Luke Rex Psy.D. (EP/Producer/Director/Writer/Composer)

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Luke Rex Psy.D. was born in Sydney, Australia where he began his formal training as an actor, graduating from The Sydney Acting School in 1996. It was in this building of creativity where Luke not only developed a passion for acting, but also for writing, and playing and composing original Spanish/Classical guitar music. Luke released a CD Patience (2012) featuring pieces by Agustín Barrios Mangoré, and his own nylon string compositions. In 1999, Luke studied acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and then returned to Australia to work in Film/TV/Theatre. There, he also produced, acted and directed, and co-directed fringe theatre productions and short films, including a TV pilot. He also took an active role directing and co-directing many plays for St Aloysius College in Sydney, his former High School renowned for their high quality student productions.

In 2006, Luke took up a greencard offer and moved to New York City to pursue his acting career. Before leaving for Los Angeles in the winter of 2009, Luke co-produced, co-wrote (with Victoria Hill) and co-directed (with Chris Bazzoni) a short film, Chasin' the Dream. It was here in New York where Luke first met Jean Bernard Rutagarama (Associate Producer, Bonding), and went on to work as an actor on numerous short films directed by JB. The tradition has lived on in Los Angeles with the creative team pairing up with Christian "Tico" Herrera to produce The Activist, and later, with Jaime Saginor to co-produce Saginor's short film Triple A, again, directed by JB and acted in by Rex. Luke also spent 7 years teaching acting to teenagers at The Young Actor's Studio in North Hollywood where he also conceived, produced and directed original productions for the studio. 

Luke earned a Doctorate in Psychology (Psy.D.) from Pepperdine University. During his academic studies, Dr. Rex began facilitating psychodrama and acting style groups to adolescents and adults struggling with addiction and dual diagnosis disorders within intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment center programs. He currently works as a Psychological Associate, conducting individual, group, and family therapy for adolescents in a residential treatment center.

Bonding marks Dr. Rex's cinematic directorial debut.

Steven Lancaster is an Australian author of 5 novels (The Red Dust, and 4 other books in the JACOB series: Jacob, Scott, Da-vid, and Erron). Lancaster's first novel, The Red Dust, was originally optioned by The Australian Film Commission and later, Millennium Pictures. 

The worldwide rights for these original drama/sci-fi/global political thrillers now rest with Dr. Rex.

See 9 Lives Entertainment IN DEVELOPMENT section on this website for more information.

Laura Jansen was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in a small suburban town 25 miles south of the city. Much of her free time as an only-child was spent either in front of a television screen or in a movie theater. It was there that she fell in love with film's ability to completely immerse her in the narrative and take her to a different place entirely.

She has lensed six feature films, including Lifetime Movie Network's Doctor Death and many shorts, including the 2019 SXSW Jury Award Winner, Other Side of the Box. Her breadth of work ranges from dark and gritty thrillers to crisp and polished commercials to cinematic documentaries.

Laura is particularly drawn to narrative work that deals with emotional struggle and explores the complexity of the human psyche. She believes that no story is complete without carefully thought-out visuals that elevate the actors' performances and connect the audience to the characters' emotion.

She strongly believes her job as cinematographer is not only to create beautiful images, but to initiate a feeling from the audience because of the visual imagery. She enjoys technical problem-solving in order to achieve the director's vision and will always work towards what is best for the story.

She is an alumna of Loyola Marymount University's School of Film & Television and resides in Los Angeles, CA. She is available to travel and owns an ARRI Alexa camera package. She looks to be a part of projects that seek to accomplish an elevated visual style. 

Peter Szijarto was born to Hungarian parents in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1984. They received political asylum in the USA and moved to Los Angeles in 1987. From there they moved to Texas, Colorado, Florida, and eventually ended up in Richmond, Virginia, where Peter began to pursue his passion for filmmaking in High School. 

Peter has worked on twelve short films, three features, and seven series, including co-editing the 2022 Panic Fest Best Short Film "The Rotting of Casey Culpepper", "Loving In America," the 2020 American Black Film Festival Best Web Series, and "Outliars," Official Selection at the Catalyst Film Festival.

Peter loves working on projects that deal with the human condition, coming of age, and interpersonal communication. He believes in proper planning and that fixing it in post should be a last resort. He makes great effort to help productions achieve their biggest goals.

In his free time, he writes scripts, loves the movies, repairing vintage electronics, skateboarding, Brazilian JiuJitsu, learning new things to cook, and hiking.

Peter is an alumni of the VCU School of the Arts Kinetic Imaging program and lives in Los Angeles CA.

JB Rutagarama is a director, producer, and DP based out of Los Angeles. 

His award winning documentary, Back Home, chronicles his experiences during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the chance meeting with an American TV crew that changed his life, and his eventual decision to return to his homeland to search for his family. This was the first and only film made by a 1994 Rwandan genocide survivor about his experiences, escape and return to his homeland. 

At the age of seventeen, J.B. Rutagarama was marked for murder by machete-wielding Hutu militias. Remarkably he survived, though dozens of his relatives were slaughtered.

J.B. fled Rwanda alone, but along the way he met an American television crew who changed his life. They took him in, cared for him and eventually became his surrogate parents. They sent him to film school in England, where he graduated with honors. 

