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Tamela Mann

Tamela Jean Mann (née Johnson) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and actress. She is married to actor David Mann. She began acting in 1999 when she was discovered by Tyler Perry. She debuted in the stage play I Can Do Bad All By Myself in 2000. The following year, she appeared in the comedy film Kingdom Come. She went on to act in Perrys plays Meet the Browns, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and What's Done in the Dark. In 2005, she waa in the romantic comedy drama film Diary of a Mad Black Woman which was inspired by the play of the same name. She reprised her role in the 2008 film Meet The Browns. The following year, she began starring on the TBS sitcom Meet the Browns, which ran til 2011. She appeared in Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and Madea's Big Happy Family (2011). In 2012, she waa in the musical film Sparkle, a remake of the 1976 film of the same name, alongside Whitney Houston and singer Jordin Sparks (making her film debut). She co-starred in the 2014 drama film First Impression and starred and produced 2018 Christmas film Merry Wish-Mas with her husband. In 2021, she starred in the another holiday film, Soul Santa. From 2015 to 2017, she starred, along with her husband, in the Bounce TV comedy series, Mann & Wife. In 2020, she returned to her role as Cora Simmons in the BET sitcom Tyler Perry's Assisted Living. In 2022, she appeared in A Madea Homecoming on Netflix. She then was cast in The Color Purple, a film adaptation for the screen from the 2005 stage musical of the same name. Mann began her career as a singer with the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family. She was a featured soloist on several tracks while with Franklin's group, including "Now Behold the Lamb", and "Lean on Me", the latter of which also included Mary J. Blige, Crystal Lewis, R. Kelly, and Bono. She began her solo career by releasing the albums Gotta Keep Movin (2005), and The Master Plan (2009). Her third studio album, Best Days reached No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel albums chart, and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The lead single "Take Me to the King" earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. Her fourth studio album One Way (2016), also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart; and spawned the single "God Provides", which won her the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song in 2017. Along with her Grammy Award, she has earned many other accolades and honors, including multiple NAACP Image Awards, a Billboard Music Award, and a BET Award. In 2022, she was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. She has received a total of nine No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart singles; while "Take Me to the King" spent 25 weeks on the top.

Morris Chestnut

Cast · Known for The Resident, Nurse Jackie

Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as teenage father Ricky Baker in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, groom-to-be Lance Sullivan in the 1999 film The Best Man, as NBA star Tracy Reynolds in the 2002 film Like Mike, and as the Visitor Ryan Nichols in the TV series V (2009). His first professional acting role was as Jadon in Freddy's Nightmares: A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series in the episode "A Family Affair" (season 2, episode 19) which aired on February 18, 1990. His first feature film role was as Ricky Baker in Boyz n the Hood (1991). He followed with roles in various TV movies. Chestnut also played a role on Patti LaBelle's short-lived sitcom Out All Night. His career continued to rise steadily with co-starring roles in standard big-budget studio films like Under Siege 2 (1995) and G.I. Jane (1997). In 1998, he won the annual Madden Bowl video game competition. In 1999, he starred in The Best Man with Taye Diggs and Nia Long in which he played a professional football player on the eve of his wedding. He reprised his role in Best Man Holiday. For both of his performances, he earned NAACP Image Award nominations. He then starred in The Brothers (2001), another film centering on the themes of fidelity and success among urban professionals. He has worked with Steven Seagal three times in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Half Past Dead and Prince of Pistols. He starred In Two Can Play That Game (2001), Breakin' All the Rules (2004), and Ladder 49 (2004). He again played a football player in The Game Plan (2007). He produced and starred in the film Not Easily Broken (2009). He starred as Ryan Nichols in the TV series reboot of V (2009). He then appeared in the films Think Like a Man (2012), and, in 2013, the films Identity Thief, Kick-Ass 2, and The Call. In 2015, Morris Chestnut played Derrick Dog Prince in the movie Heist; and People magazine named him as one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2015. He played the lead role of pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. in the series Rosewood, receiving another NAACP image Award nomination. He had recurring roles in the TV series Legends, The Enemy Within, and Our Kind of People. He had a starring guest role on the medical drama The Resident.

