Meet the Team
Jon Michael Simpson (writer, director, producer)
Jon Michael Simpson is an award-winning director and producer based in Austin, Texas. He is the director of the Grand Prize Winning doc LOOK UP AND LOOK FORWARD. This short covered Blake's initial recovery and aired in over 2 million homes on Pivot Television and has been featured nationally on ABC News and USA Today. This short developed into the feature documentary HI I'M BLAKE that he directed and produced while studying film at the University of Texas at Austin. Since graduating he has produced three narrative feature films, in addition to writing and directing multiple short documentaries, short films, commercials, and digital series. Jon Michael recently produced Snapchat’s V/H/S branded show FIRST KISS (SXSW 2019).
Jeff McQuitty (producer, composer)
Jeff McQuitty is a writer, director and cinematographer based out of Austin, TX. He served as the cinematographer for the award-winning documentary short film that inspired the feature version of HI I’M BLAKE. After graduating from film school at the University of Texas at Austin, Jeff has been working on a variety of projects, including narrative features, documentaries, commercials and short films, serving in several roles, from director to writer to cinematographer. Apart from production, he is also an accomplished composer, having scored three feature films and a number of other projects.
Lee Rothenflue (producer, editor)
Lee is the owner and founder of Cut to Black. He has over 15 years experience overseeing the production and post production of many different types of film and video projects, including feature films, documentaries, corporate promos, and commercials. He has worked with clients like Charles Schwab, Seton Hospital, Verizon, the Tiger Woods Foundation and PetSmart, among others. His attention to the specific needs of every project and creative ability helps projects finish on time, within budget, and beyond expectations.
Trent Russo (co-producer)
Trent Russo graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s in Professional Accounting. Both degrees were earned through the McCombs School of Business which prides itself on maintaining the number one accounting program in the nation. Upon graduating, Trent began his career with Ernst & Young, a Big 4 accounting firm, providing assurance services to large public clients across a wide range of industries. His responsibilities include coordinating with upper-level management while analyzing financial statements and managing the status of multiple engagements, among various other technical and supervisory roles. Trent’s education and experiences have taught him to organize the people, funding, and logistics that are essential to the success of any project.