials. Commercial clients include Nike, Adidas, Intel, CBS, and Hooked on Phonics. He is also a frequent contributor to the dance group BodyVox. John and I have worked together on several projects. It is unusual that John traveled to Vietnam twice with me during production to collect elements of traditional and contemporary Vietnamese music to design the score for Ghost Money. His scratch tracks are included in the trailer.