Afterwards, he moved to New York City and began working as a studio cameraman where, in 2006, he met director Luke Rex, who had moved to NYC to pursue his acting career after wining a Greencard in the lottery. JB and Luke worked on a variety of short films together in New York.

In 2008, JB moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in film and offered his couch for Luke to stay on for 2 weeks in January of 2009! They have been good friends ever since and have collaborated on projects with Associate Producers Jamie and Christian.

JB also performed the cool aerial cinematography seen in the end credit sequence of Bonding.

Christian “Tico” Herrera, CCR is a Costa Rican native and award winning Director of Photography based in Los Angeles. His electrifying shots have launched him to the forefront of cinematography, both in television and film production. Christian's lenses (TicoVision) where used for the filming of Bonding and create intriguingly beautiful bokeh.

Known for his unique ability to push the boundaries of multiple genres, Tico has a passion for captivating images. He is uniquely creative and loves to explore new territories in his work, always seeking the newest and most innovative technology to work with.

Tico’s extensive work includes Zombies 3 - a Disney musical, season one of Alnamous - an original Arabic 70’s period crime/drama TV series, and his most recent work is in season five of Snowfall - a highly-acclaimed TV series by FX, where he was nominated for a 2023 ASC Award.

He has been a member of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 I.A.T.S.E. since 2009 and an active member of the Costa Rica Society of Cinematographers. He is living in Los Angeles, but travels the world every chance he gets! 

Jaime Saginor is a Producer/Writer/Actor originally hailing from the backwoods of New Hampshire. In addition to coming on board as an Associate Producer for Bonding, the talented Jaime also served as Script Supervisor! 

Jaime's slate of mostly psychological thrillers and dramas are often stories with revenge or redemption elements, and feature female forward, diverse characters grappling with deep emotional lives and relationships. Her recent film, Black Creek Trail, which Jaime produced, wrote and acted in has been extremely well received on the film festival circuit.

She started in the theater, got her BFA at the University of Michigan, studied and performed in and around NYC, and then co-founded a theater company in Seattle before moving to LA to pursue film and tv.

Her award-winning shorts, which she wrote, produced and starred in, have screened in numerous festivals, and her screenplays have placed in many prestigious competitions, including Austin, Screencraft, and BlueCat. Her thriller feature, BLACK CREEK TRAIL was a finalist in the LA-based 2020 WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Contest.

Daniel Teo was born in a small country town in the very south of Brazil. As a teenager, he moved to an island called Florianópolis, a place known for its stunning nature, amazing reggae bands and top-notch surfing tournaments.

It was in the upcoming indie rock scene Teo says, "where all the weirdos were hanging out, that I found myself as a musician. This was a very special time that has played a huge role in my career."  Daniel ended up moving to Santa Monica CA in 2012, a place that he now calls home. 

Daniel has been playing and composing music professionally for over 15 years. He says he is, "lucky to have stumbled into the indie film scene in Los Angeles where I’ve met some of the most creative people in my career." At the end of 2021, he received a best original score nomination at Cannes Diversity Festival for the short film called Operation White Boy. Daniel has also scored a variety of national and international commercials for brands such as FIFA, KIA, Cartago, Aurora, NBC and so on.

"From Dylan to Daniel Johnson. Wilco to Hank Williams. Blind Willie McCtell to Bossa Nova. Bernard Hermann to Jonny Greenwood. Singer songwriter/finger picking guitar, indie/pop folk, 70’s vintage synth sound/late sixties rock and soul vibes -  are all my favorite music genres to write, compose and produce."

Currently, Daniel is the co-founder, guitarist, songwriter and producer of the west side Indie country band, The Stoned Ponies. He is also the co-founder of bat musical project along with his wife, poet and visual artist, Nayana Baggio @poesia.entre.linhas. Their first single was released on March 20th 2022.

“God bless the muse and all the artists who helped me find my own voice”

Greg Beaton is an award-winning artist specializing in voice over, television & film marketing, film production & music. For Bonding, Greg played steel string rhythm guitar and electric lead guitar, as well as arranged and co-composed the original song, Ascension with Rex & Teo. 

No stranger to originality, Greg recently released a single Living with your Ghost under the band name Robots Under the Sun from the upcoming album Quiescence. Greg handled all aspects of music and production with the exception of the drumming talents of Gene Coye, whose drum solo both captivates and immerses the listener into another dimension. Regarding the single, Greg says, "This one is for everyone who has lost someone...and wonders whether or not they are still connected to them."

Available via Source-Connect, ISDN, phone patch and in person, Greg has been working in voice over in Los Angeles since 2006, after cutting his teeth as a producer at creative agency Alkemi Entertainment and then editor at Sony Pictures Television. Currently the voice of FETV, truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, and Luna Park at Coney Island, Greg has also voiced hundreds of projects for Sony Pictures Television and can currently be heard on CBS.

In his creative editorial & technical capacities, his recent clients include HBO (I’ll Be Gone in the Dark podcast), Pop-Up Magazine, Google & Khoros. Most recently he co-produced a posthumous CD/DVD release at Manifesto Records for the estate of Allan Holdsworth, and continues to work on a documentary to help define his legacy.