Nitin enjoys working both on screen and behind the scenes. He was raised in India and always had a keen interest in the film making process and arts. However, his first achievement at backstage was in Singapore, when he proposed the idea of forming Indian Orchestra group for Marathi music. With like minded friends, a group was formed in Marathi association of Singapore in 1997. With a great support from MMS, Singapore, Nitin participated actively with group during first year. From gathering artists, musicians, singers, conduct practice sessions and final preparation of the event.

Darrel was born and raised in Moss Point, MS. Although he had a strong love of the arts he found that his love of computers and writing computer programs would be his first journey in life. After working in corporate jobs as an software developer/engineer for 14 years Darrel decided to go after his dream of working in the arts. He started preparing himself for the eventual shift and enrolled in Omega Studio's School of Applied Recording Arts and Sciences to become an recording engineer.

Clark was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in near by Rockville, Maryland. Writing was an important part of Clark's life early on. During his summers, his parents would make him re-write the endings to stories they would read.

Although writing was his passion his first love was computers.

All through college he couldn't shake his passion of writing and hasn't. Prayer Life is his first screenplay, with many more to come. Not to mention a couple of novels in the works.

Since the age of thirteen, Frank E. Jackson, Jr. has had a passion for the arts. In 2001, he signed to Araunah Records as a recording artist. His debut project, "A Backslider's Prayer" experienced modest success across the East Coast. This path led him into the film industry which is where he discovered his true passion. In 2002 he wrote, directed and produced "Unity", a coming of age film about teenage pregnancy.

His second film, "Till Death Do Us Part", aired briefly in Prince George's County, but it was his third film "Lorenzo & Monica, L.A.F.S." which catapulted his career to a new level. This film enjoyed a limited theatrical release at the Magic Johnson Theater in Largo, MD and the Marlow 6 Theater in Marlow Heights, MD.

He was subsequently hired to direct two films, "Painted Smiles" and "Prayer Life", both of which are now in post-production. His latest endeavor, "Crossroads" is currently in production.

Rupesh Mahajan is a director/cinematograph based in Maryland. Rupesh has been in the broadcast industry for more than 18 years and has his own production company. He has worked on several locally produced independent films, and numerous TV programs from sports to talking heads, commercials, and industrial videos. Rupesh also speaks Punjabi and Hindi fluently. You can find him on the web at www.mahajanvideo.com

With seven years of experience lighting and shooting film productions in the Washington, DC and Baltimore area, Michael Wilson has become known for his work as both a cinematographer and a lighting technician. Wilson graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in film production. From there he began his career in cinematography at the Washington Source for lighting and began working as a lighting technician on a number of major motion pictures and television shows such as West Wing, Ladder 49, The Recruit, The Wire and other productions shot in the Washington DC local area. Recently, Wilson served on as chief lighting technician on feature film Mentor staring Rutger Hauer and Matt Davis.

As a cinematographer, Wilson has shot several short films and commercials as well as promotional video projects. He is experienced in shooting both film and video often bringing the techniques gleaned from working on larger budget productions as a lighting technician.

Wilson is available as a freelance Cinematographer or lighting technician and serves as the principle cinematographer for Mindset Entertainment.

Jose graduated with a BS degree in Audio Technology from American University in 1999.

For the past 4 years, he have dedicated his career in audio as a location sound recordist working in independent feature films, corporate video and electronic news gathering shoots. Jose has worked on 15 features, including one that was just screened at the Tribeca Film Festival called 'Marvelous' which stars Ewan Bremner (Trainspotting), Anabella Sciorra and Martha Plimpton.

Although most of his work are on productions in New Jersey and New York, every now and then you might find him on a project in the DC area as well.

A native Washingtonian, Rich is a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and has been active in the DC-metropolitan design community for the past decade. He also wears a number of hats for independent film company 19th & Wilson, Inc. In addition to overseeing all aspects of graphic design, he has contributed to the writing and production of a number of short films, and has appeared in some.

Rich is grateful to have been able to contribute the design of the Prayer Life graphic identity.

You can see more of his work at:

www.myspace.com/richard_friend www.19thandwilson.com

Carla takes great joy in creating environments for theater, film, social or non-social events. It is what comes natural to her."

She studied Fine Arts, Art History, and Interior Design at Essex Community College. It wasn't until she started working with the theater department that she found her passion in Set Design and Art Directing. She worked on stage plays such as "ONCE ON THIS ISLAND","PIPIN", various talent shows and art exhibits.

Later, she teamed up with Lamar Hill (Poetry Slam Champion), and created the production company Live by the Pen for stage plays. There they completed the Arena Players box office hit "Deception and Denial" and currently working on "Never Sleeps Alone".

