Meet Our Team

Ryan O'Quinn

President, Founder

Mr. O'Quinn is a twenty five year veteran of the entertainment industry and founded Damascus Road Media Group and Damascus Road Productions with a mandate to create high-quality family entertainment with a positive message. He has created, produced and starred in content across all mediums since 1996.

Sony Pictures’ “BELIEVE”, produced by and starring O’Quinn was named “2016 Christian Film of the Year” and outperformed the studio’s highest expectation within the first two months following release. As a result of that film and other successes in the genre, O’Quinn landed an output deal with the studio and continues to consult/advise studios on faith and family programming.

As an actor O’Quinn experienced success in episodic television and feature films beginning in the late 1990s and continued a career as a highly sought-after comedian, speaker and host.

O’Quinn authored the #1 best-selling book Parenting Rules: The Hilarious Handbook for Surviving Parenthood which reached number one in six Amazon categories including “Fastest-selling”, “Parenting”, “Humor” and “Relationships”. His second book was Marriage Rules: The Hilarious Handbook for Surviving Marriage.

O’Quinn also co-founded two successful viral video production and marketing companies. He has been named YouTube Star of the Month, YouTube Star of the Moment and is a regular contributor as a parenting expert on national morning news programs. Buzzfeed named O’Quinn and his producing team among the “Top Parents of the Year that Made us Laugh” and garnered multiple awards including #1 comedy video of the year by a variety of outlets.

He is also CEO of Family Film Fund, LLC and created a system of analytics that predicts the highest ROI scripts based on data from the top earners in the genre over decades in the family vertical. He leads a staff of production and marketing experts with an unparalleled track record of franchise films.

Heather O'Quinn

Executive Vice President

Mrs. O'Quinn is the co-founder and partner at Damascus Road Productions and Vice President of Damascus Road Media Group.

O'Quinn leads the team that oversees content creation as well as distribution platforms for Damascus Road Media Group and Integrity Releasing.

Heather has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1996. She attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA and, over the last 20 years, specialized in celebrity profiles for publications in Los Angeles including Malibu Times Magazine, The Malibu Times as well as a barrage of television series.

Robert Whitmore

Executive Vice President, Business Affairs

Robert has served in senior executive roles in the media and entertainment industries, as a producer at Warner Brothers and also for independent production companies. Among his feature film activities, he was Executive Producer of Runaway Train, which garnered three Academy Award™ nominations and a Golden Globe Award™. He was also Supervising Producer of Texasville, the sequel to Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show. He was Executive Producer of Working With Warhol which was nominated for the 2019 New York Film Festival Award.

Taylor Cole

Vice President, Production

Taylor Cole has been working in the entertainment industry for over eight years. His first prominent credits include his work on shows such as, the Emmy Award Winning TV Show, Banshee.

He has been producing with Damascus Road Productions for over three years and serves as lead producer on a number of projects, including "Motorvation", starring Judy Norton, "One Remains", starring Christopher Atkins, "Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog Splat", starring Paul Johansson and directed by 2x Emmy Nominated Billy Dickson, and the 2020 TV series, Comedy Kitchen, starring John Henson and Bill Bellamy.

Taylor is currently awaiting the release of his 2020 mini-series, Glauben. Glauben is a multi-country venture, utilizing the United States, Germany and Austria throughout all stages of production.

Throughout his tenure at Damascus Road Productions, Taylor has developed a keen eye for numbers and an extreme passion for the bottom dollar and high ROI’s.

Sean Meade

Vice President, Acquisitions and Development

Sean Meade is a 20 year ministry veteran, who has spent most of his career serving as a pastor to teenagers. For nearly a decade Sean also served as the founder and president of Stuck in the Middle, an organization that produced an international touring event designed specifically for students. Sean is a sought after speaker, having trained youth workers for many years at the National Youth Ministry Conference, and he also serves on the Executive Council of the National Network of Youth Ministries.

Through his tenure in Christian ministry and his time as an event producer, Sean has developed a diverse network of ministry, entertainment and production connections across the country. Sean is also a highly skilled storyteller, utilizing the improv training he received at IO West in Hollywood. He brings these skills and his passion for communicating with excellence into his role as Head of Acquisitions and Development at Damascus Road Productions.

Jay Stern

Producer

Jay Stern is a Yale grad and served as a senior production executive for Disney and New Line. Stern developed, launched and supervised two of the most successful comedy franchises in the history of the movie business: the action comedy franchise "Rush Hour" starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, and the ensemble comedy franchise "Horrible Bosses". In addition, he initiated and supervised many other titles as both producer and executive, including "Love and Basketball", "Lovejones" and "The Corruptor" starring Mark Wahlberg and Chow Yun Fat.

In 2009, Stern co-founded Route One Films where he acted as CEO for five years. He was executive producer of the recent release “A Walk in the Woods” starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson, and served as producer on "Equals,” starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult. He is currently producing movie and television projects under his Boone Entertainment label.

Dawn Dao

Creative Executive

Dawn Dao is the executive assistant to the President and an Associate Producer on a number of film projects including "Little Angels", "Paul's Promise" and "Bringing Back Christmas".

She is a graduate of Woodbury University and Brooks College and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.