Knowing our backstory is a key element to understanding why we do what we do.
At Reliant, we have brought together a caring, creative team whose diversity is as important as its expertise. Combine film, education, psychology, and marketing, and mix in hearts for serving…that’s Reliant.
Mike Sukraw • CEO
I sat down a couple of years ago and tried to count how many times I’d moved – 34 is the number of moves that I could remember between birth and the age of 23. No military. No job relocating. We were just always on the lookout for something “perfectly ideal.”
I’ve been conditioned to pursue the ideal in everything. When I let that pursuit get out of control, people (myself included) get hurt. But when used within proper boundaries, the pursuit of idealism is what pushes myself and the rest of the team to seek excellence. So that’s what I do. I try to cast the vision that allows us to reach our potential and to impact our clients in big ways.
So why authenticity? I’ll just say that I was impacted by people in my life who chose to maintain a false reality in order to manage their wounds. This deception caused me to crave honesty and transparency later in life. It turns out there are a lot of other people out there that crave the same thing – in relationships with people and companies. People don’t seem to desire fabrication as much as they used to. People want what’s real.
Kristin Sukraw • President
I was always a listener. Being an introvert who valued close relationships with my friends, I would often find myself tucked away at a coffee shop listening to someone’s story and trying to help them make sense of it. This natural ability lead me to pursue a Master’s degree in counseling.
I love to apply my psychology background to help organizations tell their stories through video. In essence, it is the same thing – listening, learning, asking the right questions, and guiding people to conclusions that will hopefully help change their lives (or their organizations) for the better.
I’m married to Mike, Reliant’s CEO, and we have a lot of fun building the company and working through challenges together!
Ellen Kohl • Story Producer
I am a native Texan who is still getting used to the Nebraska winters! Professionally, I have worked for many years as an Art Director, which is how I originally met the Reliant team!
As a creative person, I always want to know more about the “why,” especially why people do what they do. I am a curious person, and I find people fascinating! I love to ask questions to find out all the information I can about a project or to get to know someone in a more personal way.
So, as the Story Producer for Reliant, I get to ask those questions and find the most interesting aspects for our stories. I have the best job, because every day I get to hear what’s on people’s hearts, and I come away so inspired and encouraged! (I also have to self-edit whenever I write because I use too many emojis and exclamation points!)
Mickey Seiler • Editor
It was a warm summer evening in the late 1980’s, much like any other, when I saw my first PG-rated movie. As my parental guides powered up the new, sparkling VCR, anticipation began to build. The colorful label on the VHS read, Back to the Future. For the next 2 hours and 6 minutes I was completely mesmerized. As the ending credits rolled, and just before we were going to be kind and rewind, I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with my life. Yes, I had been bitten by the movie bug. My soul had been stirred and I vowed then and there that I would be a part of bringing great stories to living rooms everywhere. Stories that would touch peoples hearts. Take them on astounding journeys. Stories of hope, love, loss and redemption. I also wanted a flying DeLorean.
Jump forward 25 years. Life is good! I’m blessed to be living out one of those dreams each and every day. It’s amazing to be able to edit together stories worth telling. And Honda Accords are dependable.
Karl Birchley • Director / DP
Karl hails from the east coast of Australia. With a background in VFX and a keen eye for in-camera visuals, he serves as one of our go-to directors.
Because of that he’s an invaluable resource for giving vision to a project from ideation through post production. When he is not directing a project, Karl serves as Reliant’s cinematographer.
Alex Marsh • Office Administrator
I was born and raised in Lincoln and love living life in Nebraska! I have a customer service background and love working with and helping people. I like keeping things simple and organized and take pride in thinking through and creating systems that work.
I have always loved film and stories so it's super fun to now be a part of the creative team at Reliant and help move projects along!
Bill Griepenstroh • Director
Back in college I tried to get famous with my friends on YouTube and didn’t succeed but along the way I discovered I had a passion for creating videos. I figured out that I wanted to learn how to make beautiful videos that told powerful stories more than I wanted likes or views. So I set the YouTube dream aside and replaced it with a new dream of converting my passion into a career.
That began a journey of taking whatever opportunities I could find, which meant years of sweat-drenched production days, countless nights editing until 2AM, and enough cups of coffee to fill an ocean. Along the way I kept learning and growing, and my passion for video production only grew stronger.
Now, over a decade and hundreds of projects later my work has been full of growth and adventures I would have never imagined all over the country and all over the world. I feel like my best work is still to come, and as a Director at Reliant Studios I get to pursue that with an incredibly talented team that’s just as passionate about good stories as I am. It’s truly a dream job and I’m so excited to create art and tell powerful stories for our amazing clients!
Jacob Muff • Equipment and Media Manager
When I was thirteen years old, I watched the movie Interstellar for the first time. I was enraptured by its emotional storytelling and incredible visuals (even though at the time I had no idea how to put that into words). From that moment on, I knew I wanted to make movies. Now, as a Production Intern at Reliant Studios and a film student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I’m thrilled to be on the way to making that dream a reality.
I absolutely love being involved in making a film or video project in any capacity. My friends know I’ve arrived on a film set when they hear me shout “We’re making a movie! I love movies!” I’m extremely thankful to be working with the amazing team at Reliant to tell compelling stories.
Jamie Pent • Editor
My career as a filmmaker has allowed me to work across the United States and around the world. From New York to Nepal, from California to Cambodia and many places in between. But life has a funny way of circling me back home which is where I’m based now in Kansas City.
Over a decade into my career, I continue to be blown away by the power of story to connect people, change the way they think, & move them to action. I love that I get to take part in telling some of the most significant stories of people’s lives.
When I’m not editing, I love to cook, bake, go to the movies, read a good novel and am obsessed with CrossFit.
Avery Clark • Associate Producer
From the rural villages of Southern India capturing stories of hope, to the cholla covered plains of Colorado riding horseback documenting western conservation, to Mexico City filming a documentary on the water crisis, I’ve been lucky to seek and find beauty in humanity around the world.
Most of all, I am who I am because of my shared experiences with people different than me. I am built by the unique ways of life I have been graciously accepted and trusted into, to document. I believe images and story move us to action, and action instigates change. I believe change is imperative to society and the understanding of perspectives from people unlike ourselves. And where there is change, hope is found. I’m just lucky to be a part of it.