The Fence - A New Short Film by Matt Silas

When he was 12, Matt Silas thought he would try to build an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet powered by his neighbors ailing lawnmower engine. Luckily, around the same time, he watched a "Wonderful World of Disney" special about making animated films, and decided drawing cartoons would be a lot more fun than flying his plane. He started making his own animated films with an old super 8mm movie camera in the basement. When he grew up a little, he discovered that it was a little less tedious and lonely to make live action movies with his friends. He hasn't stopped since.

He is presently completing his MFA in film directing at UCLA. After he is done with his studies, Matt will move with Amanda and two dogs up to the Bay Area to begin working for Pixar in the camera department where he hopes to finally build an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet.

Quyen Tran received fine art and photography training at the University of Virginia and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Then, she spent three years working as a freelance photographer and photojournalist for organizations including the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Associated Press in New York City.

Ms. Tran was one of only two people selected for the Directing and Cinematography Masters programs at UCLA. She is the recipient of the Motion Picture Association of America Award, the Joseph C. Drown Foundation production grant, the Frederico de Laurentiis Memorial Award, and most recently the Best Cinematography award winner at UCLA's 2006 Festival. She is also an Advisor for the Voice Films Institute, a Los Angeles based outreach program devoted to teaching youth (ages 14-20) filmmaking.

Jim Batzer has spent his career building things and managing building projects. When he turned 55, he left his family construction business to reconnect with his passion from his college years: filmmaking.

When he heard girlfriend's nephew was making a short film in Los Angeles, he took the first plane down. Not a man to stand on the sidelines, Jim dived in and wound up building the set and producing the whole project.

He went on to collaborate with Matt on his advanced project "Summer Son," which was shot near his hometown Ashland, Oregon. Jim is presently in preproduction on a documentary about the real men of the real West, which will be shooting at rural rodeos around southern Oregon this summer.

Vanessa grew up in Orange County, California. By the time she was eighteen, orange just didn't quite suit her anymore so went off to attend university in what could very well have been a whole other universe: UC Berkeley. There, she studied Mass Communications, Political Science, and Dramatic Art.

Before long, Vanessa found herself drawn to the weird little circle of film geeks, talking and arguing about movies the way some people do about wine. It was probably the best education she got at that fine institution.

Vanessa is currently attending UCLA Film School and working to get her Master of Fine Arts degree. She's been there for almost three years now and it should only take another ten or so more for her to finish.