MICHAEL LEDAJAKS
Creative Driver
Before opening Xtra Mile Creative, Michael was Creative Director at Choose Chicago. Promoting Chicago to the world through strategic advertising initiatives such as digital ad campaigns, regional TV spots, national trade ads, international activation, and countless video content productions.
Over a span of 30 years Michael has also conquered a wide range of communication challenges for Fortune 100 healthcare advertising, Gatorade, ESPN, Ace Hardware and The Berghoff Restaurant.
Today, Michael brings his creative and strategic marketing skills to many small and midsize companies looking for attention. He also possesses the true spirit of collaboration and mutual respect when it comes to solving a client’s communication needs. He loves to work with others, finding fresh ways to solve the next advertising nut.
Michael is pleased to be surrounded by a team of very talented associates—aka Xtra Mile Creative. AND last year he received an Emmy Award for outstanding achievement for program promotion for the movie Chicago at the Crossroad.
Born in the Czech Republic, spent time in New York and calls Chicago home. Don't ask him to choose between the three.
DYANA FLANIGAN
Senior Strategist and Content Creator
Seasoned pro Dyana Flanigan integrates traditional and nontraditional tools and strategies that showcase what her clients offer their clients, customers and constituents. She gets clients found, heard and hired.
With a background that includes experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, Dyana creates and implements successful communications programs for a wide scope of industries, including transportation; healthcare; manufacturing; higher education; arts and entertainment; travel and hospitality; associations; career development; urban planning and development; commercial and residential real estate; technology and professional services.
BRIAN SCHODORF
Video Production Director
Brian Schodorf is a television and film producer, director, and writer with 19 Regional Emmy Nominations and 6 Emmy Awards. His most recent documentary film, Chicago at the Crossroad, won 5 Regional Emmy Awards in 2020. In 2012 The Wayman Tisdale Story which aired on ESPN and NBA-TV won an Emmy Award for Best Topical Documentary.
Schodorf was named the Media Professional of the Year in his home state of Kansas by the Topeka Capital Journal in the same year. Brian has developed a trademark style of tackling social issues and revealing the interconnectedness of politics, social systems, and the human heart. His first documentary, Poverty in Chicago, aired nationally on PBS and documented the homelessness epidemic in downtown Chicago. His second documentary film, Greensburg, the story of a small Kansas town devastated by a tornado was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary.
He served 6 years as the Director of the City of Chicago's tourism video division with Choose Chicago before launching his independent video production company Schodorf Media Creative in 2018 - working with clients in various industry verticals across the country. He resides in Chicago, IL and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelors Degree in Television Production and a Masters Degree in Media Management.