The Production Team
Richard Mack
Producer / Director of Photography
Richard is an award-winning photographer / videographer who has specialized in location productions since 1980 for a wide variety of clients in the U.S. and Europe, from travel and resort clients and architectural clients to agricultural equipment, steel manufacturing and financial institutions. In 2010 Richard began video production for clients. His work is in the collections of museums and corporate and private collections worldwide. He has received multiple international awards for his work. In 2005 his first book, The Lewis & Clark Trail: American Landscapes, was released by Quiet Light Publishing and was named Nature Book of the Year, Silver Medal by International Photographic Awards. His second book, Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Thirty Years of American Landscapes, was released in 2009 to many accolades and has become the bestselling photographic book in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park stores. In 2023 it had a second editon with new images and titled Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Five Decades of American Landscapes. The Sweetwater Seas began as his idea for his next book and then became a documentary film. Several of his images shot for this project have garnered awards from The Black & White Spider Awards, International Color Awards and The Lucie Awards for recognition on the international stage.
John Manos
Producer / Writer
John is a critically acclaimed writer and editor whose company, Outsourced Editorial, has been in operation since 2001. Previously he was the Editor-in-Chief of Consumers Digest magazine for 20 years, where he won such awards as the Peter Lisagor Award for Consumer Journalism, the National Media Award, and American Society of Professional Journalists awards for investigative reporting. Additionally he is a writer of educational materials. His novel Dialogues of a Crime was released in the summer of 2013. Kirkus Reviews listed it among the “Best Books of 2013.” His second novel Stalking Justice was released in 2023 to much acclaim. He has written screenplays, documentaries, and fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers alike. He has worked on various film projects in the past for corporations and television, including two hour-long installments of the five-hour series The History of the Horse. He is also a partner and the editorial director for Amika Press, a Chicago-based independent publisher.
Bob Hercules
Consulting Producer
Bob is an acclaimed independent producer and co-owner of the Chicago-based production company, Media Process Group. Hercules’ 2016 film, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win 19 awards on three continents, including a 2018 Peabody Award . The film was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and aired on PBS’ American Masters in February, 2017. Additional films by Bob that aired on American Masters include Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance and Bill T. Jones: A Good Man. In 2009 his documentary Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Pfleger, was named Best Documentary at the 2009 Big Muddy Film Festival and was the opening night film at the 2009 Black Harvest Film Festival. And in addition to other films, Bob’s 2006 feature documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele won the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival and the Crystal Heart Award at the 2006 Heartland Film Festival. It is currently in home video release from First Run Features.