Justin Daering
Director
Justin is passionate about science fiction filmmaking. He believes that science fiction stories have the potential to move and change us in the most meaningful way because they encourage us not only to empathize but also to be curious and wonder. Justin started directing when was ten years old, borrowing his friend’s parent’s video camera and dressing up his basement to look like a mad scientist’s laboratory. His continued interest in film led him to The University of Wisconsin where he received a BA in Cinema Studies. In 2009, his short film THE SHADOW OF THE NIGHT was featured in film festivals nationwide and in 2011 his micro-budget feature FRANCESCA premiered at the Wisconsin Film Festival. In addition to directing his own films, Justin has worked as a director’s assistant on films including THE ACCOUNTANT and JANE GOT A GUN, and the television series THE AMERICANS.
Gregory Schroeder
Producer
Gregory Schroeder is a freelance film producer. Since 2016, he has produced independent short films with his company, First Light Productions LLC, which have screened at film festivals nationwide. Gregory has an MFA in Producing from AFI Conservatory, where he produced 2 thesis films. The first of these, PROGENY, has won over 20 awards and has screenings at major events in 2020 including Fantasia Film Festival, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, and Aesthetica Short Film Festival. The second, WITCHIN', is nominated for multiple awards and is screening at LA Shorts International Film Festival in October 2020. Earlier this year, Gregory produced a new short film, LIKE FLYING, that will premiere at the Nashville Film Festival in October 2020.
Evan Welch
Production Designer
Evan is a graduate of Emory University with a BA in Film Studies, as well as the American Film Institure with an MFA in production design. After working for Broadway across America, he took to working in modern dance productions, utilizing VR cameras to encapsulate the feeling of a "Theater in the round". This all follows out of a rich background in historical site preservation and study in Massachusetts.
Most recently, he has worked in the Art departments of Star Trek: Picard, Black Adam, and a myriad of music videos for artists such as G-Eazy and Nicki Minaj.
TJ Thickett
Cinematographer
TJ Thickett received his B.A. in Cinema from San Francisco State University; worked for five years in the film industry in a wide variety of roles; and was the Cinematographer of award winning shorts The Proceedings, Tethered, This is War, and Now’s A Bad Time. He is excited to bring his experience and knowledge to the amazing team behind Progeny as well as the opportunity to play in a genre he has been passionate about since childhood.
Christine Douglas
Editor
Growing up in a military family, Christine lived in six different states across the US, exposing her to different people, climates, and lifestyles. Obsessed with science and nature as a child, her interests did not shift to film until being exposed to a filmmaking group in undergrad, her love for editing in particular growing as she learned how to hand splice 16mm film in a year-long cinematography course. She also participated twice in the Virginia Film Festival’s Adrenaline Film Project on a three-person team required to write, shoot, and edit a short film in 72 hours. Christine went on to graduate with honors from the University of Virginia, earning a BA in Media Studies with a concentration in film, has worked on numerous student and independent short films, and is now has her MFA in Film Editing from the American Film Institute.
