About Us
Writers of The Storm is a collection of long time friends who have decided to turn their creative energies towards cinematic story telling.
About Us
January 01, 2007
Michael Packer
Michael was born in Indianapolis and grew up in rural Greenfield, Indiana. There he became active in the high-school Drama Club and student newspaper.
With a focus on art in high-school, he went on to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At SAIC he studied in the fine arts programs while also dabbling in the time arts classes, delving heavily into video editing and image manipulation.
Returning to Indiana, Michael went on to spend time as a music journalist and photographer for a local paper and city related websites (Nuvo, IndianapolisMusic.Net, IndyScribe, IndyGoth). In Indianapolis, Michael works for an education publisher as a software user interface designer. Michael is also enrolled in the School of Informatics at Indiana University-Purdue University and is studying video game design.
In addition to playing in a local punk rock band, Michael enjoys web design, plenty of video games, palm trees, and roller derby. Lately he has taken up painting and comic illustration and has launched his own portfolio and store website.
Dan Van Duyn
In a post apocalyptic world, one man would create a machine that would destroy the summit of a humanity's fears and dreams, and that would be THE ROBOT THAT---oh wait, I am getting ahead of myself.
Dan Van Duyn was born the youngest of four children to a rural family 20 miles east of Indianapolis. Early in his childhood he took to reading and writing, enjoying stories of all types. At this young age he met WJ on a school bound bus one morning, and they became fast and enduring friends.
Throughout the later years of Middle and High school, WJ and Dan's similar interests and attitudes in life helped them form a creative and comedic bond, which only cemented their friendship further. They would make up ad-lib short stories, seeing who could outdo one another in outlandishness of plot device and inventiveness of plot turns. High school saw this creative tension develop into skit comedy in drama class, both in improvisational comedy and comedic vignettes, as well as the epic story "Mad Tiff: Beyond Hoosier Dome" (althought honestly WJ created virtually all of the plot content).
During the college years, Dan and WJ split briefly to explore their separate paths. Dan worked toward a degree in education as well as in world history. During off times, Dan would try his hand at writing narrative prose in the form of adventure short stories.
After graduating with a BA in Secondary Education, Dan grew frustrated with the politics of teaching, and decided to strike at a more creative career path. Luckily for Dan, WJ has started the beginnings of a truly great writing partnership, Writers of the Storm. In this partnership WJ has given Dan the opportunity to join this incredibly talented ring of individuals to produce some of the most original and high quality material the film industry has yet to see.
Stuart Ough
He writes. He manages. He writes some more.
Stuart hold a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction which gives him a unique approach and perspective to people, technology, the world in general, and writing.
Mark Arnoldi
Mark Arnoldi was born and raised in Northern Virginia. His first exposure to the entertainment industry was in 4th grade when he attended a school play, and was immediately hooked. The following year he was performing on stage while running for class president.
In middle school he participated in the drama club before joining model U.N. Model U.N. offered him an arena where he was able to practice and hone his acting skills while trying to persuade his peers in debate. He won multiple awards participating in Model U.N. in middle and high school. While attending Northern Virginia Community College, where he earned his Associates Degree in Business, he had an opportunity to take several acting and theater classes adding to his desire to act in film.
Already an avid film fan, Mark decided to try his hand in the film industry in 2007 by hosting Tenbu’s first Akibafest concert. He worked on three subsequent Akibafest concerts with Tenbu, as well as acting in two films and taking on a producer role in a music video.
With a degree from the National Automobile Dealers Association, which provided him the tools to run and manage all aspects of a multi-million dollar business, as well as over 10 years of business experience managing a new and used car sales force, a multi-million dollar inventory, and the handling of marketing and advertising, producing came as second nature to Mark.
Mark met Director W.J. Greffey in 2010 and their mutual passion of the film industry, along with their similar goals, lead to Mark joining Writers of the Storm.
W. Joseph Greffey
Wenford Joseph Greffey (W.J.) was born in Indianapolis Indiana on April 4th, 1973. At a young age, he took to reading and writing. In elementary school, he wrote his first story, and from then on he could not hold back his imagination. Movies, theatre, and television became his world. At a young age, he followed in his brothers’ footsteps, and enrolled at Culver Military Academy. He believed that he would eventually join the army as his father did, but while at the academy, he attended a theatre production and had a vision of his future.
In the fifth grade, he landed a lead role in his first play, "The Electric Sunshine Man" and from that moment on he was hooked. He knew then he had to act. He tried out for several plays while in school, and decided to study Theatre Fine Arts Performance in college. W.J. traveled to Washington D.C. to live with his brother while he attended college. While studying in Northern Virginia W.J. landed Lead roles in several productions including “Hello Out There” and “Black Comedy”
W.J. left Washington D.C. after being accepted to Ball State University to study theatre. While in school, W.J. would enjoy evenings with his friends playing miniature games such as Warhammer, and they would constantly watch movies. In his second year at Ball State, W.J. landed a paid acting job in a summer stock theatre. He played the role of Miles Gloriosis in the musical, "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum." This started his acting career. Soon to follow would be other acting jobs as Leads, and as a character actor.
Throughout the years to follow W.J. learned that acting wasn't enough anymore. In 1997 he chose to pursue his second dream and become a writer. He approached his friends and asked them to work with him in creating an Authoring Production House. They loved the idea, and W.J. knew that in working with the most creative minds he had ever known, they could not fail. In 2006, Writers of the Storm became a reality.
In 2008 W.J. decided to explore film production, and produced and directed his first feature film “Pray for Dawn.” After the project’s success, W.J. felt he wanted to expand the Company to more than just a think tank. Since 2009, Writers of the Storm LLC, under the direction of W.J., and with the aid of his newest partner Mark Arnoldi, has completed four short films. Fox Hunt is the newest in a long line of Projects that Writers of the Storm will be undertaking in the near future.
Who We Are
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W. Joseph Greffey President & Chief Executive Officer |
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Stuart Ough Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer |
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Mark Arnoldi Vice President & Chief Operating Officer |
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Dan Van Duyn Writer |
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Michael Packer Writer |