John Adcox

Over the course of a 20-year career in advertising, marketing, and new media John Adcox has held a number of titles including Executive Producer, Vice President of Digital Media, Creative Director, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services, and CEO. A few of his clients have included AT&T, Mercedes-Benz, Holiday Inn, Coca-Cola, UPS, SCANA, AutoTrader.com, Time Warner, Disney, Delta Air Lines, 3M, Ford, and many more.

In addition, he has hosted a radio show, acted professionally (although not since age 15), designed and written scripts for games, written a play for a professional theatre company, taught university astronomy, and written articles on topics including mythology, psychology, technology, religion, and marketing strategy.

John served for more than four years as the Lay Leader and Council Chair at Inman Park United Methodist Church. His many, many interests include books and literature, religion and philosophy, mythology, the Arthurian legends, travel, baseball, science fiction and fantasy, marketing communications, Celtic music and lore, new media, theatre, and politics, not to mention astronomy and cosmological physics.

John sits on advisory boards at the Blockchain Chamber of Commerce, Invest Atlanta (Creative Industries), and the Georgia State University Library.

John is now concentrating on storytelling—he is the author of Blackthorne Faire and other novels, and he has a screenplay in development. Meanwhile, he maintains a laser focus on Gramarye Media and its publishing, film and television content development, production, and distribution arms.

Alice Neuhauser

Alice P. Neuhauser has a broad range of entertainment experience in financial management, establishment and oversight of corporate, legal and accounting procedures, and business development and strategic planning. From successfully developing a major commercial real estate project to assisting lenders in maximizing the value of distressed assets to managing the day-to-day operations of independent film companies, Alice has demonstrated entrepreneurial success in maximizing effort and investment by finding opportunities to utilize both existing studio structures and independent constructs.

Over the course of her career, Alice has managed project financing for motion pictures ranging in budget from $2 million to $100 million each, totaling over half a billion dollars.  Such financings included some of the largest independently financed pictures including Terminator 2 (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Cliffhanger (starring Sylvester Stallone).  More recently, Alice coordinated the bank financing of produced pictures including Oscar-nominated 3:10 to Yuma (starring Russell Crowe), The Forbidden Kingdom (with Jackie Chan and Jet Li), The Bank Job, Brothers, A Perfect Getaway, Nine, Spy Next Door, Dear John, Season of the Witch, The Fighter (starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg), Limitless (starring Bradley Cooper), Haywire, The Immortals, Mirror, Mirror (starring Julia Roberts), 21 & Over, Movie 43, Safe Haven and Out of the Furnace.  Alice also managed two $100 million revolving film production credit facilities with two separate syndicates of banks, which helped finance such movies as Basic Instinct (starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone) and Total Recall (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone).

Don Dudenhoeffer

Don’s professional experience has been an extensive voyage into the world of advanced interactive media. He’s spent most of his career on the front lines of the new media space working with emerging technologies in Interactive TV, mobile devices, video distribution, and broadband Web applications. In Don’s eleven years of creative design and implementation, his work has focused on creating forward thinking applications that aid large media companies in their pursuit of the future of media often targeting multi-screen experiences.

Don led the design team that was awarded the first ever Emmy in Interactive Television for the creation of an Interactive TV application enhancing the HBO Band of Brothers experience. He also led the effort to design and build CNN’s Pipeline and the Washington Redskins experiences for Media Center and Intel’s Viiv initiative. Don has participated in the incubation, testing and launch of many new interactive products ranging from a wireless traffic guidance system, desktop applications (TWC Desktop Weather), browser plug-ins, widgets, and new forms of digital video collection, encoding, and distribution.

Irtaza Barlas

Irtaza Barlas brings more than 20 years of diverse technology and product development experience to Gramarye. He is currently the Director of Software Engineering of a very successful healthcare IT company in Georgia. He was also the Program Manager at Impact Technologies, where he led the research and development efforts associated with advanced computing, image analysis, and data mining systems for the industry and the US Department of Defense.