Skip Schwink

An actor and filmmaker known for the A24/Plan B produced Minari, directed by Lee Isaac Chung and starring Steven Yeun, which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Dramatic Feature at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, as well as for the family comedy adventure feature film C.I.Ape, about the world's first chimpanzee secret agent, released by Lionsgate in 2021, where he appears as the supervillain known as Alpha Dog, and the family comedy/drama Breaking Them Up in which he co-stars alongside Kellen Coleman and Steven Schneider. Skip also stars opposite Dennis Quaid in the feature biopic Reagan where he portrays the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. A former student of the Upright Citizens Brigade and Groundlings improv and sketch schools in Los Angeles, Skip has performed at some of the worlds most famous comedy clubs including The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory. His comedic talents are on full display in C.I.Ape.

Trevor Morgan

Cast · Known for The Sixth Sense

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Trevor John Morgan (born November 26, 1986) is an American actor. He has appeared in the films Genius, The Sixth Sense, The Patriot, A Rumor of Angels, Jurassic Park III, The Glass House, Chasing 3000, Mean Creek, Barney's Great Adventure, Local Color, Family Plan and Uncle Nino.

Lynn Whitfield

Cast · Known for Without a Trace

Lynn Whitfield (née Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991). In the 1990s, Whitfield played leading roles in a number of made-for-television movies and had several starring roles in theatrical films, including A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996), Gone Fishin' (1997), Eve's Bayou (1997), Stepmom (1998), Head of State (2003), Madea's Family Reunion (2006), and The Women (2008). Whitfield also starred in a number of movies in the 2000s and 2010s. From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Lady Mae Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network dramatic series Greenleaf, for which she won critical acclaim and garnered two NAACP Image Awards and a Gracie Award. She later appeared in the films Nappily Ever After (2018), Vacation Friends (2021), and The Retirement Plan (2023). Whitfield has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lynn Whitfield, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Jean-Simon Leduc

Jean-Simon Leduc is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his performances as Bruno in Love in the Time of Civil War (L'amour au temps de la guerre civile), for which he received a Quebec Cinema Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Quebec Cinema Awards, and as JP in the 2018 film Family First (Chien de garde), for which he received a Prix Iris nomination for Best Actor at the 20th Quebec Cinema Awards. He has also appeared in the films Shambles (Maudite poutine), Worst Case, We Get Married (Et au pire, on se mariera), Genesis (Genèse), In Broad Daylight (Au grand jour) and My Mother's Men (Les Hommes de ma mère), and the television series Au secours de Béatrice, Terreur 404, Plan B and Fugueuse.

Julia Kelly

Julia Kelly was named as "The Next Rising Star" in a 2014 New York Times Article! She is a diverse Actress, Social Media Celebrity, Fashion Icon, and Brand maker with close to 4 Million Fan-base. Her daily life is Documented for her dedicated fans to inspire and motivate them everyday! Julia was also nominated as one of the Top 50 comedians in Digital Media. She has new projects completed, such as the new summer hit on Netflix, "The Last Summer" , the lead in a TV series "In the Vault" The lead in and ABC project "Get Christie Love" with Writer/ Producer Courtney Kemp, and has built and impressive resume from CBS, MTV, Netflix, ABC and other mainstream and digital media. She has trained extensively the past 10 years with many Acting classes and coaches in the Los Angeles area. Her ethnicity of Spanish, African American, Japanese, American Indian, French & Irish give her an ethnic ambiguity to play many different cultural characters. Having a large family and several nieces and nephew, and a sizable Female/Male fan-base, Julia realizes she has a lot of responsibility to be a role model for this younger generation in her life. Hard work, training and patience will help her to achieve her goal to have a long working career, playing many diverse characters in Television and Film. Julia continues to plan ahead and looks forward with "Gratitude" for what is to come.

