TEAM

Meet Our Team

HEIDI PHILIPSEN

Producer/Director

Heidi is a producer, writer, actress, and director with twenty-five years of professional experience in international film, theater, television and communications. A classically trained actress, she has transitioned easily from stage to film and has commercial work, features, and voice-over work under her thespian belt. Her ability to know and communicate with fellow actors with ease has led to a career in directing—short films, regional commercials and, of late, feature films. Heidi has just finished the film festival circuit for her company, Personae Entertainment Pictures’ first feature film, Darcy, which she co-directed, produced and acted in, and is excited to be developing Love & Vodka(written by and co-produced with R.J.Fox) and Kidnapping Love, which she wrote herself, to direct—one or the other will be her solo directing debut. For a more comprehensive biography, please visit her website.

JAY FEATHER

Director of Photography

Jay Feather started his career in film and television over a decade ago working as a camera assistant for iconic films that include Godzilla, Men In Black, Private Parts and Far From Heaven. He then transitioned into role of Director of Photography working on award winning commercials that include Nike, Walmart, Dicks Sporting Goods, and others. Leveraging this experience, Feather furthered his cinematic repertoire, working with Justin Theroux on his pilot Documental before launching an impressive television career that includes Director of Photography for three seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO series Veep, where he created the signature look of the show that stars Julia Louis Dreyfus. Providing seamless connective tissue as 2nd Unit Director of Photography on Danny McBride’s cult favorite Eastbound and Down, Feather also operated as NYC unit Director of Photography for Allan Ball’s Cinemax action drama series Banshee. Feather currently resides in Brooklyn with his two children. For more information, check out his website.

BOBBY FOX

Screenwriter, Associate Producer

R.J. Fox is the writer of fifteen feature-length screenplays, many of which have excelled in screenwriting competitions. He has also previously optioned two additional screenplays. He has worked in several capacities in the film and television industry, most notably as a film and media studies teacher at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, MI, where he uses his own dream to inspire his students to follow their own .R.J. is also the producer/director of several short films, author of three books (including Love & Vodka: My Surreal Adventures in Ukraine) and is excited to be co-producing his first feature film. Visit his website for more information.

KATHRYN MCDERMOTT

Supervising Producer

Kathryn has worked in feature film production for more than 30 years. From 1995 to 2005, Kathryn held the position of Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures. Her credits include Charlie’s Angels, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Memoirs of a Geisha, Fun With Dick & Jane, Closer, Hitch, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, to name a few. Prior to that, Kathryn worked as Production Manager on Striking Distance starring Bruce Willis; Assistant Producer on Last of the Mohicans, A League of Their Own, Only The Lonely, and Career Opportunities; and Associate Producer on First Knight starring Richard Gere and Sean Connery, and My Life starring Nicole Kidman and Michael Keaton. Ms. McDermott is currently a Career Placement Advisor at the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan and teaches Production Management 1 and 2.

NIKO MEISSNER

Executive Producer

Niko holds an MBA/MS from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and has over fifteen years of experience in business development and project finance for such companies as Vestas, General Electric, Ford Motor Company and Bloomberg. Formerly a writer/producer/director of his own short films, Niko co-produced Darcy together with his wife, co-director/producer Heidi, going on to win many awards during its film festival run and now on its way to distribution. Niko is excited to start work on their next mutual independent feature film, Love & Vodka

BRUCE FALCON

Co-Producer, Location Manager

Bruce Falcon, a graduate of Saginaw Valley State University with a degree in Business Management, caught the “acting bug” early in life has been involved with indie film and tv in one way or another ever since. He played “Father Adams” on the Amazon Web series LOWER SPIRITS, represented the real “Tom Smallwood” on the CBS comedy HOW WE ROLL, starring Pete Holmes and Katie Lowes, and he’s acted in numerous TV commercials, local to the Detroit and Bay City areas of Michigan. Bruce is on the Board of Directors for Hells Half-Mile Film Festival in Bay City, Michigan, and an active member of the film community. Part Ukrainian and a lover of the Ukrainian culture and heritage, Bruce is excited to be on board as a producer and actor for LOVE & VODKA.

ARIEL WAN

Associate Producer, Marketing Consultant

Ariel Wan is a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience. She is your go-to person to talk about how to increase sales numbers with organic and paid marketing tactics. She believes in honest communications and responsible marketing. She was formerly the Director of Programming, Marketing and Sales at the Michigan Theater and Cinetopia Film Festival. Currently, she’s the Director of Marketing for a large property management company based in Ann Arbor, MI.

CAROLINE SINCLAIR

Associate Producer, Casting Director

Caroline Sinclair, Associate Producer/Casting Director Caroline Sinclair (CSA) originally from London is a noted NYC based casting director, with two decades of casting Film, TV, Theater and New Media. Her recent credits include The Garden Left Behind, which just won the Audience Award (Visions)at SXSW 2019. Some other credits include Gotti, starring John Travolta, the psychological thriller Diery, the soon to be released Green Dolphin by Keanu Reeves, Michael Mailer’s Blind, with Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore. Past films include Bad Hurt, which opened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Independent Spirit nominated Bomb the System, The Living Wake with Jessie Eisenberg, Darcy with Gus Birney and indie hit Party Girl. She is currently working on the Civil Rights biopic Son of the South.

SOPHIE MEISSNER

Junior Producer, Film Music Supervisor

Sophie Meissner has been involved in the film industry her entire life, beginning by helping her parents on set while she was still only a child. Since then, she has branched out in the entertainment industry, focusing on acting and music, as well as production. In 2018, she interned for Juna Films in Hamburg, Germany, and in her final year of high school, she interned for one of the leading manga and animation companies in the western hemisphere, Tokyopop. Sophie has directed and written her award-winning first short film, "Keep Your Head Up, Sweet Pea", which went on to play in festivals including the Busan International Kids and Youth Festival in South Korea, and was also screened on PBS.