Independently, she went into the film industry. Working with Scott And Theresa Rainey's "Painted Smiles", East West Films "Prayer Life" and Sunjada productions "Crossroads”.

No stranger to the entertainment industry, Danita A. Jones, born in Washington DC. Danita was blessed as a young child with talents, a dancer/model and designing clothes at a young age. Danita has the passion to succeed in whatever she touches, following God down the path to where he leads her; she puts her all into everything she does. She won’t stop until she succeeds in doing so.

Since Danita discovered the world of makeup artistry she has been unstoppable. Nita J (a.k.a) has done makeup work for several model/talent agencies for children, teens and adults. A Professional Freelance Makeup Artist for 5 years strong, Danita has traveled up and down the East-Coast with Celebrity Photographer Calvin Child's, the Best in Philadelphia, after working with him Danita has been on high demand since 2004. She has worked with well known photographers. Danita has done makeup for weddings, models, and musical entertainers. Danita was featured in the PG County Gazette for the film “Painted Smiles” for her makeup artistry; other film works include “Prayer Life.”

Gabrielle Vincent has had a passion for the arts since childhood, when she spent all her free time taking dance and art classes in her hometown of Ft. Washington, Maryland.

She attended Suitland High School for their Visual and Performing Arts program, and went on to get her BFA in Costume Design from the University of Miami in 2002. Gabbie has been designing and constructing costumes, wigs, and make-up for theater, film, and TV ever since.

She freelances for many DC area theaters including the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and Signature Theatre, and occasionally opera companies across the country. Recently she has branched out into make-up and special effects for independent feature films in DC and NY. Gabbie is excited to currently be working on stage productions of My Fair Lady and Cabaret.

Erica Smackum’s background in the independent film industry includes experience both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. As a preteen in Arlington, Virginia, Erica had a fascination for fashion, constantly watching and attending fashion shows, sewing and sketching out outfits. When she realized that sketching wasn't her best skill, she decided to go to Virginia Commonwealth University to get a Bachelors degree in Fashion Merchandising.

During her college career, Erica started assisting with and producing fashion shows. After college, she then started assisting with movie production; first helping out as an extra. Then she used her skills to help with wardrobe consulting, set consulting, and anywhere else she was needed. Her credits include the independent films Unity, Lorenzo and Monica and soon to be released Painted Smiles.

Leslie Perucci had her first encounter with film and video production while attending Annandale High School in Annandale, VA and was instantly hooked. She had already taken many photography classes and was the Photo Editor of Annandale High School's newspaper when she decided to take a film studies class her senior year. She got to make a news package, a commercial and she was offered the opportunity to make her school's video yearbook.

After high school, she attended Virginia Commonwealth University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History. Although she loved studying art history, she still had a passion for film and video production. Shortly after she graduated, she attended Full Sail Real World Education's accelerated one year program and received an Associate of Science degree in Film and Video Production. Despite the 40+ hours a week school schedule, she received her classes' Salutatorian Award and a Perfect Attendance Award. While in school, she worked on short films, a short documentary and a tv show pilot.

Since she's graduated, she has worked on her first feature length film, Prayer Life, in which she served as Production Manager. She currently is working as an assistant editor for a TV Production company that produces shows for Discovery Communications among others in Silver Spring, Maryland.

A resident of the Denver metro area, was born and raised in Bombay, India. Vinay arrived in Denver after a detour through the Bay Area that lasted 6 years and the DC area for about 3 years.

The film scene in Bombay (now Mumbai) is extremely vibrant and is like a marriage of the melting pot of New York with the mainstream film establishment of Los Angeles. So, growing up in Bombay, Vinay was a movie addict and experienced India's wonderful multi-ethnic and multi-lingual film culture. He always had the desire to dip a few toes in the film industry and experience first hand the making of cinema, but his day job and interests in computer technology conspired to keep him out of it.

A twist of fate, in that his day job, provided a chance meeting with Nitin and Clark (both movie lovers extraordinaire and producers of Prayer Life) and consequently his first opportunity to work on a film. Working as a crew member and helping out wherever required, Vinay learnt a great deal in all aspects of cinema from his maiden experience in film making. He hopes this is the beginning of a lifelong association with making movies

Kevin Craft is an aspiring film critic, who since graduating from Washington University in St. Louis has worked on several projects including Prayer Life, The U Film Project, and a yet untitled documentary about Jack Abramoff that will air on PBS this fall. He currently writes film reviews for his own web site, http://www.kevscorner.net, and will begin pursuing an M.A. in Film and Video at American University this fall.