April 2016

Meridith Sommers

EDITOR

Meridith Sommers is originally from New York.  She received her B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. with a double major in Performance Music (cello) and Law & Society. Since moving to Los Angeles over a decade ago, she has worked on numerous television shows including Numb3rs (CBS), In Plain Sight (USA), The Client List (Lifetime), Vegas (CBS), and Covert Affairs (USA).  In addition, she has edited numerous short and feature films including: Acquired Taste (dir.: David Ruchman, Best Editing Finalist), Model Minority (dir.: Lily Mariye), Death in the Desert (dir.: Josh Evans), Wild Prairie Rose (dir.: Deborah LaVine), and Thrill Ride (dir.: Chris Parrish).  She was also a finalist for the 2015 Sundance Institute’s Sally Menke Memorial Editing Fellowship.

Hannah Rose Dexter

MUSIC

Hannah Rose Dexter is a 23-year-old bass player and composer with expansive range and interests. Had she never heard the album Funk Power by James Brown, she’d be well along the slippery slope to a career in classical music. Six years after putting that record on the stereo, her style is a combination of all that she loves: funk, ragtime, old time, jazz, pop, world, experimental, new wave, 50s rock’n’roll, country western, and (still) classical. 

Since graduating with her Bachelor’s from CalArts in 2015, she has scored the feature length film Wild Prairie Rose, performed an original solo bass score to a series of 19th century films at REDCAT, and another to The Glass Menagerie, directed by Deborah Lavine and James Franco. In her spare time, she can be seen biking around Los Angeles and performing with the psychedelic children’s band, A Horse A Spoon A Bucket.

Caryn Drake

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Caryn Drake is a Post Production Supervisor and Graphic Designer living in Los Angeles, who went back to her theatrical design roots when asked to be Wild Prairie Rose’s Production Designer. She is also the feature’s postproduction supervisor.

She holds a BFA from Valparaiso University where she studied Graphic Design and Production and has been working in digital post production, graphic design, and marketing with social media campaign planning and execution. Caryn has worked with independent filmmakers as well as entities such as FOX, Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, Warner Bros, LEGO, Universal, The Jim Henson Company, Apple, Cirque du Soleil, Carmike, DigiNext, AEG Live, and Lionsgate.

Nathan Ruyle

SOUND DESIGN

Nathan Ruyle is the founder and principle designer, supervising sound editor, and re-recording mixer at This is Sound Design. He has an MFA in Sound and New Media Design from California Institute of the Arts, where he is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Film/Video and Center for Integrated Media. Nathan is also a technologist and software developer, creating new tools and infrastructure for a variety of traditional and emerging contexts.