Cast & Crew
Bruce R. Schwartz
Writer/Producer/Director
Director
Bruce R. Schwartz was an Associate Professor of Literature and Film at Marymount California University in Rancho Palos Verdes, California until he retired in 2019. He is a veteran filmmaker whose work includes AFI funded
IN MACARTHUR PARK, an independent feature, which won the FIPRESCI PRIZE (International Critic’s Award) at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. Among his short films are “Outside the Lucky,” (about a homeless Vietnam Vet) and “Make A Wish, Molly” (starring Mila Kunis), the sequel to the Academy Award winning short “Molly’s Pilgrim”). Both shorts received many awards and excellent reviews.
His literary adaptations of classic American fiction (used across the country in colleges and universities) include Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” John Updike’s “A & P,” Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” Langston Hughes’s “Salvation,” Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” and Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand here Ironing.” The last two productions won the prestigious Telly Award.
His documentary work includes interview with author’s Eudora Welty, John Updike, Tess Gallagher (Raymond Carver’s widow), Alice Walker and Tillie Olsen. "Lives Interrupted: The Ito/Matsuura Story" a feature documentary he wrote and directed received a Certificate of Commendation from the U.S. Congress and played on P.B.S. among other channels.
Schwartz has a B.A. degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a combined M.F.A. degree from U.C. Irvine’s Writing Center and U.C.L.A.’s Cinema Department.
He can be reached via e-mail at: brschwartz@earthlink.net
Steve Spear
(Jacob)
Steve Spear is an actor known for his New York stage performances as 'Glen' in Neil Simon's 'Rumors' and as 'Joe' in Clifford Odet's 'Waiting for Lefty.' In 2019, he starred in 'La Puenta', which won "Best One-Act Play" Award at Manhattan Repertory Theater. He lives and surfs in Los Angeles, California.
Writer
Jim Donnelly
(Eric Navado)
Jim Donnelly is known for Dead Wrong, Rubicon's Broken (2011) and The Pine Tar Incident (2017).
Elena Hollander
(Jacob's ex-girlfriend)
Elena Hollander is an American actress living and working in Los Angeles. She became hooked on acting ever since middle school when she saw the local high school performance of Annie Get Your Gun! She's been acting ever since. She's worked in theater, on-camera, and voiceover work. She loves comedy and improv.
Janet Hunter
(Helen Navado)
Janet Hunter is an actor and singer born and raised in Los Angeles, CA with her six brothers and sisters. Her large, rambunctious family prioritized music education, and she grew up playing piano, singing in the church choir, and starring in high school musicals. After graduating from UCLA, Janet chose a more “traditional” path and spent 10 years moving up in the corporate world. But who wants traditional?
Janet has returned to her first calling, and has since starred in multiple short films. She trains with Indrani DeSouza at Speiser/Sturges Acting Studio and is represented by A.M.W. Talent Agency. Janet lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and sweet husky mix Nikki. Nikki is a good boy.
Jamie Uhtof
(Jane)/Script Supervisor
Jamie Uhtof is known for Ever-Flowing, Mr. Scotty's Time Machine (2022) and Kyle's Kreamery (2021).
Jason Zlatkus
(Joe)
Jason Michael Zlatkus (born in San Jose, CA) is an award-winning American film actor who has appeared in a number of films including The First Rule, A Killer Rising, Near Enemies, and Forever Young (2020). Zlatkus is an experienced commercial actor with lead roles for powerhouse companies such as Marvel, Every Man Jack, Philips, Ford, Cisco and 1-800Flowers. Standing 6'4" with a lean athletic build he is also a trained, known runway elite, Men's Wearhouse model and published print model. Zlatkus portrayed Hunger Halter, a hero created by Feeding San Diego and The San Diego Comic-Con Museum to bring awareness to ending over production and food waste. Located in Los Angeles, Jason has continued to train and hone his acting skills including training with Duane Whitaker, Daniel Roebuck, John Swanbeck and Harri James among others. Jason hosts a live weekly podcast / show for actors with working actors as guests. Called "Coffee Breaks Thursdays with Jason Zlatkus" the show is seen and followed all over the world by aspiring actors and fans.
