the team ...

Steven Talley - Photographer

Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Steven attended Arizona State University. After spending time in the College of Architecture, he transferred to the Business College to study Advertising. He discovered photography while trying to photograph a beautiful girl.....hooked for life!

After college, Steven began assisting various fashion and advertising photographers. He gained valuable experience in all camera formats while working at one of Chicago's largest catalog studios. Steven spent three years traveling to Milan, Italy to refine his work.

Steven maintains a daylight studio in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. He has worked for the past twenty years producing images for a wide range of clients, including, Lands' End, State Farm Insurance, and American Girl to name a few. His assignments have taken him on location to England, Ireland, Scotland and Mexico. He loves working with children and adults alike.

Kristopher Rey-Talley

Born and raised in Chicago, Kristopher's obsession with filmmaking began with wondering how films like Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark were made. Following a lifelong dream, he attended and graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU with a degree in film and television. Shortly thereafter, he began his own production company, Jackpot In The West Productions, which he runs with lifelong friend and work partner Sam Wootton. With a focus on cinematography and directing, the two do work on everything from webseries, commercials and music videos. Clients include L'Oreal, Cricket Wireless, and EMI Records. Kristopher is a collector of old cameras and has a profound love for all things automotive.

Learn more at jackpotinthewest.com

Alex Camilleri

Born and raised in Rochester, MN, Alex Camilleri is a film director/editor based in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Vassar College where he directed a short documentary, "Still Here" (2010), which has won accolades at festivals around the world, including the Cannes Film Festival and AFI/Discovery Channel SilverDocs.

More recently he has worked as a freelance editor with Jackpot in the West Productions, cutting documentary shorts, advertisements, and music videos for such clients as Michael Kors, Cricket Wireless, and the New York City Ballet. Alex also works as an assistant to acclaimed independent film director Ramin Bahrani, and worked closely with Bahrani on his latest film "At Any Price" (2013, Sony Pictures Classics).

Sam Wootton

Sam hails from the suburbs of Chicago. Following an education in film production at Vassar College in New York, he moved to New York City to work as a cinematographer. Sam cut his teeth working as a camera assistant on television series such as HBO's "Girls" and NBC's "30 Rock." He has shot advertisements, music videos, fashion events, and documentary shorts across the country. He specializes in both film and HD formats, working frequently in collaboration with the Jackpot in the West production company.

Learn more at www.sam-wootton.com

Ryan Dickie

Born in Dallas, Texas. Educated at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Film and Video. Ryan loves movies, he wanted to edit for a living but fell in love with cameras and soon after he found himself drooling over technical specs, examining prisms and staring directly into power sources of light. He now works as a freelance Cinematographer and Director (+ Editor).

After graduation in 2006, Ryan worked for Gulfstream Aerospace and flew all over the country in a tiny jet, shooting and cutting what seemed like a billion and a half promo spots and event videos that have been screened globally. He felt it was a dead end and moved to New York.

Ryan lives in Brooklyn and loves it. He aspires to direct his focus towards feature films, but is currently engaged in all types of production. Gaining experience through shooting commercials, music videos, still portraiture, commissioned video art and award winning short films, he has had the extreme pleasure of working with talented and creative people through his forever expanding network of collaborators and clients. Ryan uses these resources to facilitate his own personal projects, which he cares very deeply about. He shares equipment and studio space in Williamsburg and only wants to do great things.

Ryan has a cactus, plays drums and shoots on any camera he can find. He has many visions that he wants to bring to life and is thinking very diligently about how to do it all. He feels there is great hope for the future and that everyone should chill out. Just kidding, everything's mega serious (but not really).