Executive Producers: Madeleine and José

With multi-hyphenate-style, MADELEINE JOYCE, has been learning and rocking in the performance arts since she was seven years old. Does she live to entertain you, or do you live to get entertained by her? She is inspired by the possibility of connection and likes to make art that explores the nuances of love and the ways to exorcise the condition of stuckness. As a theater-maker, a few of her credits include Clown-Producer of The BOOF (NYC's only Bouffon Troupe), Writer-Director-Actor-Clown-Producer of Unfinished Bedtime Clown Show, the title role in Eurydice in Sarah Ruhl's play, Actor-Collaborator of the LIDA Project's Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, Founder-Actor-Tour Producer of No Fog West's The Laramie Project, and many more... Her transition to filmmaking came in 2017 when she Produced-Wrote-Starred-Edited a poetic roadtrip homage to Italo Calvino's "Distance of the Moon" and learned to be humble and admit when you don't know things. She does not know the future, but with gusto she's bringing her energetic positivity to learning about it. 

JOSÉ ESPINOSA is a Cuban-Jewish actor, writer and (now!) filmmaker. He grew up playing baseball, reading books and avoiding homework before finding his way to Amherst College where he played shortstop and majored in English and Religion. He is a graduate of the Acting program at Yale School of Drama where he appeared in The Seagull, The Tempest and a pair of madcap new plays by Jeremy O. Harris, among others. Since the pandemic he has recommitted to being a jock and taken up surfing, tennis, rock climbing and skateboarding. 

Directors of Photography: Rikki and Jadzia

RIKKI PORTER is a Southern California native, who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is an alumna of Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, where she obtained her MFA in Cinematography. Rikki’s eclectic and outstanding work as a Director of Photography includes several short films, documentaries, and experimental films. In 2019, her work was on display in the short film, Good News. The film was honored at the 57th New York Film Festival and acknowledged at the Maryland Film Festival. Aside from her expertise as a Cinematographer, Rikki has an extensive background in lighting, sound, and electronic music. In her spare time, Rikki is an avid rock climber. She has combined both of her passions when asked to shoot videos for outdoor rock climbing events. Her other pastimes are drawing and graphic design. Rikki’s latest interest is developing a green thumb!

JADZIA V. ERSKINE is a New York City based cinematographer who graduated from the Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema with her MFA in 2019. Since graduating she has worked on a series of features, short films, music videos, television shows and commercials nationwide Her most recent work includes shooting Duvar, a short film about a man, who after attempting to save his daughter, is falsely accused of murder. It has screened at festivals including Diversity in Cannes, the Paris International Film Festival, the Phoenix Short Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival and more. 

Writers: Amandla, Kineta, Kendall, José and Madeleine

AMANDLA JAHAVA is a first generation Kenyan-American actor, writer, director and artist based out of New York. She passionately creates and advocates for African stories from an African perspective for African people. In theater, she has been seen in productions by Em Weinstein, Jeremy O Harris and Michael Breslin. She will be seen in Issa Rae’s new HBO show Rapsh!t as well as Ava Duvernay’s HBO limited series DMZ. Regional theater credits include: Geffen Playhouse, Roundabout Theater, Arizona Theater, Denver Theatre Club. She received her MFA in Acting from the fka Yale School of Drama ‘19 and a BFA in Acting from CalArts. Find her on Instagram @_amandla

KINETA KUNUTU (she/her/hers) is a Black Womanist, storyteller and story-lover, stage/screen/voice actor, teaching artist, yoga instructor, sometimes poet, and a Bambi-legged roller skater. She is a New York-based actor originally from Johannesburg, South Africa. Favorite theater credits include bt i cd only whisper (The Flea) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); TV credits include The Blacklist and The Good Fight.

KENDALL MCKINNON is a writer for television and features living in Los Angeles. She received her degree in film studies from Wesleyan University and was the assistant to the SXSW Film Festival director before getting her start in television as a writers' assistant and script coordinator on THE NIGHT SHIFT (NBC). Her writing credits include EYEWITNESS (CBS) and ONE DOLLAR (USA), as well as the coming-of-age feature DUDE. She co-wrote and directed the independent TV pilot WE'RE NOT TOGETHER and is currently developing a political drama series for SHOWTIME. Her passion is writing and directing stories that spark emotional kinship and seek to fill the lonely void of being human. She's (too) quick to suggest a game of "truth or dare", would wear a different wig everyday if she could and briefly flirted with a career as a magician's assistant.

Cast

SOHINA SIDHU (she/her) is an actor and artist originally from California. While at the Yale School of Drama, she was seen in YELL, Kiss (Yale Repertory Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing, Death of Yazdgerd, The Seagull, and The Tempest among others. She conceived and directed The Red Tent at Yale Cabaret, directed NOVIOS pt. 1 at the Yale Cabaret, and appeared in The Trojan Women at Yale Summer Cabaret. Other credits include The Seagull, Caenis (Pace Gallery NYC). Television credits include Evil (CBS), Little Voice (Apple tv +), and Prodigal Son (Fx); Film credits include: The Society (short), DATING in New York (IFC Films). Sohina Sidhu holds degrees in acting from University of Southern California School of Drama and film from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts; and an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama 2019.

HAYWARD LEACH is a Brooklyn-born actor and writer. He graduated from The Juilliard School Drama Division with an MFA in Acting in 2020. Hayward can be seen in Sneakerella, an upcoming Disney+ feature film (he plays an evil stepbrother) and as a recurring role on season two of Love Life on HBOMax, opposite William Jackson Harper. Favorite theater credits include The Flick and Henry IV Part 1 (Juilliard), A Man’s World (Williamstown), Passing Strange (Brown), and SERIALS @ The Flea (Will Arbery/The Flea Theater). Hayward is also a member of the WBTV Casting “Actors in Training” Inaugural Class of 2020 and holds a B.A in Comparative Literature from Brown University. His writing has been supported by the Community of Writers, Narratively, and Kimbilio. 

JOSH GREENWOOD is an actor and director originally from Colorado and based in Brooklyn, New York. Josh has appeared on Adult Swim, Amazon Prime, Rock & Ice Magazine, Ouside Tv, Vulture and Fieldmag. His work has been featured on Vimeo Staff Picks, Mountainfilm, Banff International Film Festival and Sidewalk Film Festival. Josh also helps run the Lower East Side Film Festival as their Programming Director. Additionally, Josh is an outdoor rock climbing athlete and competed as a world ranked Slackline athlete.

Crew:

MALCOLM THORNDIKE NICHOLSON is a filmmaker and writer interested in class, sexuality, relationships, and humor. He has a first class BA in philosophy from Heythrop College, University of London, a Jesuit college that survived from the 17th century until shortly after his graduation. He also holds an MA from the Draper Program at New York University, which existed for less than a decade and was probably a scam. After graduating he worked in various jobs such as waiter, personal chef, night-shift baker, office painter, cupcake decorator, copywriter, fact-checker, editor, journalist, creator of branded content, and circulation manager of a Marxist journal. At 30 he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. He’s currently completing his thesis for an MFA at Brooklyn College and feeling very sanguine about the future.

Sofia Monzerratt

Pete Christmann