Carving a Life’s Tyler Bruhn
Check out the talented Tyler Bruhn! Tyler plays Mitch in Carving A Life, here’s a little peek at some of the projects Tyler has played in in his 2017 reel ????
Read more →About Us
North San Diego based independent film production company
Life in Reels Productions is a San Diego based independent film production company, specializing in shorts, feature length films, documentaries, and videos. We strive to produce films which move, inspire and entertain our audiences. Our team includes creative filmmakers with decades of experience, and a passion for cinema. We collaborate with film industry organizations and members who share a passion to create films celebrating the human spirit and appealing to a wide audience.Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David ThoreauFilmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.
Steven SpielbergThe length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
Alfred HitchcockCreate your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
Orson Welles
Project Gallery
These are our award winning creations
Carving a Life
“Carving A Life” gives us a vivid insight into the undaunting world of love, marriage, and second chances. The story follows the life of Mitch, a 25-year-old wood carving artist, who falls for Lauren, an elementary school teacher. Their newlywed bliss takes a quick downward turn when Lauren discovers she’s pregnant and Mitch struggles […]
Night Terrors
Lindsay Sainato and Tyler Bruhn co wrote this supernatural short film “Night Terrors”. The story was inspired by Lindsay’s house in Carlsbad and all it’s creepy sounds. Have you ever been stalked by a ghost? …
June 17th
June 17th, is a short film about Napoleon Bonaparte’s internal struggle the night before the epic battle of Waterloo.
In the hills of Belgium in 1815, Napoleon prepares for his engagement with the two military powers …
Flippin Pizza Commercial
Spec Commercial for Flippin Pizza.
RIP
The wake for the founding member of a steampunk acting troupe, “Cogs and Corsets”, takes a dark turn and eerily begins to resemble the play the are currently performing, “The Legend of Dr. Faustus”.
Sustain San Diego
Life in Reels Productions participated in the One Day in San Diego project April 26, 2014. Filmmakers from all across the San Diego County will be out talking to citizens, organizations, government officials about why …
The Last Resort
“The Last Resort,” a short film created for the 2014 48 Hour Film Project in San Diego was written, filmed, and edited all within 48 hours! The extended 10 minute version has been screened at …
Folks Who Advise And Sponsor Our Projects
Our Creative And Passionate Team
Terry Ross
Director / Producer / Teacher/ Coach/ Mentor
Terry Ross is a multi- award winning film director, producer and actor of both stage and screen and the winner of the 2017 “Women in Film” Award at the San Diego Film Awards. She has acted, directed, produced and taught professionally for over 30 years as well as serving as a casting director on several independent films.
Her directorial debut on Life in Reels’ feature film, “Carving A Life”, garnered numerous awards and nominations including Best Director, Best Feature Film, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Screenplay and won the Excellence in Directing a Feature Film from Idyllwild Film Festival and the Indie Spirit Award from New Hope Film Festival. In 2020, Terry won “Best Director” from Venice Film Awards and “Best Director US for a Feature” from Hollywood Women’s Film Festival for her second feature film, “The Sweet Taste of Souls”, which was released in November 2020.
Most recently, the first in a trilogy of shorts to be filmed in Europe “A Castle in Umbria” is sweeping the festival circuit winning Best Screenwriter in conjunction with Lisa Bruhn, Best Woman Filmmaker, Best Short, Best Romance and numerous other awards.
Her short films have also been featured in many film festivals, most notably “The Last Resort”, winning “Best Director” and “Best Screenplay” from the Idyllwild International Film Festival and the Jury Award winner of the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.
Terry holds a Masters of Education from Stanford University and a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing from University of California. She has taught acting and directing at San Diego State University and University of San Diego as well as being a faculty member of the acclaimed Masters of Fine Arts Acting Program at the Old Globe Theatre. For the past twenty years, she has owned the highly successful acting studio, Acting Professionally, in San Diego, California.
