The Team
Based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Picture Company is led by Ben Hess and delivers creative digital media campaigns and productions for small-to-medium businesses, entrepreneurs, and authors. He's assembled a virtual team of specialists to provide excellent service, in an efficient time frame, and at a reasonable cost. Read about the Bay Area Pictures players below (presented in alphabetical order):
Ben Hess – CEO / Executive Producer
Ben creates digital media campaigns for the company’s clients and has produced, edited, or directed over 100 short-form marketing and sales videos for online and DVD distribution. He’s also created or produced several independent films and original series and campaigns, including Volunteer Nation, the castways, A-List Video, Voices Across America, Doing Time, and The Kiss . For New York PBS affiliate Thirteen/WNET and the non-profit Open Media Network, Ben produced the online video campaign War Stories, in conjunction with Ken Burns’ documentary, The War. During his sales career, Ben ran a distributor channel for the software subsidiary of Silicon Graphics and was selected to the company’s President’s Club. He also managed multi-national accounts and software implementations at Volvo Cars, ISI-Dentsu, and Boeing, among others. Ben has a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and studied at the California Institute of the Arts.
Dan Janos – Director / DP / Editor
Dan Janos points, shoots, cuts and cleans. His collaborations with Ben Hess include, Doing Time, Don’t Bully My Kids, and most recently, Volunteer Nation. His editing credits include: The Green Bus v. The White House – which follows the late Senator, Paul Wellstone’s, final campaign, Last Flight Home – the true story of a MIA recovery team searching for downed WWII airmen in the South Pacific, and A Few Good Dykes – winner of the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award. Other projects include the film Broke, winner of the Best Editing Award from the Williamsburg International Film Festival, lesbianfilm, acquired by the Sundance Channel, and Declare Yourself, an on-line series sponsored by Yahoo inspiring young people to vote. Janos also teaches video production and post at California State University Monterey Bay.
Ian Mosley – Photographer / Camera Op / Asst. Editor
A recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz, Ian is passionate about the power of photography and film to make an impact and to capture the viewer’s interest. He trained extensively in the creation of coherent story lines while maintaining continuity and is proficient with a range of digital video cameras and SLRs / DSLRs for digital photography. Also a Spanish speaker, Ian is comfortable shooting video and photos outdoors in any weather or environment.
Alex Potter – Camera Operator / Gaffer / Grip
Alex is an experienced videographer who was raised in Los Angeles but escaped SoCal in his 20s and has been working professionally in the Bay Area for the last eight years. He’s worked as cinematographer, director, producer, production assistant, camera operator, and gaffer for small features, live shows, corporate events, and creative entertainment. Alex has worked with Ben Hess on several corporate productions and the award winning short film Doing Time.
Devorah Rosner – Voiceover Talent / Actress
When not singing with her band, Making Dinner, recording a commercial, or voiceover sequence for Volunteer Nation, Devorah is a stellar Operations Manager and has an extensive background in Office and Facilities management, Project Management and Executive support. With Ben Hess, Devorah has acted in two short films, Doing Time and The Kiss and has performed voiceover for the director’s cut of a Nike commercial, several corporate projects, and the development pilot of Volunteer Nation. Devorah has as BA in Performing Arts from Washington University in St. Louis., and a background in Technical Theatre and Special Events.
Jonathon E. Stewart – Writer / Director / Producer
Ben Hess and Jonathon Stewart are the co-creators and co-writers of an original online series, the castaways and collaborated on the award-winning short film, Doing Time. Stewart produced and directed his first multi-award winning digital feature Guy in Row Five after clocking time at HBO Films, The Walt Disney Company and as Director of Development for the boutique production company, Grover in CA (Cavedweller, Desert Saints). With writing partner Eyal Podell, he has several feature film projects in development, most recently the screenplay Usonia, which was optioned to The 7th Floor in NYC. Stewart has also written and produced over 300 short-form, original videos for the NY Times company About.com, Verizon, Walmart, the Discovery Channel, and many others. Awards include Best Director at the San Francisco 48-Hour Film Festival, Viewers’ Voice at Cinequest, Best of the Fest at the SoCal Independent Film Festival and an honorable mention in the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Stewart has also produced and directed several music videos including Helmet’s “Gone,” which aired on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, and is focusing on digital content for online distribution, advertising and marketing. Stewart is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
Jennifer Stivers – Integrated Marketing Strategist
Jennifer is passionate about strategic uses of social media to build consumer awareness, has excellent writing and editing skills, and 20 years of industry experience. She’s worked with large corporations such as Apple Inc. and pre-IPO startups like GlobalEnglish, Digital Island, and Netscape doing brand management, collateral and sales tool development and globalization. She has extended experience in targeted marketing, including the management of a yearlong online ad campaign that spanned 50 countries and 17 languages. She brings a well-balanced approach to small businesses (brand development) and larger companies (customer loyalty emphasis), and offers clients integrated marketing plans to suit their individual needs. Jennifer holds a B.S. from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA.