The Filmmakers

Brian Higdon – Writer/Director

Brian is an award-winning writer and 2009 graduate of The California Institute of the Arts’ MFA program. He graduated cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in 2003 with a BA in Psychology and Film Studies. His film The Saint of the Zuiderzee won the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival Short Screenplay award, Best Short at the Staten Island Film Festival 2006, and a 2006 Southeastern Regional Emmy for lighting design. Other previous works include A Half-Life of Guilt (2002), Housekeeping (2003) and Blood Oranges (2007). Brian has held professional positions as a director, producer, and editor at TriCoast Studios and the ETV Center at the College of Charleston.

Ari Zatlin – Producer/Actor

Ari has written, assistant directed, produced, and photographed several short films.  He and Brian have collaborated in the past on several projects, most recently The Saint of the Zuiderzee.  Coming from a family with three generations of racetrack employees – his grandfather sold programs at Roosevelt Raceway, and both Ari and his uncle worked in admissions at Belmont Park – Ari is excited to work on a film celebrating the sport he loves.  A 2007 graduate from Claremont McKenna College, Ari will begin graduate coursework in Classics at UCLA in the Fall of 2009.

Ki Jin Kim – Cinematographer

Ki Jin Kim was born and raised in Korea. He is a filmmaker, director of photography, and editor living and working in Los Angeles. Ki Jin has made over 10 films including the documentary, Who Are You?, selected as the closing film of the 2003 Indieforum Film Festival in Seoul, Korea. He is currently in production on documentaries about the work of two acclaimed choreographers, Alonzo King and Stephan Koplowitz and a short narrative film for his graduate thesis project, Color of Mature Persimmons. He is currently a MFA candidate in Film Directing at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA.

Taylor Barnett – Composer

Taylor is a Richmond, Virginia based trumpeter, teacher, and composer whose innovative work in jazz, classical, and commercial music places him on the forefront of the musical vanguard. In 2001 he was awarded First Place in the Jazz Division of the National Trumpet Competition. Taylor was a founding member of Devil’s Workshop Big Band and has performed with the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, the Charlottesville Oratorio Society, and with artists such as Gladys Knight, The Temptations, Frankie Avalon, Steve Wilson, Ray Anderson, John D’earth, and René Marie.

As a composer, Taylor’s work is published by UNC Jazz Press and has been commissioned by trumpeter Rex Richardson for performances at international music festivals in Australia, Portugal, China, and the U.S. Taylor is an active member of the creative music scene in Richmond as a member of No B.S. Brass Band, Mingus Awareness Project Big Band, and as a leader of his own jazz quartet. Taylor received a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Liz Vastola – Costume Designer

Elisabeth has been a part of design teams for film, opera, theater, television, and print all over the United States, though she was born, raised, and is still based in New York. With two degrees in English Literature and Art History from Columbia University, Elisabeth sees her foundation in liberal arts as a cornerstone of her design process. She has also studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons The New School for Design, the Art Students League of New York, Oxford Media School in Oxford, England, Central St. Martin’s School for Art and Design in London, and at the Kyoto Costume Institute in Kyoto, Japan.  She now lives in the Carroll Gardens area of Brooklyn, and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.