Executive Producer/Director
J.R. Biersmith

J.R. advises and produces content for a wide variety of clients: from wall street to main street, non-profits to national publications, notable personalities to family stories. Men In The Arena is his first feature length documentary film.

J.R. has a M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Miami and a B.A. in International Business from Bradley University. He began his journalism career at The Miami Herald.

Executive Producer/Editor
Brian Bellinkoff

Brian Bellinkoff is the EVP of production at Media Meld Studios, a non-scripted development, production, and management company based in NY and LA. His love for documentary film-making started at the University of Miami where he met J.R. Brian has helped produce two previous feature documentaries, one narrative horror feature, and is currently an executive-producer on the reality show "LogHeads" airing on Great American Country and DIY networks.

Composer
Gary Lionelli

Gary Lionelli won Emmy awards for his scores to "The Ghosts of Flatbush" and "Ted Williams," both for HBO. Recent work includes director Rory Kennedy's 2015 Academy Award nominated film, "Last Days in Vietnam," and HBO's "LUCK," helmed by Michael Mann and David Milch and starring Dustin Hoffman. Other highlights from Lionelli's past work include the films "Pandora's Promise," "The Medallion," "Least Among Saints," Billy the Kid,"and "Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst."

Cinematographer
Andrew "Dru" Mungai

Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, Dru splits his time between Nairobi and Los Angeles shooting commercials, television and features (narrative and documentary). Dru spent the first 10 years of his career working as a news and documentary cameraman, producer and editor in more than 20 countries across Africa for Reuters TV, the BBC, Aljazeera , CNN, ABC News, Discovery Channel, and other international media outlets. Andrew "Dru" Mungai is a graduate of the American Film Institute (AFI).

Cinematographer, Motion Graphics
Shane Kinsler

Shane Kinsler is based in Miami, Florida and began his career as a production assistant on such films as Any Given Sunday and 2 Fast 2 Furious before starting his own company. His short film, Language of Love, won “Best Romantic Comedy” at CinemaSlam at the 2012 MIFF. Shane is pursuing his masters in film from the University of Miami.

Colorist
Arnold Ramm

Arnold has over 25 years of color grading experience in almost every genre including commercials, action sports, music videos and features. Arnold has been credited with working on many of the most famous music videos and commercials of all time such as: Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain', Michael Madonna’s 'Bedtime Story', Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 'Baby Got Back', Budweiser's 'Budweiser Frogs', and The Dave Matthews Band’s 'Don’t Drink The Water'.

Motion Graphic Designer
Martin Nabelek

Martin Nabelek is based in the Czech Republic and specializes in art direction, digital art and graphic design. He is the founder of the graphic design agency, The Noir.

Associate Producer & Translation
Liban Liban

Liban was born in Mogadishu and moved to the U.S. in 2010 from Nairobi, Kenya. He works full-time while pursuing his bachelors degree in computer technology. Liban's assisted with every facet of translation since December 2013.

Translation
Bisharo "Honey" Mahamud

Bisharo was born in Mogadishu and moved to the U.S. with her family in 1995. She works two part-time jobs in Minneapolis, MN while she finishes her bachelors degree in public health. Bisharo assisted with translation on countless hours of footage.