The CREATIVE TEAM

Many hands have helped bring this vision to life, but meet the two key contributors who have dedicated the last two years to making this film come together.

CHRISTO TSIARAS

EDITOR

Christo has been a vibrant part of the production community in Boston since 1982. His storied career as an editor, director and creative includes working at Computer Pictures, National Boston Video and Videocraft Productions and for leading ad agencies like Arnold Worldwide and Hill, Holiday. In addition, he has produced, directed and edited pieces for Fortune 500 corporations, filmmakers, directors and independent producers.

We feel extraordinarily fortunate that he has brought his award-winning magic, musicianship, audio wizardry, and thoughtful sense of storytelling rhythm and style to President of Beauty, playing a crucial role in refining Henry’s vision and deftly shaping this powerful, poetic telling of Lester Young’s life.

Christo has also supported the film with lush textural footage of water, clouds, and light, that add immeasurably to the visual poetry of the film.

All while being extraordinarily fun to work with.

DAWN STOCKBRIDGE EPSTEIN

DIRECTOR OF ANIMATION

Dawn has been capturing photons since she was eight years old, and pushing pixels around since 1979. An award-winning photographer and second-generation nerd she worked as a graphics programmer for Boston area companies like Centronics, Lotus Development, and Atria Software. At Parker Brothers, she created the Ataria VCS game Strawberry Shortcake’s Musical Matchups, and collaborated on or project managed home versions of Frogger, Star Wars Death Star Battle, and Q*Bert and contributed graphic elements for many others. She has also contributed motion graphics, DIT services, and production assistance for clients including Anthem Multimedia, Halfyard Productions, America’s Test Kitchens, IBM, and Hearst TV.

Building on the storyboards created by prior contributors, and inspired by the album and ephemeral art of the 1930s-1950s, Dawn created the style paintings and motion-graphic elements for the film, and is now breathing life into them, realizing Henry’s vision of a poetic animated thread that supports Lester’s storytelling in his own voice.

She also encourages our talented interns to develop their own stories and projects, while making contributions to Lester’s story, this website, and the work of the Gloucester Writers Center. Her company Blue Cormorant has donated production space, computer equipment, drone cinematography, motion studies, and considerable time to making this film a reality.

And she makes an awesome cup of coffee.

Our 2023-2025 interns

  • Jayden Mock

    INTERN SUMMERS 2023 & 2024

    Jayden came to us from Bard College at Simon’s Rock. He contributed in his first year as a production assistant on motion studies for animation, as a camera operator for Gloucester Writers Center, and in his second year, learning After Effects and developing his own animated project proposal for his senior thesis. He also contributed considerably toward creating this website, and updating the Gloucester Writers Center website, as well as assisting Henry in editing event footage from GWC programs.

  • Joshua "JJ" Sepulveda

    INTERN SUMMER 2024-SPRING 205

    JJ, accompanied by his aptly named dog “Bolt”, has a gift for atmospheric environmental paintings. He’s working on our “bird emitter” using a particle generator to create a flock of small birds.

  • Amelia Morris

    INTERN SPRING 2025

    Amelia comes to us from the local community, and prior art education at the Maine College of Art & Design. She’s a gifted artist with an interest in sculpture and pottery. She has been animating Lester’s cat.