MEET THE FILMMAKERS
Denny Tedesco grew up in Los Angeles. He started as a set decorator on feature films such as "Eating Raoul" and then went on to working on films, commercials and music videos during the MTV Years as a grip.
In 1984-1990, Denny began to travel the world as a lighting technician and location producer for IMAX films. From the shark-infested waters of Australia to the plains of Africa, he has filmed under the most challenging conditions. He was sent as a location producer to cover the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo as well as the catastrophic earthquake of Kobe, Japan.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Denny worked as a freelance producer and director and conducted interviews for A&E, TV-Land, and was a producer on Comedy Central's Pulp Comics. Most notably in 2000, he produced the Academy Awards "opening" staring Billy Crystal and also the award-winning music video for Elton John's song, "I Want Love" starring Robert Downey Jr.
In 1996, Denny set out on the labor of love of all loves. His father, famed session guitarist Tommy Tedesco, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. With a year left in his father's life, Denny quickly started filming his father and his co-horts and other musicians fondly known as the Wrecking Crew.
The making of the film became a story in itself. Featured on Entertainment Tonight, Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, NPR, CBS Morning News, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and other media outlets around the world. Tedesco toiled for years raising enough money to finally pay off the 110 songs that needed to tell the story. His unique marketing ideas brought the movie to the success it achieved.
His latest producing job is currently on the 2nd season of a comedy series, Hanging With Doctor Z, featuring comedian Dana Gould who plays Dr. Z, (character from Planet of the Apes) Dr. Z interviews other comedians; Dave Foley, Bobcat Goldthwait, Patton Oswalt, Steven Webber, Will Forte, Penn Jillett, Maria Bamford, Al Yankovic, Paget Brewster, Jeff Garlin ,Hank Azaria and more.
Denny has just finished his next documentary which follows the Wrecking Crew called Immediate Family. When the Wrecking Crew slowed down in the early 70s the studio scene changed and the era of the Singer-Songwriters took over, a new group of guys came in. The film features, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel and Danny Kortchmar. For his latest project, he interviewed Carole King, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Don Henley, David Crosby, Keith Richards, Phil Collins, Lyle Lovett, Stevie Nicks, and many more. It can be currently seen in Film Festival, with a planned release in 2023.
He is now in Pre-Production of his next documentary, "The Salad Oil Swindle", one of the greatest financial crises in American History. It stars Ron Insana, Warren Buffett and other financial legends of Wall Street. (Believe it or not, there is some humor in it)
Grammy Award winner Greg Richling is a film, television, and music producer, as well as co-founder of production company, Pfonetic.
Prior to his current roles, Greg spent 20 years as a member of The Wallflowers, founded the music discovery platform Unkovr, and was Head of Music at BitTorrent Now.
He graduated from the College of Communication at Boston University with a B.S. in Film and Broadcasting.
Jack Piatt is the Founder of Highway West Entertainment. He is a filmmaker, writer, songwriter and producer who has worked on dozens of productions, from major feature films (Gone Girl, Hail, Caesar!, Get Hard) to independent films, television series, commercials, music videos and assorted content for The Grammys, Epic Records, Quincy Jones Films and Fender. He is currently directing/producing a feature length music documentary in partnership with Warner Music Group, slated for a fall 2022 release, as well as producing the follow up to the critically acclaimed "Wrecking Crew" documentary with Denny Tedesco in partnership with Submarine Entertainment. Highway West has several projects in various states of development/production going into 2022.
Piatt helped build Jammcard, Inc. coined by Forbes as a "musicians LinkedIn." He currently serves as the Head of Jammcard Films.
Piatt has produced media content and live events with Quincy Jones, Robin Thicke, Ice Cube, Chika, Judith Hill, Lauren Jauregui, George Clinton, Jacob Collier, Anderson .Paak and many others.
Piatt executively managed a highly acclaimed music club in Hollywood that featured acts such as Lady Gaga, M.I.A., Christina Perri, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, Steve Aoki, DJ AM, Skrillex and countless other renowned artists.
He grew up outside Dayton, Ohio and became a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division before attending undergraduate and graduate studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for Journalism and Media Management. He spent time as a journalist, photographer and editor before embarking on a career in advertising at the Denver Post, but left to pursue his passion for writing and filmmaking.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Piatt has long demonstrated his passion for global issues, working with Participant Media as a field producer on the Save My Oceans Tour and various other projects and campaigns such as the Palau Project, Imagining Geographies, Meals on Wheels, and Manifest Equality. His most recent project is developing music programs for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. He is currently on the advisory board for Songs for Good, as well as on the Board of Directors for Give a Beat and WisdoMania Foundation.
Piatt released his new poetry book, Poems From My Phone in early 2020 and is set to Executive Produce his first album later this year. He remains committed to raising awareness for important causes and creating impactful content that empowers viewers and shifts global consciousness.
Jonathan Sheldon is a film producer and post-production expert. He's the co-founder of the production company, Pfonetic.
Starting in music, Sheldon was signed to MCA records where he recorded and wrote songs for a decade. He then ventured into film working for filmmakers Mark and Michael Polish producing independent features and co-authoring a book on filmmaking called "The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking" (Harcourt/Brace). Along with producing, Jonathan co-owns and manages Buffalo 8 Post, a busy post production house in Hollywood, California.