Dave O’Brien
DIRECTOR
Dave O’Brien’s work as a director and producer has screened at film festivals worldwide and on television in the United States and Canada.
His first documentary, Hip Hop Homos, was created while earning his MFA at University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television. It screened at the Frameline Film Festival, New York’s NewFest, London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Fusion: LA’s Gay and Lesbian People of Color Film Festival and Silverlake Film Festival among others. The film was broadcast on television on CBC Canada’s Zed network and MTV’s LOGO network as part of the Real Momentum series.
Dave’s music video directing work includes the first video for lesbian rapper God-des (entitled Love You Better) that premiered on LOGO in early 2006. Dave is also an experienced producer with numerous short films and music videos to his credit, including Eating, an official selection of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Dave recently completed an Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences mentorship with director Michael Lange on Fox’s The O.C. and was profiled in the Hollywood Reporter.
Alonzo Ruvalcaba
PRODUCER
During his 11 year tenure at the Academy Award-winning TIPPETT STUDIO, Ruvalcaba produced CG visual effects for feature films and commercials including MISSION TO MARS and CATS AND DOGS as well as the Clio Award-winning “Carl and Ray” spots for Blockbuster Video.
Ruvalcaba joined TIPPETT in 1994 to manage the organization of their new computer graphic facility and gear up for the studio’s first major CG production, STARSHIP TROOPERS. He moved into the role of Head of Production in 2001, where he was responsible for bidding and client relations, as well as general studio budgeting, scheduling, staffing, and management of a crew of over 200 artists and technicians.
In 2005, Ruvalcaba, with Ken Bielenberg, formed EYETHINK PICTURES with the mission to create high-quality, evocative, gay and lesbian programming.
Ken Bielenberg
PRODUCER
As the Visual Effects Supervisor for SHREK and SHREK 2, Ken Bielenberg oversaw the production of 2 of the biggest summer blockbuster films, providing both creative and technical supervision to the digital artists who brought the big green ogre to the screen. His work as the VFX Supervisor on ANTZ and SHREK led to British Academy Award nominations for Special Effects.
His career with PDI/Dreamworks began in 1990 after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a term at the New York University. During his 15 year stint at PDI/Dreamworks, Bielenberg worked on countless commercials including spots for Matchlight, Lego, BP, Mercedes and the Clio award-winning 'Penguins' spot for Halls. In addition, he contributed to the effects work in the feature films ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, ERASER and HEART AND SOULS. He also served as a technical director for the Emmy winning TV special, "The Last Halloween" and for the 3-D animated segment of the The Simpsons' 1995 Halloween Special.
In 2001, Ken directed and partner Alonzo Ruvalcaba produced their first short film JUST RYAN. This short was screened at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival in 2002. In July of 2005, Ken and Alonzo formed their independent production company, EYETHINK PICTURES. Their first release under the EYETHINK banner, I WANNA BE A REPUBLICAN, premiered to a standing ovation at Frameline30 in San Francisco.
