Patrick Meaney

One of the founders of Respect! Films and the maintainer of this site. Here's me shooting Ricky Frost. I worked as a writer/co-director on Tabula Rasa in 2004 before beginning what is now considered the first Respect! Films Project, Ricky Frost. This was a collaboration with Jordan Rennert, and we also collaborated on the film Extracurricular Activities. From there, I went on to do a few films on my own, including Do Unto Others and Key 23. Then, in winter 2005, Jordan and I shot The Perfect Dose.

In 2006, we finished The Perfect Dose, then I shot two music video, Champagne Saturday and Yer Warpin' Me. I went on to write/direct the short film All Good Things. Concurrently, I worked as an editor on the feature film, Spy.

In early 2007, Jordan and I co-wrote/co-directed Dream of Life. I also shot and edited a video for the band North (now known as Bella Noir) , which was projected during their show at the Knitting Factor. In May, I completed editing on a film I had written/directed, Universal Traveler. It screened at Wesleyan University, and was given honors by the film department there.

I didn't complete any other projects in 2007. However, in July, Jordan, Steve Deluca and I started to talk about a new project, which would eventually become The Third Age, an ongoing webseries project. We started shooting in November, and progress continues. The first episode will debut in March 2008.

Jordan Rennert

Here's Jordan in his role as Mr. Deville in Extracurricular Activities. Jordan is the other co-founder of Respect! Films and we've been working together on film projects for over ten years. In 2002, we adapted his short story Turning a Prophet into a short film. Our first major project was 2004's Tabula Rasa, then Ricky Frost. On Ricky Frost, Jordan pulled the trifecta, working as writer, director and actor on the project.

In the spring of 2005, he shot the noir short The Badge, based off an original short story. Later that year, he worked on Extracurricular Activities and The Perfect Dose. In the summer of 2006, he worked as a production assistant on the film Shanghai Hotel, and also DPed and acted in All Good Things, starring as David. Cocurrently, we co-directed 'Yer Warpin' Me, a video for Nepo.

In Winter 2007, we co-wrote/co-directed Dream of Life, another abstract poem on film type movie. Later in the year, Jordan DPed and Edited Dirty Pool, a gritty noir short film. Later that year, we started work on The Third Age, which Jordan is co-writing/co-directing with me.

Lauren Katz

Lauren has worked on three different Respect Films! projects, the most of any actress. Lauren used to tear it up on stage in our high school's musicals, but I think her best work is in film. We were originally hoping to work with her on a project we were developing in high school called The REEF Musical. Despite much discussion, this project never came to fruition. However, she did do a small part in Tabula Rasa, as an evil teacher. Next up, she starred in Ricky Frost as the tormented, suicidal Monica.

She reprised that role in All Good Things, meshing perfectly with Alicia Fuss's Alex. She abandoned the cynical, troubled females for an action hero role in Dream of Life, another really intense performance. Lauren's best asset as an actress is her ability to improvise and make a character her own while still staying true to the spirit of the script.

Alicia Fuss

There's Alicia being stabbed in Key 23. When we were casting for Do Unto Others, we went to the dining hall at Wesleyan and asked if anyone wanted to be in a film. Four people came up and two of them showed up the next day. One of them was Alicia. She showed up the next day and wound up getting murdered, covered in chocolate syrup and then killing someone. It was a weird shoot, and anyone who made it through that earned my respect. I later cast her in Key 23, another black and white short film with violence.

Later that year, Alicia took the lead role in All Good Things. She played a troubled girl, and absolutely nailed the role. We shifted back to the sci-fi genre for Universal Traveler, where she once again anchored the film with an amazing performance.

David Haug

David first worked with Respect! Films on the LMC-TV Summer Workshop film A Cold Summer in the summer of 2004, a summer that was indeed cold. He then went on to DP Yer Warpin' Me and serve as Creative Consultant/Assistant Director on Dream of Life. He also succeeded me as editor on Spy. Haug also did some lighting work on The Third Age. Much Respect to him.

Scott Tyler

I met Scott on the auditions for The Perfect Dose. I read the role, we were talking things over and he mentioned the insanity of the David Bowie sequence in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. He'd already nailed the audition, but this secured the casting. He did some great improv work in that film and pulled off the difficult task of seamlessly moving from comedy to drama. He's returning for his second Respect! Film with a role in The Third Age

Dan Gilkes

Dan has acted in three of our films, and been part of the crew on two. He brought some heavy creepiness to Extracurricular Activities and The Perfect Dose. However, his finest acting moment so far has been in Out of this World, where his tearful performance as a grieving father perfectly navigates the line between hilarity and deep, deep sadness.