Lifespan Video Portraits, Inc. is a collaboration between four individuals:
Gene Thomas, President, Producer and Director, is a pioneer in creating video portraits that allow families to capture and treasure their personal family legacies.
Gene has been an award-winning Broadcast and Corporate Producer and Director for more than 20 years. His work has been featured on Evening Magazine/CBS Channel 5, and in a feature written by Beth Ashley for the Marin Independent Journal. He is also the Video Producer and Director for the Marin History Museum and Producer for the California Oral History Project. He lives in Marin County, home of Lifespan’s headquarter offices. More.
Mathieu Isaacs, Chairman and CFO, has over 30 year’s International experience in General Management, Finance and Operations.
Mathieu was born in the UK and is currently a Director and Investor in companies that include the areas of; Fashion Accessories, Publishing and Art Licensing. He lives in San Francisco County.
Tim Scheele, Vice President of Marketing, has spent most of his career in the areas of social and self expression.
Tim worked for Hallmark Cards, Inc. where he helped introduce the Shoebox Greetings line. More recently he has worked on applying new technologies to the areas of; helping people express themselves, strengthen their relationships and keep in touch through EgreetingsNetwork, an online card company. He lives in Sonoma County.
Amy Strand, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, has spent the last 21 years working with families, individuals and businesses, both in the non-profit sector and in business and finance.
Amy served for 4 years as program director for Sonoma County’s non-profit California Parenting Institute. She then worked for 13 years as a Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank and most recently worked 4 years as a Sales Executive for First Data Merchant Services. Amy lives in Orange County, home of Lifespan’s Southern California office.
A Short, Select Bio of GENE THOMAS –Solimando:
Gene Thomas is a writer, producer, and director with extensive experience in film, video, broadcast television, and multi-media. He began his professional work as a program designer and writer for PBS.
Over the years, he has been script consultant for IN SEARCH OF HUMAN ORIGINS, a NOVA series for PBS with paleoanthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson.
He wrote, produced and directed the pilot for COMPUTER OUTLET, a series for CNBC television and ZDTV.
His corporate clients include VISA, Novell, Wells Fargo, Toshiba, the late-Pacific Bell, the Lutheran Church of America, and many others. For these clients he has created programs in the areas of Marketing Communications (both internal and external); Information; Motivation; Entertainment; and, Learning Development.
For Wells Fargo, in particular, he developed many video programs in a range of styles to train, inform, and inspire branch bank employees across the U.S. in the areas of: customer service; creative and authentic personal presentation; quick and accurate transitions both to new technologies and new corporate identities; and, an essential: fraud prevention techniques.
For VISA, he was particularly active in the creation of video and multi-media for national and international consumer market research.
As a creative partner in the virtual marketing group RAISE THE BAR, he has been an active collaborator, as writer and director, in the concept development, design, production and implementation of many complete marketing projects — including print, live events, video, and follow-up educational materials for Apple Computer, Novell, and other companies. More recently, he has begun to work in the area of Social Marketing, and his on-going work for Contra Costa Children’s Mental Health Department, has already yielded a national-award winning video program: System Of Care Makes Sense For California. (see awards following).
He was director and co-writer of the CD-ROM based live-action adventure video game CRITICAL PATH, which premiered at the DGA in Hollywood. The game was the winner of the InVision Award, and was featured in a Time Magazine cover story for it’s fine directing in what was, then, a new area of work.
THE LADY OR THE TIGER, a documentary by Tom Schlesinger which Gene co-produced and did on-location cinema-verite camerawork for, premiered in October, 1996 at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Among his specialties has always been directing and producing live, multi-camera television programs. He created and directed the international SATELLITE SEMINAR SERIES for the Forum in San Francisco in 1983, and since then has directed dozens of live, worldwide satellite broadcasts.
Gene’s clients have always relied upon his experience as a director of actors, and as a performance and presentation director and coach — to insure that everyone he directs, from corporate CEOs (with or without media experience), to people giving testimonials on the street — can make natural, graceful, and effective use of their on-camera opportunities. He was, for example, the personal director for Charles Schwab for a series of his national television commercials. His work covers a wide range of styles and subjects, and has included considerable original and classic drama for television. His experience as a director has also allowed him to be a particularly effective screenwriter or script collaborator, because he knows what works on camera.
He often functions as a Consulting Director and Teacher for solo performance artists, actors, singers, and poets to guide them in the development of their improvisational skills and performance techniques and to assist in the artistic development and shaping of their performances and shows.
In addition to his commercial production work, Mr. Thomas also offers a private service, LIFESPAN Video Portraits, for which he is commissioned to produce video interview portraits of family elders and documentaries of family events. In this capacity, he was recently named Video Producer for The Marin History Museum, and their Video Oral Tradition Project: "Voices For The Future."
He has won numerous national and international awards, including the CINE Golden Eagle and the ITVA Golden Reel of Excellence. He has a BA in English Literature from LaSalle College, and a Master of Fine Arts in Television and Film from Temple University.
For ten years he was a professional still photographer, including work with The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Walnut St. Theater, and U.P.I. His photographs have been published internationally. He is also an active poet. One of his poems was included in the recent book, BESIDE THE SLEEPING MAIDEN: POETS OF MARIN.
Currently, he is a member of the faculty of The American Conservatory Theater, in San Francisco, where he teaches Acting for the Camera in The Young Conservatory.
EDUCATION
Master of
Fine Arts, Television and Film, Temple University
BA, English Literature and Education, LaSalle University
20 years study in Modern Dance, Improvisational Dance, Pantomime
with: Group Motion Dance Company; Temple University Dance Department;
Footloose Dance Company; numerous private teachers. Student of Authentic
Movement with Janet Adler; currently working with Ron Campbell performance
group.
Poet:
Most recently published in the book:
BESIDE THE SLEEPING MAIDEN: Poets of Marin.
Teacher: Member of the Faculty, American Conservatory Theatre
CINE
Golden Eagle
ITVA Golden Reel of Excellence
International Film and TV Festival of New York
Award of Excellence
JOEY Award of Merit, Best Corporate Video Category
JVC Professional Video Award, First Prize
Silver Cindy Award
Echo Award
Federal Granting Agencies
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