DIRECTOR
Tiffany Bartok received her BFA in Theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia appearing in many productions including Nine. She moved to NYC, and continued to pursue acting, a highlight being a role opposite Hayley Mills in the short film Stricken. Surprisingly she found herself in the role of makeup artist on a few productions, and realized she enjoyed being behind the camera as well. Inspired to make a film, she soon embarked on her first directing venture Altered By Elvis, an acclaimed documentary about lives that have been permanently affected by Elvis Presley. She has co-founded a production company called Vinyl Foote Productions based in Brooklyn, NY to continue producing feature films, documentaries, and shorts.
Jayce Bartok has appeared in numerous films and television shows as an actor, most notably Richard Linklater's SubUrbia, John Frankenheimer's Andersonville, Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent and Georgia Lee's Red Doors. In 2004, he was inspired to write and direct, Stricken, a short film starring Hayley Mills. Eager to embark on a larger project, he produced and directed with Tiffany Bartok, Altered By Elvis, a feature length documentary about lives permanently changed by the King of Rock 'n Roll that is touring festivals worldwide. The Cake Eaters, Jayce's feature screenplay debut, premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival; and is directed by Mary Stuart Masterson. It stars Bruce Dern, Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, and Jayce; and will be released in 2008. Jayce's newest screenplays - Livingston Avenue, Tiny Dancer, and Dream Country - are currently in development. In addition, he is proud to be the voice of Robert Redford's, The Sundance Channel.
Joseph E. Belschner was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After trying many different career options, he moved to Brooklyn to pursue work behind the camera as a Union Key Grip and Chief lighting technician on such recent films as "Explicit Ills" starring Paul Dano, "Sexina: Popstar P.I." starring Adam West, and "You're Nobody til Somebody Kills You" executive produced by Spike Lee. With role models such as Conrad L. Hall, Roger Deakins, and Janusz Kaminski, Joe is proud to be stepping into the role of D.P. on "Little Pumpkin".
EDITOR
Andy Bates has been creating award winning work for such companies as Rubbermaid, The Hoover Company, Invista, PGRDi, EDS, AMD and FirstData for the past 10 years. During this time, Andy was also recognized such as the Best Cinematography Award for his collaborative work in the 48 Hour Film Festival short, Wired, and editing the Steve Almaas and Ali Smith's music video, Moving In Your Sleep which was featured on the Paisley Pop label's "Stand0Ins for diciBels' A Tribute to the dB's"CD. He produced, shot and edited the award winning feature documentary, Altered By Elvis which won acclaim around the world. With his wife, Joelle Carter, they founded Blarma Productions; a company that develops movies, music videos and commercials.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Kristine Arth is our graphic designer. She created the Stricken DVD cover, the Altered By Elvis logo, poster and and DVD cover as well as the Vinyl Foote Productions logo. She is an accomplished designer at Chi Wonderman in Chicago and has packed many films like Spongebob Squarepants and worked for corporations like Burger King.
MUSIC
Aaron Meicht is a composer and improviser interested in making sense of the world. Trained in jazz, trumpet and computer music he has found collaborating with other artists the most rewarding. He has released several albums on Scrapple Records, notably, Everyone is Happy with AB Duo and Loud Like Hemlocks with The Meicht Group. He has performed in America and Europe at various venues including ABC No Rio, the Munich Experimental Music Festival, Kulturhaus Mitte (Berlin), the BOA Festival (Antwerpen), Falaises (Paris) and the Knitting Factory. He is always focused on collaborations and have made music for various theater pieces at Rattlestick Theater, SPF (Summer Play Festival), the Keen Company and Prospect Theater. He is currently scoring the independent film Perception by Wade Wofford. He lives in New York City with his wife Valerie Morel.
Valerie Morel, singer, cabaret artist, comedienne, and songwriter, is the official entertainment for Vinyl Foote Productions. Valerie and her husband, composer and trumpet player, Aaron Meicht worked to compose an orginal score for Stricken and Valerie composed an original piece, Private World, for Altered By Elvis.
In a relatively short amount of time, New York based Vinyl Foote Productions - founded in 2004 by husband and wife team, Jayce and Tiffany Bartok - has made its mark in the independent film world. Starting small with the acclaimed short film Stricken, starring Hayley Mills and moving on to Altered By Elvis, a feature length documentary about people deeply changed by the King of Rock 'n Roll which won Best Documentary at the 2007 California Independent Film Festival; Vinyl Foote is gearing up to dive head first into feature films. Jayce's background as an actor/writer/director has allowed Vinyl Foote access to actors, directors, and crew at the height of their
profession. Inspired by the husband and wife team of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, Vinyl Foote finds it appealing to give actors a chance to direct, gaffers a chance to D.P.; all hands on deck to get the film made in a collaborative, passionate environment. The Cake Eaters, written by and staring Jayce Bartok (dir by Mary Stuart Masterson) played to great fanfare at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Jayce worked diligently as a co-producer getting the film launched. Vinyl Foote's latest ventures are the feature films: Dream Country, a screen adaptation of Luanne Rice's best seller starring Bill Pullman and Robert Loggia starting production in late 2008, Tiny Dancer, directed by Melissa Joan Hart, and Livingston Avenue.
(Rob)
Jayce Bartok has appeared in numerous films and television shows as an actor, most notably Richard Linklater's SubUrbia, John Frankenheimer's Andersonville, Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent and Georgia Lee's Red Doors. He can be seen most recently in The Cake Eaters directed by Mary Stuart Masterson which he wrote, and Husband For Hire this January on the Oxygen network.
(Chase)
5 year-old Chase is just entering this world of acting. His first job was as a pirate gracing the covers of toy boxes everywhere, and he is excited to see what his adventures will bring.
(Stephanie)
Stephanie earned her BFA in Musical Theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has since performed on Philadelphia's stages appearing in works such as Nine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Broadway Swings and Jaques Brel Is Alive and Well. Her band, Sugarbelly performs locally on the East Coast. She is a movement teacher, singer, and personal trainer, raising and managing her son, Chase, who himself is quite the accomplished thespian.