About the Filmmakers

Michael Paradies Shoob Director/Producer Michael is co-director and producer of BUSH’S BRAIN. The film that pulled back the curtain and introduced the country to Karl Rove, the “man behind the throne” of the Bush administration. Made independently for less than 100,000 dollars cash, BUSH’S BRAIN became one of the most influential political documentaries of 2004 and showed voters how one man, ruthlessly brilliant, has managed to commandeer the American political process. Michael previously wrote and directed the indy feature DRIVEN. DRIVEN premiered at the Toronto Film Festival where Screen International Magazine called him “one of the new directors to watch in North America.”   Joseph Mealey Producer/Director Joe is co-director and producer of BUSH’S BRAIN. The San Francisco Chronicle called it “enlightening and frightening”. Tina Brown wrote in the Washington Post: “The blueprint for what’s happening now is right up on the screen”. Joe believes the BUSH’S BRAIN download is part of an exciting new technology which can get vital information to the American public: “I believe we have a real opportunity to change minds and affect this midterm election.” Joe is also a Director of Photography. He shot BUSH’S BRAIN and DRIVEN. Other credits include more than 20 documentaries for PBS, including BEYOND THE MOON WITH WALTER CRONKITE, FRONTLINE, HBO FIRST LOOK, A & E’s BIOGRAPHY and KCET’s LIFE & TIMES, for which he won an Emmy.   James Moore Co-Author "Bush's Brain" (Wiley 2003) Author of "Bush's War for Reelection" (Wiley 2004) Jim is an Emmy award-winning TV news correspondent with more than a quarter century of print and broadcast experience. He has traveled extensively on every Presidential campaign since 1976. His reports have appeared on CNN, NBC, and CBS. His professional honors include: an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Director's Association, and the Individual Broadcast Achievement Award from the Texas Headliners' Foundation.   Wayne Slater Co-Author "Bush's Brain" (Wiley 2003) Wayne is the bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News in Austin, Texas. He has traveled extensively, covering national and state politics for the newspaper. Mr. Slater traveled full-time for eighteen months covering the presidential campaign of George W. Bush. He has covered every Republican and Democratic national convention since 1988, six sessions of the Texas Legislature, and the administrations of Texas Governors Bill Clements, Ann Richards, and George W. Bush. Mr. Slater is a frequent guest on numerous network and cable political programs.   Elizabeth Reeder Co-Producer Elizabeth was a senior executive with Oliver Productions (THE MCLAUGHLIN GROUP, MCLAUGHLIN ONE ON ONE) and New River Media (THINK TANK WITH BEN WATTENBERG). A practicing attorney and artist manager, she is the producer of UNCONSCIOUS, a new feature film, and is currently developing two television series (TAKING ON JAKE and REALITY WATCH) as well as the romantic adventure feature film THE BONEYARD. She has consulted on numerous television, film and live event projects, and her television commentary website was recently named as on of the “Top Thirty Television Websites” by TV Guide.   Michelle Shocked Music Defying categorization, Michelle’s albums have included the swing-jump-jive horn driven CAPTAIN SWING (1989), ARKANSAS TRAVELER (1992), a travelogue of the old-time string band and fiddle tunes she grew up playing in East Texas, and the landmark SHORT SHARP SHOCKED (1994). Raised in the Piney Woods of East Texas in a large, extremely poor fundamentalist Mormon family, Michelle escaped to Dallas in the summers to live with her hippie-atheist biological father. She left home for good at 16 and put herself through the University of Texas at Austin, where her innate contempt for authority led her to pursue the most impractical degree she could imagine – Oral Interpretation of Literature. (“It still gets me to this day that it became my career,” she confesses.) Michelle currently lives in Los Angeles, and is active in numerous social causes, including “Save Africa's Children,” which addresses orphans caught up in the AIDS pandemic on the African continent.   David Friedman Music David Friedman is a native Texan now residing for his 12th year in Austin, TX. David released his debut album "Moonrise" in 1997, earning stellar reviews from highly acclaimed New Age voices, including Lloyd Barde (Backroads Music), John Diliberto (Echoes), Bill Binkelman (Wind & Wire) & Forest of the Nationally Syndicated show Musical Starstreams. As a result of local success and national radio attention, David was signed by Passage records for a national re-release of the album, which went on to reach #4 on the New Age radio charts, and became a hit overseas on the Jingo label in Southeast Asia. David has also provided the score for several Austin independent film projects, and is currently working on his second album release.   Tom Siiter Editor Tom has been an editor for over 20 years. His work has been seen in all media: everything from feature films to network television specials and HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax to interactive DVDs.