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Don Schneider
Don Schneider is a producer, known for Almaz Black Box, The Apostate and Code Name Opera.
Dane Whyte O'Hara
Cast · Known for Black Box
Dane Whyte O'Hara is known for Amongst the Wolves (2024), Blue Lights (2023) and Black Box (Flight 298).
Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr.
Director · Known for IT: Welcome to Derry, Shōgun
Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr. is a Ghanaian-American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the science fiction horror film Black Box (2020).
Tasso Feldman
Cast · Known for The Resident
Tasso Feldman was born on 30 October 1983 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and director, known for The Resident (2018), The Artist (2011) and Black Box (2014). After finishing high school, Feldman attended the Boston University School of Theater. He graduated from this school with a BFA in Acting in 2005. While also attending college, he took part in a classical acting class, which helped to refine his already excellent acting skills.
Chris Schellenger
Model and actor best known for competing in cycle 20 of the popular CW reality series America's Next Top Model hosted by Tyra Banks. He also appeared as Alex in the 2013 comedy series Black Box.
Sarah Lo
Sarah Lo is an American actress originally from San Francisco, California. She studied Theatre and Chinese History at the University of Chicago and completed her training at Black Box Acting Studio, Acting Studio Chicago, and the Second City. She is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Ali Wong
Cast · Known for Onward
Alexandra 'Ali' Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer. She is noted for her Netflix stand-up specials, as well as her television roles in Beef, American Housewife, Are You There, Chelsea?, Inside Amy Schumer and Black Box. She also wrote for the first three seasons of the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
Arti Ishak
Originally from Detroit, Arti Ishak (they/them) is a Chicago-based actor, director and filmmaker. Most known as Mara McHenry on Dark Matter (Apple TV), you might also recognize them as Monet from Brujos (OTV) or Iman from Born and Raised (OTV). They are also known for their work as a director on short films Shukran Bas (Means of Production), ba la (HF Productions), and HALF (Zaxie Films). Arti is an instructor at Black Box Acting and an adjunct professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Adriana Barraza
Cast · Known for Thor
Adriana Barraza González (born 5 March 1956) is a Mexican actress, acting teacher, and director. In 1999 director Alejandro González Iñárritu cast her as the mother of Gael García Bernal's character in Amores perros, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2006, she collaborated with Iñárritu again in Babel, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Barraza is known in Mexico as Master Barraza from her partnership with Mexican director Sergio Jiménez, known as El Profe. They created the Actors Workshop in Mexico City, teaching and developing their own version of Method acting. Barraza began her career directing telenovela episodes, the actors in which she would also coach. In the 1990s she decided to step in front of the camera. She currently operates her own acting school located in Miami, Florida titled Adriana Barraza's Black Box. Instructors at the school include her husband Arnaldo and daughter Carolina.
Molly Belle Wright
Cast · Known for Deep Water, Black Box
Molly is from Manchester, England. Her credits include lead roles in the feature films Omaha (2026), Deep Water (2026), and Lionsgate's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024). Omaha premiered in Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where her performance received recognition at multiple international festivals. She will next appear in the title role of Flavia (Sky) and as a supporting lead in the sci-fi feature Black Box (Flight 298). Alongside acting, Molly trains in ballet, tap and jazz, and enjoys music and writing.
David Lee Huynh
Since David's high school offered the Theatre department almost no funding, he and his classmates got creative to produce ambitious plays like His Dark Materials, The Pillowman, and Waiting for Godot. They essentially formed a Theatre company - learning to build or scrounge for whatever they needed. They even converted their classroom into a black box theater, but a surprise visit from the superintendent forced them to change it back. This combination of resourcefulness and cheekiness made a mark on him during a formative time of his life. After graduating from the University of Houston Professional Actor Training Program, he worked across the country honing his skills at various regional theaters. He then moved to New York City and began working Off-Broadway and on film and television. He is a 1st-generation Vietnamese-American actor based in NYC working in tv, film, theatre, and VO. He is also co-founder and producing artistic leader of The Sống Collective, a Vietnamese-American arts organization, and a TEDx Speaker.
