The Crew That Built ODIE

Tomorrow morning a group of strangers becomes a film crew. Tonight, before the alarm clocks win, we want you to know who they are.

Start with the person who actually runs the set. Michelle Ragay is our First Assistant Director, a Filipino-American filmmaker and U.S. Air Force veteran who worked in language and intelligence before she worked in film. Born in Germany, raised on a U.S. Army base, director of the shorts Encore and Das Cello, which traveled to festivals in Hof and Tirana. A director's eye and a military planner's instincts, which is exactly the combination you want when the schedule says fifteen days, seventy-seven scenes, sixteen locations.

Beside her is Georgia Irons, our Unit Production Manager and Second AD, who came up through the University of Arkansas and the production side of STLL Studios, with a past life at Mozart's Coffee Roasters on Lake Austin. Locations, vendors, permits, the thousand invisible decisions that decide whether a shoot day works: that is Georgia's kingdom. Producer Daniel Freeberg rounds out the production brain trust, and yes, sharp-eyed readers, that is the same Daniel Freeberg playing Moose. The man produces the movie and appears in it. We respect the commitment.

The images belong to Lester Platt, our Director of Photography and an Executive Producer on the film. Lester is the founder of STLL Studios in Lakeway, with commercial work for Bioderma, L'Oreal, Redken, Under Armour, Nike Women, and Morgan Stanley, a 2026 SXSW mentorship under his belt, and a habit of teaching the next generation of cinematographers when he is not shooting. He brings his own team with him: Trevor Korn as First Assistant Camera keeping every frame sharp, and Danny Keinarth as our Digital Imaging Technician, guardian of dailies integrity, color management, and the look of the film from the first card to the last.

Every take that survives this shoot will pass through the notebook of Melisa Balderrama Siles, our Script Supervisor. Melisa is a Bolivian filmmaker, screenwriter, and editor whose credits run through work with NHK Japan and the great Bolivian director Jorge Sanjinés. On a film where the lead's beard, bruises, and exhaustion have to track across one continuous story day shot wildly out of order, she is the memory of the entire production.

Sound belongs to Xzavyor J. March, our Production Sound Mixer, with Jon Grant assisting on the boom and moonlighting as one of our behind-the-scenes photographers. A film this quiet lives and dies on its sound. These two know it.

Madison Vega, VFX makeup artist, joins us for one gloriously specific assignment we will only describe as "the toe." If you have read the script you know. If you have not, you will. And Trevor Burkins of K2F Entertainment is steering marketing and PR, which is part of why you are reading this at all.

Then there is the team already waiting on the other side of the shoot. Jay Trautman, our editor, is LA-based and comes out of the editorial departments of some of the biggest films of the last decade, including Dune: Part Two. Anthony Cozza composes the score, fusing traditional scoring with custom guitar and synth sound design. Geraldo "Matondo" Alexandre, our colorist, works out of Lisbon with credits as both DP and colorist across European features. Jasmyne Le keeps the whole post pipeline moving as Post-Production Assistant. Austin to Los Angeles to Lisbon. Not bad for an indie about a man trying to cross one city.

Nick put it best in the welcome letter that went out to this team today: "A movie doesn't make itself. It's a group of artists trusting the director has a picture of what we're painting."

Tomorrow, they pick it up. Day One. See you on the other side.