roberta marie munroe / director + producer
Roberta Marie Munroe is an award-winning filmmaker, author and international short film expert. Her book, HOW NOT TO MAKE A SHORT FILM: SECRETS FROM A SUNDANCE PROGRAMMER , is a provocative and practical insider’s guide to making and distributing a great short film.
Among Roberta’s many producer credits include THE PARKER TRIBE (with David Koechner and Paula Pell, winner best comedy LA Shorts Fest, ) and THE PROCESSION (with Lily Tomlin and Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Roberta wrote and directed festival favorites HAPPY BIRTHDAY and DANI AND ALICE.
From 2001-2006, Roberta programmed short films at The Sundance Film Festival during which time the Online Film Festival won several coveted Webby Awards. Her philosophy is that short filmmaking is “a luxurious art form” and an extraordinary avenue for artists to share their unique stories with the world.
Among Roberta’s many producer credits include THE PARKER TRIBE (with David Koechner and Paula Pell, winner best comedy LA Shorts Fest, ) and THE PROCESSION (with Lily Tomlin and Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Roberta wrote and directed festival favorites HAPPY BIRTHDAY and DANI AND ALICE.
From 2001-2006, Roberta programmed short films at The Sundance Film Festival during which time the Online Film Festival won several coveted Webby Awards. Her philosophy is that short filmmaking is “a luxurious art form” and an extraordinary avenue for artists to share their unique stories with the world.
stacey a. davis / writer + producer
Stacey is an entertainment and intellectual property attorney and an award winning screenwriter. Stacey routinely lectures on entertainment law topics, particularly as relates to the development and production of motion pictures.
In 2007, while home with her newborn son, Stacey finally decided to put all of those ideas swirling around in her head on paper. Her life as a screenwriter began. In 2008, she won the Grand Prize for Best Short Screenplay at the Sidewalk Film Festival’s SideWrite competition for her short THE GOOD MAN.
Stacey lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Nick, and her eight year old son, Charlie.
amy okuda / in the role of sheryl
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Amy is best known for playing Tinkerbella in the TV show THE GUILD and is currently co-starring in Shonda Rhime’s HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER. She has also appeared in the television shows BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE MIDDLE, CALIFORNICATION and JANE BY DESIGN, among others. Most recently, Amy appears in the smash comedy THE WEDDING RINGER (starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad) and HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS (starring Sally Field and Max Greenfield, and winner of the 2015 SXSW Audience Award). |
jonathan lisecki / in the role of austin
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Jonathan recently starred in the films KISS ME, KILL ME and BIG GAY LOVE and can be seen in the TV show EASTSIDERS . Jonathan is Writer/Director of the feature film GAYBY, & short films WOMAN IN BURKA and GAYBY.
GAYBY was a 2013 Independent Spirit Award Nominee, and played at festivals around the country, including SXSW and Los Angeles Film Festival. Allison Loring with Film School Rejects described GAYBY as “An incredibly funny look at modern relationships and families from a distinct voice that proves you do not need to follow “the rules” or other people’s preconceived notions to find love, happiness, and fulfillment.” |
amy hill / in the role of Funeral Director
Amy Hill is an actor/writer/improviser whose has appeared on onscreen in such television shows as THAT’S SO RAVEN, AMERICAN DAD, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, ENLIGHTENED, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and SIX FEET UNDER. Her film credits include: 50 FIRST DATES, LILO & STITCH, SCROOGED, SINGLES and THE CAT AND THE HAT.
Her theatrical background includes eight years and over thirty productions at San Francisco's Asian American Theater Company, The Eureka Theater, LA's Mark Taper Forum and The Los Angeles Theater Center. In addition to her television career, her one-woman shows TOKYO BOUND, REUNION and BESIDE MYSELF tour nationally. Her award winning one-woman show, "Tokyo Bound" played to sell-out houses and was critically acclaimed in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Its production on the International Channel was nominated for a Cable Ace Award. Born in Deadwood, S. Dakota, Amy's mother is a native of Japan and her father, a Finnish-American.