Vida Ghaffari
Multi award-winning actress Vida Ghaffari was born and raised in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The daughter of a NASA scientist and an artist, Vida was infused with a diverse artistic and analytical upbringing. Vida graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) with a major in Economics (to please her strict Persian father) and minored in theatre and communication for her own artistic growth and expression. While at UMCP, Vida performed in a lot of improv shows at the school’s avant garde black box theatre and participated in a few plays. After college,she started training with a number of acting coaches and completed the full improv program at the prestigious Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), which was created by Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) and some of her colleagues. At this time, she began acting in feature films and TV. This acting powerhouse landed a great co-starring role in Mindy Kaling's humorous and much buzzed about show The Mindy Project as well as ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. She has also starred in Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia. These projects cap off a number of successes for the versatile starlet. She recently featured Variety for her work in multi award-winning filmmaker Harley Wallen’s Abeyance opposite an impressive ensemble cast consisting of Scout Taylor-Compton, Richard Tyson, Billy Wirth, Mel Novak, Kaiti Wallen and Yan Birch. Vida played the role of the cunning and powerful, femme fatale scientist Nikita, which garnered her international coverage given the power of the story, the cast and Vida portraying a scientist like her famous father. Vida is also a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Dustin Ferguson, who has been awarded numerous awards for his innovative films. In the upcoming sci-fi thriller Robowoman, she was cast alongside a stellar ensemble cast consisting of Dawna Lee Heising, Brinke Stevens (Slumber Party Massacre), Mel Novak, Sue Price (Nemesis 5: The New Model), Gregory Blair and Peter Stickles. In this film, she once again played an educated medical researcher Hannah. She also worked played the badass, hold no prisoners role of Becky in Ferguson’s Horndog’s Beach Party opposite Lee Heising and Saved By the Bell’s Troy Fromin. She also starred in the pivotal role of school security guard Joan in Nation’s Fire with two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Dern, Gil Bellows, UFC fighter Chuck Liddell, Krista Grotte and many others. The ultimate horror scream queen, she then played the role of the possessed Hayley in Holy Terror opposite Kristine DeBell (Meatballs) and Mel Novak (Bruce Lee's Game of Death, Black Belt Jones). For her compelling performance in that film, she was billed as the “Persian Linda Blair” by prominent journalist Maurice Dwayne Smith. She also portrayed the role of serious reporter Sabrina Sanchez in noted filmmaker Romane Simon’s Hybristophilia alongside Quinton Aaron (the Blindside with Sandra Bullock). She also recently shot Levin Garbisch’s Miranda Veil, where she plays the touching role of Alice Veil, a concerned mother who may or may not be what she seems.
Nathaniel Méchaly
Composer · Known for Taken, Taken 2, Taken 3
Nathaniel Méchaly (born 1972) is a French musician and film composer. His composing credits include Avanim (2004), Revolver (2005), Colombiana (2011), The Grandmaster (2013), and the Taken trilogy (2008–2014). Méchaly was born in 1972. He studied music at the Conservatoire National de Région de Musique de Marseille. Méchaly began his career as a composer for television shows and commercials for French media conglomerates. He served as an assistant to French-Lebanese composer Gabriel Yared. He wrote his first score for French-Israeli writer and director Raphaël Nadjari's 2004 film Avanim. He went on to score two more Israeli feature films: Ushpizin (2004), and Tehilim (2007) which was also directed by Nadjari. Eventually, the French production company EuropaCorp's music department director became aware of Méchaly's earlier works and referred him to compose French actor Richard Berry's 2005 directorial feature film The Black Box. Afterward, French screenwriter and director Luc Besson, co-founder of EuropaCorp became pleased with Méchaly's work in The Black Box and decided to hire him for future projects. Méchaly won Best Original Film Score at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards and Best Composer at the 8th Asian Film Awards for The Grandmaster (2013) with Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi. Source: Article "Nathaniel Méchaly" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Charmaine Bingwa
Cast · Known for The Good Fight
Charmaine Bingwa is a Zimbabwean-Australian actress and writer. She's known for her powerful portrayal of Carmen in the CBS legal drama The Good Fight (2020–2022). Her nuanced performance earned her critical acclaim and positioned her as one of television’s rising talents. Bingwa made her feature film debut in Black Box (2020), part of the Blumhouse-Amazon anthology series, and went on to star opposite Will Smith in Emancipation (2022), directed by Antoine Fuqua. She also appeared in King Shaka (2024) and has voiced roles in animated series such as Back to the Outback (2022). In addition to acting, Bingwa is an award-winning screenwriter and a 2018 Heath Ledger Scholarship recipient. Known for her emotionally grounded performances and activist spirit, she continues to craft work that centers underrepresented voices with honesty and depth. Description above based on media reports and Charmaine Bingwa’s public credits.