Irtaza was the architect and Principle Investigator on a multi-year research program on “Self-Aware Processing Systems” for DARPA. Irtaza worked with Raytheon and Georgia Tech to develop technologies for monitoring and real-time reconfiguration. His other DoD research programs include datamining and visualization for US Navy, distributed monitoring of Virginia Class Submarine Combat Systems, and Multi-agent Distributed Data Fusion for Unmanned Surface Vehicles for Office of Naval Research. Impact Technologies was acquired in 2011 by United Technologies’ Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation—and is now a Sikorsky Innovations company.

William H. Foley

Bill Foley is the President of Foley Design Associates. His background includes experience in business, construction, and architecture, including ownership in three architecture firms and one construction firm. Bill has had direct interaction on a variety of project types from planning to the construction phase of the project. A diverse background of project types includes corporate headquarters, office and warehouse facilities, resort facilities, country club, retail centers, recreation facilities, elderly housing, continuing care retirement centers, schools, healthcare, multi-family housing, and libraries.

Bill has been the lead architect and designer of Pinewood Atlanta Studios, Founders Studios, and other industry-leading motion picture and television production facilities.

Bill’s past architectural experience includes work with Bull and Kenney Architects, in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as a planner and designer, the Atlanta office of Christian/Foley Architects as partner-incharge, and Thompson Hancock Witte & Associates as Executive Vice President.

David Godfrey

David Godfrey has more than 30 years’ experience across screen-based media, including a well-balanced combination of technical, operational, executive managerial, and consultancy skills and an ability to work globally across any culture, individually or with teams of any size.

He has a solid executive background in operational management (Director of UK Operations for Pinewood and Shepperton Studios) along with proven high-level delivery of technical media consultancy (Director of International Operations for The Pinewood Group) working extensively across both domestic and international media arenas to successfully deliver my client’s vision and objectives from concept to completion.

Territories worked for facility build and feasibility include: USA, Canada, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, India, Chile, Colombia, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, France, Mauritius, Romania, South Africa, Ireland and UK.

In addition to himself, David brings international experts in all media disciplines to Gramarye’s projects, providing us with a genuine dream team.

Lou Aronica

Lou Aronica started the Spectra imprint at Bantam when he was 27 years old. His first acquisition for Bantam Spectra, David Brin’s Startide Rising, won a Hugo and a Nebula award. Bantam Spectra went on to publish New York Times bestsellers for Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Raymond Feist, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Neil Gaiman.During this phase of his career, Aronica acquired five consecutive winners of the Nebula award.

His Full Spectrum anthology series ran 5 volumes. Full Spectrum 4, co-edited with Amy Stout and Betsy Mitchell, won the 1994 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology. He also started the Star Wars book publishing program. As Mass Market Publisher for Bantam, he launched the Crime Line mystery imprint and worked with bestselling authors Elizabeth George, Robert Crais, and Diane Mott Davidson. After leaving Bantam in 1994, he became Publisher of the Berkley Publishing Group, where he started two imprints, Boulevard and Signature. During this time, he acquired and edited futuristic mysteries by J.D. Robb (a penname of author Nora Roberts).

Graham Bradstreet

Graham Bradstreet qualified as a chartered accountant and began his career in the motion picture industry as a shareholder and Finance Director in the Working Title Group of Companies (“Working Title”) in 1986. Over the following years Working Title became the U.K.’s pre-eminent motion picture production company and was subsequently sold to PolyGram in 1993, by which time it had produced some 15 movies and seven television programs (see below). Whilst at Working Title, Bradstreet became adept at laying off risk with the use of tax advantageous legislation, subsidies, grants, rebates, co-production treaties and other “soft” monies.

Following the sale of his shareholding to PolyGram, Graham acted as a consultant to various companies including Chrysalis, Katsalas Films, Miramax, Parallel Pictures, and Pukka Films.