Bridget Fonda

Cast · Known for The Godfather Part III

Bridget Fonda is an American former actress born on January 27, 1964, in Los Angeles, California. She comes from a legendary acting family—her grandfather was Henry Fonda, her father was Peter Fonda, and her aunt is Jane Fonda. She gained recognition for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III (1990), Single White Female (1992), Point of No Return (1993), Jackie Brown (1997), and A Simple Plan (1998). Fonda was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Scandal (1989) and received additional nominations for her work in television films. After a successful career spanning the late 1980s to early 2000s, she retired from acting in 2002. She is married to composer Danny Elfman, with whom she has a son.

Dwayne Johnson

Cast · Executive Producer · Known for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Hercules, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name "The Rock", is an American and Canadian actor, producer and semi-retired professional wrestler, signed with WWE. Johnson is half-Black and half-Samoan. His father, Rocky Johnson, is a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history back when it was known as the WWF along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia's wife, Lia Maivia, was one of wrestling's few female promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Through his mother, he is considered a non-blood relative of the Anoa'i wrestling family. On March 29, 2008, The Rock inducted his father and his grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame. As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida as well as Los Angeles, California. He also owns a farm in Virginia. In 2009, Johnson gained citizenship in Canada in honor of his father's background. Though Johnson was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections and is now an independent voter. He stated he did not vote in the 2016 U.S. election. In recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe'a tattoo on his left side in 2003,and, in 2017, had the small "Brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull. Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. Their only child together, a daughter named Simone, was born in August 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Johnson then began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Their first child together, a daughter, was born in December 2015. Their second child, another daughter, was born in April 2018. Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year. In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities; it was noted as the largest donation ever given to the university's athletics department by former students. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods.

John Gilroy

Editor · Known for Andor, Nightcrawler, Pacific Rim

John M. Gilroy (born June 24, 1959) is an American film editor whose work includes Michael Clayton, The Bourne Legacy, Warrior, Pacific Rim, Nightcrawler, and Suicide Squad. Gilroy was born in 1959 in Santa Monica, California. He is the son of Ruth Dorothy (Gaydos), a sculptor and writer, and Frank D. Gilroy, a filmmaker. He is the twin brother of screenwriter-director Dan Gilroy and the brother of screenwriter-director Tony Gilroy. He has a daughter, Carolyn, born in 1990. John did not originally plan to enter the film industry. He studied government at Dartmouth College with the intention of continuing on to attend law school but eventually decided to pursue a career in film rather than law. He moved to New York City, where he worked as a bartender for two years before landing his first job as an assistant editor under Rick Shaine on the 1984 adaptation of Herb Gardner's play The Goodbye People. He was an editorial assistant on several films made throughout the 1980s, including Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Gardens of Stone (1987). His first film as the primary editor was The Luckiest Man in the World (1989), which was written and directed by his father. Gilroy also edited films including Billy Madison (1995), Shadow Magic (2000), Suspect Zero (2004), and Trust the Man (2005). He worked with his brother Tony Gilroy, a screenwriter and director, for the first time on Tony's film Michael Clayton (2007). The film received seven Academy Award nominations, and John's editing was nominated for a BAFTA Award and an American Cinema Editors Eddie Award. John and Tony later collaborated on Duplicity (2009) and The Bourne Legacy (2012). In 2014 John worked with his other brother, fraternal twin Dan Gilroy, also a screenwriter and director, as the editor of Nightcrawler, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing. He has edited films for every member of his immediate family—his father and both brothers—except his mother.[7] He has also worked often with director Gavin O'Connor and edited Phillip Noyce's Salt (2010) and Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim (2013). Description above from the Wikipedia article John Gilroy (film editor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Nao Oikawa

