econstories.tv

John Papola is an award winning producer/director in broadcast entertainment and marketing. He is currently a creative executive at Spike TV in their industry-leading brand group. He previously worked for MTV Animation series development and Nickelodeon’s on-air creative group. John graduated from Penn State University with a BA in film and video production.

The financial and economic crisis and a general concern for the future that comes with being a new dad, sparked an intense interest in economics and the business cycle. John was introduced to Hayek and the “Austrian” perspective on economics and the business cycle by reading Henry Hazlitt’s “Economics in One Lesson”. His reading and, in theory, his understanding has expanded with subsequent study.

John has his commute (and Russ Roberts via econtalk.org) to thank for whatever economics understanding he purports to have. It’s amazing how much one can learn with 3 hours of public transit per day and an iPhone packed with audio books and podcasts. He’s still learning... and always will be.

Samples of his directing work are available on his web site johnpapola.com.

John blogs about economics and philosophy at butwhatthehelldoiknow.com.

Russell Roberts is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center, and a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Roberts is the host of the weekly podcast series, EconTalk and blogs at Cafe Hayek.

His latest book is The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity (Princeton University Press, 2008). Told in the form of a novel, it’s the story of how prosperity is created and sustained, and the unseen order and harmony that shape our daily lives.

He is also the author of The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance (MIT Press, 2001) a novel on public policy issues. His first novel, The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (Prentice Hall, 3rd ed., 2006) was named one of the top ten books of the year by Business Week and one of the best books of the year by the Financial Times when it was first published in 1994.

Before coming to George Mason University, Roberts was at Washington University in St. Louis where he was the founding director of the Center for Experiential Learning at the John M. Olin School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy. Roberts has also taught at the University of Rochester, Stanford University, and UCLA.

The Productioneers is the product of the married-media-mavens John Papola and Lisa Versaci. Our goal with the company is to deliver the highest quality content development and production for all media platforms while bringing together the best creative talent to do so.

As evangelic users of the latest technology, we believe in pushing the envelop with production tools and techniques. From developing new editing workflows with Final Cut Pro to shooting with the RED digital cinema camera, we’re always ready to work on the bleeding edge of production technology in pursuit of the . After all... we’re geeks.

Our focus and expertise is in live action and animation production and post production. We are ready to partner on virtually any creative enterprise from national commerical spots, to network promotion, to long-form TV & film production, to online and interactive content.

Come check out our work at www.theproductioneers.com

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is a research and education organization that works with scholars, students, policy experts, and government officials to connect academic learning and real-world practice. Our mission is to generate knowledge and understanding of how institutions affect the freedom to prosper and find creative solutions to overcome barriers that prevent individuals from living free, prosperous, and peaceful lives. Mercatus works to advance knowledge about how markets work to improve our lives by training graduate students, conducting research, and applying sound economics to offer solutions to society’s most pressing problems. You can learn more about the Mercatus Center at mercatus.org and its Financial Markets Working Group at mercatus.org/fmwg.