CREATIVE TEAM
Co-writer & Composer
Maxim Langstaff
Max is an award-winning writer, producer, and performer. His creative work has reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Many music artists have collaborated with him on projects he has created, written, and produced including:
The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, Elton John, John Denver, Joni Mitchell, Dave Brubeck, B.B. King, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gamble & Huff, Hans Zimmer, Smokey Robinson, Lieber & Stoller, The Sherman Brothers, Pete Seeger, Dave Grohl, Bonnie Raitt, Run DMC., Gordon Lightfoot, Jean Ritchie, Stephen Schwartz, Michael Feinstein, Vince Gill, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Willie Nelson.
https://maximlangstaff.com/ His credits include, The Making of Sergeant Pepper with Sir George Martin; creator, producer, and writer for the Grammy, Emmy & Film Critics Award nominated PBS TV Series, DVD, Companion book Soundbreaking; the Emmy and Grammy nominated Wildlife Concert, with John Denver, spawning the highest rated music program in cable TV history. His award-winning work extends to “Best Film” at the International Wildlife Film Festival and the “Parents Choice Award”. He has produced dozens of recordings, including many at Abbey Road Studios. A member of the Writers Guild, he studied playwriting under Ernest Thompson (On Golden Pond), Romulus Linney (The Sorrows of Frederick), and David Berry (Whales of August). In addition to his theatrical work, he has been featured in The New York Times, Gannett, Wildlife Conservation Magazine, Philadelphia Enquirer, Disney Magazine, and Family Circle. He has recently completed his first novel, In the Raven’s Shadow.
A classically trained musician, actor, and director, Max began his career in the theater at a young age, studying with, among others, Group Theater founder and actor Morris Carnovsky, Mike Nichols, at the National Theatre Institute, and in Great Britain. Co-founder of the National Youth Theater at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, he later served as the Associate Director of the National Theater Institute. Max has worked in the United States and Great Britain as an actor, director, and writer, including originating one of the featured roles in John Patrick Shanley’s Gorilla. He most recently appeared in Face of Beauty, a feature film (short) directed by Vince Dormani. Max holds an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College.
Co-writer & Composer
Johnny Groda
Johnny graduated from high-school at age 16, and later joining the U.S. Navy.
“I remember when I first sat down at the piano. I was 13. I was mesmerized by the sounds I could create. Like a fish taking to water, it just made sense to me. My parents, I think, were astonished. Left to my own devices, I taught myself how to play the piano, and later to read and write music. Over time I picked up the guitar and bass.”
While barely out of his teens, Johnny became a professional musician, playing and performing throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“When I was 22, I began my formal musical training, studying musical composition and performance under contemporary classical composer, conductor, and arranger, Eric Funk.”
Johnny has served as a music teacher and college professor. He holds a master’s degree from Andrews University. It was in Maine where he and his writing partner, Maxim Langstaff met.
“A gifted teacher, Johnny’s unusual fluency crosses virtually every genre, embracing jazz, folk, blues, classical, tin-pan-ally, rock, country, pop, R&B, and the American songbook. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mozart, Gershwin, the Carter Family, Marvin Gaye, or the Beatles. He knows it and can play it. A gifted writer, his keen insight into our inner lives makes his work resonate with unusual authenticity and empathy.”
A former Hospice pastor, Johnny now lives near Mt. Vernon, Washington.