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Deadline Junkies

A Night
of 
Live Readings

the writers

BRYAN CHESTERS Award winning actor/writer/producer Bryan Chesters (SAG-AFTRA-AEA) has written numerous TV pilots and features that have advanced in The Page Awards, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, Final Draft Screenplay Competition, Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition, and more. His short film Saving John Murphy has screened in numerous film festivals across the world, including the Montreal International Film Festival. His feature film Hunter Grail is in active development with Emmy Award winning cinematographer Roy H. Wagner and director Lukas Colombo attached, as well as four distribution companies that have signed on, including Archstone. As an actor, Bryan can be seen on everything from Mad Men (Dir. Jon Hamm) to Modern Family. His film A Haunting at Silver Falls: The Return is also currently streaming on Amazon.

KATY KRAULAND Hailing from a tiny Pennsylvania steel town most famous for a century-old flood, Katy learned early on the value of an active imagination and a story well told. After graduating from Vassar College and working in New York for a few years, her life took an unexpected turn when she was awarded a Fulbright Grant and relocated to the Mediterranean island of Malta. It was here where -- after a cinematic entrapment in the bathroom of a medieval government building -- she decided to pursue filmmaking. An MFA graduate in Film & Television Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Katy has been a semi-finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship and a finalist in NBCUniversal’s Emerging Writers Fellowship. She recently received distribution on a short documentary she co-directed and produced, Recovering Ruffin, about the role of early intervention therapy for children diagnosed with autism.

JOSH WILCOX With a background in indie film and professional poker, Josh can honestly say that the hustle is pretty much the same for both. Before moving fully into screenwriting, he was a working assistant director on various TV, film and commercial projects as well as a producer on projects such as The Dark Red. His first produced screenplay, Degenerate, a feature film revolving around poker, is slated to be shot in 2023. He’s also written several sci-fi, thriller, and drama scripts that tackle issues such as PTSD, Appalachian forest ghosts, 1919 Chicago, killer spaceships, and the robot apocalypse.

DAVID WINGERT is a screenwriter/director based out of North Hollywood. His directorial debut, Love at First Spite, is set to be released later this year, and his written work includes thirteen feature scripts and three pilots. When he isn’t writing, David works as a reader for Coverfly, Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest and Slamdance Screenplay Competition. 

the Performers

ALEX HANNO (Emcee) is the writer/director behind the upcoming apocalyptic thriller A Social Contract starring Sean Astin, the romantic dramedy Elephants which is “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, and the Catalyst Content Festival award-winning TV show Served. His latest projects, the New England drama Seabrook and the Welsh dramedy A Sanctuary For Water Voles, have placed in the likes of ISA’s Screenwriting Fellowship, Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest, Scriptapalooza, and the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition. He’s also created numerous short films, including the Sunscreen Film Festival selection Lunacy, the Cardiff Film Festival selection The Chameleon, and the DTLA Film Festival selection Bonus Time, as well as a piece for NBC’s Diversity Showcase. In addition to co-owning his production company, The Chameleon Effect, with creative partner Luca Malacrino, Alex has also worked in development for the likes of Broad Green Pictures and VMI Worldwide, alongside co-managing Deadline Junkies. Learn more at alexhanno.com.

RAY CARSILLO is an actor, writer, and producer who currently lends his voiceover talents to several narrative podcast series including Fever Dreams: A Pulp Collection, True War Stories: Mission Report, and Let Me Tell You About My Murder, in addition to acting as a background voice for several anime dubs. Ray also helps produce video games for Boss Team Games, including Evil Dead: The Game and Cobra Kai: Card Fighter, has written over 200 episodes of the Telly Award winning shows DC Daily and DC Universe Presents as part of the DC Universe streaming service, and was a regular panelist on Facebook's Game Talk Live. Originally from New Jersey, Ray is a graduate of Montclair State University's Broadcast Journalism program and currently resides in the Valley.

LISA CARSWELL Since moving to LA in 2019, Lisa has appeared in numerous TV and streaming series including This Is Us, Gaslit, Good Trouble and a soon to be aired episode of Truth Be Told on Apple+ (spoiler alert: she’s Peter Gallagher’s wife). Her latest film, Stars Fell Again, opened earlier this month in theaters and streaming. Lisa is a classically trained actor originally from Seattle, WA where she appeared in NBC’s Grimm and Syfy Channel’s ZNation. Previously, she performed on numerous Seattle stages over the years including the Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and ACT Theatre. Lisa is currently a teaching artist at the Margie Haber Studio.

