Bryan Arata grew up in St. Louis, MO and graduated from MSU with a Bachelor of Science in Education. He then taught orchestra at Pipkin and Carver Middle Schools as well as Parkview High School in Springfield, MO. After that, Bryan moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a film/tv composition career.
Since moving, he has worked with Seth MacFarlane on the tv shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad” doing mock-ups, orchestrations, score supervising, and pre-recordings. He was also an orchestrator for composer Tyler Bates for the Marvel movie, “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” and composer Robert Duncan on the tv show “Timeless.” In addition to being an orchestrator, he has been a composer for several film projects. He was nominated for Best Original Score for the short film, “Surface of the Moon” at the 168 Film Festival. Bryan was also nominated for the Winter Award for Best Music for the short film “Saved Rounds.” Additionally, he won Outstanding Achievement in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Series for Best Score for “Shadow Bound” at the LA WebFest.
Currently he contributes original compositions for three online music libraries and his music can be heard in tv shows like Making it and Lego Masters.
Michael Frizell holds M.A.s in theatre and creative writing from Missouri State University and an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction from another university. His work is published in the National Gallery of Writing, Red Ink Journal, The Moon City Review, Saddlebag Dispatches, The Good Men Project, and more.
As a writer for TidalWave Comics, he has written over 80 comic books based on famous people. Recent publications include biographies of Dolly Parton, Selena, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Stacy Abrams, and supplements to Netflix’s Tiger King. His fiction comics include Stormy Daniels: Space Force and The Fantasy World of Bettie Page and feature the authorized likenesses of the actresses.
Mike writes the forwards to the re-releases of Harold Robbins’ novels for Oghma Creative Media, the publisher of his graphic novel, Bender, about America’s first serial killer family from the Midwest. Bender was serialized in Saddlebag Dispatches magazine, collected in 2018, and featured on many true crime podcasts.
He serves as the editor of The Learning Assistance Review, the peer-reviewed journal of the National College Learning Center Association, and their book, Learning Centers in the 21st Century. At the height of the COVID-19 crisis, Frizell collected the stories of learning center leaders across the country into the book, Rising to the Challenge: Navigating COVID-19 as Higher Education Learning Center Leaders.
Matt Raithel is a graduate of Missouri State University’s Electronic Arts Program and is a Professor of Practice of Game Design at Maryville University. He is the Founder and Studio Director of Graphite Lab, a Maryland Heights-based independent video game development firm. Part tech company, part creative powerhouse, Graphite Lab is recognized by companies such as Hasbro, Atari, and Cartoon Network as the premier development team who can consistently create hit video games featuring top brands. Graphite Lab has built their reputation by consistently delivering solid gaming mechanics, feature-quality character animation, service flexibility, and technological expertise.