Lisa Bruhn
Writer / Producer / Sales & Marketing Executive
Lisa Crawford Bruhn is a film producer, line producer, production manager, production accountant, and award winning screenwriter. Lisa manages the business aspects of film productions with integrity and poise. Along with a tax & accounting practice, Lisa owns Life in Reels Productions based in southern California and Tenacious Films based in Oregon. Lisa is a member of the Producers Guild of America, Women in Film, Film Independent, San Diego Media Pros, and is a board member of KOCT in Oceanside – a public access television station.
Tyler Bruhn
Actor / Director
Tyler has a passion for acting since he was 13 and has been in several independent films including the lead in the feature film “Carving A Life”. In junior high and High School, Tyler studied broadcasting and film at www.vmstv.com and award-winning www.chstv.com
Jackie Bainto
Editor, Graphic Designer, Assistant Director
Jacqueline “Jackie” Bainto is an editing Samurai, Graphic Designer, and Assistant Director for Life In Reels. On set, she is upbeat and devoted to delivering a quality product, and is capable of filling a variety of roles, earning the name “Jackie of All Trades”. The fun-sized “Swiss-Army knife” is a videographer who shoots commercials for San Diego businesses and works with Film Consortium San Diego. She has experience in short and feature films, commercials and documentaries.
Official Site | IMDb | Vimeo
Janna Reznik
Editor, Photographer, Cinematographer
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Janna Reznik’s early years were filled with athletic achievements as her love for photography grew. She won a number of city and state championships in swimming and a second place in Ukraine in Modern Pentathlon in 1991. Janna graduated from Ukrainian State University with a Bachelors degree in Physical Education and Sports Science and worked as a journalist for Student News TV Station. In 1996, she moved to the United States to follow her dream of becoming a photographer, video editor, and cinematographer. Janna produced, shot, and edited a number of short films, commercials, and documentaries for individual clients and corporations. She is currently working as lead editor for the Life in Reels feature film “Carving a Life”.
Oscar Velasquez
Cinematographer, Director
Oscar Velasquez has been interested in arts and technology since he was a child, and was building computers by the age of 14. Before he became a cinematographer, he was a tattoo artist, muralist and photographer. At the age of 18, he filmed his first short film, Runaway, which won the Grand Recognition Prize at the IVIE awards through the San Diego County Office of Education. It was then that his love for cinematography began. He works as a cinematographer, and director of fiction films and has been involved heavily in the San Diego film community. As a visionary director, he strives to extract the emotional aspects of storytelling to captivate his audiences. He is driven to ultimately be a world-renowned cinematographer/director.
Peter K. Flynn
Audio Recording, Sound Engineering
Peter’s smiling face is a welcome sight to our production team on set. He draws upon a wealth of experience in editorial, picture, audio, and sound production and is a resourceful problem solver. Peter has a BA & MA in Communication Arts from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and MS in Computer Science from SDSU. Peter has produced and directed a few short films himself, and has been involved in industrial, video, and a few feature films. He specializes in audio recording, sound engineering, and live audio dramas, and developed video applications in the early days of the Internet.
Faelynn Paterson
Art Director
Faelynn studied at Miracosta College, Southwest Texas State, and Palomar College. She is owner and creative Art Director for Faegination Studios and for Life in Reels Productions films. Faelynn has a keen eye for color and design that she utilizes in her film set dressing. She is also an expert at creating props – she even brought her own table and antique sword from her personal collection to the set of “June 17th”.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David ThoreauFilmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.
Steven SpielbergThe length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
Alfred HitchcockCreate your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
Orson Welles
News
Updates from Life in Reels Productions, LLC a San Diego independent film company.
Project updates for our documentaries, short films and feature films.
Carving A Life Interviews: Terry Ross (director)
Interview with CAL director Terry Ross about realizing her creative team
Read more →Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David ThoreauFilmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.
Steven SpielbergThe length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
Alfred HitchcockCreate your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
Orson Welles