MINJI CHANG is a Korean American actress, voiceover artist, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, from the SF Bay Area. Her claim to internet fame is a series of viral Buzzfeed sketches, including Odd Ways Asian Moms Say I Love You and How Much Do You Hate People (she doesn't, btw). Minji has performed in numerous short films and indie films such as Lisa Mania, which premiered at the Los Angeles Asian American Pacific Film Festival in 2021. Keep an ear out for her voice in an upcoming video game role debuting in 2023. Minji’s training includes UC Berkeley, American University in Paris, and Beverly Hills Playhouse.

DUANE COOPER is a New York and LA based actor/writer/producer. He is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He co-wrote and starred in Solitary, a physical theatre piece, which had its world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019. Most recently, he was the understudy in Is This A Room, which had its Broadway premiere at the Lyceum theater in 2021. He has appeared in over 20 commercials both National and Regional and his TV credits include Chappelle's Show and NYC 22. Film credits include Notorious, New York I Love You, Cabin Fear, Hell House LLC III, and The BooHag. He is a current member of the award winning theatre company Broken Box Mime Theatre. More of his work can be seen at duanecooper.com.

GUS M. DARDEN grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee where he began acting at the age of 8. His mother, an English professor, instilled in him a love for Shakespeare while his father instilled a love of sports. His passions are diverse and, when he is not on the stage or in front of the camera, Gus likes to play baseball and basketball, lift weights, listen to country music, spend time with his girlfriend and their 3 cats, and enjoy the plethora of enjoyable activities that Los Angeles has to offer. Gus plans to continue acting until the wheels fall off, whether it’s full time or part time.

KATY DORE once turned down an invitation to have lunch with Queen Elizabeth in favor of going camping. She's never regretted it. Whether she’s acting, writing or directing, Katy believes the best stories are those about ordinary people. She has enjoyed roles in TV (Baskets, Masters of Sex, Dread Night Asylum) and film (Like Dogs, Seahorse, Non-stop to Comic Con). She directed the feature film Gift Of Fear, and has written and directed several short films including the multiple award winning Odd Bird. A television series she created and wrote, The Unsung, has production attachments from Quincy Jones Productions, Flavor Unit and Goldmann Pictures. Growing up in a small logging town in Northern California, Katy spent her summers listening to stories around the campfire. When she isn’t working you can find her playing tennis, hiking, or fly-fishing. www.Katydore.com

JAKE McKENZIE is a writer, actor and animator hailing from Oklahoma by way of Chicago. In addition to writing horror-comedy feature films, Jake is an accomplished comedian and frequently updates his YouTube channel focused on cooking and recipe creation. 

HENRY (HANK) MONFRIES is best known for playing guest and co-star roles on shows such as United States of Tara, Harry's Law, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and Shameless; as well as their role in the film, Dolemite Is My Name. They are represented by Trinity Artists International.

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CAITLIN MORRIS is an actor/producer originally hailing from St. Pete, Florida. Select NY theater credits: NYIT award-winning Minor Character (The Public’s Under the Radar Festival), David Greenspan’s The Things That Were There (Bushwick Starr, dir. Lee Sunday Evans), I thought I would die but I didn’t (Time Out Critic’s Pick), Drunk Shakespeare and The Antelope Party (NY Times Critic’s Picks), and Jordan Harrison's Play for Any Two People (Playwrights Horizons' Soundstage). Creator and star of Sublets (Best Comedy winner at Vancouver Web Fest). Co-founder of Pitch Her Productions. BFA: Otterbein University. Lifetime member of the Actors Studio. 

www.thecaitlinmorris.com

ADRIAN QUIÑONEZ A native Texan of Mexican and Cherokee descent, Adrian relocated to Los Angeles by way of New Orleans after hurricanes Katrina and Rita chased him out west. He has been a working actor ever since and has had the privilege of studying with L.A.'s premiere instructors. He eventually started a class with a small group of actors in L.A. before making his way down to the O.C. to be closer to his family, where he now runs and operates a studio with his wife and fellow actress and filmmaker, Allie Rivera Quiñonez. Some of his T.V. credits include Barry, C.S.I.: (N.Y., Miami, Vegas), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and American Horror Story. With roots in the theatre, he has starred in many stage productions, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Outsiders, and Josefina Lopez’s original musical, Trio Los Machos. He recently discovered that his passion for creating characters as an actor has evolved and extended to behind-the-scenes, and he now adds producing and content creation to his career journey. With a B.F.A. in Art, Adrian studied abroad in Costa Rica, London, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, Paris, Florence, and Rome. He loves to focus his creative ventures on exploring and sharing his cultural experiences with a broader audience.

VERONICA WARNER is an LA-based artist, producer, and creative consultant who could never just pick one thing to do. This means she has had the pleasure of working and playing both in front of and behind a camera (or microphone or various fun devices) with a beautiful cornucopia of talented folks for most of her sparkly little life. @raynebeauxxx

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