Personnel Bios

Steve Ordower

Producer/Director/Writer

STEVE ORDOWER is an independent producer and director of dramatic films, documentaries, broadcast programs, and podcasts. His goal is to enlighten the mind and lift the spirit through his various projects, and is the founder of the Chicago-based media company, Rhythm & Light.

Ordower's work has been seen on PBS, The Discovery Channel, IFC (Independent Film Channel), and the Gospel Music Channel, as well as through international distribution outlets. He manages the historic archive of Gospel music television footage from the Emmy-Award-winning show, Jubilee Showcase, which ran on the Chicago ABC affiliate (WLS- TV) for 21 years. He has licensed footage from this archive for the documentary about Mavis Staples entitled, “Mavis!,” which premiered on HBO, as well as for “Oprah Winfreyʼs Legends Ball,” “The Blues” (PBS) documentary series spearheaded by Martin Scorsese, “This Far By Faith” (PBS), as well as for Nightline, 60 Minutes, and The Chicago History Museum.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jubilee Showcase, Ordower directed and produced an hour-long program for PBS entitled, “Gospelʼs Jubilee Showcase,” that aired nationally in most major markets in 2013 and 2014, hosted by Clifton Davis. He also worked with Time Life to produce an audio compilation from Jubilee Showcase, distributed by Warner Music Group, which caught the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Link to article here:  ROLLING STONE article

Ordower also enjoys working in dramatic film as well, having produced “The Man In The Silo” – a dramatic neo-noir film starring Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters / Oz), who delivered a riveting performance in one of his most challenging and intense roles. The film premiered at the Fine Arts Theater in Hollywood, California as part of the SSG Screening Series, and was showcased at The Gene Siskel Film Center in as part of The Black Harvest Film Festival. It also won the "Best Feature Film" award at the Texas Black Film Festival. This film is distributed internationally via Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play and several other outlets.

Most recently, Ordower directed and produced a documentary about interfaith marriage called, "Leaps of Faiths," that premiered on WTTW (PBS in Chicago) and is distributed by Film Movement. Heʼs also producing a long-format interview podcast with the Executive Producer of this film, Bob Hercules, called “Rhythm of Life.” In this show, Ordower and Hercules explore a variety of topics such as film, culture and politics. They also produce in-depth retrospectives of notable careers, such as those of Mavis Staples and Alex Kotlowitz. Ordower composes original music for this show as well and for another podcast that features comedic satire, “Sounds of the Game,” which he produces with colleague Christopher E. Ellis.

CHRISTINA ORDOWER

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR

CHRISTINA ORDOWER is a critical component of Rhythm & Light and handles all of the financials for the company. She also served as an Executive Producer for The Man In The Silo.

She is also a Director - Financial Analysis for AT&T, and is responsible for the Central Region Mobility annual Capital Budget of $2 Billion, which supports the build out of and capacity increases to our cellular network.

Christina leads her Capital Management team with the unique ability of assimilating lots of data and information and making critical decisions to guide her team to a successful result.  As a former collegiate volleyball athlete, she is very competitive and energetic, so challenging situations with high stakes or deadlines is where she performs best.  Her 30 years of finance and marketing experience (23 with AT&T) has trained her analytical skills, but she emphasizes strong presentation of information to provide a clear message.  As a first generation #6 out of 7 child of Austrian immigrants, being frugal, well-organized and efficient both at work and home is part of her DNA which helps her to maximize each day! 

Christina earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance and Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.  She finished her undergraduate degree studying abroad at the University of Vienna in Austria and sings in an Austrian choir to keep up with the German language and heritage. 

 Christina lives with her husband, Steve Ordower, and two children, Eli and Sydney.

PHIL DONLON

ACTOR/DIRECTOR/WRITER

PHIL DONLON is an Actor/Director/Writer who hails from Chicago. Phil started on the stages of Chicago with The Gilead Theater company, which he founded and was Artistic Director. Donlon earned various Chicago Theater awards for his performances. Other Chicago companies Phil worked with: Steppenwolf, The Organic Theater Company, Lookingglass, and Wisdom Bridge. Los Angeles stage credits include Fool for Love at The Stella Adler, The Blank Theater, and EST. Donlon’s fav role was as Eugene O’Neill’s son Off-Broadway in O’Neill’s Ghosts at The Barrow. TV credits includes Friends, Early Edition, Justified, People who Fear People (pilot starring Jon Cryer) and The Others. Recently Donlon stars opposite vet actor (the late) Geoffrey Lewis in the noir feature film High & Outside which had it’s UK premiere at Raindance in London (nominated Best Film & Best Screenplay), followed by it’s North American premiere at Austin Film Festival (nominated Best Narrative Feature/ Honorable mention), and Cinequest. The film had a limited theatrical run in Chicago and New York and has just been released on Amazon and OnDemand. Donlon received much critical praise for his performance, most notably from The Chicago Tribune and Moviemaker Magazine.

