The Team
Deirdre Allen Timmons, Filmmaker
Deirdre has been an award-winning journalist for the past 14 years in Seattle. She began delving into screenwriting several years ago, having optioned one script to an indie film company in Los Angeles, and completed a script rewrite for the Chinese kung fu comedy, Bamboo Shoot. Her forte is spinning stories that spin you on your head and leave you gasping for air with life’s exhilarating blend of the dark, the funny, the ugly, and the beautiful.
She founded Golden Echo Films, LLC, in 2007. She and cinematographer Peter Waweru co-founded Pan Slide Productions in 2006. They recently won a STIFF award for Rotten to the Core, a short film noir co-produced with Unexpected Productions.
Miss Indigo Blue, Leading Lady
Sexy, funny, irreverent and ingeniously clever, Miss Indigo Blue flirts with the edgy, exotic and erotic fringes of burlesque. Evoking the elegant tease of legend Gypsy Rose Lee, and inspired by the brilliant comic wit of Whitney Biennial recipient Julie Atlas Muz, Miss Indigo is more than just a great practitioner of the ol' bump and grind; she enlivens her performances with a heady blend of brainy and bawdy that makes audiences’ mouths water, as their minds whirl.
Miss Indigo Blue is also the founder and headmistress of The Academy of Burlesque. She will be guiding ten brave students on their wild ride into the world of burlesque in A Wink and a Smile.
Marie-Joëlle Rizk, Director of Photography
M.J.'s resume reads like a Who's Who of American Shooters. She has worked as a shooter, video journalist, DP, AC, director, producer and editor, in addition to teaching film, video and cinematography at Chicago's Columbia College.
Her client list includes: UPN, Style Network, NBC, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, MTV, HGTV, ESPN, Animal Planet, A&E, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel, New York Times Television, Cadbury, Suzuki, Hundai and Crowne Plaza.
M.J. has won an array of cinematography awards for experimental film and video narratives as well as screenwriting and editing. She's worked on numerous documentaries and commercials and is proficient in all formats. She has a B.S. in TV/Video/Photography from Bradley University and an M.F.A in Film & Video from Columbia College.
Elena Windgate, Assistant Director
Elena is originally from St. Petersburg in Russia. After graduating with a public relations degree from St. Petersburg University, she worked in public relations and art directing at one of St. Petersburg's prominent club/restaurants. There, she organized and coordinated entertainment events such as concerts, fashion shows and other theme events.
In addition to organizing concerts, fashion shows, and theme events, Elena has been a fashion model, a dancer, and most recently, a burlesque diva!
Peter Waweru, Camera Operator and Acting DP
Peter Waweru hails from Nairobi, Kenya. He was a photojournalist covering East and Central Africa from 1991 to 2001 for the Central Africa News Agency, where he was the bureau chief from 1997-2001.
Peter moved to the U.S. in 2001, and has since expanded from still photography to cinematography. He recently DP'd and co-directed the award-winning short, Rotten to the Core. He is a founding member of Pan Slide Productions with Deirdre, whom he met at the University of Washington's Film and Video Production Program.
His images are moving lyricism. They are quiet, honest -- and often -- unapologetically unsettling.
Christian Hansen, Camera Operator
There once was a boy named Christian who lived in a village populated by image creators of all walks. Everyday Christian would wander the streets and admire the villagers bewitching works. He too fell under the spell and one day, after only 100 moons had passed since his birth, picked up one of the magical image capturing devices.
From that moment forward Christian knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his time.
The elders of the village began to notice Christian’s love of images and his seeming knack for creating them. A couple of the elders grew very fond of Christian and took him under their wing to help him further his skill and knowledge. Christian learned a great deal about creation from the elders and took everything to heart.
Christian began creating his own images some of which the villagers praised and commended. He kept creating and learning from the other villagers and the elders. Perhaps one day Christian too will become an elder and can offer his knowledge in return. Time will only tell but until then, Christian will keep creating.
Matt Sheldon, Sound Recordist
Matt grew up in the Tri-Cities (all three of them at some point) and earned a BA in history from the University of Washington. In 2004, he graduated Shoreline Community College, where he studied audio engineering.
He has a background as a musician, but his fierce love of films led him to a career in production sound. He's worked on myriad productions – most recently the controversial documentery "Zoo," which boasted big buzz at Sundance in 2007.
KC Lynch, Production Assistant
As a critic of both mass media and the arts, KC is a subject matter expert in contextualizing current representational trends.
Her published articles, academic papers, and personal essays include works on post-feminist TV heroines, transformative body artists, soap opera clones, corsets and conformity, sensuality and haute couture, autoethnography and gender play in cybersmut.
She is a former art history lecturer for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and currently works as a writer and media literacy consultant in Seattle. Rumor has it she is working on a book.