Executive Producer/Writer/Director

David Huff is the managing partner and executive producer for Back 40 Films. His first feature film Country Remedy won both the Audience and Spirit awards at the International Family Film Festival in 2007 and is slated for distribution, through Screen Media Films, this spring. His current projects include The Vanishing Hemlock: A Race Against Time, which has been endorsed by the Southern Documentary Fund, and The Mommy Movie, a feature-length comedy inspired by the authors of the award-winning book The Mommy Chronicles. David is a graduate of George Mason University. He holds post-graduate degrees in Education (George Washington University) and Mythological Studies (Pacifica Graduate Institute). An avid outdoor enthusiast, David is an alumnus of the North Carolina Outward Bound School’s 45-Day Outdoor Leader Program. David has lived and traveled throughout the world. He currently resides in Charlotte, NC.

Producer

Tosca Musk spent her first 8 years in the entertainment industry working in various divisions of Alliance (later Alliance Atlantis) Communications Corporation, the largest entertainment production and distribution company in Canada. During that time, Musk became the director of development for Sela Ward’s in-house production company, Magnolia Films, and aided in the development, production and sale of TV movies and mini-series for network and cable television. Tosca later took on the position of Los Angeles segment producer for TV Guide Television and later went on to produce and direct her first feature film, Puzzled under her own banner, Musk Entertainment Inc. Upon completion, Tosca co-produced the feature film The Truth About Miranda, and has since Line Produced the teen thriller Cruel World with Primetime Pictures and Maverick Films, Produced the HD feature Freezerburn and Line Produced the psychological horror, 9 Live of Mara. Tosca’s most recent feature, Country Remedy, won both the Audience and Spirit awards at the International Family Film Festival in 2007 and is slated for distribution, through Screen Media Films, this spring. Tosca Musk is also the producer of the highly popular Video Podcast Tiki Bar TV (www.tikibartv.com). Tiki Bar TV is one of the most downloaded Video Podcasts on the internet, and was used by Steve Jobs to demonstrate the use of the Video iPod during his keynote speech in October 2005.

Director of Photography/Cinematographer

Jay Kriss has over 15 years experience as a Director of Photography Cinematographer. Originally from the scenic mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, Jay’s passions have been capturing the essence of human emotion and the natural beauty of the great outdoors. He began his filming career working on extreme ski films with Warren Miller. As a freelance cinematographer/videographer Jay has filmed in a variety of conditions and settings including aerial work. His work has appeared in major motion pictures and independent films, on the Discovery Channel, Speed Channel and National Geographic Channel. He shoots for NFL and NHL Films as well as commercial work for Gatorade and Red Bull. Most recent credits include; Pocket Books, Prayers and Date Book: Stories of Ambition in Upcountry South Carolina and the recently released 50 Years of Tarheel Basketball. Jay is a carded wild land fire fighter and has worked throughout the western United States filming National Forests and Parks. Jay was recently part of an Emmy Award winning team for the 2006 Outstanding Live Event Turn-Around Award, the Brickyard 400. Jay attended Colorado State University.

Consultant

Will Blozan learned to climb trees at Anderson Tree Service in Derwood Maryland in 1986. He worked as a forestry technician for Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 1993-1995 where he focused on old-growth forest inventory and delineation, specifically eastern hemlock forests in preparation for the arrival of HWA. He served as a biological science technician in the park from1995-1997 where he was involved in habitat restoration for endangered and threatened species and ecosystems. In 1996 he co-founded the Eastern Native Tree Society and currently serves as its president. (www.nativetreesociety.org). In 1998 he founded Appalachian Arborists, Inc. Will has been involved in the treatment of HWA since he discovered the pest on the Highlands Plateau in 2001. He is currently self-funding the Tsuga Search Project, a project of the Eastern Native Tree Society. This primarily self-funded research project is accurately documenting and preserving superlative specimens of eastern hemlock. Will and his business partners have donated approximately $100,000 in time and resources to completing the Tsuga Search Project, which has now significantly redefined the physical attributes of the species. Will graduated from Warren Wilson College with a degree in Environmental Studies with concentrations in Forestry and Ecology in 1991. He is well-traveled throughout the eastern forests and commonly lectures on old-growth forest issues and projects of the Eastern Native Tree Society, as well as an annual guest lecturer at regional colleges.

Production Company

Back 40 Films is an independent film production company based in Charlotte, NC. Rooted in the American South, the company draws on its cultural and geographical surroundings for inspiration. Working with both regional and Hollywood-based casts and crews, Back 40 Films pulls together some of the most sought after talent in the industry to make its films. In doing so, Back 40 Films strives to produce the best in high quality documentaries and feature films.