Barry Thorson

Writer, Script Support

Barry Thorson is a writer, director, actor, and storyteller with over 25 years experience in theatre and film. He currently manages the Dome Theatre & Planetarium at TELUS Spark Science Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he is responsible for creating live planetarium shows and screening the latest and greatest in giant screen film documentaries. Thorson lives in Calgary with his family and is a huge fan of Touch The Stars and what's next for space.

Scott Pearson

Writer, Script

Scott Pearson is a freelance writer and editor. He has published humor, poetry, nonfiction, short stories, and novellas, including five Star Trek stories for Simon & Schuster. Pearson has also written mystery, science fiction, and urban fantasy short stories for small press anthologies. He co-wrote the 2015 Kennedy Space Center visitors’ brochure with Piers Bizony, author of The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA’s First Space Plane, which Scott edited. Scott brought a lifetime of love for the space program to Space Next, his first produced screenplay. In his free time, Pearson and his daughter co-host the podcast Generations Geek.

Ashley Jahnke

Co-Producer

Ashley Jahnke has been in the visual effects industry since 2008. Beginning as an animator she worked on multiple TV commercials and film projects. Excelling with her organizational skills, Jahnke quickly advanced to project management then producing. Her experience with hands-on software and 3D animation skills is an ideal fit for communicating with animators and designers throughout a project.

Mark Dunshee

Lead Animator

Mark Dunshee is an animation and illustration professional with 14 years of industry experience.  A graduate of the Minnesota College of Art and Design, Dunshee began his career creating children's cartoons for television and DVD.  After a decade working in the Twin Cities area, Dunshee moved to California and began working at Rhythm & Hues Studios.  While at R&H, he work on games trailers and cinematics for such product lines as Star Wars, Fable, and Devil May Cry.  Enjoying his time in California, but missing the Twin Cities, Dunshee returned with his wife and 2 Children to Minnesota and began working at Afterglow studios contributing to concepting, modeling, texturing, animating, and compositing.

Jason Malkovich

Visual Effects Supervisor

Jason  Malkovich is a 15 year veteran of the VFX and animation industry. Starting work in the gaming industry as a game designer worked his way to his goal of seeing his name on the sliver screen. Starting with Afterglow Studios in 2011 found his name on his first film for IMAX Theaters, Space Junk 3D ,as an animator. 2013 began a journey and trust of the Afterglow and Jon Bowermasters film Antarctica 3D On The Edge as Editor and a supervising role of Animation/Stereography. With Space Next, Malkovich brings even more enthusiasm to his film making career using his talents in visual effects, science, and storytelling. He lives in Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis with his wife and 3 children.

Luke Ployhar

Co-Producer and Director

Luke Ployhar is a director and film producer with experience in visual effects and animation that spans a career of over 18 years. His latest project Touch the Stars 3D is being released in the Giant Screen and Fulldome market in early 2019. Currently located in Minneapolis Minnesota, Ployhar is the founder of Afterglow Studios, a leading provider of design and animation for a wide range of clients. Ployhar's career started in film production in Los Angeles with credits that include, Broken Arrow, Austin Powers, Speed 2, Armageddon, The Insider and others. He later became a Visual Effects producer at Black Box Digital and worked on Minority Report, Planet of the Apes, A.I. and many others.

Barry Thorson

Writer, Script Support

Barry Thorson is a writer, director, actor, and storyteller with over 25 years experience in theatre and film. He currently manages the Dome Theatre & Planetarium at TELUS Spark Science Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he is responsible for creating live planetarium shows and screening the latest and greatest in giant screen film documentaries. Thorson lives in Calgary with his family and is a huge fan of Touch The Stars and what's next for space.

Scott Pearson

Writer, Script

Scott Pearson is a freelance writer and editor. He has published humor, poetry, nonfiction, short stories, and novellas, including five Star Trek stories for Simon & Schuster. Pearson has also written mystery, science fiction, and urban fantasy short stories for small press anthologies. He co-wrote the 2015 Kennedy Space Center visitors’ brochure with Piers Bizony, author of The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA’s First Space Plane, which Scott edited. Scott brought a lifetime of love for the space program to Space Next, his first produced screenplay. In his free time, Pearson and his daughter co-host the podcast Generations Geek.

Ashley Jahnke

Co-Producer

Ashley Jahnke has been in the visual effects industry since 2008. Beginning as an animator she worked on multiple TV commercials and film projects. Excelling with her organizational skills, Jahnke quickly advanced to project management then producing. Her experience with hands-on software and 3D animation skills is an ideal fit for communicating with animators and designers throughout a project.

Mark Dunshee

Lead Animator

Mark Dunshee is an animation and illustration professional with 14 years of industry experience.  A graduate of the Minnesota College of Art and Design, Dunshee began his career creating children's cartoons for television and DVD.  After a decade working in the Twin Cities area, Dunshee moved to California and began working at Rhythm & Hues Studios.  While at R&H, he work on games trailers and cinematics for such product lines as Star Wars, Fable, and Devil May Cry.  Enjoying his time in California, but missing the Twin Cities, Dunshee returned with his wife and 2 Children to Minnesota and began working at Afterglow studios contributing to concepting, modeling, texturing, animating, and compositing.

Nicole Lulek

Motion Designer

Nicole Lulek started at Afterglow in the early months of 2010 as a fresh new intern during her final year in MCAD's Post Baccalaureate Graphic Design program. Since then Lulek has become one of the most valuable members of the crew, developing motion design and visual effects for clients, as well as in-studio films like Space Next. As a born and raised lover of history, science, and sci-fi, Lulek delighted in the research for and creation of Space Next, from the first star charts to the future of humans living in space.

Jason Malkovich

Visual Effects Supervisor

Jason  Malkovich is a 15 year veteran of the VFX and animation industry. Starting work in the gaming industry as a game designer worked his way to his goal of seeing his name on the sliver screen. Starting with Afterglow Studios in 2011 found his name on his first film for IMAX Theaters, Space Junk 3D ,as an animator. 2013 began a journey and trust of the Afterglow and Jon Bowermasters film Antarctica 3D On The Edge as Editor and a supervising role of Animation/Stereography. With Space Next, Malkovich brings even more enthusiasm to his film making career using his talents in visual effects, science, and storytelling. He lives in Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis with his wife and 3 children.

Luke Ployhar

Co-Producer and Director

Luke Ployhar is a director and film producer with experience in visual effects and animation that spans a career of over 18 years. His latest project Touch the Stars 3D is being released in the Giant Screen

and Fulldome market in early 2019. Currently located in Minneapolis Minnesota, Ployhar is the founder of Afterglow Studios, a leading provider of design and animation for a wide range of clients. Ployhar's career started in film production in Los Angeles with credits that include, Broken Arrow, Austin Powers, Speed 2, Armageddon, The Insider and others. He later became a Visual Effects producer at Black Box Digital and worked on Minority Report, Planet of the Apes, A.I. and many others.