Donlon has also directed and written two films, Wrestled a 15 minute short which played at Sundance and was then bought by IFC. Wrestled went on to play at 15 other festivals winning numerous awards (Donlon also played the lead role). The Man in the Silo starring Ernie Hudson played to sold out houses at The Gene Siskel Theater in Chicago and won Best Feature at The Texas Black Film Festival. Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave it 3 stars. It is currently available on Amazon Prime. Donlon currently has a feature in development with Roland Emmerich which he is attached to direct.

As a writer Donlon has co-written the TV gangster drama LORDS with Nick Pileggi (Goodfellas, Casino) and Joseph Sikora. Donlon produced a music doc for MTV about the band The Flaming Lips, and a doc for street artist Shepard Fairey.

CHRISTOPHER E. ELLIS

WRITER/DIRECTOR/ACTOR

CHRISTOPHER E. ELLIS is a published playwright and a screenwriter. With his screenwriting partner, film-director Phil Donlon, Christopher co-wrote the award-winning short-film Wrestled, as well the current film starring Ernie Hudson, "The Man in the Silo”. Both of these films were produced by Rhythm & Light. Recent theatrical productions include The Broken Museum, Hide-Away, and Pill.  Dirt was given a reading at the Edward Albee Last Frontier Theatre Conference. Christopher is currently working on feature film screenplays with Phil Donlon including the expanded version of Wrestled called Streets of Heaven. He is also tackling a three-act play called, Descent of the Condemned.

As an actor he was last seen at Chicago’s Bailiwick Theatre in Corpus Christi. Christopher is also the emcee for Vaudeville Underground with Arts Alliance, a multi-arts organization in Chicago.

Ellis teamed up with Steve Ordower to produce the comedic/satirical podcast, Sounds Of The Game. Ellis and Ordower play the lead roles in this scripted show, that takes a look at why America struggles with the social issues of the day.

In 1995, Christopher graduated from Columbia College of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Theatre, and from NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts) in 1989.

David Kovacs

writer/producer/director

Throughout much of David's 40-year career writing award-winning videos, films and plays, he and his wife Patty have also been involved in interfaith dialogue, and are two of the founders of the Chicago Interfaith Family School. Kovacs teamed up with Steve Ordower to produce the ground-breaking documentary about interfaith marriage, Leaps Of Faiths, which aired on WTTW and is distributed by Film Movement. His work came full circle with this film to one of his first scriptwriting jobs - staff writer for the Emmy-winning children's program The Magic Door, produced by WBBM-TV and the Chicago Board of Rabbis. He's always been fascinated by how the media, spirituality and learning can intersect in ways that intrigue and involve audiences, and is excited to take that journey a giant step further with this exploration into the joys, challenges and mysteries of interfaith marriage.

BOB HERCULES

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER

BOB HERCULES is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker whose work has been seen widely on PBS, BBC, Discovery Channel, IFC, TLC and in film festivals around the world.  He is also co-owner of Media Process Group, a Chicago-based production company. Hercules teamed up with Steve Ordower to produce and host the Rhythm of Life podcast - a long-format interview show. He has also been instrumental in preserving the Jubilee Showcase archive, and is an Executive Producer of the Jubilee Showcase documentary film in production.

Hercules’ film, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win 19 awards on three continents and a Peabody Award in 2018. The film was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and aired on PBS’ American Masters in February, 2017 and on the BBC’s Storyville series in March, 2017.

 Hercules also made two films focusing on dance: Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance and Bill T. Jones: A Good Man.  The Joffrey film, narrated by Mandy Patinkin, tells the full story of the groundbreaking ballet company and their many rises and falls. It premiered in January, 2012 at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center and aired on PBS’ American Masters December, 2012.   A Good Man aired on American Masters in 2011 and played at many film festivals including IDFA, Silverdocs, Full Frame, DOXA and the Southern Circuit.

 His 2009 documentary, Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Pfleger, chronicles the radical priest whose controversial tactics to fight racism put him at odds with the Catholic hierarchy. The film was named Best Documentary at the 2009 Big Muddy Film Festival and was the opening night film at the 2009 Black Harvest Film Festival. It was broadcast on WTTW, Chicago in 2010.

In 2008 Hercules directed the Barack Obama and Michelle Obama biography videos for Obama's Presidential campaign website . He also directed Obama's 2007 Presidential announcement video in Springfield, Illinois. Hercules' 2006 documentary, Senator Obama Goes to Africa, is a chronicle of Obama's momentous 2006 trip to Africa, including an emotional visit to Kisumu, Kenya--homeland of his late father. It is currently in home video release from First Run Features.

