Jake is an addict of all things visual—and his enthusiasm of technology began when he first touched a computer at age 5. By the time he was 12, he was helping teach classmates Photoshop. Before he could drive he already learned the basics of 3D animation. In high school he fell in love with landscape photography and before he graduated he was offered a job with city hall in their media technology division.  McCurdy became a magna cum laude Scottsdale Community College film graduate before earning his BFA at Chapman University. As an editor and cinematographer, McCurdy’s work for “90” debuted in 2005 at the Hollywood Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival.

 

Most recently Jake designed and built the largest permanent green-screen studio in the south in Atlanta, Georgia for a long time client. The facilities included 10k sq. ft. of studio space, an 80'x30'x14' green cyc as well as fully integrated edit suites, control room and edit infrastructure center. While in Atlanta Jake was able to forward his creative skills directing a staff of 10 to create campaigns for a variety of clients and products. Highlights included interviewing and working on creative spots with Ben Stein, Bill O'Reilly and #1 NY Times selling author Phil Town.

 

Jake is an expert in post production at all levels and enjoys editing and creating dynamic motion graphics when his duties as Director and Producer allow. Special skills include virtual production, online offline workflow design and systems integration.

 

In the rare occasion you find him outside the studio, you’ll find him with Bandit, his beloved American Eskimo dog, backpacking in and out of the Grand Canyon or rebuilding his 1969 Mercury. Jake recently returned from a photography expedition in which he backpacked through Europe for several weeks; see pics below.

 

His passion: “Being the best at what we do.”

 

Art has been in private business for over 30 years. He owns a number of successful small businesses and serves on several boards in the community. Beginning in 2006, Art was elected as Mayor of Queen Creek, Arizona. During his two-year term as mayor, he watched several intersections receive traffic lights, assisted closing the local landfill transforming it into an Equestrian Park, helped the town issue $150 million in bonds on Wall Street in order to take over the roads from the county and improve them, and has negotiated with developers to form a partnership to improve local infrastructures reimbursed through a sales tax rebate initiative. He has also helped the town acquire the local water company and its own fire department. Beginning in the late 1990s, Art introduced digital video production as one of his many business ventures. Cinemasters Independent Production has, since its birth, evolved into a major state-of-the-art video production company providing its clients with a kind of customer service deeply rooted in proud, public service.

 

His passion: “Making connections to inspire and promote creativity.”