Andrei Booriakin is a documentary filmmaker in San Diego.  He attended the University of Southern California and Platt College.  After nearly two decades as the Senior Art Director for numerous Sony Playstation video game franchises, he formed AB Squared Creative Group with his colleague Andrew Bracken.  In addition to doing creative work for local businesses, he spends his free time making independent films. His films have been selected for the San Diego Latino Film Festival, America's Finest Film Fest, San Diego Film Week, and he also won a 2017 San Diego Film Award.  His current project "Modern in our Midst" is entirely self-funded.

Andrew Bracken is an award-winning digital media artist and producer with over 15 years experience creating media content. Before working in the video game industry, Andrew worked as a sound editor/sound designer for television and film, working with directors such as Sidney Lumet and Errol Morris. He has been recording audio in the field and working in audio post-production for over 15 years on films, television shows, music, and video games.  His video game credits include MLB The Show, ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Pinball Heroes, and Kill Strain.  He was chosen as a fellow of the San Diego Foundation’s Creative Catalyst Fellowship for 2013-14 and was selected to Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlinale Film Festival.

Steve Edmund has captured the energy and spirit of live shows from bands and other various performers for almost a decade. His photo shoots and concert photos have appeared in various publications including band tour promotions and the cover of the San Diego Reader. His passion for capturing imagery that evokes emotion is what drives his love for photography and cinematography.

Chad Kelco is an American photographer whose interests and talents span multiple art disciplines. He is a classically trained Graphic Designer but has found success working as an Illustrator, Designer, Game Developer and Tattooer. The Modern in our Midst project has given Chad the opportunity to study first-hand the minimalist beauty and functional aesthetic of mid-century architecture, along with the opportunity to meet other individuals who cherish this profound era in design. “What is apparent about the structures we are documenting is the freedom from form and tradition. Due largely to the design philosophies of the time, as well as the advancement of new building materials, the traditional housing unit was transformed to functioning art. It is my attempt to capture this expression of form that exists regardless of the constraints in which the languid sprawl of urban development has confined it.”

A native San Diegan, for two decades Keith York has published regularly on the region’s post-World War II modernist architecture, art, design and craft. Through his site, modernsandiego.com, he has become synonymous with the topic. Mr. York has received accolades from San Diego City officials, preservationists, architects, journalists, students and scholars alike for his restoration of Craig Ellwood’s only design in the County – the Bobertz House (1953-55). While with KPBS, Mr. York produced documentaries and feature reports on architects Irving Gill, Richard Requa and artist-craftsman James Hubbell as well as surveys of architecture in Balboa Park and throughout the San Diego-Tijuana region. His exhaustive documentation of San Diego’s modernist heritage online has extended to producing tours, lectures and forums on the topic. His most recent venture, Modern San Diego Real Estate, informs real estate buyers, sellers and agents alike of San Diego’s rich architectural inventory. Mr. York has recently served as a board member of the San Diego Architectural Foundation, Chair of the San Diego Museum of Art’s ‘The Gallery’, and Chair of the La Jolla Historical Society’s Modern La Jolla Committee. His most recent curatorial work, an exhibition for the La Jolla Historical Society The Taliesin Architects of San Diego: The Legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, brought the largest audience in history to the downtown La Jolla gallery. Mr. York is currently writing a biography of Wright apprentice, San Diego architect Sim Bruce Richards (1908-1983) titled The Sensuous Environment, authoring two chapters on Craig Ellwood’s furniture designs for a forthcoming Rizzoli book, Craig Ellwood: Self Made Modern, and preparing an exhibition on the work of architectural photographer Julius Shulman in San Diego.

Carmen Pauli is an architect who has been specializing in the field of historic preservation for 20 years. As a principal and part owner of the San Diego based architecture firm, Heritage Architecture & Planning, Carmen has been involved in numerous preservation projects on many of San Diego’s most recognized historical resources. Recent projects include the award-wining rehabilitation of the 130-room Hotel Sandford for the San Diego Housing Commission and the exterior restoration of SDG&E’s Station F on El Cajon Boulevard. Though enthusiastic about all architectural styles, Carmen has a special appreciation for San Diego’s unique inventory of Modern architecture.  Restoration and rehabilitation projects include projects designed by noted mid-century architects Lloyd Ruocco, Homer Delawie, Dale Naegle, Bill Krisel, John Mock, and Richard Neutra.

Todd Pitman ASLA is a landscape architect and planner who has been active in the field of historic preservation for the past 20 years. Todd has served as a design and restoration consultant on historically significant properties throughout Southern California, at times teaming with his wife, architect Carmen Pauli on restoration and rehabilitation projects. In addition to this this work Todd has been recognized for his extensive research on mid-century modern landscape design and architecture and specifically on the career of early San Diego modernist architect Lloyd Ruocco.  He has been a featured speaker and writer for Save Our Heritage Organization, the San Diego Architectural Foundation, the San Diego History Center and many others.  In 2008 his research efforts led to his receipt of the Lloyd Ruocco Award presented by Citizens Coordinate for Century 3.  In 2016 he was appointed to the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board and also serves as Chair of that Board’s Design Assistance Subcommittee.

The filmmakers and advisers of this film have all volunteered their time and equipment to preserve and highlight this important part of San Diego's post-war modernist heritage.  There are other expenses involved in filmmaking such as licensing the rights to images and music.  Your support goes a long way in helping make this documentary that much better and hopefully it will inspire others to restore and preserve these treasures.  Whether it's licensing rights managed media, or simply buying the crew a round after a long day's shoot, your support is greatly appreciated.

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