Though currently pursuing his Masters degree in music, Ryan’s background is all film. For the last decade Ryan has been independently producing film, television, and video projects of all kinds. From documentaries and period narratives to promotional videos and music videos, Ryan’s experience spans a wide variety of genres.  He has acted as writer, director, editor, camera operator, sound designer, gaffer, actor and producer for films and television programs all with a wide range of budgets.  This vast collection of knowledge and experience has led Ryan to the height of his career as a Producer. The ability to communicate with all departments clearly, effectively, and with the use of their own lexicon is extremely valuable and Ryan brings it to a whole new level. His empathetic style of leadership creates an inviting and productive work atmosphere where people can easily work together to get the job done right.  In 2008 Ryan founded True Facade Pictures, an independent production company specializing in short films which he continues to cultivate alongside his work at NOALTERNATIVE. Ryan believes good, clear collaboration is the key to success in filmmaking and is always eager to work with new creative professionals to turn ideas into realities. Some recent credits include: Feature Films such as “A Stranger in Paradise” (starring Colin Egglesfield and Academy Award Nominee, Catalina Sandino Moreno) “Beatrice Creek” (writen by Nicholl Fellowship Finalist, Eric Litra.) “Vivian” (staring Academe Award Nominee, Viola Davis.) “Parallel Lines,” “Tell Me I Love You,”  “Kettle of Fish” (staring Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon.) Other projects include “The Wolfkeeper,” “Fat City Live,” “Nissa’s Kitchen,” “Mysterious Ways,” “The Baritone,” “Tucker’s Crossing,” , “The Unheard,” “Prescribed by Dr. Cowell,” and  “Lisa Kelly and the Blue Angels.” 

J. Daniel Dusek •  Line Producer

Dusek is a seasoned veteran with 38 years experience in the Motion Picture, Television and Commercial Industry. From 1975 to 1988 Dusek worked in Los Angeles in a wide range of production positions. He moved to Seattle in 1988 and worked there for 20 years before relocating to Minnesota in 2008. Dusek is highly experienced as a Producer, Production Manager, Location Manager, Line Producer and 1st Assistant Director with skills in creating, organizing, managing, budgeting, scheduling and supervising a wide range of theatrical, documentary, commercial, educational and corporate products. Credits include the Emmy winning television series “Northern Exposure”, “The Fugitive”, “Real People”, “Weeknight”, “Deadwood”, “The X-Files”, Stephen King’s six hour mini-series “Rose Red”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, documentaries such as “In Search of Historical Jesus” and “Doomsday 2000” and feature films “The Ring”, “Enough”, “Phantom of the Paradise”, “Eden”, “Firewall”, “The Core”, “The Butterfly Effect”, “Get Carter”, “10 Things I Hate About You”, “Mine Games”, “Love Happens” and “World’s Greatest Dad”.

Kristi Schuck – CFO

Kristi ensures that all of the day-to-day operations are detailed and under control while monitoring that the overall vision of NOALTERNATIVE is being met. With several projects in motion at a time, all in various stages of development; project management becomes critical. Kristi designs, implements and oversees the financial and operational structure and provides leadership in the development for the continuous evaluation of short and long-term financial objectives. She also keeps us in good standing with our local community as Chair of the Planning Commission, a Prejudice Reduction Workshop Facilitator, engaging with local, state and federal legislature and  and serving on several board of directors including the district School Board. Her philosohpy is “create want you want”. In line with this, she has written a complete strategic curriculum for our community’s goals and objectives by the year 2020. The city is currently implementing this plan and successfully attaining its periodic goals.

Nic Smith – Post Production Supervisor

Being the Post Production Supervisor for NOALTERNATIVEFILMS and the Lead Audio Engineer and Post Production Manager: Nic exhibits pristine talent, balance and work ethic in his projects. He lives to take his audiences beyond the visual experience and deep into the realm of the sub conscience. Skilled in music production, sound scape, mixing, sound effects, foley and composition, Nic manages all staff at the NOALTERNATIVE post production facility, Two Fish Studios. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Master’s Recording Institute (formerly Flyte Tyme Studios: home to producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis), and obtained his Pro Tools Expert and Post Certification from the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, MN. Prior to Two Fish, Nic’s freelance projects included working with artists such as St. Paul Peterson (discovered by Prince and performed with Grammy Award Nominee Oleta Adams), Brian White (Billboards Country Charting Artist), The Pines (Rolling Stone Magazine), among others. Studio credits include the Dixie Chicks, Sum 41, Johnny Lang, Joan Osborne, Slick Rick, Leo Kotke, the Doors of the 21st Century, the String Cheese Incident, Bare Naked Ladies, the Samples, and Dido.

Shelli Knutson  Director of Social Marketing

Shelli has a marketing degree from Southwest Minnesota State University with a Bachelor’s of Applied Science degree in Marketing Management. During her schooling she was an active member in DEX (Delta Epsilon Chi), a Marketing competition team. She competed in the areas of Ethics, Marketing and Sales, Retail Management, and Business to Business Marketing, placed at the state level and participated at nationals.  Shelli was on the Presidential Honor List all 4 years of school and graduated with honors. A product of the Generation Y, Shelli is a natural guru when it comes to the balance between the critical strategies and public habits that drive social marketing.

Cam Johnson  Art Director

Our production facility, Two Fish Studios, is decorated as an art gallery with Cam’s own amazing oil-on-canvas work. When he is not creating work for clients he is creating work for the sheer sake of advancing his own skills. His attention to composition and color drive him to push our designers to create innovative works for marketing our clients, projects and in-house departments. Every project demands unique branding that must be fresh and original yet generate a widespread appeal. More than a dozen of his own personal works have been selected by our clients to define their own branding.

Rachel Mogck  Production Intern

Rachel Mogck is a sophomore Music Industry major at Minnesota State University: Mankato This is her first internship and she hopes to learn everything from audio engineering to marketing to video editing. Aside from this, she was a part of IMPACT’s Concert Committee, which is the student group that organizes concerts and events for the college. During her time with IMPACT she helped work on the Atmosphere/Rhymesayers tour and with the Cloud Cult/Caroline Smith concert as well as events such as Battle of the Bands. In addition she also works at Rhapsody Music, a local music store, as a salesperson.

Alex Bichler  Production Intern

Alex is apprenticing as an assistant studio engineer. Whether behind a mixing console or while playing guitar, Alex exudes a passion for music that drives him to seek quality in sound and acoustics. With a degree in Audio Engineering from MNSU, Alex has recorded a wide range of bands, from bluegrass and hip hop to rock and classical. Alex is also skilled in music composition, sound effects, foley and ADR.