Sophie currently studies music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and works for Personae Entertainment Pictures as a junior producer.

MATT JARJOSA

Production Designer, VFX

Matthew Jarjosa is a filmmaker, art director, and visual effects artist from White Lake, Michigan. He graduated from the Motion Picture Institute in Troy in 2020. His thesis film, Children Are Monsters, won the school's award for Best Picture. His most notable credits include doing art and visual effects on Thorns, an upcoming sci-fi/horror film featuring horror icon Doug Bradley (Hellraiser). He also did VFX work on Finding Nicole, an upcoming drama film from director Harley Wallen. Matthew is excited to be joining the production team for Love and Vodka!

Claudia Mattai del Moro

Production Sound Supervisor

Born 1972 in Zurich, raised in Switzerland, listening between trees and farms at the edge of the forest.
Since 2010, Mattai del Moro has been a freelance production sound mixer on set of various feature films, documentaries and TV productions. Until 2004, she was an event manager and project manager for various theater, children and cultural events in Switzerland. In 2004, she decided to make her passion for sound and recording a profession, initially in the event and live-concert business in Switzerland, from 2006 on in Hamburg. After six months in the studio, with animated film sound design (Little Amadeus), from 2006 to 2009 she trained as a media designer for image and sound at Studio Hamburg. From 2010 to 2015 she deepened her knowledge and broadened her technical know-how, as a sideline, at the film sound technology distributor Zeigermann-Audio in Hamburg.

Amber Galkin

Ukranian Community Outreach, Associate Producer

When not at her full-time day job as an administrative services supervisor at the University of Michigan's School of Mechanical Engineering, where Amber leads ME admin team to cover ME Main Office services: purchasing, reimbursements, event support, ME seminars, office equipment, faculty travel and other support, etc., she is an avid activist for helping Ukrainian refugees in Michigan (having been a refugee, herself). Amber has joined the Love & Vodka team to help with all things Ukrainian-Outreach, making sure that the right local organizations in Michigan (and around the world) are found to gain the support they need. Love & Vodka plans to donate funds from screenings to non-profit organizations helping Ukrainian refugees.

Andriy Pereklita

Ukranian Culturist, Prop Master

A Canadian-American prop master of Ukrainian descent, with 40 years of experience in Motion Picture, Commercial, Television and Industrial projects. Born in Toronto to émigré Ukrainian parents, Andriy was involved with theater and film from an early age, starting as a child actor in Ukrainian theatrical and film productions in Toronto. During his college years, Andriy worked in all aspects of production – actor, researcher, props, sets, lighting, design, construction, as well as in theatrical production and directing. His credits include the William Rashkis Award for Excellence in Directing and Design for the direction of Michel Tremblay’s play Forever Yours, Marie-Lou, and work as director with the Avant Garde Ukrainian Theater in Toronto. During his professional career, he has worked on over 200 television commercials, and has props credits in such motion pictures as No Sudden Moves, Conviction, Stone, Dog Eat Dog, How It Ends, and I See You.

Andriy is also an active member of the Ukrainian community. Andriy has been a lifelong member of the Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast, where he has served as a scout master, instructor, guide and has served on national and international executive boards.

For the past 22 years, he has also taught History and Culture at the School of Ukrainian Language and Culture in Detroit, Michigan. He also served as the principal of the school from 2006-2014.

Marina Sunko

Ukrainian Culturist, Ukrainian Casting Assistant

Marina Sunko was born in Kiev. In 1999, Marina entered the National University of food technologies and received two degrees in higher education: Engineering and Economics. At the same time, she studied Italian. In 2008, Marina created a showroom of Italian clothing, in which famous Ukrainian actresses dressed. In 2017, together with her husband, Sergey Endovitsky, she created Transfercomfort, a company that provides airport transfer services in Ukraine, which in less than a year became one of the best in its field. Everything that was created was destroyed on February 24, 2022. Having 2 children, 10 and 8 years old, she was forced to leave her favorite apartment in Kiev, and only with 1 Backpack in which there were documents, fleeing from the war, first to go to Germany, then Italy, and finally to the United States. Marina was struck by the humanity and benevolence of all the people she met. Within a month, she had a lot of clothes, strangers came with things and money. These are two parallel realities. In one, demons who destroy all living and beautiful things, in the other, just people who emotionally and physically feel the suffering of other people. She has been living in Michigan in the USA for a year now.

DAVID NACHT

Executive Producer, Legal Consultant

David Nacht was a performer with The Capital Steps while an undergrad at Harvard and worked previously as an executive producer with Ms. Philipsen on her first film. He practices in a few areas of law including Entertainment Law. David holds degrees from Harvard College (‘87) and The University of Michigan Law School (‘92), where he served as an editor of the Law Review. Mr. Nacht is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating for lawyers by lawyers, has been named a “Million Dollar Advocate,’’ and the 2011 thru 2018 editions of Michigan Super Lawyers. Prior to attending law school, David served as a staff member to the former U.S. Senator John Glenn on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, where he organized committee hearings and assisted the Senator in negotiating the passage of multiple pieces of legislation. David founded the firm in January 1996 in Ann Arbor, after practicing law at Miller Canfield - Michigan’s largest law firm. David also clerked for a federal district judge, Hon. Stewart Newblatt, in the Eastern District of Michigan. He has served as faculty for the American Bar Association Health Law section and formerly chaired the Washtenaw County Bar Association Employment Law section.