Chris O'Callaghan (18) had begun filmmaking at the age of 10, using his father's camera to make small, comedic skits. Seven years later, he has gained a ton of experience in filmmaking, having starred in two school productions, "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" and "OZ", and also having attended acting classes hosted by Elisabeth Ebbels. This aspiring director wrote his first feature screenplay at the age of 14, followed up by two others since then. "Gradient" is the first of O'Callaghan's four previous productions that has been submitted to a film festival, having been created primarily for his high school film class. As of September 2014, the director is drafting a treatment for a film he plans to produce in 2015. He is incredibly grateful that his film has been accepted into Calgary's Youth by Youth Cinema Competiton.
"Gradient" is the first film that Siera Knight has starred in. This nineteen-year-old had first gained acting experience by starring in three school productions, "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" and two singing roles including "Into the Woods" and "OZ". Having been the captain of her junior high improv team, Knight recieved the "Junior High School Outstanding Dramatic Performance" award. Since then, she had commenced her writing career, receiving certificates in writing advanced fiction, mystery, and sitcom. Currently, Knight is working towards publishing her own novel and plans to produce her first short film in 2015.
Joining a high school film class when he was fifteen, Thomas Jacquard (18) took a keen interest in directing and acting. During his three year occupation in this class, he has worked on four short films, including "Gradient", drawing on experience from other cast and crew members. His acting debut, "Tonic Sand", was created alongside director Chris O'Callaghan. Jacquard has also starred in a short called "Titles by Handsworth", where he helped monitor the other cast members, and also took the role as the co-director and cinematographer. While functioning as a cinematographer on "Gradient", he wrote a short documentary piece entitled "An Eastern Bias on Classic Western Cinema".