Dave Maher
Dave Maher comes to Cleveland from Chicago. He trained in improv and sketch comedy at The Second City, iO, and The Annoyance, and he studied Meisner technique at The Artistic Home. He performed with improv teams K.C. Redheart, Computer, and Sports Team, and he found a comedy home at the fiercely independent Upstairs Gallery. Dave started stand-up in 2013, and in 2014, he fell into a monthlong coma, during which the Chicago comedy scene eulogized him on Facebook. From this experience, he created Dave Maher Coma Show, which he performed at Steppenwolf, The Annoyance, and Cincy Fringe Festival, plus bars, black boxes, and punk houses across the U.S. In 2018, he took that show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and studied with legendary experimental theatre ensemble The Neo-Futurists. Both encounters opened his eyes to the spectrum of possibilities in solo theatre. His one-man shows blend stand-up, storytelling, improvisation, and performance art to tackle topics like death, disability, grief, and apocalypse with candor and mischief. He brought Feed Wolf Ice Cream: A Comedy Show in the Afterlife to Edinburgh in 2019, and in 2023 at The Neo-Futurist Theater, he debuted Here to Make Friends, a show inspired by watching 40 seasons of Survivor in four months during the quarantine phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dave acted on Season One of FX’s The Bear, and he told the story of his coma on This American Life. He has a passion for audio, which includes producing and hosting the death-and-transformation interview podcast This Is Your Afterlife and the movie podcast Genre Reveal Party! Dave is excited to live in the city that birthed Albert Ayler, where he can apply his DIY ethic to work that honors his values: community, experimentation, liberation. He loves CD shopping and finding the perfect chili movie.
Amanda Christine
Cast · Known for IT: Welcome to Derry
A Virginia native, Amanda Christine spoke that she was going to be an actor at the tender age of 3. She worked her very first commercial at the age of 4 for "Cabbage Patch Adoptimals". Amanda landed the role as Beth Bergom in the television made pilot "The Wilding"; Meli Goodman in the television made pilot "Broken" as well as landing her first national commercial for "Yoplait" where she was infamous for saying the phrase "Mom's the Boss!" Producers of "Mad Families" loved this commercial so much that she was written into the movie where Amanda Christine was afforded the opportunity to work with some of the most respected comedians in the industry. Next, she made many guest appearances on shows such as NBC's "Red Nose Day Special", "9-1-1", "Colony", "How To Get Away With Murder", "Black-ish" and most recently her love for comedy landed her a guest star role on Disney's "Bunk'd" as Kaylie Champion. She has made appearances in many movies like "Stephanie", "OG", "Miss Virginia". In 2019, Amanda landed her first lead role her first leading role as Ava in "Black Box." She was thrilled be to a part of an Amazon/Blumhouse Production. Amanda excels in sports and dance. She plays guard on her school basketball team and dances with her dance troupe when her schedule permits. She loves traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Pamela Jikiemi
Pamela Jikiemi is an award-winning creative artist. She has produced over 25 short films and directed 4, winning the IRIS Prize for Education for a short film in 2023. She is currently a PhD candidate at University of the Arts, Chelsea. Pamela has extensive experience in senior management, content creation and as Creative Director/Department Head in broadcast, VFX/design postproduction, digital media, and gaming both nationally and internationally. She continues to work creatively and extensively as an award-winning actor and voice actor winning, Best Supporting Actor award in 2021 for short film 'The Rape Clause' at the Womxnchester International Film Festival, the Australian Jeffry Joynton-Smith Memorial Award for Best Supporting Actress ‘The God Committee’, appearing most recently in Netflix series Supacell, Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, and in BAFTA’s Best Game of the Year award winner Baldur’s Gate III. Giving back to community is a priority for her, she is the editor of the Bloomsbury commissioned book - Out of the Black Box: Conversations with Actors and Artists due for publication in May 2025.