Nao Oikawa is a Japanese actress, TV Personality and was also a former AV idol who was very popular in the early 2000s. Nao Oikawa was born in Hiroshima. Her family moved to Tokyo when she was a little girl. At age 18, when she graduated from high school and began design school, she met a scout who proposed she become an AV idol. "That time, my hair was bleached and curly. My agency told me to get my hair back to straight black. One day in the office, one staff picked Oikawa as family name from a book, another staff picked Nao from another book. This is where my stage name came from." Oikawa's debut was not easy. AV producers did not think that she had special talent in their genre. She used her time for studying popular porn stars' acting. Finally, Oikawa made her debut adult video at age nineteen for the Media Station Cosmos Plan label in September 2000. Then she released some videos from Alice Japan, Momotaro, etc., but she could not get big success. In her first year of adult work, she made only a few videos, including a softcore V-Cinema movie, Virgin Teacher Hinako in September 2001. In Spring 2002, Oikawa began an association with the new KMP Million label, most of them under the direction of Goro Tameike. She said that Tameike showed her the way to go. Her first video with KMP and Tameike, Another Side of Nao Oikawa, involved anal sex and forced fellatio. One of her male partners is famed porn actor Taka Kato. About same time, she began to work with Soft On Demand and Moodyz which produced her most popular AV works. More than half of her AV work are produced in 2002. In Spring 2003, Oikawa signed exclusive contract with KMP which continued until her retirement. Together with Ran Monbu, Saori Kamiya and Hitomi Hayasaka, she was part of the exclusive group of actresses that KMP used for promotion under the name "2003 Million Girls". Another Side of Nao Oikawa 2, was even more hardcore with lesbian strap-on sex, forced fellatio and vomiting, multiple partner fellatio and vibrator play. Once again Taka Kato takes part in the action. On a gentler note, Oikawa appeared with Kurumi Morishita in a June 2003 production by KMP entitled Forest in Nude. Directed by TOHJIRO, this lesbian genre video is a "soft, bittersweet story of two friends who remember the days of their youth and the sexual experiences they had". At her peak, Oikawa was one of the most popular and well-known AV Idols in Japan. In 2003 she was #1 in the DMM list of the 100 top-ranked actresses by sales on their website. In 2004, even though she had retired in mid-year, she was still ranked #2, and even in 2005 she made the top 50 at #42. There have since been numerous re-issues and compilations of her earlier videos. Oikawa, along with fellow AV actress Mariko Kawana, actor Taka Kato, director Goro Tameike and Soft On Demand founder Ganari Takahashi, was among the 17 people interviewed for Misato Nakayama's study of professionals in the adult industry, 性職者の人々 あの世界の仕事師たち, published in January 2006 by Ohzora. In 2012, the major Japanese adult video distributor DMM held a poll of its customers to choose the 100 all-time best AV actresses to celebrate the 30th anniversary of adult videos in Japan. Oikawa finished in 42nd place in the voting.

Shera Danese

Cast · Known for Columbo

Shera Danese (born October 9, 1949, height 5' 7" (1,70 m)) is an American actress and the widow of actor Peter Falk. Biography Danese was born in Hartsdale, New York. Her acting career began in 1976 with a part in one episode of One Day at a Time. Her other television credits include roles on Serpico, Baretta, Three's Company, Kojak, Family, Hart to Hart, Starsky and Hutch and Charlie's Angels. In one of her few roles on the big screen, she played a prostitute named Vicky in Risky Business, the 1983 film starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. Danese had a major role in three of the six Columbo episodes in which she appeared. She was never the killer, but she helped plan the murder in the episode: A Trace of Murder - 25th Anniversary Movie. She has the distinction of having acted in more episodes of Columbo than any other actress (but not actor). She met star Peter Falk on the show, and became his second wife on December 7, 1977. They were married for nearly 34 years until June 23, 2011, when Falk died at the age of 83.