Hercules' acclaimed 2006 feature documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele, tells the remarkable story of Auschwitz survivor and former 'Mengele twin' Eva Mozes Kor, whose decision to forgive the perpetrators as an act of self-healing sparked a firestorm of criticism. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival and the Crystal Heart Award at the 2006 Heartland Film Festival. It is currently in home video release from First Run Features.

Stephan Garnett

Writer/Journalist/Voice-Over-Artist

STEPHAN GARNETT has a 30-year career as a journalist. In addition to working as a suburban and community reporter, he has been an investigative reporter for The Chicago Reporter, and an urban and police reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago. He spent 14 years as a magazine feature writer and editor, first for ShopTalk, a trade publication, then as a contributing writer to Dollars & Sense and Blackbook magazines. More recently, Garnett has worked in radio, film and television. He has researched and consulted for documentaries produced by the BBC and CNN and has been an essayist for “Chicago Matters,” an acclaimed local Public Radio community series. In 2005, Garnett executive produced and wrote and narrated the script for a 15-minute multi-media documentary on the last building left standing at Robert Taylor Homes, once the largest public housing project in the nation. Garnett teaches Journalism Methods for graduates and Media Convergence for undergraduates. He also edits for the Medill News Service and has served as an adviser for Medill’s Global Journalism program.

Dave Ortkiese

DP/Camera

As a cinematographer, Dave is always embracing new technology, and searching for new ways to tell a story through a lens. David Ortkiese is that rare talent who expands visual storytelling in the digital age, while receiving accolades from the industry for shows such as the Emmy-Nominated Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List.

Raised in Central Florida, Dave was drawn to movies from an early age. After college he found work as a lighting designer for theater and began gaffing for promos and features, which served as a vital apprenticeship for a budding cinematographer. Soon after he found himself moving to California and found work in the industry. Dave quickly moved up the ranks and landed his first director of photography job on Girls Behaving Badly for Oxygen Network.

While continuing to build his resume as a cinematographer, Dave has worked for Comedy Central on: The Burn with Jeff Ross, The Ben Show, Tosh.O, and Mind of Mencia, shot commercials for Old Navy and Chrysler, as well as a cameraman on such shows as The League, The Biggest Loser, The Great Escape, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Dave also worked as primary camera/steadicam operator for The Man In The Silo. He played a critical role in the success of this film.

Dave’s experience in improv comedy made him a perfect fit for A Haunted House 2, which began principle photography in August of 2013. It is his first foray into features as a cinematographer, and it won’t be his last. Dave O, as his friends call him, is currently Directing and DP’ing a new series for TLC.

Jan Muller

Editor

JAN MULLER although born in Chicago, began working in video post-production in 1991 at Videocraft in Boston, MA, a post house that beta-tested the very first Avid systems. He recently edited the first three epiodes of “A Piece of the Game” a half hour sports memorabilia show on Media Process Group's Avid system which was just awarded a Midwest Emmy in November 2013. Besides editing numerous documentaries, short films and music videos on his Final Cut Pro system, Jan spent 10 years at WLS-TV and finally at WTTW editing the weekly film review show “At the Movies” hosted by Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper and several other talented film critics. He is also the official videographer for The Revelettes, Chicago's Grooviest Go-Go Gals, as well as for The Society For Vascular Surgery, for whom he is assembling over sixty hours of oral history videos.

He actually discovered editing at age 7 on his back porch using a record player and a casette deck to make his own mash ups of 45rpm singles of hit songs of the day.

Aaron Trager

Editor/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

AARON TRAGER is a producer, editor and director living in Chicago. Born in the downriver Detroit area, he moved to Chicago a little over 4 years ago to pursue a second Bachelor's degree from the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago in Digital Filmmaking. His first degree came from Eastern Michigan University, specializing in Telecommunications & Film.

After graduating from the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, Aaron was the lead editor and associate producer of an hour-long PBS pledge show that featured Clifton Davis and the Jubilee Showcase archive. This archive includes some of the greatest Gospel artists of all time. Such as, Mavis Staples, Albertina Walker, Jessy Dixon and dozens more.

Most recently, Aaron has worked with Kenmore and Craftsman through the Emmy Award Winning agency Suite Partners on multiple projects. This includes editing digital instructional manuals for the newest Craftsman products and also Kenmore's Starving Artist series which highlighted Chicago restaurants and local artists that were paired together for charity.

Aaron was also a integral part of organizing and editing Nike's coverage of the Chicago marathon. As well as packaging videos for World Kitchen, Pyrex, Wolcott Schools and many more.

In addition to company projects, Aaron has also recorded and edited live events for artists like Rise Against, Grammy Award winner Paul Wertico and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dave Mason (formerly with the band Traffic). Other musical artists that Aaron has worked with include Black Actress, Martha Berner & the Significant Others, Shala, and Petras.

