Craig Steiner-The spawn of rebellious colonists, Craig L. Steiner has been working in the film industry since 1987, when he made his debut as an extra. Since then he has held many positions, most of them plebian, and can proudly say he's mastered the art of buying donuts, making photocopies, handing out multi-colored pieces of paper, and making endless revisions to scripts, schedules, budgets, and petty cash envelopes. He likes to plan projects around the places he's never been. He also likes nagging directors, especially Matt, and plotting against airline companies that try to ruin his itinerary by leaving all his equipment in the wrong country. He loves waking in one time zone and then, many hours later, collapsing in an entirely different one. He enjoys being stranded by himself in foreign countries, surrounded by native purists who claim no knowledge of what he thought was the Universal Language. He especially loves nodding blandly to people who are supposed to be speaking English, but who have such thick Irish dialects that he's convinced they're not speaking anything at all. He really likes filming on sets that aren't there and shooting scripts that haven't been written.

Ancestors, for Craig, has been most fulfilling in all these areas, and even included unprecedented bonus experiences, like getting lost in the middle of the night on the wrong side of the road in Northern Ireland's maze of streets, only to arrive at his bed-and-breakfast to find his suitcase in the hall and his room let to someone else. He hopes everyone likes the show, and demands a sequel, so he'll have something else to do once the series finally makes it on the air. In the meantime, he looks forward to meeting his pillow again after what feels like an endless and adventurous separation from his sleep.

Truly, Craig has loved working on Ancestors. He feels a great sense of mission regarding the project, convinced that it will help many people find and connect with their ancestors. He is most grateful for Marcy Brown's incredible vision, which gave birth to the project, and for John Reim's support, leadership, and willingness to risk giving him money in order that the series could be created. He is grateful to Matt Whitaker, for taking Marcy's vision and crafting it into wonderfully heart-warming and instructional programs. He is grateful for all the magnanimous people who participated in this project, on both sides of the camera, and on both sides of production. Many, many people came together to create these programs.

Finally, he wishes to thank the crew who agreed to follow their "Group Leader" around the world, capturing the images and sounds that would become Ancestors. They poured their hearts and souls into a project that had the unexpected dividend of introducing them to some of the world's most amazing people. A handful of foreign coins and a few photographs are the tokens of what has been, for everyone involved, a life-changing and incredible experience.

In the end, Craig has one great hope: that everyone who sees the series, will then discover their own family, and connect with their own ancestors-because that really is what it's all about.

Executive Producer-
John L. Reim

Executive Producer-
Marcy Brown

Producer-
Craig Steiner

Director-
Matt Whitaker

Host-
Scott Wilkinson

Instructional Design-
Jim Tyrrell

Other Team
Members