Sean James William Parris
Sean James William Parris is an actor, writer, and teacher. He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Miami and Georgia. He has worked with Free Street Theatre as a vocal coach and co-directed his first show there in 2019 in collaboration with the Story Front in Back of the Yards. He has also worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago as a resident artist in their SPACE program at Curie High School. As an educator, he is currently teaching at DePaul University, and has previously taught at BlackBox Acting Academy. Some of his Chicago credits include Space Age (a two-person show created with real-life intimate partner Ricardo Gamboa; Free Street Theatre); The Magic Play (Goodman Theatre); The Drunken City, Animal Farm, and Compass (Steppenwolf Garage); Curve of Departure and The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre); Seascape (Remy Bumppo); and Pornography (Steep Theatre). Regional credits include The Magic Play (The Armory and Syracuse Stage). Film/TV credits include: Chicago P.D. (NBC); The Chi (Showtime); Brujos (Open TV) and the upcoming film Christmas Again. Sean received his MFA from DePaul University’s Theatre School and is a graduate of Black Box Acting Academy in Chicago. He is represented by Paonessa Talent.
Juan Francisco Villa
Cast · Known for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Juan Francisco Villa is a New York City 1st generation Colombian-American who grew up in LOISAIDA. He proudly calls Chicago his artistic home and has made the recent move to Los Angeles. He is an artistic creator focusing on Acting, Directing, Writing and Teaching Artist. TV Acting Highlights include being Directed by Eric Stoltz on MADAM SECRETARY (CBS) and acting with Tea Leoni, working with the cast of CHICAGO PD (NBC), and his first Guest Starring role as Detective Orjuela on BETRAYAL (ABC). Theater Acting Highlights include the NY Times Critics Pick OEDIPUS EL REY by MacArthur Genius Luis Alfaro, Directed by Chay Yew at the lauded Public Theater and playing the iconic role of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS in THE GENTLEMAN CALLER by Phillip Dawkins, Directed by Tony Especiale at the infamous Cherry Lane Theater in NYC. He will be shooting an upcoming Independent Feature EYES UPON WAKING by Jennifer Scott, playing a suicidal American War Vet whom has been working through PTSD after serving 4 tours in the Iraq War. Theater Directing highlights include Co-Directing the upcoming docu-drama COLUMBINUS, April 2019, in Washington D.C. at 1st Stage Theater which is based on interviews with those affected by the Columbine shooting 20 years ago. 1st Stage is the same theater that provided him with an opportunity to Co-Direct JESUS HOPPED THE A-TRAIN by Stephen Adley-Guirgis which received 2 Helen Hayes Awards along. Playwriting Highlights include his autobiographical solo play EMPANADA FOR A DREAM which chronicles his life growing up in The Lower East Side of NYC. It has been presented in NYC, Chicago, LA, San Diego and Washington DC along with cracking the list of Top Ten Shows for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader and Los Angeles Times. His ensemble play DON CHIPOTLE World Premiered at the Chicago DCASE Storefront Theater presented by terraNOVA Collective and The Playground Theater. He is currently developing his follow up solo play FINDING PANCHO which traces his relationship to his father who has disappeared deep into Colombia. This past summer Juan was accepted into the Maria Irene Fornes Playwriting Workshop in Chicago developing his newest work False Evidence Appearing Real or Cosmic Lovers. He has partaken in writing workshops led by MacArthur Geniuses Luis Alfaro and Han Ong along with Erin Courtney, John Jesurun, Zakiyyah Abdul-Rahim Alexander and April Yvette-Thompson. He is a 4 time recipient of the Chicago DCASE grant, PBS Latino New Media Finalist. Juan's other written works include THE BIG APPLE (Brooklyn Generator), TEARS OF HOPE (Something Marvelous Theater ), CAN YOU HEAR ME... (Chicago Blue Ring Radio Play), WANNA BE STARTING SOMETHING (Chicago Black Box Academy) COPPAZZ and WHEN MY FATHER DIED... (NYC INTAR OMPF).