Her theatrical background includes eight years and over thirty productions at San Francisco's Asian American Theater Company, The Eureka Theater, LA's Mark Taper Forum and The Los Angeles Theater Center. In addition to her television career, her one-woman shows TOKYO BOUND, REUNION and BESIDE MYSELF tour nationally. Her award winning one-woman show, "Tokyo Bound" played to sell-out houses and was critically acclaimed in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Its production on the International Channel was nominated for a Cable Ace Award. Born in Deadwood, S. Dakota, Amy's mother is a native of Japan and her father, a Finnish-American.
michelle lawler / cinematographer
Michelle is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer working in film and television since 1999. Her first feature documentary FOREVER’S GONNA START TONIGHT won numerous audience awards including Outfest LA 2010. Michelle has shot several award-winning short films including THE PARKER TRIBE and YOU’RE DEAD TO ME which won the Imagen Award for Best Short Film 2014, as well as two feature films — Outfest Grand Jury Award winner WILDNESS directed by Wu Tsang, and BEST FRIENDS FOREVER starring and directed by Brea Grant.
Michelle co-created and lensed the widely-lauded comedy web series HUDSON VALLEY BALLERS with Saturday Night Live veterans Paula Pell and James Anderson, starring Paul Rudd and Kate McKinnon, and shot RODS & CONES written by and starring Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen.
She has worked on several pieces for exhibition at MoMA, the Hammer Museum, the 2013 Venice Biennale and the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Michelle is a departmental honoree in Cinema Studies at SF State, an alumnus of the Cinematography Fellowship at Film Independent, and holds an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute.
Michelle co-created and lensed the widely-lauded comedy web series HUDSON VALLEY BALLERS with Saturday Night Live veterans Paula Pell and James Anderson, starring Paul Rudd and Kate McKinnon, and shot RODS & CONES written by and starring Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen.
She has worked on several pieces for exhibition at MoMA, the Hammer Museum, the 2013 Venice Biennale and the 2012 Whitney Biennial. Michelle is a departmental honoree in Cinema Studies at SF State, an alumnus of the Cinematography Fellowship at Film Independent, and holds an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute.
matthew lessall / casting director
Matthew, the former Director of Feature Film Casting at 20th Century Fox and an in-house casting consultant for the Fox Searchlab Writer/Director Program, has a wide variety of experience in casting a wide range of programming. His credits include Sundance Film Festival standouts, ROCKET SCIENCE, MEAN CREEK, as well as the NetFlix Find Your Voice winner ALMOST KINGS.
In 2011, he chose to join the tech revolution and became go-to casting for Warner Premiere; Warner Bros. new media arm, casting the mega-successful webseries, MORTAL KOMBAT, follow up MORTAL KOMBAT 2 and season 2 of Wonderland Sound & Vision’s AIM HIGH. His BAIT 3D (a/k/a SHARK), garnered an Official Entry at the 2012 Venice Film Festival and two films at the inaugural edition of Paris’ Champ d’Elysees Film Festival, including the Liam Neeson film AFTER.LIFE.
jason bruffy / unit production manager
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Jason is a director of film, theatre and new media. Recently he was the director of the short film THE THIRD OPTION, director of photography and editor of the short film SAM & JULIA and the 1st Assistant Director and UPM for the feature film SEVEN LOVERS. Bruffy has directed music videos for pop artist Ginn Doll and singer/songwriter Clarence Bucaro. His New Media work includes the webseries TOKEN (Official Selection LA New Media Festival and Miami New Media Festival) and CaucAsian (Official Selection and award recognized, Atlanta’s Urban Media Makers Festival), as well as AmericanMD, BILL LOWE THE PILLOW, JOSEY AND NAT, ESCAPING SINGLE, and 25 episodes of the interview show IT'S A DRAW WITH NATALIE KIM. As a 1st Assistant Director, Bruffy also worked on the pilot episode of THE PARKER TRIBE, produced by Roberta. |