Meet the Cast and Crew Print


Brenda Barrie (Co-Host) comes to Pedal America relishing her daily bicycle commute and rides along northern Indiana's Tippecanoe River.  As a Chicago-based actor The Chicago Tribune featured Brenda as one of Chicago's Rising Stars. Shortly after completing a BFA, she earned three Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations for Lead Actress and two "Jeff" nominations as an ensemble member.  She worked on FOX's Chicago Code and performed in independent films like L Train and Mass Romantic. Brenda is passionate about bringing people together to celebrate the strength and vulnerability of the human spirit.  On riding, Brenda says, “bicycling has become far too central to allow a little snow to garage my ride.”  She looks forward to winter with her first set of cold weather bicycle gear even though she says it makes her look like a Power Ranger. That’s just fine by us!  Pedal America’s production company Out-Write Media, LLC is an Equal Mighty Morphin Employer.
 
 
 
 



Danni Washington (Co-Host) is a seasoned on-camera personality with Untamed Science and most recently, Ocean GEMS, a multimedia series and outreach program connecting youth with marine scientist mentors and role models. In 2013 she co-starred with Jaden Smith in a video that introduced cutting-edge information and lesson plans for educators about global change inspired by the theatrical film After Earth starring Jaden and his dad, actor Will Smith. A Miami native with Jamaican roots, Danni graduated from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science with a B.Sc. in Marine Science/Biology. She co-founded The Big Blue & You, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating youth about ocean conservation through the arts and media. Danni encourages young women everywhere to do what the world says can’t be done by females. “Push the envelope! Be unapologetic about your ambition and naturally beautiful while doing it,” she says. When she isn’t snorkeling with whale sharks or scuba diving with giant manta rays, she advocates for women and young girls of her generation to live fearless and self-accepting lives. An avid scuba diver, stand-up paddle-boarder, and beach bike cruiser, Danni is always ready for an adventure.
 
 
 


Kati Lightholder (Co-Host) began her career behind the scenes of video production working as a producer for corporate communications and film projects including Smart People, Love & Other Drugs, and The Haunting Hour. Her television production credits include The Kill Point and Locke & Key. Most recently, she produced The Mercury Men series for SyFy.com. In front of the camera, Kati has appeared in several commercials, independent films, and TV series including a pilot of Greg and Donny for the Independent Film Channel. Kati holds a degree in communications from Allegheny College where she also studied dance and art as it relates to the environment. Her passions include nutrition, Zumba and mountain biking with her husband. She lives in Pittsburgh. "Go Pens!"
 
 
 

 
 
 

  
Stephanie Rabiola (Unit Production Manager) has worked on more than thirty independent projects, developing and honing her skills as a filmmaker. One of her most recent includes the feature film, One Small Hitch, filmed in both Chicago and Los Angeles. She also co-created and directed One Day, Two Legends, a feature length documentary telling the story of the day The Beatles met Elvis, featuring Joe Esposito. A true Chicagoan, Stephanie explored childhood ambitions of acting and singing in the theater, but it wasn't until she attended Columbia College Chicago that she discovered her true love – tv and film production from behind the scenes. Stephanie claims she has a fear of treadmills. That's okay… running around as a production manager offers a much greater workout.
 
 
 
 
 


Peter Pilafian (Videographer)
has five Emmy™ nominations and two Emmy™ wins, one for ABC Sports' Triumph On Mt. Everest. Among many others, he's also earned two ACE Nominations, First Prize Amsterdam Film Festival, and First Prize Houston Festival. Production credits include four seasons with CBS's Survivor; Mark Burnett's  Eco-Challenge, New Zealand; HBO's The Larry Sanders Show; History Channel's Avalanche Control Patrol; Discovery Channel's Moments In Time; and "The Official Film" for Bud Greenspan at both the 2002 and 2004 Olympics in Salt Lake City and Athens, Greece, respectively. Peter uses the camera "as a tool to express the story and to express the relationships, with the same kinds of angles and compositions and movements and interpretation that brings power to narrative pieces."
 
 
 
 
 
 


Andrew Friend (Videographer) is an Emmy™ nominated videographer and lighting technician. He's worked in public television for over a decade. While a staffer at WYCC-TV 20 (2002-2011), he shot hundreds of programs, ranging from studio talk shows like The Professors to complex, Emmy™-winning documentaries like Curators of Culture and Chicago Sinfonietta-The Sounds of Diversity. He was the principal videographer for the multiple-award-winning film Immigrant Nation! The Battle For the Dream. He is a producer for Chicago grass-roots video organization Labor Beat. Friend's own documentary film Workers' Republic garnered the John Michaels Human Rights Film Award at the 2010 Big Muddy Film Festival. He loves "painting with light," slow-motion and time lapse photography, and creating an emotionally compelling invisible story arc in his documentary work.
 
 
 

 

 
Wil Masisak (Production Sound Mixer) has spent 40+ years recording for music and film on both sides of the microphone. On one end, he's worked as a Downbeat Magazine and Scholastic Press award-winning composer, recording artist, and quasi rock star musician on tour. As a record producer, studio engineer, production sound mixer, and sound editor, his portfolio includes 2001 Independents Record of the Year winner "New American Language" by Dan Bern and the IJBC; production sound for the multiple-festival awarded film In The Name Of The Son; television work for NBC, Discovery, MTV, Sci-Fi, direcTV, TLC, and sound mixing for the upcoming Paramount feature, Area 51.
 
 
 
 
 
  

 
Erik Pedtke (Production Assistant and Digital Imaging Technician) joined Pedal America as an intern shortly after graduating from Columbia College, Chicago with his BA in Television Directing and Production. Initially hired to slate scenes, schlep equipment, hold light stanchions, and drive the production van, he quickly revealed his ability to use our cameras. Eventually he grew into a third camera operator, capturing breathtaking B-roll images with a Canon 5-D. He spends most of his evenings organizing and transferring video footage onto hard-drives, a highly important and meticulous skill. Between shoot locations he enjoys driving the production van in treacherous snowstorms across Wyoming mountain passes…well, that's what we tell him.