Sherwin Arae
(Detective Holland)
Originally from Tehran, Iran Sherwin came to America at a young age. Raised in an Iranian household while attending American schools created Sherwin's comedic foundation. "Our neighborhood was mostly white, with the exception of one black family next door to us, I was so happy to see that Iranians were not the only ones who put plastic covers on their furniture."
But life was not always easy for Sherwin as a minority. "I remember my first baseball game; my dad showed up to cheer me on but the only problem was he didn't speak English. When he saw the other parents yelling in English he decided to yell in Farsi. Everyone was terrified - Little League was never quite the same."
From that moment Sherwin frequently would re-enact what his father did for others to enjoy. After a while Sherwin went on to start impersonating his uncles, aunts and cousins. Nobody was safe. "It got to the point where people just didn't want to talk when I was around for fear that I would impersonate them later on, and I never wanted to let anyone down." Sherwin was slowly beginning to find his true calling in life. Comedy. "I remember getting a hold of Eddie Murphy's Delirious. It was a drug and I was dangerously addicted. I watched it over and over and over again, to the point where I memorized the entire thing."
Sherwin's parents however were very serious about education with Sherwin. After completing high school Sherwin went on to college where he obtained a Bachelors in Information Systems, followed by a Masters, and an MBA. Upon graduation, Sherwin began working in corporate America. "Sitting in a cube all day felt so restrictive, it just wasn't me. My friends kept urging me to try comedy since that was all I seemed to talk about. Finally in 2009 I gave it a shot. I did 5 minutes of material and it was everything I had ever dreamed of. I knew that this is what I was going to do with my life. Make people laugh."
Sherwin has since been performing at various comedy clubs in NY and California.
Sherwin's all-time favorite standup bit is Eddie Murphy's cookout scene from Delirious.
Olya Aman
(Pregnant woman)
Olya is an actress, author, producer, and director. Known for her books with outlandish mind games and movies, in which she plays deeply disturbing characters. Olya creates verbal, psychological, and tangibly intriguing life on paper and the screen. You can find out more about her on her website: https://olyaaman.com/
Corey Landis
(Newcaster)
Corey Landis has had an extensive range of careers in acting, writing and music. Landis studied theatre at Ohio University where he was also a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Comedy Sloth. On screen, he may be recognized for his early work on That '70s Show (1998) playing the younger version of Kurtwood Smith's character 'Red Forman'. Other screen credits include the Sci-Fi film Chrysalis (2008) and the family film Lost in the Woods (2009) where he co-starred with 'Michael Madsen'. Landis made noticeable appearances in several uniquely-different Sci-Fi creature/horror films starting with Jim Wynorski's Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010), starring the late David Carradine, Camel Spiders (2011), Dracula: Reborn (2012) and Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre (2015). He has appeared in several pilots including "Paulie" with Paul Sorvino and Janeane Garofalo. He's been in many short films including the award-winning The Man from Mars (2016), and has appeared in over 150 commercials, frequently as the spokesman--most notably Overstock, Bridgestone, 5 Hour Energy, Taco John's, and Papa Murphy's Pizza. He co-directed the feature documentary "Toy Masters" about the creation of the He-Man toy line. Landis is a piano player and singer-songwriter and has released five albums of original material, the most recent of which ("Corey Landis & The Attacks") was produced by Beatles engineer and legendary Grammy Award winner Geoff Emerick. He also composed the songs for the the award-winning jazz musical short Funky Butt (2018).
Alexander Tovar
(Composer/Editor)
Alexander Tovar is a composer with a BM in Music Composition from USC. He's worked for artists such as Philip Glass, Gustavo Dudamel, Van Dyke Parks, Nico Muhly, and Elton John. His music has been played and performed all over the world including at the Cannes Film Festival and winning Best Score at the Milan Film Festival Awards. He's known for Nothing in Los Angeles (2013), Show Business (2016), and The Relationtrip (2017)
HIs website can be found here: https://www.alexandertovar.com/
Kenny Johnston
(DP)
Kenny Johnston has had a steady career as an filmmaker and actor in television and films for the past 20 years. He is best known for the film “Signal Lost” with Sean Young and Tony Dennison which he wrote and directed, and for the viral covid parody music video “Isolators Paradise”https://youtu.be/vi2OffKn9GM
Jimmy Molina
(Sound)
Jimmy Molina is known for Seeing Red (2021), Mile 19 (2022) and Alabama Rose (2022).
Stephen Goetsch (Editor)