Peter Hanson is the author of two acclaimed books about cinema, and the director of several films including a feature-length documentary broadcast on a PBS affiliate. In addition to coauthoring the “Tales from the Script” book, he is the director of the “Tales from the Script” documentary.

Michigan native Hanson studied film and screenwriting at New York University, where his instructors included celebrated documentarian Christine Choy, an Oscar nominee for “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” He also studied journalism at the University at Albany.

After college, Hanson spent ten years working as a reporter-editor for various publications in upstate New York, interviewing such notables as Neil Gaiman, Jewel, Robert Redford, and John Sayles.

Hanson’s first book, "Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel,” explored the controversial title subject’s screenwriting oeuvre ("Exodus," "Gun Crazy," "Roman Holiday," "Spartacus,” etc.) Originally published in 2001, the book was a finalist for the National Theatre Library Association Award, and was reissued in paperback in 2007. The book led to Hanson’s inclusion in the documentary feature "Trumbo," alongside stars including Joan Allen, Michael Douglas, Nathan Lane, and Donald Sutherland.

Hanson's follow-up book, "The Cinema of Generation X,” explored the work of Sofia Coppola, David Fincher, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, and many others through the prism of generational identity. “The Cinema of Generation X” was published to favorable reviews in 2002.

After writing, directing, and producing a number of amateur short films, Hanson made the feature-length documentary "Every Pixel Tells a Story: How One Community Joined the Digital Filmmaking Revolution." The feature version screened at regional festivals in 2002, and an hour-long version appeared on PBS affiliate WMHT in 2003. The film is now available on DVD.

In 2003, Hanson relocated to Los Angeles, where he has undertaken numerous freelance screenwriting jobs and worked at Cartoon Network, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Studios. His recent accomplishments include associate producing the Saturn Awards from 2003 to 2008; cowriting the dramatic feature “The Last Round” in 2005; writing the novella “The Mourning Queen” in 2006; writing and directing the comedy-drama short “Stagehand” in 2007; and writing and line-producing a series of irreverent promotional videos for Mini Movie Channel in 2008.

In addition to completing “Tales from the Script,” Hanson is researching his next nonfiction book and preparing his next short as a writer-director.

Paul Robert Herman has been writing fiction and poetry since childhood. His first recognition came in high school when he had two poems nationally published while working as co-editor for the school's literary journal.

Herman graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Creative Writing. He continued his education at the University of Colorado in Boulder, receiving his teaching credentials in English Education (specializing in creative writing and cinematography).

During his high school and college years, Paul trained to become a black belt in Kung Fu. He taught martial arts classes on the side to supplement his income. He also competed nationally and internationally, winning countless gold medals.

Pursuing a career in the entertainment industry had always been a dream. So he finally decided to take the leap, leave teaching, and move to Hollywood, hoping to translate his mastery of martial arts into acting jobs that could segue into a screenwriting career. He quickly learned on set, however, that what you see on the screen isn't true martial arts. Disillusioned with the stunt world, he returned his focus to writing, as well as directing, producing, and acting in shorts and independent films.

Herman went on to co-found the famous Creative Actors Alliance, a network of acting talent and film production. At the same time, he landed a job as an assistant producer at a boutique production company in Malibu. The company had such high profile clients as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Weider, and Jet Li. That's also where he developed skills in marketing, graphic design, and web development.

When that entertainment firm eventually folded, Herman redirected his talents into his own multimedia company. Able to support himself on a flexible schedule, he went back to school again. This time, he graduated from UCLA's Professional Screenwriting Program. He has continued writing, accumulating a sizable stack of scripts, and generating the concept for this project.

Since the book was published and the DVD was distributed, Herman has gone on to executive produce the documentary "Unforgettable" about the man with total recall, dubbed "The Human Google" by Good Morning America. Herman also wrote, directed and produced a short film called "Stuck" about a man with the ability to stop time. He then script edited and co-produced a short film called "Do Not Disturb" written and directed by a rising British talent. Herman is currently hard at work on his next book and film project.

Paul Robert Herman is founder and president of the multimedia company Jade Tiger Productions.

J.D. Funari - Editor

Born and raised in upstate New York, J.D. Funari got his start at the peak of the digital filmmaking revolution. During the summer of 2000, armed with a mini-DV camcorder and a primitive PC editor, he made his first movie, the dark dramatic short “Seven O’Clock.” The following year he directed, shot, and edited “Evening Message.” Released in March 2002, the digital short was met by enthusiastic receptions at numerous New York screenings and hailed by FilmThreat.com as “required viewing for any grass-roots filmmaker.” Funari’s focus shifted in 2003 to developing Quick Reviews Online (QRmovie.com), an archive of his capsule movie reviews. The website rapidly grew in popularity, earning citations on Microsoft.com for excellence in web design and Yahoo.com for being one of the Internet’s most visited sites. In March 2004, Funari relocated to Los Angeles to further his career, where he has worked primarily as an editor and producer on projects for a number of major networks and studios, including interviewing such actors as Charlize Theron, Keira Knightly, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In 2008, the trailer he cut for Mike Leigh’s feature “Happy-Go-Lucky” was nominated for a Golden Trailer Award. “Tales from the Script” is his first feature. Funari’s website is JDFunari.com.

Tim Merrill - Archival Supervisor

While a film student at New York University, Tim Merrill was personally hired by Kevin Costner to shoot behind-the-scenes footage of Costner’s Oscar-winning directorial debut, “Dances With Wolves.” The two had met years earlier in Merrill’s hometown of Washington, D.C., where Costner made the thriller “No Way Out.” After graduating NYU and relocating to Los Angeles, Merrill began his career as a journalist and screenwriter. He has been a writer/editor for the magazines “Fade In:” and “Film Threat,” and a writer for KISS frontman Gene Simmons’ magazine “Tongue.” As a journalist, he interviewed such screenwriters and directors as Peter Fonda, William Peter Blatty, Amy Heckerling, Walon Green, and Joseph Stefano, and reported on events including South by Southwest and the Sundance Film Festival. As a screenwriter, he has written screenplays and music-video treatments for directors Mark L. Lester and Dean Karr, and producers Michael Cain and Hamish McAlpine. The live action/animated video for John Lennon's collaboration with Cheap Trick, “I’m Losing You,” was based on Merrill’s treatment. Now an editor at Getty Images and WireImage, Merrill conducted months of research on film clips and images for “Tales from the Script.”

T.J. Raider - Composer

A lifelong musician, Tom “T.J.” Raider was born in Illinois and raised in New Jersey before settling in upstate New York. Fronting bands for many years as a singer and guitarist, he expanded into keyboards as his performing and composing career expanded. After achieving regional notoriety with ensembles including Tom Raider & Group and Mercy Twin, Raider built the successful mail-order business Junky Vinyl, which earned a worldwide clientele by trading in vintage records. In the ’90s, Raider began to capitalize on his resemblance to the late Beatle John Lennon by forming and fronting the Brits, a tribute band playing the Fab Four’s early music. This led to new opportunities for Raider, who played Lennon in the indie drama “The Killing of John Lennon” (2008) and has performed with national acts including Beatles Revolution, FabForever, and Yesterday: A Tribute to the Beatles. He now plays solo and with accompanists as Imagining Lennon, a comprehensive salute to the musician’s legendary songbook. “Tales from the Script” is Raider’s third project for director Peter Hanson; Raider also did the music for the documentary feature “Every Pixel Tells a Story” (2002) and the narrative short “Stagehand” (2007). His website is ImaginingLennon.com.