Erika Gardner-Baxter   Co-Founder/Producer

Erika is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She began performing at the age of four as a gymnast and classical pianist. She continued to compete and play concerts through high school winning numerous regional and national awards. She attended The Baltimore Actors' Theatre Conservatory for high school. There she performed in many musical stage productions like Babes in Toyland, Jesus Christ Superstar, Kismet, the long running Phantom of the Opera and several children's shows as well.

Erika moved to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University. Erika says she knew she was home the minute she stepped off the plane when she was 18. She graduated from LMU with a BA in Theatre Arts and a Minor in Dance Kinesiology. Erika worked in various capacities performing at Universal Studios, as a stage technician at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center and as a stand-in on television shows and movies. She also performed at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood and was on the Artistic Board as Treasurer for four years. Some of her productions at NOTE include The Not-So-Marvelous Adventures of Swell Boy and A Mulholland Christmas Carol. She also performed in the critically acclaimed stage musical of The Poseidon Adventure at the Tamarind Theatre.

In 2002, Erika took her love of producing theatre, to film. She founded Dreaming Dog Entertainment with partner Frank Crim and they produced their first short, Blonde. The name, Dreaming Dog was stumbled upon during a meeting where her dog, Chief, was asleep nearby, obviously dreaming with his legs moving and loud wimpering.  At that moment, the idea that we will never know what a dog dreams sparked our imaginations to infinity. 

Erika has also produced for other companies like Fireweed Inc., The Miss Universe Organization, The Gurin Company, Women in Film and Vista Point Pictures.

Erika spends her free time working with the Silverlake Children's Theatre Group as assistant director and vocal coach. She also works with the Young Filmmakers Academy as a mentor.  You can check out more about Erika at www.erikagardner.com

Frank Crim   Co-Founder/Producer

A veteran actor of Television, Film, Commercials and the Theatre for the past 40 years, Frank served as producer on Dreaming Dog¹s first three shorts, Survivors, Park Your Karma, and Sex Scenes. He wrote and directed the short film BLONDE, which he also helped produce and was an official entrant in The Los Angeles International Shorts Film Festival. On to bigger things, DDE was asked to produce the company's first feature film, ZEN NOIR, which has received several festival awards.  Frank was then cast as Brian "Brick" Lode, the Husky One, in the improvised satire on boy bands called, OUTTA SYNC. After just 3 days on set he took over as a producer, along with his acting duties and then served as Post Production Supervisor on the film as well. 

Frank holds a Bachelor's Degree in Speech and Drama, a Master's Degree in Speech Communication and Theatre, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy, specializing in Theocentric Philosophy.  After college he served as a Technical  Director and Shop Foreman for several theaters, designing sets and lights for many shows, and taught Acting and Improvisation to children ages 3 to 18 in Dallas, Texas for 7 years at the Young Actor's Studio and Performance Center before moving to Los Angeles in 1996.

As an actor, Frank has appeared in numerous network shows including How I Met Your Mother, The George Lopez Show, The Imagination Movers, Malcolm In The Middle, Rodney, The O.C., Judging Amy, Without A Trace, Threat Matrix, Dragnet, Six Feet Under, Felicity, Charmed, Working, and General Hospital, to name a few, and over 50 commercials, national, regional, and local that include Capitol One, Mattel, Continental Airlines, Goodyear, Cingular,Honda, DHL, Toyota, Washington Mutual, Del Taco, The California State Lottery, Church's Fried Chicken, Pennzoil and many more. Currently he is shopping a television sitcom around Hollywood he created about growing up with his five older brothers and is filming his documentary series In Character which features Hollywood character actors from several generations.

In June of 2005, Frank partnered with musician and composer Robert A. Lane to write and produced the medically acclaimed CD: "A Guided Meditation for Stress Relief and Relaxation".  The CD is now available at www.crimson-lane.net and over 40 other websites, including CDBaby.com and iTunes.  At last report, the CD had just passed the 56,000 downloads mark and was recently translated into French, Italian and Japanese.  The support from the medical community for the CD has been overwhelming.  Robert and Frank are currently in the studio working on the next CD, A Guided Meditation for Self Healing. For Frank's complete acting credits go to www.frankcrim.com or www.imdb.com.  For more about the film OUTTA SYNC check out the bands myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/outta_sync anc if you'd like to experience the Stress Relief and Relaxation CD go to www.crimson-lane.net , where you can listen to samples and purchase the CD.