The Team
The Shepherds Studios, is a cutting edge bespoke global multimedia entertainment enterprise solution inclusive of all platforms: films, tv, games, publishing, technology, software, consumer products, and other interactive solutions as they roll out to market.
We believe stories can be expanded and extended on an iterative basis. The resulting products are then monetized into multimedia IP franchise empires. We intend to create high quality products in all applicable industries across all relevant platforms in the various industries below to optimize the IPs lifeline while increasing revenues across the board overall.
Jefferson Keith Langley
Chairman of The Shepherds Studios
Jefferson Keith Langley is an accomplished entrepreneur, business and entertainment, writer, director, and producer with over 20 years of experience in film, TV, tech, games, real estate development, sports and various other industries with successful profits across all endeavors. He was featured in LA Weekly's Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year Making an Impact in 2023.
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Founded and served as President of Production & Development at AD Entertainment, a creative film fund backed by Silicon Valley investors.
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Random Acts of Violence - Writer, Director, & Producer - raised all the financing, with an art house theatrical release and sold to The Asylum for a profit
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Not Forgotten - Developed, packaged at ICM, produced and raised the financing - released 1,700 screens & sold across the world recouping the investment, turning a profit through it’s run all the way to VOD
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The Great Upside Down - Producer - winner of the Japanese Film Festival starring well known names Ethan Embry, Brian Klugman and other up and comer names leading to financial recoupment and notoriety
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Received acclaim for a music video for worldwide electronic music artist The Crystal Method, “Bad Stone” which caught the eyes of top execs at MTV as an up and coming music video director. He was selected to be the co-star for a reality pilot show called Home Grown Videos
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VANQUISH FC - Co-Owner, Manager, semi-pro football club sponsored by Land Rover Jaguar and parent company multi billion dollar Pendragon
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Real Estate Developer and Renovator with multi million dollar revenues on numerous projects with a high net worth investor who is the largest builder in the country.
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Partnered with a billionaire & one of the largest developers in America buying and renovating houses
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Co-owner of an energy drink with Metta World Peace (Ron Artest from LA Lakers) - secured financing, pitched, and picked up by grocery stores on the west coast
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Advisor / Consultant to help entrepreneurs start successful businesses including Vibrant Cafe, Tara Hirschberg Jewelry, Titan Subsea Innovations (oil & gas pipeline), Michael Golden, artist brands and other successes that have turned millions of profitability.
Wayne Carmona
Head of The Shepherds Studios
Wayne Carmona is an award winning producer, showrunner, art director, production manager, first A.D., writer, and inventor with over 30 years of experience in Film and TV. He holds 3 patents for motion picture hardware and has earned the 2006 PGA Award for Producer of the Year, 4 Emmy nominations, and 1 Golden Globe nomination.
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Entourage - HBO - Producer - becoming one of HBO’s top shows in history with a viewership of over 3.8 million an episode at its peak
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The Last Ship - Producer seasons 2-5 with approximately $150 million total for all 4 seasons. Came in and “corrected the ship” after season 1, reducing a $7 million over bloated budget to a savings of $2 million
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Seal Team - Producer - CBS. $65 million dollar budget per season.
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You - Producer for seasons 2 and 3 - Netflix. Took $100 million budget at the beginning of season 2 and corrected $3 million over run.
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Con Air - Producer (uncredited) - directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer starring Nic Cage and grossing $224 million worldwide
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Knox Goes Away in theaters starring Michael Keaton, Al Pacino, and James Marsden
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Producer for over 5,000 commercials
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Producer for hundreds of music videos including Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls
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Created auto-record system for motion picture cameras
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Holder of 3 patents for motion picture hardware
Mark Kenji Gonzales
Head of Creative & Development
Mark Kenji Gonzales is an award winning artist, creative director, and entrepreneur, spending over a decade in the mobile game industry. He’s also consulted for board game publishers and musicians all over the world.
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Global AAA game studio Kabam, lead their internal art team and oversaw contractors for two multi-million dollar grossing titles, Castle Age and Underworld Empire, exceeding projected revenue. Built multiple internal titles from scratch that also went on to successful runs for the studio
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Redesigned board game for the beloved children’s dice game RUMMs by KOSMOS, a top German publishing house for almost 200 years and well known for Settlers of Catan
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Art for TheFatRat’s Close to the Sun, 2019 with over 45 million views on Youtube, leading to an expansion into NFT collectibles being sold across the world
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NHK’s Somewhere Street - presenter for episode feat. Silicon Valley, broadcasted nationwide in Japan
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Rude Sleeping Beauty - Co-creator and Layout Artist
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Winner for Best Animated Short, LA International Film Festival 2020
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Best Animation, LA Sun Film Fest 2020
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Best Animated Short, Roma Short Film Festival 2020
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Best Character Design, International Cosmopolitan Film Festival of Tokyo 2020
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Hallow Road Digital - IP Co-Creator
Scott Simon
Head of Product & Strategic Partnerships
Scott Simon is a high-performing creative and strategic leader, who combines long-term vision with the ability to execute complex projects from inception to delivery. With a career spanning gaming, entertainment, and digital media, he has built products, campaigns, and strategic partnerships that connect audiences and drive measurable growth. He's an expert in crafting cinematic identities and brand experiences from concept to launch.
