Producer
Brian Butler
Writer, Director, Producer
Around age nine, Brian started shooting movies in San Diego with his brother and cousins, creating homemade gore effects to be used in absurd shorts that blended elements of horror and comedy. These films would evolve over the years into high school and college, where Brian attended the BADA acting intensive and directed Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”. Brian then began to team up with local filmmakers to create shorts that were more narrative-focused than before (though still absurd, and still involving his brother Dan and cousin Kevin). These two shorts, “Hatred” and “The Phantom Hour” were followed by Brian’s first feature film as writer/director, “Friend of the World”, which was shot almost entirely at Gray Area, a San Diego studio run by long-time collaborator Luke Pensabene. Brian teamed up again with this group of family and fellow filmmakers for the upcoming follow-up to “Friend of the World”, a grungy neo-noir feature titled “Fruitful Mold”.
Brian’s passion for filmmaking is only equalled by his love of acting. He has been acting full-time in professional film and theatrical productions since 2014. Notable credits include leading roles in the feature “South of 8” (dir. Tony Olmos) and the Ion Theatre production of Annie Baker’s “The Aliens”. He is currently based in Los Angeles while continuing his San Diego acting and filmmaking collaborations. He studied Theater at San Diego State University and starred alongside internet magician Zach King in the short film ‘Zach King’s Day Off,’ which has massed more than six million views on YouTube over several weeks. He is also known for his stage roles, including: Hugo in “The Nutcracker”, Kevin in “Stage Kiss” (New Village Arts), and Titus in “Titus Andronicus” (SDSU).
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Kerry Rossall
Executive Producer
Kerry Rossall has been an active working stuntman and stunt coordinator for more than forty years. He has worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest pictures that include Sully, Air Force One, Ocean’s Eleven, The Abyss, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile and 12 years a Slave. He has been working in the industry for more than forty years and has doubled for actors such as Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford. Kerry was nominated for three Taurus World Stunt Awards for his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a film early in his career which he had an on screen role. Before Friend of the World, Kerry produced a couple films with his colleague, director Eric Chambers.
Some of the filmmakers had previously worked with Kerry on other projects. After collaborating, he became interested in the early drafts of the script and eventually signed on as executive producer. He helped plan and prepare throughout pre-production and supervised during filming, which helped keep the crew on schedule. He was also very generous with his contributions to the film’s budget. The project would not have reached the desired result without him. He is a valued asset to the team’s success.
Luke Pensabene
Co-Producer
Luke Pensabene is an actor, producer, production designer and the founder of Gray Area Multimedia in San Diego, CA. A former lance corporal for the US Marines in Afghanistan, Luke brings his A-game in every film he works on. His notable works include the crime thriller features “South of 8” and “Fruitful Mold.” Luke has also acted in several short films including “Fletcher and Jenks,” a 48 hour film that landed him nominations for a San Diego Film Award and a GI Film Festival Award. In addition to the follow up feature film “Fruitful Mold,” he produced a short film, “Graduation Afternoon,” directed by Rob Padilla, Jr and adapted from a Stephen King short story by author Marie D. Jones. Just before the 2020 pandemic, Luke produced a film local to San Diego called “Hacksaw,” a feature directed by Anthony Leone that won Best Slasher Film at the Monsters of Horror International Film Festival.
Luke was the co-producer and location manager on “Friend of the World.” He helped plan and prepare much of the massive schedule and helped out significantly with much of the project’s production design. He has a brief cameo in the film as well and helped make the project go above and beyond the limitations that filmmaker’s can run into sometimes.
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