The Sparkhouse Team

The Sparkhouse Team

The People That Make Things Possible

Torrey

Sruthi Alagappan

Sruthi is our top-notch Project Manager and Producer who realized her career in film as a child. She was glued to the TV growing up and transitioned that obsession into an internship with a production house that set the course of her life ever since. 

She’s been part of the Sparkhouse team for going on two years, after her family emigrated from India (and three email pleas begging to be part of the crew). When not making killer videos, Sruthi enjoys traveling to the island that has her heart, Hawaii, and offering temporary pet boarding services via Rover.

Accreditation/ Certifications

  • Sophia College for Women in Mumbai, India
  • Bachelor's degree in Mass Media and Advertising.
Hobbies Favorite Movies
  • Art and clay modeling
  • Paint by numbers
  • Hiking and exploring
  • The Prestige
  • The Lion King
  • The Invisible Guest

A Fun Fact

Her cherished snowglobe collection amassed since childhood has climbed into the triple digits.

Sruthi Alagappan

Keaton Applebaum

Keaton is our newest Sparkhouse team member, having joined our crew in July of 2022. He’s a talented writer, director, and LaLa Land native who has always loved watching movies from a myriad of genres.

He took it to the next level and started making his own short films with friends back in middle school and has been behind the camera ever since. When not giving direction on set, Keaton loves to travel to Belize, catch the latest Steelers game, and spend time with his four-legged friend, a cat named Tina.

Accreditation/ Certifications

  • Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. I graduated 2018 as a Film Major
Hobbies Favorite Movies
  • Hanging out with friends
  • Playing video games
  • Watching awesome movies
  • Inception
  • Forrest Gump
  • Whiplash

A Fun Fact

Keaton doesn’t just play videogames; he also creates them and has several self-published on Steam under Applebomb Games.

Keaton Applebaum

Paul Marin

Paul is our veteran Post-Production Supervisor originally from Chicago and, well, everywhere else. He’s a Sparkhouse OG who joined the crew back when we still called ourselves OC Creative Media over 10 years ago.

He’s been obsessed with anything and everything related to movies, film, and production from a young age. When not editing and perfecting video content, he’s catching the latest MMA fight, restoring vintage boomboxes, or enjoying his next cinematic flick.

Accreditation/ Certifications

  • 10+ years in filmmaking 
    Consummate artist.

Hobbies Favorite Movies
  • All things film and movies
  • Vintage boombox restoration (15+)
  • Cassette tape collecting (500+)

Narrowed down from over 1,500 films according to his Letterboxd account…

  • Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
  • Last Night in Soho
  • Hereditary

A Fun Fact

Paul once toured the country for a month in a box-truck-turned mobile-pop-art gallery with FIND Magazine. Inside, they filmed videos and rolled up at art galleries across America, funded exclusively by magazine donations.

Paul Marin

Austin Berndt

Austin is our Editor extraordinaire who has been with the Sparkhouse team since 2020. He’s originally from our great state of California and is no stranger to the film industry. With a sister who had a passion for acting, filmmaking was standard fare all throughout Austin’s childhood.

From a playtime hobby with the toy camera he got for Christmas as a child to taking over the family camcorder at 7, Austin has been creating, filming, and editing most of his life. When not editing, he’s enjoying the company of his fearsome Belgian Malinois, Captain Cuddles, or catching the latest blockbuster.

Accreditation/ Certifications

  • AA in Arts & Humanities + AS-T in Film

  • Bachelor's of Film & Electronic Arts Degree from

  • Cal State University Long Beach

Hobbies Favorite Movies
  • Competitive curling (Yes, the winter sport)
  • Traveling for and watching competitive curling
  • Did we mention curling?
  • The last movie he watched (recency bias, much?)
  • Breaking Bad (not a movie)

A Fun Fact

He started at Sparkhouse as a Grip/Gaffer back in the day and promoted his way to a full-time editor.

Austin Berndt

Maximilien Chaix

Maximilien has been on the Sparkhouse team since 2021 and serves as our Account Manager. He hails from Les Ulis, France, a small city on the fringe of the city of love, Paris.

He has always been interested in editing, VFX, and 3D work and was enthused to finally see those elements at work every day in the film industry. When not managing accounts, our Frenchman spends time with his French Bulldog, Lucy, and catching the latest Paris (PSG) football/soccer game.

Accreditation/ Certifications

  • Bachelor's and master's degrees in Marketing.

Hobbies Favorite Movies
  • Gaming
  • Golfing
  • Temporarily trying and abandoning new hobbies
  • Interstellar
  • Fightclub
  • All of the MCU
  • The Dark Knight trilogy

A Fun Fact

Maximilien can fly a paraglider but doesn’t particularly enjoy it (we still have yet to actually see it).

Maximilien Chaix

Our Crew

Micah Goldfarb

Micah Goldfarb

DP/Gaff
Connor Hair

Connor Hair

DP
Bruno Solis

Bruno Solis

DP
Dane Liberatore

Dane Liberatore

Director
Alex Meader

Alex Meader

Director
Aiko Lozar

Aiko Lozar

Director
Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson

Director
Nolan Rugg

Nolan Rugg

Director
Danny Tayenaka

Danny Tayenaka

Photographer
Ryan_Jabola

Ryan Jabola

Grip/Gaffer
Lucas

Lucas Vilicich

Grip/Gaffer
Colin

Colin Russell

Audio/Sound
Ethan Lee

Ethan Lee

Audio/Sound
Javier

Javier Salamanca

Audio/Sound
Tori

Victoria McJunkin

Audio/Sound
Rose Krol

Rose Krol

PD
Kelby Knapp

Kelby Knapp

PD
Aman Suri

Aman Suri

Director/AD
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