Marty Geramita is not only the longtime agent of Derek Hess, he is also an award-winning film producer, an innovative multimedia producer, and a personal trainer.

Marty’s career began in the 90s as a gallerist. He was a founder partner of C-Pop Gallery in Detroit, which exhibited. Niagara, Glenn Barr, Mark Dancey, Robert Williams, Shag, and Shepard Fairey, amongst others. In 2001 he launched 1300, the first art gallery to open in 78th Street Studios, which now houses over 60 galleries.

In 1993, Derek Hess’ fliers caught Geramita’s eye. Marty convinced Hess to level up from photocopied fliers into silkscreened posters and formed a business devoted to that pursuit. From there, Hess became internationally known, creating posters for Pearl Jam and Pink Floyd; album covers for Sepultura, Converge, and R.L. Burnside; and launching the Strhess apparel line, which spun off into a traveling music festival.

In 2014, Marty produced the award-winning film “Forced Perspective”, which was directed by filmmaker, Nick Cavalier. The outpouring of messages received after the film was the catalyst for Acting Out! 2016.

Fast forward to the current day, Marty has collaborated with Derek Hess for more than three decades.

Derek Hess’ work has been recognized in both the music and art world for over 30 years. Hess began creating promo flyers for shows in Cleveland, OH. These flyers soon gained the attention of a multitude of bands as well as the Grammy Museum, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the Louvre in Paris, of which he is part of their permanent collections. In addition to countless CD covers and gallery shows all over the world, he has been featured on TLC, MTV, Fuse, VH1, Alternative Press, Newsweek and Juxtapoz to name a few.

Since then, Hess has eschewed most commercial work, focusing on original drawings and fine art serigraphs. In the 2014 documentary film Forced Perspective, Hess opened up publicly for the first time about his struggles with bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and the outpouring of fan support led him to mental health activism.

He formed Acting Out! to help spread awareness of mental illness among creative people, devoted to panel discussions and arts across all disciplines, including music, comedy, visual art, and film.

Website: DerekHess.com

Angie Hetrick is the owner and founder of Axon Creative Agency, which specializes in live experiences, event production, and strategic event marketing.

Her career started in the music industry, working in radio, recording studios, independent record labels, and music magazines, as well as artist management and publicity. It was within those roles that she discovered her true talent, marketing, and events.

She has been conceptualizing and producing creative community events in Cleveland for 20 years.

Current 2023 Axon Creative Agency clients include Downtown Cleveland, Shaker Square, Canalway, and Cleveland History Days, among others. Noteworthy past clients include University Circle, Case Western Reserve University, Coventry Village, Borderlight International Theatre + Fringe Festival (2019), and Fresh Fest Cleveland (2019-2022) and producing the video and audio tour content for Take a Hike Cleveland’s self-guided tours.

Collaborating on Acting Out! with Marty and Derek has been the most personally fulfilling event series of her career. Her dedication to this cause is deeply personal, driven by the loss of cherished friends and family members who succumbed to the struggles with mental illness and addiction.

Website: AxonAgency.com