In 1996, having developed the concept of insurance-backed financing, he closed a five-picture deal with Phoenix Pictures. Bradstreet then formed ICE Media (“ICE”) to concentrate on the risk management of insurance-backed film financing. ICE raised in excess of $1Bn of insurance backed finance, contributing to budgets in excess of $3Bn covering approximately 100 movies (see below) including Truman Show, Face/Off, Runaway Bride and Sleepy Hollow.

End users included Paramount, MGM/UA, Orion, Phoenix Pictures, Artisan, LionsGate, J&M Entertainment, IAC, Mandalay and Seven Arts. Banks included Chase Manhattan (now JPMorgan), Société Generalé, Imperial (now CoMerica), Silicon Valley Bank, Westdeutche Landesbank and De Nationale Investeringsbank NU.

Such innovative structures have established Graham as one of the leading motion picture financiers in the world, whether for independent or studio movies. He has since advised various entertainment companies including Bed & Breakfast, Belgrave Promotions Limited (Ireland), Consolidated Pictures Group, Inc., Crannog Films Limited (Ireland), Ego Aegis Limited (U.K.), Fonu2, Inc., Hercules Entertainment, ManifeStar, LLC, (Puerto Rico), Mario BH, Medient, Inc., Monkey Wrench Films, Montage Media, Inc., Mr. Pictures Limited (U.K.), Parallel Pictures Limited (U.K.), Red Octopus, Inc., Seviinth Wave, Inc., Silencer, LLC, (Puerto Rico), TMI, Inc., Ukimwi Road Limited (U.K.), and Ulti-Media Group, Inc.

Of the 130 movies funded by Graham, 31 were major studio releases generating an estimated $3.32Bn in Box Office. 196 award nominations have been garnered (including 14 Academy Award nominations), winning 94 of them (including one Academy Award).

Kenneth Walters

Ken is an accomplished wealth management and investment advisory executive with over 23 years of experience with prominent firms including Merrill Lynch, UBS, and Morgan Stanley. Worked extensively with High Net Worth and Ultra-High Net Worth individuals and institutions raising and managing a transformative amount of assets. His clientele has consisted of C-Level Executives, physicians, emerging executives, business owners, retirees, professional athletes, artists, and proven actors & professionals in the film & entertainment industry

He is well positioned with the largest wire-house broker dealers and private, boutique wealth management and investment banking firms with significant leadership roles including: Managing Partner, Managing Director-Private Wealth, Managing Director-Business Development, Director of Recruiting and Senior Vice President-Investments

Ken also maintains an extensive depth in the film/TV and entertainment industry including actors, managers, executive producers, and directors working on multiple films, TV programs, red carpet premieres and marketing distribution. Ken’s leadership translates in the film & entertainment industry where he was Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner for a private equity fund investing in Georgia-produced film and television.
In addition, he manages film actors (his two sons) securing significant roles in franchise films.

Christopher Golden

Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of Snowblind, Ararat, The Boys are Back in Town, Tin Men, Of Saints and Shadows, and dozens of other novels. He has also written books for teens, including the thriller series Body of Evidence, honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA’s Best Books for Young Readers. With Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, he co-created two fan favorite comic book series — Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and the New York Times bestselling Baltimore. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of multiple novels, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent and The Sisterhood, both currently in development as feature films. With Amber Benson, Christopher co-created the BBC’s online animated series Ghosts of Albion and co-wrote the book series of the same name.

Chris has also written short stories, video games, dozens of other comic books and graphic novels, a BBC radio play, and screenplays. He has adapted his own work for Fox, New Regency, Constantin Films, and the CW, and is one of the writers of the 2019 film reboot of Hellboy. He is also an editor, anthologist, lecturer, and keynote speaker who has appeared at conferences, schools, and libraries from Dallas to London to Transylvania (really).

