Our Team
Alex Dee
Co-Founder and Director
Alex is a husband, father, actor, and Swiss army knife when it comes to storytelling. He has pursued film and acting in New York City and Los Angeles since 2011. He recently made the leap to give his full focus as the Director of Saints Alive and lives in Vermont with his amazing wife and kids. He feels blessed to have developed a career both in front of and behind the camera, and he has a deep desire to tell stories that move hearts to Christ. Alex acts as the narrator for each episode of Saints Alive, and he’s the guy editing it all together.
Melissa Dee
Co-Founder and Producer
Melissa is wife to Alex and mom to James (4) and Mia (1). Creating this podcast has been a labor of love, and Melissa has cherished the long hours of hard work with the saints by her side. She is the executive producer for Saints Alive and primary script writer and editor. When she isn’t planning production, editing scripts or reading about the saints, you’ll find her chasing after her two little ones.
Tanner Kalina
Co-Founder and Youth Missions Director
Tanner is a Catholic artist and missionary currently living in Denver, Colorado. He chases holiness in his day to day, failing frequently but continuing constantly. Along with working as a writer and actor for the last decade, he has had the great pleasure of spreading the Gospel with awesome ministries such as FOCUS, Ascension Presents, YDisciple, and currently is also working with the National Eucharistic Revival. Tanner plays many roles on this podcast as well as contributes to script writing and ministry vision.
Bernardo Ramonfaur
Graphic Artist
Bernardo is from Monterrey Mexico, he studied visual arts and design and he founded a project called Iknu which purpose is to collaborate with the church mission through visual arts. He participates in different sacred art projects such as painting, illustration, digital art, design, etc.
Vincent Escueta
Assistant Sound Editor
Vincent resides in Santa Barbara, California where he is an Assistant Sound Editor for Saints Alive. When he's not sound editing, he is a tech consultant, photographer, and video editor. He works with companies such as Word on Fire, Live Action, Verso L'alto Coffee, and Spirit Juice. He also does work with the Dominicans, Capuchins, and Carmelites. Before all this, he was programming for Animation and Visual Effects Studios such as Lucasfilm and LAIKA. You can find him at the beach, the mountains, the redwood forests, or a concrete jungle.
Ben Kruis
Assistant Sound Editor
Ben is an audio producer and videographer from Mishawaka, Indiana. It's always been a dream of his to tell meaningful stories that connect with faith so helping edit the stories for Saints Alive has been a dream come true. When he's not editing audio dramas, he can be found working on films, writing music, or spending time with his bride.
Patrick O’Connell
Writer
Patrick O'Connell is a musician and writer who lives in Vermont with his wife Jessica and two children, Ambrose and Dolores. Since completing his undergraduate and graduate music studies, at Ithaca College and Yale University, Patrick has enjoyed an active musical life in the Capital and Tri-State Region of Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. Patrick has a regular performing schedule with the Berkshire Symphony, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestras, Berkshire Opera Festival. Patrick has had the privilege of teaching elementary string orchestra for 10 years in New York State, directing the wind ensemble at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, coaching sectionals with the Empire State Youth Orchestra. He currently teaches middle and high school orchestra at Mount Greylock School in Williamstown, MA. He is also the director of the Southern Vermont Sinfonia, a youth/community ensemble which welcomes students of all ages. Patrick has written and performed original compositions for double bass and has had the honor of having his work performed internationally by the renowned soloist, Nicholas Walker. Patrick loves practicing the Catholic Faith and hopes his work with Saints Alive will help to spread the saving message of Jesus and His Church to the next generation.
Patrick has written scripts for Saints Alive including: St. Joseph, St. Padre Pio, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and more to come!
Joe Duca
Writer
Los Angeles-based writer and director Joe Duca is on a mission to create a more hopeful world, 24 frames at a time. His films blend thrills with thoughtfulness, humor with heartbreak, and hope with wonder. His first feature film Evergreen (2019) won Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress from the Houston Broadcast Critics Association; Best Director Award at the Hunter Mountain Film Festival; and the Audience Choice Award from the Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase. Joe’s second feature Her Name Was Jo (2020) won Best Narrative Feature at both Filmocracy Fest and the Kansas City Film Fest International. Her Name Was Jo went on to secure North American distribution through Gravitas Ventures and teamed with Wide Management for international sales, and is available now on Amazon Freevee and Paramount Plus domestically and HBO Max in Europe. Joe has written scripts for Saints Alive including: St Philip Neri, Juan Diego and more to come!
Matthew Ludwig
Theology Checker
Matthew is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and has been doing theology checks for Saints Alive for a year and a half. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and has a twin sister. After high school Matt moved to Washington DC and majored in Public Health at George Washington University. He started seminary at the Catholic University of America and then spent 3 years in Rome at the North American College. He like to play tennis, cook, and his favorite book is The Tidings Brought to Mary.