Jacob Vargas

Jacob Vargas (born August 18, 1971) is a Mexican-American actor. He began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a breakdancer on the hit TV show Diff'rent Strokes (1978). His first movie role was in the TV movie The Children of Times Square (1986). He started to appear in more films including Last Resort (1986), Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), The Principal (1987), Little Nikita (1988), American Me (1992), and Gas Food Lodging (1992). In 1995, he won the very first ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca (1993) and Gregory Nava's My Family (1995). He next starred in films including Crimson Tide (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Selena (1997), Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), and the cult favorite Next Friday (2000) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker. His next role was Tijuana cop Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro"s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award- winning film Traffic (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and another ALMA Award. In 2001, he executive produced and starred in the independent film Road Dogz (2002). He wrote, directed and acted in EDNY (2003). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play "Latinologues", which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD. He voiced for Pepito in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). Next, he played Sammi the chef in John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Marine sniper Juan Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama Jarhead (2005), a straight-arrow DEA agent in the action drama The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2006), a politically charged busboy Miguel in Emilio Estevez's historical drama Bobby (2006), and a psychologically tortured drone pilot Rudy Ramirez in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story Sleep Dealer (2008). He had roles in The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), Are We Done Yet? (2007), Death Race (2008), Cesar Chavez (2014, Heaven is For Real (2014), The Tell-Tale Heart (2016), Plan B, (2021), and Kimi (2022). His major TV roles are as Bob on Surfside Girls, Tony Medina on Mr. Iglesias, Horacio on Mosaic, Domingo Colon on Marvel's Luke Cage, Allesandro Montez on Sons of Anarchy and later on Mayans M.C., Guillermo on Moonlight, Ernesto Tiant on Greetings from Tucson, and Dr. Roberto Martinez on Max Steel. He had recurring roles on Colony, Blue, and Six Feet Under. He has also guest starred on a number of shows including National Treasure: Edge of History, The Mentalist, Burn Notice, Psych, Numb3rs, Medium, CSI: NY, Cold Case, The Pretender, JAG, ER, Full House, and Hunter. He has voiced for characters on animated series including Solar Opposites, Young Justice, and a recurring role on Tarantula.

Carl Gilliard

Cast · Known for The Naked Gun

Carl is a native of Chicago, attended high school in Detroit (Osborn High) and received his degree from Michigan State University. Carl initially worked as a radio newscaster at WGPR (107.5) in Detroit before accepting a sales position with the Eastman Kodak Company in Detroit. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position with the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group as a District Manager which took him first to Grand Rapids, and then to Kalamazoo Michigan, where Carl was re-introduced to theatre at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. In 1985, Carl re-located to Los Angeles, where he became a notable fixture on the LA Theatre circuit. As an actor, Carl has appeared in over 2 dozen plays mesmerizing audiences with his trademark baritone voice and fearless character portrayals. He has appeared in "The River Niger", "Livin' Fat", "Bubblin' Brown Sugar", "Zooman & The Sign", "South Of Where We Live", "Jeffrey's Plan" & "The Ninth Wave". His theatre work paved the way for his numerous television & film roles in sitcoms such as "Freddie", "Barbershop", "Family Matters", "Martin", "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air & "Roc as well as other appearances in "24", Michael Mann's, "Robbery Homicide Division", "Alias", "Cold Case", "Sleeper Cell", "Strong Medicine", "Hunter", "Mike Hammer", "Sherman Oaks" and features such as "Nothin' 2 Lose", "Chatroom", "Contact", "The Luau" , "Coach Carter", the Wes Craven's thriller, "Red Eye" , the upcoming prison drama, "The Mannsfield 12", directed by Craig Ross, Jr. & the romantic comedy, "Divine Intervention", directed by Van Elder. Carl has also appeared in numerous television commercials for IBM, GM, Burger King, Pepto Bismol, Bank One, Habitat For Humanity, Nicoderm, Saturn, Miller Beer & the hilarious "dropped call" campaign for Cingular. Through Carl's various experiences in film, television & theatre, he quickly forged his niche as a Producer with keen discernment for developing and discovering new screenplays by new and exciting writers. In collaboration with partner, Tony Winters, he produced the Pan African Audience Award winning feature "Retiring Tatiana". Carl's first outing as director is the poignant drama, "Section 8". Carl is the Ministry Director of the Faithful Central Bible Church Repertory Company, the drama team at Faithful Central Bible Church and also is Co-Creator and Program Director for the Bill Duke Media Foundation's Youth Media Camp. IMDb Mini Biography By: I-94 Entertainment

