Brian McCarthy
Brian was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska where he developed a life-long love of fiction and tinkering during the long, dark winter nights. He went to college in Oregon where he earned a BFA before going on to earn his MFA in Theater at Temple University. He’s an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab / West and has twice served as President of the Alameda Writers Group, a registered nonprofit of 200+ writers based in Glendale, California.
Brian's screenplay Wide Awake was recognized as a quarterfinalist in the prestigious Nicholl’s Screenwriting Fellowship, placing in the top 245 out of 5000 scripts. Its success in the contest coupled with its unique story generated significant interest and Wide Awake was read by representatives from Anonymous Content, BenderSpink, Vertigo Entertainment, Frenetic Media, Energy Entertainment and other management and production companies. It was subsequently produced for cable television and premiered in the summer of 2007.
He is currently working on producing an independent Thriller/Horror film called WILD DOGS with actor Jason George and a first-person narrative documentary. He's currently represented by the Dick Shepherd Agency.
The only thing Brian loves more than his iPhone is his wife, Sarah and their child, Maja (Mah-yah or MY-ah). He dedicates all his work on this program to her.
Brian was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska where he developed a life-long love of fiction and tinkering during the long, dark winter nights. He went to college in Oregon where he earned a BFA before going on to earn his MFA in Theater at Temple University. He’s an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab / West and has twice served as President of the Alameda Writers Group, a registered nonprofit of 200+ writers based in Glendale, California.
Brian's screenplay Wide Awake was recognized as a quarterfinalist in the prestigious Nicholl’s Screenwriting Fellowship, placing in the top 245 out of 5000 scripts. Its success in the contest coupled with its unique story generated significant interest and Wide Awake was read by representatives from Anonymous Content, BenderSpink, Vertigo Entertainment, Frenetic Media, Energy Entertainment and other management and production companies. It was subsequently produced for cable television and premiered in the summer of 2007.
He is currently working on producing an independent Thriller/Horror film called WILD DOGS with actor Jason George and a first-person narrative documentary. He's currently represented by the Dick Shepherd Agency.
The only thing Brian loves more than his iPhone is his wife, Sarah and their child, Maja (Mah-yah or MY-ah). He dedicates all his work on this program to her.
Lance Laspina
Lance was born in the flatlands of Florida but raised in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania. It is here he would spend all of his free time roaming the great outdoors, returning home only after hearing the far away sound of his mother calling him for dinner.
Lance was fortunate to be born into an artistic family, and was afforded every opportunity to express himself with pen and paper in his developing years. Upon reaching high school, Lance gained a new love for the moving image as several of his teachers allowed him to produce video projects in lieu of written reports.
He went on to attend the prestigious USC Film School and began working in the industry shortly upon graduation. Since that time Lance has lent his talents to numerous feature films, video games, comic books, magazines, television movies and commercials.
Lance founded the production company Cinemachine Inc. to produce a feature documentary on legendary artist Frank Frazetta, which he directed and executive produced. The film, entitled Frazetta: Painting With Fire, enjoyed a successful three year run on the Independent Film Channel and also received very favorable press reviews.
Lance and his lovely wife Laurie don't currently have plans to bear children, so they have taken to using NameShake to provide middle names for their two cats. He thinks Oliver “Zenon” and Mario “Pasquale” have a great ring to them.
If you’re curious, Lance’s illustration portfolio can be viewed here.
Lance was born in the flatlands of Florida but raised in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania. It is here he would spend all of his free time roaming the great outdoors, returning home only after hearing the far away sound of his mother calling him for dinner.
Lance was fortunate to be born into an artistic family, and was afforded every opportunity to express himself with pen and paper in his developing years. Upon reaching high school, Lance gained a new love for the moving image as several of his teachers allowed him to produce video projects in lieu of written reports.
He went on to attend the prestigious USC Film School and began working in the industry shortly upon graduation. Since that time Lance has lent his talents to numerous feature films, video games, comic books, magazines, television movies and commercials.
Lance founded the production company Cinemachine Inc. to produce a feature documentary on legendary artist Frank Frazetta, which he directed and executive produced. The film, entitled Frazetta: Painting With Fire, enjoyed a successful three year run on the Independent Film Channel and also received very favorable press reviews.
Lance and his lovely wife Laurie don't currently have plans to bear children, so they have taken to using NameShake to provide middle names for their two cats. He thinks Oliver “Zenon” and Mario “Pasquale” have a great ring to them.
If you’re curious, Lance’s illustration portfolio can be viewed here.
NameShake started, like all things, out of necessity. My wife and I discovered we were pregnant last July and, after hauling around a stack of baby-naming books, losing my list a few times, and suffering the indignity of numerous paper-cuts I decided there had to be a better way.
That led to a conversation with my longtime friend and colleague, Lance, and then to the creation of our baby-naming application, NameShake – a fun, interactive and easy way to research the meaning of names, their origins and pronunciations. It’s been a blast to work on and we’re both really proud of the result. The only thing that makes us more excited is our ideas for version 2.0.
What makes our story a little unusual is that neither of us are programmers. In fact, we’re both artists working in Hollywood as writers, storyboard artists (well, actually only Lance can draw) and producers. But the lure of the iPhone pulled us away from screen and pen to spend endless hours working with coders, databases and legal contracts. Two weeks after my daughter was born, Lance and I had our own bundle of joy, NameShake, premiere on Apple’s iTunes App Store. We hope you enjoy it.
Shake things up a little. Name Different.
Brian McCarthy
That led to a conversation with my longtime friend and colleague, Lance, and then to the creation of our baby-naming application, NameShake – a fun, interactive and easy way to research the meaning of names, their origins and pronunciations. It’s been a blast to work on and we’re both really proud of the result. The only thing that makes us more excited is our ideas for version 2.0.
What makes our story a little unusual is that neither of us are programmers. In fact, we’re both artists working in Hollywood as writers, storyboard artists (well, actually only Lance can draw) and producers. But the lure of the iPhone pulled us away from screen and pen to spend endless hours working with coders, databases and legal contracts. Two weeks after my daughter was born, Lance and I had our own bundle of joy, NameShake, premiere on Apple’s iTunes App Store. We hope you enjoy it.
Shake things up a little. Name Different.
Brian McCarthy
"THANKS" ARE IN ORDER
Lance and Brian would like to thank the following people for their expertise, advice and hard-work. We could've done it without you but it would have been a much longer, more painful and less rewarding process. We appreciate your support and friendship.
George Watland, who gave excellent advice and guidance on development to two newbies. Your perspective was invaluable.
Ryan Meyer, for taking time to provide us with advice and guidance. We'll never tell a joke about lawyers again.
Eric Manangon, for suffering through database conversions with Brian. Thanks for holding our hands through the process. And thanks for the pizza too.
Lance and Brian would like to thank the following people for their expertise, advice and hard-work. We could've done it without you but it would have been a much longer, more painful and less rewarding process. We appreciate your support and friendship.
George Watland, who gave excellent advice and guidance on development to two newbies. Your perspective was invaluable.
Ryan Meyer, for taking time to provide us with advice and guidance. We'll never tell a joke about lawyers again.
Eric Manangon, for suffering through database conversions with Brian. Thanks for holding our hands through the process. And thanks for the pizza too.