JOHN MCCULLAH
Host / Producer of Dirt Time
John McCullah, CPESC, is a passionate educator and leader in the erosion and sediment control & watershed restoration fields.
John has hosted over 30 episodes of Dirt Time - an educational, reality-based television show devoted to erosion control and stormwater management.
As the president of Salix Applied Earthcare, John consults on watershred restoration projects around the world. He is the creator of the E-SenSS, Erosion Draw 5.0 and Bio Draw 3.0 programs.
John is the founder and director of the Sacramento Watersheds Action Group (SWAG), a non-profit watershed restoration organization in Redding, CA. He is also an instructor of Erosion Control and Watershed Restoration at Shasta College.
John received a BS degree in Watershed Management from Humboldt State University in 1984, and he became a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control in 1988.
He currently teaches courses internationally on topics ranging from NPDES Phase II Compliance to Environmentally-Sensitive Streambank Stabilization.
JAMES SWIRSKY
Director / Producer of Dirt Time
James Swirsky has been professionally producing film and video projects for the past ten years.
After earning a degree in Film Studies along with a Bachelors of Commerce from the University of Manitoba (2000), James proceeded to study Cinematography from the Vancouver Film School. In 2005, James graduated from the I.H. Asper School of Business in the University of Manitoba with a Masters of Business Graduate Degree.
After a brief tenure in the video game industry, James founded BlinkWorks.
Among many others, BlinkWorks has produced projects for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), The Alaskan Department of Fish & Wildlife, Alberta Department of Infrastructure and Transportation, Waste Management, The Children’s Wish Foundation, New Media Manitoba, Qualico Homes, Profile Products and many more.
In 2004 and 2005, James was the back-to-back recipient of the Best Short Film Award at the National Screen Institute’s National Exposure Film Festival. Many of his films have been exhibited in commercial theaters (paired with major Hollywood releases) and on national television.
In 2005, James was introduced to John McCullah, an educational professional within the erosion and sediment control industry. The two immediately hit it off and decided to collaborate. The result was Dirt Time - an educational, reality-based television show devoted to erosion control and stormwater management. Dirt Timehas been a rousing success; bringing a form of education not seen before to an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds.
In the spring of 2007, James received a call from the offices of both Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The Hollywood producers were calling to inform James that he had been selected from a pool of 14,000 applicants as one of the top 80 candidates for the reality show: On the Lot. Although he ultimately did not make it on air, the audition process led to the creation of the short film Goiter.
For more information on James and Blinkworks, visit: www.blink-works.com