Sophie B. Hawkins

Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and painter. Born in New York City, she attended the Manhattan School of Music for a year as a percussionist before leaving to pursue a music career. She achieved critical and commercial success with her first two albums, producing a string of single hits including "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover", "Right Beside You", and "As I Lay Me Down". A dispute with her record label Sony Music over her third album, Timbre, led her to establish her own independent label, Trumpet Swan Productions, which has published her subsequent recordings. Hawkins is a long-time supporter of animal rights and environmental causes. She is also a social and political activist, supporting events promoting women in music and LGBT rights. Hawkins's debut album, Tongues and Tails, was released in 1992. It achieved both worldwide commercial success and critical acclaim, earning her a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1993. The single "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" went to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US and was also a Top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 14. Hawkins was asked to perform Bob Dylan's "I Want You", which she had covered on Tongues and Tails, for the 1992 Madison Square Garden concert honoring Dylan's 30th anniversary as a musician; this was later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, but her performance was omitted. Whaler, her second album, was released in 1994. Produced by Stephen Lipson, it also contained a US top 10 hit, "As I Lay Me Down", and was certified gold. Three singles from the album made the UK Top 40, including "Right Beside You", which peaked at number 13. The same year, Hawkins posed nude for Interview. As she explained to Ed Rampell in an interview for Q magazine, she met the photographer, Bruce Weber, and was asked if she would do a photoshoot with him. While she had provided her own clothes, Weber deliberately had her wear an unflattering dress as part of his plan to convince Hawkins to disrobe during the shoot. A 1998 documentary by Gigi Gaston, The Cream Will Rise, followed Hawkins during one of her tours and captured her struggle to deal with past troubles with her family, including her mother and brother. Music by Hawkins was included throughout the film. Also in 1998, Hawkins's record company, Sony Music, delayed the release of her third album. Its executives were unhappy with the finished product and wanted Hawkins to rework some of the material. In particular, they insisted that Hawkins remove a banjo track from one of the songs. Unwilling to compromise her artistic integrity, Hawkins refused to accommodate them. After a lengthy battle between Hawkins and the company, the album, Timbre, was eventually released in 1999, though Sony declined to promote it. Hawkins subsequently left the label and founded her own label, Trumpet Swan Productions. In 2001, Timbre was re-released on Hawkins's label, now as a two-disc set that contained new songs, demos, remixes, and videos. Her first independently recorded and released album, Wilderness, was released in 2004. ... Source: Article "Sophie B. Hawkins" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

David Coggeshall

Writer · Known for Matchbox the Movie, The Family Plan, The Family Plan 2

David Coggeshall (born 12 April, 1972) is a screenwriter and producer. Born in New York City, New York, USA, he wrote Orphan: First Kill, The Family Plan, and The Deliverance.

Lauren Caster

Lauren Caster is a writer, director, and actor based in Los Angeles, deeply connected to Southern California. Raised by a lesbian mother who conceived her through an anonymous sperm donor, Lauren is committed to telling LGBTQ+ stories, reflecting her personal journey and the diverse family structures she grew up with. Over the past decade, she has honed her craft on set as an actress, drawing inspiration from filmmakers on set and her mentors like Vincent D'Onofrio, Sharon Chatten, and Margie Haber. Her filmmaking journey began with her short film Donor Baby, which was picked up by Amazon. This success led to additional shorts, Plan C and Becoming, creating opportunities such as a development deal with Lifetime after winning The Wrap’s Pitchfest for emerging female filmmakers. Lauren later served as associate producer on Lifetime's You're Not Supposed To Be Here, a story she wrote, which was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Movie (Streaming or TV). Recently, she completed her feature film debut, Rhythm Is A Dancer, starring Amy Aquino and Tate Donovan. This milestone reflects her commitment to telling modern, inclusive stories with wit and emotional depth. Influenced by filmmakers like Mike Mills and Greta Gerwig, Lauren’s work is known for its distinctive style and relatable characters that challenge traditional storytelling. Her projects resonate with audiences through their smart, unconventional, and heartfelt narratives, making her a standout in contemporary filmmaking.