In his off time, Aaron works on his passion of creating personal narratives. His goal is to write and direct feature length films based on life experiences so that he can possibly contribute to the young minds of the future the way he was as a young boy. Aaron's senior film “Rebirth” has been submitted to multiple film festivals including Sundance Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival.

Ryan Marshall

Camera/Graphics

Inspired by filmmaking from an early age, Ryan Marshall went on to receive his BFA in Digitial Film and Video Production in the summer of 2012, graduating with honors.

Since Graduation Ryan has hit the ground running, working on shoots with such notables as: Ernie Hudson, Ne-Yo, and Bobby Jones. Working largely as a freelancer Ryan has gained experience in a wide range of capacities; from Cinematographer to graphics work and rotoscoping. He has looked upon each new project as both a challenge and an opportunity. 

At the same time, Ryan has worked in his free time to hone projects he began in school, with the goal of entering them into Festivals. 

One such piece is his senior-thesis film For Worse, a domestic drama which, portrays the immense sense of loss and the need to fill the empty spaces felt by a husband and wife by the loss of their son. Ryan Wrote, Directed, and Edited this tale of loss and the search for consolation.

Additionally, Ryan has taken on the Global debate on Pollution in the documentary “A Dinosaur in the City”. Directed by Ryan Marshall and Calin Johnson, A dinosaur in the city explores the effects the presence of an outdated coal fired power plant on the city of Chicago, specifically the community of Pilsen where the plant resides.

Kimberly Vann

Rhythm & Light Publicist

KIMBERLY VANN is the publicity consultant for Rhythm & Light (R&L). She plans and directs publicity/promotion efforts for two of R&L’s productions, Jubilee, a full-length documentary film based on the Chicago-based gospel television show, Jubilee Showcase, and The Man in the Silo, a feature film scheduled to premiere at Chicago’s 19th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival in August 2013. 

A graduate of Columbia College, Vann has held various positions in publishing as well as in the nonprofit sector, including Associate Editor for Dollars and Sense magazine, Communications Coordinator at the American Bar Association and Associate Director, Communications and Education, at the Illinois Nurses Association. In addition to Dollars and Sense, she has written for other publications including Essence, Bar Leader and Illinois Nurse. Vann is also the creator of the music blog, Sounding Off: Musical Reflections and Recollections, available on WordPress.com. 

She is a member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland.

Michael NJ Wright

Cinematographer

MICHAEL NJ WRIGHT has been a Cinematographer and Cinematography Instructor for 30 years. Wright worked as Director of Photography for the documentary film that Steve Ordower & David Kovacs directed and produced, Leaps Of Faiths.

He is a Graduate of the American Film Institute and has studied at The
University of Illinois in Urbana, Columbia College in Chicago, with Ted
Liss and in Cephlonia Greece.

He has worked for , NBC, ESPN, MTV, WSNS, WYCC, Home Depot, Weber Grill, Motorola, Pacific Bell, Sears, McDonald's, Facets Multi-Media and many
Music Videos.

He has been awarded with two Telly Awards and one Midwest Emmy Award. He is the creator of the Hegel Screenplay Technique and hopes to teach it outside of the College classroom someday. "There's very little reason a conscientious writer cannot knock out a screenplay a month." Born 5/29/1960- Wright is Married to Producer Caro Posse and they have one son, Marcelo Augustus Wright. Pictured with Michael NJ Wright (in Hat) Marquese Martin-Hayes (Back to Lens) and Cassie Negron. Two very fine actors

Josh Romero

Director

Josh Romero is a Director who is passionate about his craft and embodies a diverse set of creative and technical skills. He got his start producing behind the scenes content for both small and major rock bands around the country. He eventually got his foot in the door when he directed one music video for Warner Bros. Records and two for Universal Music Group. This led to a 10-year documentary feature film that he’s been producing about the Punk Rock scene in Chicago and its relationship with popular culture.

Having worked in a variety of capacities such as Camera Operator, Director and Unit Production Manager, Josh has provided video production services for brands such as Google and Coca-Cola. These two projects in particular helped create a positive impact; one for small Latinx businesses and one for college students all around the country. He is also an accomplished Editor on a variety of projects including three feature films. The latest being Leaps of Faiths, a groundbreaking documentary which premiered on Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11.

Most recently, Mr. Romero has opened up a studio office in Chicago for his company Megasaur Media. In addition to video and film production, their services also include partnering with schools across the state, such as DePaul University and Augustana College to offer their students internships and real world film making experience. Together they provide these students the opportunity to work on feature film and commercial projects by coaching them and providing them with the proper tools needed to compete in today’s broadcast and multimedia environments.