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DAVID KEANE
David Keane founded Wild Eyes Productions in 2000 after 12 years in motion pictures, television and documentaries. He’s gained a steady reputation as a versatile storytelling Writer /Director, and a Producer of the difficult to near impossible.
His films have taken him around the World numerous times via every manner of plane, train, helicopter, tank, motorcycle, boat and beast. He's raided drug cartels by chopper over Brazil, trekked on camels with Bedouins in Israel, explored emerald mines with shepherds in the Hindu Kush, and faced terrorists with the bomb squad in Northern Ireland. He's been interrogated by the KGB, dined with communist rebels, ridden in the Clinton motorcade—even danced the Tango in Argentina.
Keane’s productions have led to some tight situations: He's been strong-armed by rebels in Papua New Guinea, bombed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and trapped in a gun battle in South Africa—not to mention the time he was held at gun-point by his own driver in the Philippines. The hardships of illegal border crossings, sickness, seized cameras and guns tensed in anger have paid off in several documentary breakthroughs: Keane was one of the first Westerners to film a criminal proceeding in China—from investigation, to arrest, to interrogation and incarceration. He's captured the suicide train rides of Rio's "surfistas." Recently he's interviewed warlords in Somalia, questioned friends and relatives of Bin Laden in Saudi Arabia, and traveled through the rebel-infested jungles of Colombia to interview Carlos Castano, the elusive leader of the right wing paramilitary death squads.
Keane has sat down with a number of World leaders such as Condoleezza Rice, Hamid Karzai, and Pervez Musharaf. He’s also chatted-up a variety of warlords, drug kingpins, and wanted, international terrorists. In fact, a good many of Keane’s interview subjects are now dead.
Keane has numerous Writing and Directing credits from nearly every nonfiction cable network. He’s also written and created dramatic television series’ and feature scripts based both on his non-fiction experience and original concepts. His screenwriting has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a finalist for the Nichols Prize.
Keane graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Political Science. He lives not far from his office in Hermosa Beach, California with his wife Arcadia and his sons Christian and Cooper.
MARK BOWDEN
Mark Bowden is an author, journalist, screenwriter, and teacher. His book, Black Hawk Down; A Story of Modern War, (The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999) is an international bestseller and was a finalist for the National Book Award. A story of the bloody 1993 battle American soldiers fought in Mogadishu, Somalia, it inspired the acclaimed feature film by director Ridley Scott.
Bowden is also the author of the international bestseller, Killing Pablo; The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw, (The Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001), which tells the story of the hunt for Colombian cocaine billionaire Pablo Escobar. Killing Pablo won the Overseas Press Club’s Cornelius Ryan Award as the best book of 2001, and is currently being adapted for a film.
Other Bowden books include The Best Game Ever (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008), Guests of the Ayatollah (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006) Doctor Dealer, (Warner Books, 1987), Bringing the Heat (Knopf, 1994), Our Finest Day, (Chronicle, 2002) and Finders Keepers (The Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002). All eight volumes are currently in print.
Bowden also has a thriving career writing for Hollywood and major magazines. He has penned screenplays for heavyweight producers Brian Grazer and Jerry Bruckheimer, and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker. Bowden writes a weekly column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was a staff writer for 22 years.
Bowden is also an adjunct professor at Loyola College of Maryland, where he teaches creative writing and journalism. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1951, and grew up in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Port Washington, N.Y. and Timonium, Md. He graduated from Loyola College of Maryland in 1973 with a B.A. in English Literature and began his journalism career with the now-defunct Baltimore News-American.
ARCADIA BERJONNEAU
As Vice President of Operations, Arcadia Berjonneau is responsible for overseeing all daily business and operational aspects of Wild Eyes Productions. Since joining Wild Eyes, Arcadia has been instrumental in the growth of the company from a fledgling start-up to one of the most accomplished and respected documentary houses in the World.
She brings solid credentials to the job, as well as impressive documentary lineage; her father worked for the late Jacques Cousteau. Arcadia comes to Wild Eyes from Circle Associates where she was a mainstay in the film markets of Los Angeles, Cannes & Milan. She has extensive experience in Production Coordination and Project Management.
She's put crews into Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Liberia, and Yemen, just to name a few, and acquired numerous exclusive interviews, from relatives of Osama Bin Laden, to tribal chiefs in Yemen, to Hezbollah agents in Iran.
Raised in Minsk, Lagos and Paris, Arcadia moved to America at the age of 11. Fluent in French and Spanish, she graduated Cum Laude from UCLA with a degree in Political Science with a concentration on International Political Economy.
A former professional beach volleyball player, Arcadia lives in Hermosa Beach with her fabulous husband David, her beautiful sons, Christian and Cooper, and her (usually) well-behaved dogs Zeebo and Kaya.
STUART SWEZEY
Stuart brings to his position as Vice President of Development at Wild Eyes a wide range of experience both in television programming and as an independent book publisher, bookstore owner, filmmaker, and event organizer.
Stuart began his creative career with underground music events in the desert and at sea that featured music groups such as the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, and Meat Puppets among others that became the inspiration for Lollapalooza. Soon after, he was a founder of Amok Books, the influential extreme information sourcebook, cult L.A. bookstore and publishing house profiled in Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and other publications.
In 1999, Stuart produced the feature documentary, “Better Living Through Circuitry,” about rave culture and electronic dance music that received a nationwide theatrical release, and aired on Showtime, the Sundance channel, and BBC Channel 4.
