About Us.
Meet the Team
Adam Rodgers
Co-creator/Director
Father-to-three Adam Rodgers is a writer/director whose work is thematically steeped in dad-ness, from his first spec screenplay sale to Universal about a cop-dad (“Moving Elliot”) to his first produced tv movie about a prison guard/track coach-dad (“Racing for Time”) to his feature film directing debut ("At Middleton") about a college-tour-dad. His Academy Award shortlisted film, “The Response,” a courtroom drama about the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, has no dad stuff whatsoever – but hey, Academy Award shortlist!
Tom Ventimiglia
Co-creator/Producer
Just when his wife became pregnant with their first child, Tom decided to make "The Founders," a documentary about the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA). With the birth of his third child, his feature screenplay “When We Fall” earned a development grant at the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University. Now he teaches screenwriting at BSA's Charles C. Baum Film and Visual Storytelling Department. His fiction has appeared in magazines such as The Baltimore Review and The Potomac Review. Tom is widely considered to be the daddiest dad in all of daddy-land.
Bea Bufrahi
Producer
Beatriz Bufrahi is chair of the Charles C. Baum Film and Visual Storytelling Department at the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA). She co-directed and edited “The Founders,” a documentary about the origins of the BSA; founded and serves as director of the Baltimore High School Film Festival; and feels that cake should be named the sixth essential food group.
Sig Libowitz
Producer
Sig wrote and produced "The Response" (shortlisted for an Academy Award, Best Short Film), and produced and served as legal counsel for "At Middleton," starring Academy Award nominees Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga. He was executive-in-charge of production for "In the Bedroom," starring Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson and Marisa Tomei (nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture). As an actor, Sig earned recurring roles on "The Sopranos" and "Law & Order," and was featured opposite Ryan Gosling in "The Believer" (Grand Jury Prize, Sundance). As a dad, he earned recurring roles in the long-running "My Daughters' Tea Parties," and was featured opposite pink ponies, miscellaneous bears, and a mongoose (but never Ryan Gosling).
Charles Mann
Executive Producer
Charles is a former 12-year veteran of the NFL, three-time Super Bowl Champion, and four-time NFL Pro Bowl Player. Charles is also a proud member of the 70 All-Time Great Washington Commanders as well as the Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Sports Halls of Fame. After retiring from professional football, Charles applied the same principles that led to his athletic success, earning his bachelor’s in Business as well as an MBA, launching multiple entrepreneurial ventures, and serving as a board member on several more – among them, the Advisory Board for Easter Seals, working with children and adults by enriching their lives while expanding opportunities, especially for those with disabilities. Charles and his wife, Tyrena, have been married since 1984, have raised three children, and currently reside in Ashburn, Va. And while he is not a librarian in real life, he thoroughly enjoyed playing one on tv.
Elizabeth Krajewski
Executive Producer
Elizabeth is an executive producer working in post production, mainly on commercials. She built partnerships with UNWomen, UNClimate, and The Ocean Agency. Based on this, one can clearly imagine her attraction to a story about stay-at-home dads ruling the kids’ bus stop. The creators of "Turf Valley" had to bribe her with spearmint gum to come on board (see Season Two); don't judge her affinity for chewing it while sipping Guinness.
Steve Bell
Executive Producer
Steve is an Emmy and Cannes Lions-award winning editor of film, commercials, and online content. He’s lived and worked all over the world and currently hangs his hat (pictured at left) in NYC. When not obsessively crafting stories in an editing suite, Steve retreats to the northern tundra in pursuit of his dream of competing in the 2024 Iditarod.
Developing the Next Generation of Baltimore Filmmakers
We provide young filmmakers opportunities to work side-by-side with seasoned professionals. Fully 1/3 of our crew were paid student interns from The Baltimore School for the Arts, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of Southern California. They worked across all departments, even running several themselves. These young phenoms made us feel as old as the hills of Turf Valley, even as they inspired us daily.
Projects like "Turf Valley" are essential for taking arts education out of the classroom and into the spheres of practice, performance, and profession.
Ruby Baden, Script Supervisor, JHU
Wardrobe themes by Envy Duffy, BSA '21
Art Director, Aidan Kristo, fixes a "stroller holster. "
Student created storyboards.
These are actually snipers in camouflage.
Graphic Design by Emma Ayala.
The source of all true evil in the world.
Director Adam Rodgers consults on the day's shoot with a student PA .
Sketches for the "Neighborhood Security Audit Device."
Student created storyboards.
High school students with a rare mix of patience and ambition.
A mood board for the character of "Tyler"
Richard Chisolm instructs us on the proper way to destroy a mailbox.
“Given that this was my first time working on a set, it meant a lot that all of the producers and department heads created such an empathetic, constructive, and educational environment without sacrificing any professionalism.”
-Shane Lavner, LMU, Extras Coordinator