Harry Del Rios
is an American professional wrestler. Rios is best known as the Spellbinder and Phantasio from WWE, however, he has competed under many other ring names during his career. Professional wrestling career United States Wrestling Association (1993-1995) Del Rios' first prominent wrestling role was in the United States Wrestling Association. He debuted there on September 13, 1993. He wrestled as the Spellbinder for the first 4 matches of his career, then switched to wrestling under his real name, then switched back to the Spellbinder gimmick in March 1994. He would use the Spellbinder gimmick for the reminder of his time in USWA. His last USWA match was in October 1995. He continued to wrestle in various Memphis promotions after leaving the USWA. He won the NWA North American Tag Team Title with Brian Christopher in 1999, and the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title in 2000. World Wrestling Federation (1995) He made one appearance in World Wrestling Federation (WWF), on the July 16, 1995 episode of Wrestling Challenge. He portrayed a babyface named "Phantasio", a magician wrestler. Phantasio wore a black and white mime mask (which he handed to a young fan sitting at ringside) that revealed matching facepaint when removed. He defeated Tony DeVito by sneaking up from behind, and magically pulling out his boxers allowing him to roll up DeVito for the victory. After the match, he magically removed the boxers (black and white colored) of referee Earl Hebner. Though he never again appeared on TV, he did wrestle a match against Rad Radford at a house show in a victorious effort. NWA:TNA (2002) Harry Del Rios competed on NWA:TNA's first-ever broadcast on June 19, 2002. He wrestled as Del Rios (essentially a rip-off of Scott Steiner and his "Big Poppa Pump" character), but was not used by TNA after the initial broadcast. Later career In 2003, Rios made a short lived comeback as Shock. He teamed up with wrestler Awe ("British Storm" Ian Harrison). The team would wrestle primarily in Memphis Wrestling. In the January 2007 issue of WWE Magazine, there is a short interview with Harry Del Rios concerning the Phantasio character. Del Rios claims that the idea originated as a combination of the Ultimate Warrior and Legion of Doom gimmicks. He also hinted at a possible return of the Phantasio persona. On June 2, 2012 Del Rios revived The Phantasio character at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in a winning effort against Simon Dean in Rahway, NJ.
Tatanka Means
Cast · Known for Marshals, Killers of the Flower Moon
Tatanka Wanbli Sapa Xila Sabe Means [Black Buffalo Eagle] is a Native American actor, comedian, boxer, entrepreneur, and activist of Oglala Lakota, Omaha, and Dine descent. He is best known for his roles in Saints & Strangers and Tiger Eyes. Tatanka is one of nine children of Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement, and himself an actor.
Robert Earl Jones
Cast · Known for The Sting
Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and professional boxer. One of the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. Jones was best known for his leading roles in films such as Lying Lips (1939) and later in his career for supporting roles in films such as The Sting (1973), Trading Places (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Witness (1985). He was the father of actor James Earl Jones. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matthew Schmidt
Editor · Known for Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow
Matthew Schmidt (born April 30, 1971) is an American film editor best known for working on several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), all alongside Jeffrey Ford, Black Widow (2021), alongside Leigh Folsom Boyd, and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), alongside Peter S. Elliot, Tim Roche and Jennifer Vecchiarello. Schmidt first worked with Ford as an assistant editor, beginning with the first Avengers film and started sharing the editing credit with Ford, beginning with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The duo edited Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame back-to-back, which was a two-year project and meant they were cutting at the same time of shooting. More than 900 hours of film were shot between both films, making the editing process a massive undertaking. Both films rank "among the biggest box-office earners of all time." For Avengers: Endgame, the two won the Saturn Award for Best Editing. Description above from the Wikipedia article Matthew Schmidt, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Jasper Pääkkönen
Jasper Pääkkönen (born July 15, 1980) is a Finnish actor and entrepreneur. Pääkkönen became famous in Finland playing Saku Salin in the Finnish television soap opera Salatut elämät (1999–2002) and have since then starred in many #1 Finnish box office hits, including Bad Boys (2003), Matti: Hell Is for Heroes (2006) and Lapland Odyssey (2010). He made his international breakthrough role in historical drama television series Vikings (2015-2020) as Halfdan the Black. In March 2019, it was reported that Pääkkönen had been attached to Spike Lee's Netflix original film Da 5 Bloods. A week later, it was announced that Pääkkönen had also landed a major role in the upcoming Black Tower series based on the novels by Stephen King, but the series was subsequently cancelled in early 2020.