In October 2000, Stuart became a producer at the Sci Fi Channel’s Sci Fi Lab. He then became Director, Alternative Programming for Sci Fi Channel overseeing series such as "Mad, Mad House” and "Scare Tactics" as well as other animation, documentary pilots and specials.
As a producer, Stuart then worked closely with the renowned street magician and illusionist to shape the first season of the hit series “Criss Angel: Mindfreak” for the A&E network. Beginning in November 2005, as Vice President of Development for Original Productions, he oversaw the creation and marketing of reality series and specials for Discovery, A&E, TLC, National Geographic, Tru TV and WE networks including the breakout hit series “Ice Road Truckers” for the History Channel.
RYAN SPYKER
As a core member of the Wild Eyes brain trust, Ryan brings a wide variety of experience to the table, having worked in all facets of network and cable television. Starting his career in Washington DC, Ryan worked editorially on over 250 nonfiction programs at Discovery Communications, Inc., serving his longest position in TLC’s Production Department. While there, Ryan gained experience across a broad array of programming, taking with him the passion and business sense needed to create network television.
Shifting his focus to the hands-on creation of nonfiction storytelling, Ryan moved his career to Los Angeles, beginning as a Researcher at LMNO Productions. Working on documentary programs for the Discovery networks, Ryan developed a nose for story, and discovered his passion for digging beneath the surface to find people whose real life experiences prove much more fascinating than fiction could create. Before leaving LMNO, Ryan gained a firm grasp of what it takes to engineer large-scale television productions, by working in the chaotic nuts and bolts environment of Production Management on projects for FOX and NBC.
Since joining Wild Eyes Productions in 2003, Ryan has excelled as a Producer and Writer whose assignments have taken him to places like Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, and the Philippines to find the people behind the stories for National Geographic, History Channel, A&E and Discovery. While leading and managing Wild Eyes’ Production Department, Ryan is also one of the main contributors and strategists behind the future of Wild Eyes’ Business Development.
AARON BOWDEN
Aaron Bowden is the longest-tenured member of the Wild Eyes staff. Since his arrival in 2003, Aaron has written, produced or directed almost 40 hours of primetime programming for the History Channel, Discovery/Discovery-Times, A&E and National Geographic networks.
Some of Aaron's notable writing credits include The True Story of Charlie Wilson, Inside the Taliban and the acclaimed 4-hour special Guests of the Ayatollah. As a director, Aaron is responsible for the 2007 History Channel special Stalking Jihad, which he also wrote.
Aaron got his start in non-fiction storytelling as a print journalist, filing pieces with the Tallahassee Democrat while still an undergraduate at Florida State University. That led to a position on the reporting staff of the Concord Monitor, which Time magazine recently recognized as one of the nation's best newspapers.
After two New Hampshire winters, Aaron escaped overseas to Thailand, where he spent an eventful nine months teaching English at Bangkok's Saint Gabriel University.
Upon his return stateside, Coolfire Media gave Aaron his start in television. He wrote, produced and appeared on camera for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Prep Sports Show, a local Emmy-award-winning weekly program about St. Louis high school sports.
Today, Aaron works closely with Wild Eyes founder David Keane to further the company's reputation for high-quality original television production.
JODY LEGGETT
Jody Leggett has ways of making you talk. Since joining Wild Eyes in 2005, she’s locked down interviews with ex-Congressman Charlie Wilson, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and the American rebels who fought alongside Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.
Starting in the business as an intern at KTLA Channel 5, she wrote and produced live entertainment segments for the nightly news -- including red-carpet interviews with A-list celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
At the Style Network she polished her skills in post-production on the channel’s highest- rated show, How Do I Look? Jody was responsible for coordinating post-production schedules, deliverables, and supervising online and audio sweetening sessions.
But Jody decided to leave behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood style to work on documentaries with Wild Eyes – a better use for her Cal State Long Beach Broadcast Journalism and Political Science degrees.
Today, Jody wears every conceivable hat at Wild Eyes, whether it’s overseeing network deliverables, casting for recreations, conducting key research, locating contacts, planning overseas travel or heavy duty on-set coordinating. With a passion for current events, and a fascination with original true stories, Jody has found her home working on documentaries at Wild Eyes Productions.
CONOR MORRIS
Conor joined Wild Eyes Productions as an intern in February of 2004. Impressed with the passion of the Wild Eyes team it wasn't long before he returned after graduating from Loyola Marymount University's School of Film and Television in May of 2006. Today you can find Conor behind the lens as a Cameraman and in the Editing suite bringing development ideas from the page to the screen.
Conor's interest in filmmaking and far-off places began as a young man, intrigued by stories of his late grandfather's travels abroad and his father's passion for film. Documentary filmmaking seemed the obvious answer to both.
His curiosity for people and places unknown has led him across the globe in search of interesting and inspiring stories. He has documented the lives of drug addicts in South East Asia's "harshest detox center in the world," Thamkrabok Monastery in Central Thailand, filmed with Bedouin tribes in the blazing summer sun of Morocco's hamada, delved into the inner workings of the Phillippine Marines in Manila, chronicled the lives of gang members inside California's prison system, and most recently explored the Democratic Peoples Republic of Laos.
Whether it be the adventurous locals of countries abroad or sunny Hermosa Beach, Conor's visual sense is a wonderful addition to the Wild Eyes team.