Myles Yaksich
WRITER / DIRECTOR
Poppies is Myles Yaksich's directorial debut and entrance to the film industry.
The film is based on his experiences living and working abroad. Through a cultural lens, Poppies explores universal themes of love and life. When a young expat working in Shanghai meets an elderly Chinese woman, he is forced to face his struggles; what has he sacrificed in the pursuit of his dreams?
Born in Canada, he learned at a young age to travel and appreciate art and culture. After completing his degree in Finance and Economics, he pursued investment banking in Singapore and private equity in South East Asia.
His goal is to tell sentimental and emotional stories that blur the line between reality and fantasy. Through film and photography, he explores ideas about culture, nature, relationships and socio-economics.
Cindy Lu
PRODUCER
Growing up in Los Angeles, Cindy found her passion for producing films and commercials through her appreciation of the city and all it has to offer. Having worked in every department from pre-production through post, she has a high value for teamwork and collaboration.
The agencies and production companies on her work roster include RSA Films, Anonymous Content, and Chiat\Day.
In 2014, Cindy founded 3rd Astronaut, a creative agency and collaborative production studio, in an effort to empower and champion directors, writers, and producers of diversity to engage in a platform for powerful storytelling. She is proud to have Poppies as her first bi-lingual production.
Jennie Lew Tugend
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
A film veteran, Jennie Lew Tugend’s expertise bridges film and TV development, production, financing, marketing and distribution. She has produced and co-produced some of the industry’s most memorable franchises: Free Willy, Lethal Weapon, and HBO’s Tales from the Crypt.
As former Co-President of Kadokawa Pictures USA, Tugendwas a producer on One Missed Call, a WB release and two episodes of Showtime’s Master of Horror.
At Warner Bros., Tugend produced Free Willy, the box office smash hit, which has now become a family film classic. She went on to produce the sequel Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home and completed the trilogy with Free Willy 3: The Rescue. Tugend co-produced Lethal Weapon 1, 2 and 3. These Mel Gibson and Danny Glover buddy cop movies are now classics in the action comedy genre.
Tugend produced family films, Local Boys starring Mark Harmon and Star Kid, which received an Award of Excellence by the Film Advisory Board; and for MGM, the romantic comedy, Return to Me starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver.
Serving as Executive VP of Richard Donner Productions, Tugend co-produced Radio Flyer for Columbia Pictures and Scrooged for Paramount Pictures starring Bill Murray. For HBO, she co-produced Tales From The Crypt and was instrumental in the development and production of The Goonies and The Lost Boys.
Dylan Chapgier
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
As a Los Angeles native, Dylan has always been enamored with the film industry, and has continued to carry his passion for photography into film production.
Since receiving his MFA in Cinematography from UCLA’s School of Theater Film and Television, he’s gone on to shoot over 50 projects, including seven UCLA MFA Thesis projects, a Feature Documentary in Fiji, a portion of the feature film The Heyday of Insensitive Bastards, and Music Videos for Will.I.am, India Love, Rench and DLP.
He’s been brought out to shoot projects around the world, including Utah, Alaska, Brazil, Costa Rica, Fiji, England and France. His work has been featured in film festivals around the nation, as well as in Brazil.
Nicholas Pike
COMPOSER
Nicholas Pike has scored films ranging from the family-oriented Captain Ron, Return to Me and Virginia’s Run to darker films including Fear Dot Com, The Shining mini-series, and Stephen King’s thriller The Sleepwalkers. He has scored large scale music videos including Michael Jackson's Ghosts and You Rock My World and Will Smith's Wild, Wild West, and won the 2013 Outstanding Music and Sound Emmy for the HBO documentary, In Tahrir Square.
Pike conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a recording of his Master Harold and The Boys Suite, which he originally composed for a film version of Athol Fugard’s apartheid drama. He recorded the orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, leading to his engagement as composer for his first movie, Graveyard Shift.
Exhibiting a wide stylistic range of both orchestral and electronic composition, Nicholas Pike continues to score films as well as compose and conduct for high-profile television projects and music videos.
Lazaro Hernandez
VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR
Lázaro Hernández is a young, Salvadoran film maker and visual effects artist, specializing in live action and digital animation. He is a graduate of Verita's University in Costa Rica.
His short films have been screened around the world and have won awards at international festivals. In 2008 the short One by One won the Best Production of all categories in the Festival Icarus Central , and was selected and exhibited at international festivals , including Cortocircuito of New York, The Festival of Vienna in Austria, and Rtyle France.
In 2009 the short film The Wooden's Dog won Best Short Film in the black hummer category of the Pixels El Salvador Festival. In 2010, the film was an official selection in the animation festival Cutoutfest of Mexico and La Noche de los Cortos in Peru.