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Led creative direction and product development for IGL City, an open-world gaming experience, and Beast Run, a competitive mobile gaming competition.
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Onboarded over 7,000 users to IGL City through his strategic coming to market social media campaign, resulting in a 21% conversion rate and 531% increase to the email subscription list.
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Creative Director for visuals that resonate across generations:
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Daddio, starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn, designed pre and post-production marketing materials distributed through Sony and seen by worldwide audiences.
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Keyart on 50+ films distributed through Amazon Prime and Hallmark/Lifetime.
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Master P, executing creative direction and strategy implementation for high-profile social campaigns.
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Forged strategic partnerships with Polygon Blockchain, Near Protocol, Stardust, Woojer, and Bic, positioning IGL City as a metaverse-ready brand.
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Facilitates strategic partnerships in the influencer, AI, and technology development sectors outside of his work with The Shepherd Studios.
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Has spent the last decade leading teams in product development, game development, and post-production, scaling IP into consumer facing markets.
Mark Clemens
Head of Gaming & New Business
Mark Clemens is a video game industry veteran with over three decades of experience working with some of the biggest publishers and most iconic franchises in gaming. Known for his ability to bring high-profile licenses to market and spot breakout hits, Mark’s career spans major studios, blockbuster collaborations, and global successes.
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Helped establish Redstorm Entertainment (co-owned by Tom Clancy), launching the first Rainbow Six game before the studio’s acquisition by Ubisoft.
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Worked with THQ, Midway Games, 505 Games, and Mindscape on globally recognized gaming properties.
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Collaborated with John Woo and Chow Yun Fat to create Stranglehold, the video game sequel to Woo’s cult-classic action film Hard Boiled.
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Brought Cooking Mama to market for 505 Games, leading to its status as a global hit.
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Secured the first-ever publishing deal for Dog Man, the 70-million-selling book series by Dav Pilkey — Dog Man: Mission Impawsible became a worldwide bestseller for Mindscape.
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Received industry sales awards for surpassing 500,000 units sold of Happy Feet, based on the Warner Bros. hit movie.
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Managed major licensed franchises including WWE, Mortal Kombat, and Lego.
Advisory Board
Mary Lou Espinoza
Advisor / Strategic Endeavors
Mary Lou brings over two decades of expertise in banking, lending, and real estate, with a career that spans major financial institutions, boutique brokerages, and entrepreneurial ventures. She has held key positions as an account manager, supervisor, and wholesale account executive with industry leaders such as Wells Fargo, GMAC/Homecomings Financial, First Franklin Financial, and Deutsche Bank. Her experience also includes working with both small, specialized brokerages and globally recognized brands like Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty.
As the founder and owner of Entente Homes, Mary Lou successfully operated her own real estate brokerage for four years, sharpening her leadership and deal-making skills. Early in her career, she gained valuable experience working with renowned motivational speaker Tony Robbins in corporate sales and finance, building a strong foundation in business strategy and performance.
Mary Lou earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and is recognized as a tenacious negotiator with uncompromising standards. Outside of her work with The Shepherds Studio, she brokers deals across residential, commercial, and land development projects, navigating competitive markets with insight and precision.
*Real estate investments / developments *Strategic partners and relationships
Russell Wald
Executive Director of Stanford HAI
Russell Wald is a recognized leader in AI governance and policy. Wald has spent over a decade at the intersection of technology, society, and governance — focused on ensuring that transformative technologies are developed and deployed responsibly to improve the human condition. Wald is at the forefront of AI policy, balancing innovation, security, and human-centered values in a rapidly evolving landscape.
As Executive Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), Wald leads HAI’s efforts to bridge academia, public policy, and civil society. Wald oversees HAI’s research, education, and outreach missions, guiding initiatives that foster collaboration, innovation, and thoughtful AI governance.
He is the co-author of various publications on AI including, Building a National AI Research Resource (2021), Enhancing International Cooperation in AI Research: The Case for a Multilateral AI Research Institute (2022), The Centrality of Data and Compute for AI Innovation: A Blueprint for a National Research Cloud (2022, Notre Dame Journal of Emerging Technologies). Currently he is part of a HAI seed grant research project titled, Addicted by Design: An Investigation of How AI-fueled Digital Media Platforms Contribute to Addictive Consumption. Additionally, he serves as a member of the AI Index Steering Committee, hosted by HAI.
Wald has held various policy program and government relations positions at Stanford University for over a decade. He also served as special assistant to Amy Zegart and Ashton Carter at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). In 2014, he co-designed and led the inaugural Stanford congressional boot camp, and has since created numerous tech policy boot camps, establishing a strong and effective tradition of educating policymakers at Stanford and enhancing the collaboration between governments and academic institutions.
Prior to his work at Stanford, he held numerous roles with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a Visiting Fellow with the National Security Institute at George Mason University, and a former Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Truman National Security Project. Wald is a graduate of UCLA.