Visual Effects Producer, PJ Foley

Arriving in Hollywood some 12 years ago, PJ began his career as a professional VFX artist with the words, “let’s put him on Star Trek.” Extremely charged by the instant realization of those thoughts usually reserved as the stuff of dreams, he was prepared to dive right in, and he gave it his all for the series STAR TREK VOYAGER. PJ’s talents matured from aspiring hobbyist to seasoned professional, and his eye for great virtual camerawork, lighting, and detail came to the fore.

After honing his skills in the realm of the artists, PJ saw some potential to streamline and organize the process of VFX creation. He liked working with people, so when the opportunity arose, he informed his superiors that he would like to try to managing others. The opportunity came in the form of a children’s show, THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF TIR NA NOG. Here, small teams of artist would create anywhere from 15 to 80 shots in a three-to-four week span. For the time, these were incredible numbers, especially since many episodes featured its own unique “monster of the week.” PJ supervised a handful of episodes, taking well to the responsibilities.

Proving that a quick pace and high quality could be created and sustained, the company he worked for attracted the attention of other productions, and they soon found themselves awarded the ground-breaking CG-animated series, ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPER CHRONICLES.

Despite being something that seemed like an impossible undertaking, it was a critical success and fan favorite. PJ acted as CG Director for a majority of the episodes in this series, and was instrumental in creating the workflow that made it possible to execute the 200-plus shots required to create 18 minutes of original animation. Eventually, the pace of execution went from a matter of months to get an episode created to a head-spinning 3 weeks to go from storyboards to finished shots.

After the dust settled from ROUGHNECKS, and a follow-up series, MAX STEEL, PJ briefly returned to the world of STAR TREK to work on one of his all-time favorite projects, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE - DIRECTOR’S EDITION. It was in this re-release of the movie where many of the originally intended visual effects were created anew by CG and integrated into the cut. Using the latest technology to create the look and process of vintage 1979 model shoots was at once ironic and immensely enjoyable.

From there, PJ moved into the videogame world for a few years to bring his Hollywood proven workflow to the cinematics team of Westwood Studios in Las Vegas.

He returned to Los Angeles in 2003 and has since lent his hand as an artist, supervisor, and vfx producer on many projects: HELLBOY, NYPD 2069 (unaired pilot), CENTURY CITY, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA MINISERIES, as well as several commercials and many independent movies. His latest project was INFESTATION, a giant bug-filled, post-apocalyptic, boy-meet-girl, action-fest of a feature movie.

Producer, TJ Sakasegawa

TJ Sakasegawa graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Bio-psychology. After graduating he took an extended sabbatical through South America at which time he decided to realize his passion and pursue a career in film. It didn’t take him long to work his way through the various production positions before he eventually made his way into producing and film distribution.

TJ’s innate understanding of how to develop, finance, produce and distribute a film from beginning to end has led him to produce over 25 films in his short career, including films for Universal Television Networks, Sony and 20th Century Fox.

TJ is also an active snowboarder, an accomplished writer and a Libra. His favorite color is green.

Producer, Jeff Balis

Under their Heavy Duty Entertainment banner, Jeff Balis and his producing partner Rhoades Rader are currently in post-production on the comic-action-thriller INFESTATION for Icon Productions. In addition, Balis is putting the final touches on his directorial debut STILL WAITING… for Lionsgate Films. The film is a sequel to the cult-hit restaurant comedy WAITING… which Balis produced in 2005; the original cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Dane Cook, and Justin Long.

Last year, Balis completed the quirky comedy and festival gem KABLUEY starring Lisa Kudrow, Christine Taylor and Teri Garr, which Sony Regent is releasing theatrically in July, 2008. Balis also co-produced the dark comedy THE LAST TIME starring Michael Keaton & Brendan Fraser for Sony Pictures.

As part of the PROJECT GREENLIGHT television series that he helped develop, Balis produced the feature film THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS for Miramax Films starring Shia LaBeouf and Amy Smart with fellow producers Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Chris Moore. Balis oversaw all aspects of the film production and was seen on two seasons of the Emmy-nominated documentary series that aired on HBO. Also for Miramax, Balis produced the ensemble drama SPEAKEASY with David Strathairn and Nicky Katt, and he co-produced the first PROJECT GREENLIGHT film STOLEN SUMMER which premiered at Sundance and starred Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, and Kevin Pollak.

Balis’ first film as a hyphenate-producer was THE THIRD WHEEL for Miramax, starring Ben Affleck, Luke Wilson, and Denise Richards. At the time, Balis was a production executive for Chris Moore's Fusion Studios, which later became LivePlanet, where he supervised development and production. Concurrently, Balis ventured into the documentary filmmaking scene, co-producing festival gem SUPER-GREAT AND WONDERFUL. Prior to that, Balis assisted the director of the Fox Searchlight film BEST LAID PLANS, starring Reese Witherspoon. Balis began his career as a production assistant at Orion Pictures/MPCA.

Balis graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, majoring in Visual and Environmental Studies with a film twist.

Producer, Rhoades Rader

Bio coming soon!