Arthur Stepanyan

In a professional career that has spanned more than 35 years, Arthur Stepanyan has been fortunate to meet, work with, and learn from captains of industry and government leaders from all over the world. Through these interactions, Arthur became intimately familiar with such diverse industry verticals as aerospace, automotive, metallurgy, oil and gas exploration and production, microelectronics, tele-communications, and nuclear energy — all seen through essential principles of business, finance, and law.

As an international business consultant, Arthur was involved in Chevron’s mega-JV in Kazakhstan, in Kaiser Aluminum technology transfer projects, in International Launch System’s commercial satellite launches, and in US DOE’s IPP/NCI programs.

Gramarye Media was one of the very few companies lucky enough to participate in Georgia Tech’s Flashpoint, one of the world’s most successful and prestigious business accelerators.

Flashpoint works closely with founders to enable them to think clearly about their businesses, using rigorous processes to enable reliable innovation. It is unique in implementing startup engineering, a business creation and innovation process developed by Dr. Merrick Furst at Georgia Tech. Its companies have attracted more than $150 million in commitments from angels and investors and have a market cap of over $800 million.

Startup Engineering is a program and framework for finding genuine unmet demand and building scalable companies to satisfy it.

Startup engineers take a “problem first” approach to identify inadequately addressed pain in their customer’s personal or professional lives. They generate theories about customer improvement goals and the constraints that prevent existing solutions from meeting them. They work toward actionable truth by testing to disconfirm their theories, modifying them, and retesting. They prioritize and gauge progress through a framework of understanding, bounding, and reducing the risks that all early stage companies face.

Gramarye Media also partners with the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) at Georgia State University to apply innovative technology to reduce the cost of film and television productions.

The CMII, arguably the single most advanced virtual production facility on the planet, features Virtual production to support live performances driving 3D characters in virtual worlds, layering virtual characters and objects over real world environments, an augmented Reality CAVE Lab, a walking VR Lab, best-in-Class Editing, Color-Correction, and Post-Production Suites, “Lagless” Music and Dialog Recording, and more.

Our sister company, ConcentraQ, helps power Gramarye’s powerful social media and tracking capability. ConcentraQ is a cloud-based software platform that allows marketing and brand management teams to quickly design and launch highly personalized campaigns to inspire, incent, and empower consumers to become champions for their brand.

In short, ConcentraQ maximizes social endorsement and brand visibility, beyond what can be achieved through traditional marketing channels. With ConcentraQ, marketers can guide the conversation and identify (and potentially reward) their brand’s most significant individual influencers. The result? Faster, more agile promotional campaigns leading to:

• Deeper brand affinity, stronger bonds with current and potential customers
• More compelling personal, unpaid endorsements and buzz
• Significantly increased brand visibility
• More precisely-targeted promotion budgets and properly-attributed ROI

ConcentraQ enables real visibility into social influence and endorsement activities from the ground up — starting at the individual consumer level. It provides tools for brand marketers that seamlessly integrate into promotions, giving prospects and customers the opportunity to easily endorse brands/products within in their social spaces.

The Story Plant was founded in 2008 by two long-term industry professionals, Lou Aronica and Peter Miller. From the start, the company has been dedicated to publishing quality fiction and to developing authors. Though we’re always trying to improve, we feel that we’ve delivered on both. Our books regularly receive rave reviews (click on any of our titles to check for yourself) and since our launch, nearly a third of our novels have appeared in the top 100 of one major bestseller list or another – and often several at once.

In 2013, The Story Plant was acquired by Studio Digital CT, LLC, a limited liability company headed by Lou Aronica. With this, Mitchell Maxwell came on board to add his unparalleled blend of creativity, passion, and business acumen.

The Story Plant has an absolute dedication to its authors. Both Aronica and Maxwell are novelists as well, and they understand the desires, needs, and insecurities of writers at the most personal level. We want The Story Plant to be a good home for those who write for us, and we want it to be a place where readers can be assured that everyone involved in bringing these books to them cares deeply about what they’re doing.