Alejandro Mena | Writer, Producer and Director

Alejandro "Alex" Mena

Alejandro Mena has over 25 years experience working in the Texas film and video production industry.  He has worked on everything from two-person corporate video shoots to feature films, made-for-television movies, episodic television, commercials & music videos.  Experienced as a producer, assistant director, script supervisor and grip / electrician, Alex has countless hours of professional production work.

From 2019 through 2021, Alex has produced 19 corporate videos for Toyota of North America.  In August / September of 2021, Alex served as UPM / Line Producer for the short horror film, URBEX. Alex previously served as Director of Operations for the Dallas International Film Festival (2011, 2012 & 2013) and served as Director of Operations for the Lone Star Film Festival (2012, 2013 & 2014) in Fort Worth.  In 2018 he produced the Women's Texas Film Festival.

Alex is the son of the late Nemesio and the late Domitila Mena. The elder Mena served in the United States Army Air Corps in WWII and was the radio operator for CREW 713.  He had a distinguished service career in the USAF and retired in 1968.  His parents are both deceased and buried at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso, Texas.

Fiona Hall | Producer

Fiona Hall

Fiona Hall has been working in independent film production on features, TV dramas, documentaries, animation, short films and promos since 2003.  For 3 years, she worked on the 2011 Oscar nominated feature film The Illusionist as production manager, overseeing scheduling, budget and recruitment.  She has also worked at the Edinburgh and Dallas film festivals and set up her own film festival, Leith Film Festival, which ran a successful annual 24hr film competition.

She works with her husband, Justin, at Dancing Fish Productions, primarily in animation.  She is running two startups within the non-profit Behind Every Door (BehindEveryDoor.org).

The first, Myne (MyneTogether.com) is software that uses gamification to allow people and organizations to see and affect changes in their lives.

The second, Dallas Lights, connects organizations to use the Stoplight methodology from Paraguay to help families eliminate their definition of poverty.  She has consulted nationally on technology strategy and has a Masters in Neuroscience and Applied Cognition.

Fiona loves many things but particularly the sea, her garden, her family and the Lord.

Justin Hall | Lead Animator

Justin Hall, animator

Justin has over twenty years of experience, working in film, television, games and commercial animation  Trained traditionally in 2D hand drawn animation, his career has included BAFTA and Oscar nominated projects such as, The Illusionist, Monsters, OOglies and Tiny Planets.

He is equally competent in the world of motion graphics and editing.  His day job is as an animator and motion graphics artist at AMP Creative Studio in Dallas, Texas.  For Crew 713, Justin is producing the integral animated segments which help to tell the mission stories of the 492nd bomb group.  And, as Dancing Fish Productions, he is also serving as one of the film's producers.

Christopher Bigbie | Director of Photography

Christopher Bigbie

Christopher is the owner of Big B Creative, a turn-key film and video production company.  Christopher brings 19 years experience to CREW 713.

Clients include...

Christopher was named Executive Creative Director for advertising agency Ackerman McQueen.

Christine Switzer | Story and Script Consultant

Christine Switzer (left, obviously)

Christine Switzer has been a freelance writer since 2007.  Switzer holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a Master of Arts in English and has taught university courses in communication, public speaking and journalism at St Edward's University in Austin.

She has worked as an research consultant for feature films "Angels and Demons" and "Cinderella Man," as well as documentaries and book projects.  She contributes to travel and regional periodicals such as Georgetown View, Inside Texas Wedding and Burlington the Beautiful.  She enjoys writing on travel, lifestyle and the workplace.

JP Evans | Sound Recordist

JP Evans and Witchcraft

JP Evans brings 17 years of location audio recording experience to the production of CREW 713. His work has been heard on all major networks, Canada's CBC, & European outlets. He has honed his skills with a steady diet of commercials, documentaries and corporate videos.

Damien Jones | Illustrator

A Damien Jones self portrait

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away called Cornwall (Southwest England) a boy was born, called Damien.  Growing up, Damien spent most of his time doing two things in equal measure – one: daydreaming and two: drawing.

After several school reports highlighting that having his head in the clouds wasn't very proactive, he decided to focus on drawing and set off to discover new lands (university).  Damien worked hard to gain a place in the most prestigious university in all the land, the Arts Institute of Bournemouth where he gained a BA Honors in Animation Production.

Armed with his new knowledge, he set off on an adventure, which lead him to the Oscar nominated animated feature film “The Illusionist” (2010 / assistant animator) and to the world of storyboarding with the likes of Aardman.  Damien has illustrated numerous children’s books working with publishers like Simon & Schuster, Scholastic and Random House.  He lives in Cornwall, England.