The Movie & The Filmmakers

About the Movie

Every Memorial Day weekend, ragtime piano players from around the country (and the world) gather at the Hotel Père Marquette in Peoria, Illinois, to compete for the title of World’s Greatest Ragtime Player.

The Entertainers is a feature documentary that will follow four of the world’s best ragtime piano players as they prepare for the World Championship of Old-Time Piano.

These talented, idiosyncratic performers represent a broad spectrum of the American experience, but they share one abiding love: for ragtime, the first great American music.

The Entertainers will explore a unique American sub-culture, whose eccentric and hilarious characters pursue the perfection of an esoteric art.

In The Entertainers, however, there is more at stake than a championship. The audience for ragtime is aging, and the music’s popularity has waned.

Today’s performers are the custodians of music that started the long and proud tradition of American popular music. Invented in the early twentieth century by rebellious African-American musicians, ragtime served as the main progenitor for our pop music–from rhythm and blues, to rock and roll, to hip-hop.

Now, the audience for ragtime is disappearing with every new day. It’s an existential problem for the musicians who love the music and live to play it. The contest itself may soon disappear, and this first American art form may be lost.

But not if The Entertainers has anything to say about it. With passion, humor, and extraordinary showmanship, our main characters will help a new generation discover this thrilling music for the first time.

The Entertainers Team

	MICHAEL ZIMMER (Co-Director, Editor, Producer) is a writer, filmmaker, and journalist. Currently developing feature screenplays for several Hollywood production companies, Michael once bicycled across the United States to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, led community service trips in the British Virgin Islands, and served as Sports Editor of the Lexington (S.C.) Chronicle, where he won statewide awards for Sports Page Design and Column Writing. He earned a B.A. from Yale, where he was selected as student commencement speaker. He also earned a Master’s in writing from the University of Southern California, where he directed several short films. He teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at National University. -
	NICK HOLLE (Co-Director, Editor, Producer) wrote, produced, edited, and starred in the feature comedy Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. The film has appeared in several festivals and was featured on Director’s Cut, a Wisconsin Public Television program dedicated to Wisconsin filmmakers. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the University of Southern California’s Master’s in writing program, he is the creator of dozens of comedy shorts, the co-author of the book FLYMF’s Greatest Hits, and founding member of the production company Wut Wut Alma Moving Pictures. -
	BRENT WATKINS (Producer) has been a television and film producer for almost 25 years. He worked as Senior Commercial Producer at KCRG-TV from 1986 through 1997. In 1996, he developed a television program for best-selling Christian Ministry author Francis Frangipane, which is now viewed internationally in over 130 nations. In 2002, he formed his own production company, RiverMedia, which provides award-winning digital media production services and original programming content for DVD distribution and Digital Cinema. In 2005, Brent received a major media grant from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council to produce a short film, “The Heroes of Parlor Town”, which focuses on the role African Americans played in transforming popular music in America. This film also companions his work as a professional pianist, with two CDs to his credit. Brent lives with his wife Jackie and five children in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. -
	SETH HEDRINGTON (Producer) is one of the founding members of Wut Wut Alma Moving Pictures. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2002 with degrees in Finance and Risk Management. He is employed full time with Liberty Mutual as the manager of a commercial insurance underwriting group. Seth produced and was a featured actor in Wut Wut Alma’s first project, Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. -
	DEREK KEYESKI (Director of Photography, Co-Producer) has over eight years experience in film and television. He served as Creative Services Writer and Producer for WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and later held the same position for Caveman Productions in Milwaukee. While employed as a producer, he also utilized his talents as an Editor and Director of Photography. Derek is currently employed by Epic Creative in West Bend, Wisconsin as a videographer. He also held the post of Studio Coordinator and Lighting Director in GE Healthcare’s E-Media Department, producers of TiP-TV and The Joint Commission’s monthly broadcast. Derek’s freelance credits include Mr. 3000, Bridezillas, Illegal Use of Joe Zopp, promotional video production for Harley-Davidson and several digital shorts. -
	PAUL HOGSETH (Co-Producer) was sired and birthed in Wisconsin. He earned a Marketing degree and a wife from the University of Wisconsin. And he lives with her and their daughter in Wisconsin as if it were their destiny. He is a co-founder of Wut Wut Alma Moving Pictures and co-produced their first feature film, Illegal Use of Joe Zopp. He currently services the healthcare IT industry as a trainer and team manager. -
	EMERY SKOLFIELD (Co-Producer) writes for a living and is fond of idioms, alliteration, and Rules of Three. After a decade in newspapers, he transitioned to public relations before entering the e-commerce realm. He currently manages a copy and development team for a multi-channel, e-retail outfit headquartered in Tampa Bay. He has attended six colleges and universities, most recently the University of South Florida. Emery’s roll as clenched-jaw, mega-cop Al Beaudette in Illegal Use of Joe Zopp was his first acting role in a full-length feature. He also co-produced the film for Wut Wut Alma Moving Pictures. Emery lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his wife, manchild, and two analog television sets. -