Rodger Hobson

After growing up on the family farm at Crockey Hill, Rodger read Engineering Science at Oxford University. Throughout his early career he was based in London as a Strategic Management Consultant with Corporate Clients in Sectors as diverse as Hotels and Leisure, Property and Airlines, before returning home to the farm business. Rodger now has over 20 years of carrot growing and farming experience and remains passionate and ambitious about the future for Hobson Farming. He is Chairman of the British Carrot Growers Association.

Irene Roseen

Irene Roseen is known for The Family Man (2000), The Benchwarmers (2006) and Star Trek (2009).

Bobs Watson

Watson was a member of the Watson Family, famous in the early days of Hollywood as being a houseful of child actors. He was brother to Coy Watson Jr., Harry, Billy, Delmar, Garry, Vivian, Gloria, and Louise, all of whom acted in motion pictures. The family, known as "the first family of Hollywood", lived by the Echo Park area of Los Angeles and Bobs attended nearby Belmont High School. They were honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce by placing the Watson family star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6674 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California. Watson was best known for his role as "Pee Wee" in the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Boys Town and its sequel Men of Boys Town (1941), both starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Tracy and Watson became good friends during the making of the first film, and Watson was reportedly Tracy's last visitor before his death in 1967. In 1939, Watson delivered a fine, tear-jerking performance as Pud, Lionel Barrymore's grandson, in the MGM film, On Borrowed Time. Watson later made guest appearances in many television programs, including The Twilight Zone, Lou Grant, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and The Fugitive. In addition to working in the motion pictures business, Watson went to Claremont School of Theology to become a Methodist minister, inspired from the movie Boys Town. He retired after 30 years of serving in Burbank and La Cañada, California. He died of prostate cancer in 1999 at Laguna Beach, California.

Cathy Fielding

The younger of two girls born in Los Angeles to parents Stanley Fielding, an accountant, and Frances Halbach, a housewife. Cathy lived in Reno, Nevada from the age of three to eleven, at which time the family returned to Los Angeles. After graduating Alexander Hamilton High School in she enrolled at Santa Monica City College with a dual-major of theater and science. Theater won out, so she continued training at Cal State Northridge and UCLA. She performed in regional theater and a few films. As Life so often does, it threw Cathy a curve ball, so she reluctantly left the acting world and became a corporate travel agent, where she remained for twenty years, during which time she married and had two children. In the Fall of 2009 she made the decision to return to her first love, and hasn't looked back since. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Cathy Fielding

Kaaren de Zilva

Born in the United Kingdom, Kaaren de Zilva grew up in Canada and describes her ancestry as an eclectic mix. Her parents were born in Sri Lanka and throughout the family tree the predominant ethnicities are Portuguese and Dutch. She began her pursuit of an acting career at a young age. She attended the Gastown Actors' Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia with Mel Tuck, as well as receiving tutelage from Ivanna Chubbick and Larry Moss. Kaaren made her professional acting debut playing a young cheerleader in the Corey Haim coming-of-age flick titled "Anything for Love." Since then she has worked steadily, appearing in numerous television and film roles. Her credits in episodic TV include "Stephen King's Dead Zone," the highly acclaimed "DaVinci's Inquest" and recurring roles on "DaVinci City Hall" and "The L Word." She also appeared in an installment of the horror series. "Hellraiser VI: Hellseeker". In 2007, Kaaren hit a career high point with a well-received turn in the Oscar-nominated movie, "Juno," a commercially successful and critically acclaimed film about teen pregnancy. Cast as the ultrasound tech, Kaaren delivers a solid performance in emotionally charged scene with rising young star, Ellen Page (Juno MacGuff) and multiple Emmy Award-winner Allison Janney (Juno's stepmother Bren). The ultrasound tech has a strong influence on the pregnant teen that chooses life over abortion. In a busy 2007, Kaaren has also graced the lens in the thriller "Post Mortem," aka "I Know What I Saw" in which she plays the psychic Nadira. She has also completed shooting on "The Last Mimzy", as well as. a television mini-series that examines the complexities and culture of the Asian crime triads, "Dragon Boys." Despite her busy career, Kaaren manages to keep a strict regimen of cardio and weight training, and finds time to relax with her hobbies of shooting pool and playing Texas Hold 'em poker. She also likes to spend quality time with her Bernese Mountain Dog. Her goals are to continue to choose unique roles that examine the human spirit that both challenge and inspire her. Although her passion for acting is what drives her artistically, she also hopes to one day establish her own production company.

