Christopher Merle
Director

Chris Merle is a New Jersey native who brings with him to the West Coast an impressive creative background. Chris attended the nationally-recognized Kittatinny Regional High School, where he spearheaded the school's first film festival, and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Film from the prestigious Full Sail School of Film, Art, Design, Music & Media Production. Among his many achievements and accolades, Merle was ranked first in all of New Jersey by the Technology Student Association for his outstanding work on an educational video, and was honored among the top ten in the nation.

Having excelled beyond the borders of his home state, Merle relocated to California in 2001 after inking a deal with Gustavo Diaz to write and produce several shows including "On The Scene", which attracted interest and sparked a negotiation with media giant Viacom for rights to the show. Impressed by Diaz's knack for business and management, they formed iGem Productions in early 2003, where Merle now sits as Chief Operations Officer and creative visionary. As founder and architect of the 180 Network, he now contributes his considerable talents to iGem in an ongoing quest to redefine the creative and technological limitations of multimedia entertainment.

Gustavo Diaz
Story & Screenplay

Gustavo studied acting at the Marlon Hoffman Institute of Acting and hone his comedy skills at the legendary Groundlings Troupe in Hollywood, Ca. He studied at the University of Phoenix and received a Bachelors of Science in Business.

He got his start in business entertainment in 1999 when he started G.D. Productions, although briefly lived, he had his first opportunity in the directors chair. In 2002, he joined forces with good friend and acting-partner Sam Ford to create Gussam Pictures. Gussam eventually merged with RavenDigital, and together they produced the short film Suburban Depression.

In 2005 he starred in the short film Curiosity, a psychological thriller co-starring Randy Tobin and Paul Howard. It was that same year he and Chris Merle created the 180 Network, an entertainment distributor and media-production company.

Ana Samafolova
Producer

Ana has been in the motion picture business for almost 7 years. She started at Paramount Pictures in early 2000 working within the business administration department where she met Sirah LaCrosse. Sirah had developed a script based on a the love exploits of Josef Stalin, but he be only needed a producer to make it happen. Ana worked tireless with several financial investment firms to secure the budget and resources necessary to get the film off the ground. This was her first foray into the producer world.

Through the years Ana started an investment firm and management company to support the production and distribution of many foreign films. It was on the set of "The Hitman" where she met Chris Merle and fell in love. The Producer/Director duo has helped get several iGem films off the ground and continue to raise the bar with every production.

Cali Ross
Producer

In feature comedy "Dream State", Cali plays Sterling, a talent manager, amongst a talented ensemble. "Dream State" was brilliantly written & directed by Award winning Patrick Hyde. It's about survival in Hollywood, survival as an artist, and the passion that connects people. The music is being added to it now, and will be ready for screening very soon. www.dreamstatemovie.com

In feature film “Channels”, Cali has a cameo appearance singing along to “Minnie Train to Georgia” at a karaoke bar. It stars Nat Christian, John Kassir & Ed Asner.

Cali co-stars on TLC’s, “Untold Stories of the ER”, as Dr. Regan in episode: “Traveling Bullet”, and in Five.Bolt.Main’s music video “The Gift” airing on MTV2.

Chris Rossen
Producer

After several years in the military, Chris Rossen graduated from the Texas State University honors program majoring in interdisciplinary Management and Finance. Chris also holds several E-commerce certifications from Southern Methodist University, and has many years of experience in online workflow design and supply chain management solutions.

After graduating college, Chris focused on working with small businesses to develop marketing strategies including online branding and database integration within corporate networks.

Bjorn Holsborg
Cinematographer

Bjorn trained at the legendary New York Film Academy and worked as a cinematographer in over 30 European films. Among his many accolades, he won "Best Cinematographer" in the Louve Regional Film Awards in Paris, France and was named "Best Up and Coming Cinematographer" by Hewlett-Davidson Who's Who in London, England.

Gina Pinedo
Script Supervisor

Gina hails from Southland, New Zealand, where she worked as a script supervisor and continuity expert on a local television drama for Channel 6. The show brought it's cast and crew on location to Los Angeles to film a vacation episode when she fell in love with California. When the production wrapped and it was time to head back to New Zealand she stayed behind. Without knowing anybody or even being fully familiar with the layout of the land she was determine to get onto another LA-based TV show. Her struggles were short lived when merely two months later when she was hired to work for Sony Pictures in Culver City on a series of reality-show pilots. In her spare time she enjoys working on mixed projects, from industrials to music videos and even a few documentaries for Discover Channel. This was Gina's first time working with iGem Productions.