Hannah Hughes has worked alongside Katy Grannan for the duration of THE NINE production. She graduated with a BFA in photography from Bard College in 2011, studying under the likes of Steven Shore, An-My Lê, and Tim Davis. After graduating, she moved to the Bay Area and began work with Katy as her photography assistant, and then immediately joined her to film THE NINE. Hannah often travels with Katy on shoots and was an integral creative partner throughout the making of the film. Though Hannah’s official title on THE NINE is assistant director, she has worked on nearly every aspect of the film, including second camera, assistant editor, associate producer, and post-production supervisor. She is also a photographer in her own right.

Throughout his career in advertising and brand communications, John McNeil has worked in just about every role afforded a modern creative person. As an agency CCO, creative director, writer, and art director, John has solved strategic brand problems and created multiple award-winning campaigns for clients such as IBM, Kodak, Microsoft, Xbox, HP, Motorola, and American Express, among others. As a photographer, his work has been featured in global ad campaigns for IBM, Microsoft, DuPont, Kodak, and Nortel, and in publications such as The New York Times Magazine and New York Magazine. Finally, as a Commercial Director, he has created campaigns and films for Microsoft, Nortel, and DuPont, to name a few.

Nils Peyron is an accomplished senior executive with diverse agency management, strategic marketing, and global brand-building experience. He is expert at leading creative teams and producing original content to drive unique brand storytelling. From running McCann-Erickson San Francisco to producing the Academy Award–winning animated film Rango, Nils understands every facet of today’s unbundled communications space. Prior to joining John McNeil Studio in 2014, he was CMO of TOMS Shoes and spent time at Translation, McCann Erickson, Bath & Body Works, Ogilvy NY and Air France. He has also partnered with Gore Verbinski to launch an innovative trans-media production company, Blindwink, specializing in the development and production of original IP in films, videogames, TV shows, and digital.

Marc Smolowitz is a multi-award-winning director, producer, and executive producer with 20+ years of experience across all aspects of the entertainment and media business. Marc's career focus has been on powerful social issue filmmaking across all genres. His credits include films that screened at top-tier festivals—including Sundance, Berlinale, AFI Docs, IDFA, Tokyo, Melbourne, among others—and released worldwide theatrically, across all forms of television, and on VOD/Digital. Select titles include: Heaven Adores You (Producer, 2014), The Power Of Two (Director/Producer, 2011), Academy-Award^® nominated The Weather Underground (Producer, 2003), and Trembling Before G‑d (Producer, 2001).

Stephen Berger has edited award-winning commercials, music videos, and short films, including work that has been recognized by the Cannes Lion, AICP, and D&AD awards. Stephen's clients include Xbox, Activision, Logitech, among others. Notably, he edited two of the four short films that opened the 2010 Sundance Festival—Spike Jonze’s I’m Here and Logorama. He garnered significant attention for Logorama, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short. He has also worked with such directors as David Fincher, Spike Lee, and Joe Carnahan.

A sought-after composer and jazz-influenced singer/songwriter, Steven has a long history of musical experience and accomplishment. Early in his career, Steven joined the band True West and opened for R.E.M. on national tour. He spent six years in New York City collaborating with up-and-coming acclaimed artists, and won an ASCAP songwriting award for a duo album with cellist Peter Lewy. Steven also wrote and directed Second Person, which was selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival. He has since released several solo albums and composed music for documentaries, online games, television productions, and commercials.

Barry Cole is a Grammy-nominated music supervisor who specializes in music supervision, clearance, and managing publishing rights for filmmakers and musicians. His consultation company, Spot Music, has more than 80 film credits, including Sling Blade, American Psycho, Alive Inside, 50 Shades Of Black, and Notorious. Barry was nominated for a Grammy in 2013 in the field of Best Compilation for Visual Media for his work on the documentary Marley. In 2014, he founded multisfalcon.com, the digital music and licensing portal.

Originally from Green Village, NJ, Gus Koven moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, where his interest in electronic music led him to sound design. He has worked on a broad range of projects, ranging from art installations to devices to film sound design. Gus has extensive experience working as a sound designer in branding and advertising, working on campaigns for adidas, Apple, Coke, Dewars, Heineken, Levis, Nike, Old Spice, Samsung, Audi, BMW, Dodge, Fiat, Nissan, Lexus and Mercedes, among many others. His work has garnered D&AD, London International, Clio and AICP awards. He has worked with Daft Punk as a sound designer on their feature film Electroma, as well as on their Grammy award–winning album Random Access Memories. He lives in Santa Monica, CA with his wife, Stephanie, and their three children.

Jason is a sound editor, re-recording mixer, and creative enthusiast. Originally from New Orleans, he began his career as a tracking engineer for local pianist David Torkanowsky and platinum-selling producer/engineer Craig “KLC” Lawson. Jason eventually found his calling working in film and television, and hasn't looked back in the decade since. Recent television clients include Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Syfy, Showtime, IFC, FX, and ABC. Some of Jason's film highlights are Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans; Brothers Bloom; Pawn Shop Chronicles; and Straight Outta Compton.

Eli Olson is an Emmy Award-winning film editor. Her extensive experience reaches into narrative features, documentary, non-fiction broadcast, and commercial spots. Eli won an Emmy for her work on My Flesh and Blood for HBO Films, which also won the Audience Award and Best Director Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, she co-directed the documentary Stories from Tohoku for PBS, which won the Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Her editing credits include 3 Still Standing (2014), Heaven Adores You (2014), And Then Came Lola (2009), American Masters: Sam Cooke Crossing Over (2008), Mrs. Menendez (2008), The Hunt For The Boston Strangler (2007), and Finding Amelia Earhart (2007), among others.

Pranay Nichani is a member of an Indian generation that grew up consuming Western media. From a young age, he was fascinated with the power of filmmaking, and always experimenting with the SLR his uncle gave him as a child. Since then, Pranay has received several degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts in producing and directing from the California Academy of Art. He has worked on a wide range of student projects and has won several awards, including First Prize at the Rotaract Short Film Festival in Mumbai and the Inspirational Leadership Award for Crisis Management from L.S. Raheja College of Arts & Commerce.

Rivkah Beth Medow is a regional Emmy Award–winning filmmaker who has produced, directed, and managed documentary, television, commercial, and non-profit productions for the past 12 years. Millions have seen her projects on PBS, Food Network, BBC, and in film festivals worldwide. Rivkah has a strong social and environmental focus that can be seen in her credits, including two episodes of PBS Marine Fisheries & Aquaculture Series: Empty Oceans, Empty Nets and Farming the Seas (associate producer, 2005); The Next Frontier: Engineering the Golden Age of Green (associate producer, 2010), and We’ve Got the Power (Co-Producer, 2013). Sons of a Gun (director, producer, 2008), her directorial debut, premiered at South By Southwest and was broadcast on PBS.