Bashar Rahal

Bashar Mounzer Rahal is the second child to a Bulgarian mother Mariana Rahal - an interior designer and Lebanese father Mounzer Rahal - an OB/GYN. The family moved back to Bulgaria when Bashar was only 6 years old. He first started acting in TV sketches when he was 12. At the age of 14 he became a member of a professional theater group, called "Tears and Laughs", with which he took part in more than 15 performances including Shakespeare and Chekhov. He attended numerous international festivals, including the ones in Avignon, France and Thun, Switzerland among others. His first big screen role at the age of 15 was in 1952: Ivan i Aleksandra (1989) which was followed by more TV and Film appearances. After graduating from The First English Language High School in Sofia, Bashar attended the National Academy of Theater and Film Art, where he received his Masters in Dramatic Arts. Shortly after graduation he was accepted as a permanent member of the national youth theatre and was a guest actor at The National Theatre Sofia Bulgaria. For the next couple of years Bashar appeared in over 25 different TV comedy shows, but became most popular with the hit TV show "It Can't Be"equivalent of SNL ,created & directed by Nellie Andreeva .The show won " Golden Melon", for best comedy show - the most prestigious TV award in Bulgaria. In 1997 Bashar hosted "The Late Night Show" on Channel 3 Sofia , where he met his co-host and future wife Kalina Rahal. In 1999 the couple moved to California so that Bashar could pursue his acting career. He was granted Alien of Extra Ordinary ability as an actor. He is a graduate from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles. For a long time he was considered to play Azamat Bagatov in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Initially Bashar was not considered to play in Joshua Seftel's Political Satire War ,Inc. but the producers Danny Lerner and Les Weldon convinced both John Cusack and the Director Seftel that he is the best choice for the part. After the end of the shooting Cusack and Seftel admitted that Bashar had developed the best character. Later Danny Lerner casted Bashar as a lead in his upcoming action movie Direct Contact. Recently he was casted to play Boris in Dominic Sena's "Whiteout",starring Kate Beckinsale.​

Ainosuke Kataoka

The 6th generation Kataoka Ainosuke is Yamamoto Hiroyuki. Yamamoto Hiroyuki was born on March 4, 1972, in Jinnanbe-cho, Sakai-ku, Sakai-shi, Osaka. His parents ran a manufacturing business in Sakai, Osaka and did not have any association with the world of Kabuki. At the age of 5, Hiroyuki passed the audition for child actor held by Shochiku Geino and started receiving acting lessons and stage experience. His first screen TV appearance was child role for a drama in NHK's Galaxy TV Novel program. At the same time, he began appearing on Kabuki stage with his birth name. His talent was noticed by Kataoka Jinzaemon XIII in 1983, and also received the invitation for apprentice from Kataoka Hidetaro II. He then took the names Kataoka Chiyonosuke (real name of Kataoka Nizaemon XIII) and Kataoka Chiyomaru, and performed his first major Kabuki act "Kanjincho" in Kyoto Minamiza . Kataoka Hidetaro II adopted him to the family as his successor in 1993. The same year, he played the role of Sugawa Jiro in the "Kanjincho" staged at Nakaza in Osaka. He was promoted to the title of Kataoka Ainosuke VI in 1994. Kataoka Ainosuke VI is married to actress Fujiwara Norika since September 23, 2016.