Bios
is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. He is the recipient of a 2019 International Writers Residency at Arte Studio Ginestrelle (Assisi, Italy), a 2018 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, a 2016 Helene Wurlitzer Residency Grant, the 2016 Chesley/Bumbalo Playwright Award and a 2015 NJ State Arts Fellowship Award. Frank’s screenplays include adaptations of his plays, Consent, Lured, Screw The Cow & Fig Jam which have won 12 awards and are finalists/selections for over 80 Festivals/Competitions worldwide. Frank has written numerous plays including Vatican Falls (2021 O’Neill semifinalist), Lured (2018 O’Neill semifinalist, produced in NYC and Rome), Consent (2012 & 2019 O’Neill semifinalist), Orville Station, Iris (produced Know Theatre, Cincinnati), Unhinging (produced in NYC) and, most recently, Lockdown 2021. Frank is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and co-founder of High Voltage Productions with Ashley Garrett.
Frank J. Avella (writer/director)
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Ashley Garrett (producer/production design)
is an American photographer based in New York. She specializes in production photos for theater, music and dance, and portraits of individuals and groups. A co-founder (with the playwright, director and producer, Frank J. Avella) of High Voltage Productions, Ashley has produced a number of independent and short films, including Fig Jam and Letters from Baghdad. Ashley is excited to be working with Frank in a producing capacity, having photographed many of his plays, including Lured, Consent, and Vatican Falls. www.AshleyGarrett.Photo. @AshleyGarrettPhoto.
Carlotta Brentan (Brenda)
is a New York–based theater and film actor, producer and award-winning audiobook narrator. Highlights include producing, directing & performing in acclaimed World Premieres at Cherry Lane, LaMaMa, and internationally – including Frank J. Avella's Lured in NYC and Rome – and narrating Earphones award-winning, New York Times best-selling novels. Carlotta's audiobook publishing company Fabler Audio originally commissioned & produced Fig Jam as an audio play in 2020, and she's thrilled to reprise the role of Brenda on camera and add a new medium to her decade-long artistic collaboration with Frank J. Avella. Carlottabrentan.com
Alex Haynes (Teddy)
is an NYC based actor and writer. Selected theater: Puffs and Public Enemy both Off-Broadway. TV: Kal Penn Approves this Message and Pokemon. Alex's short-form web comedy, Alex is Black, was a 2020 Stareable Fest selection where it was nominated for best writing and best short-form comedy. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, The Upright Citizens Brigade, and a former resident acting company member at The Flea. Learn more at alex-haynes.com
James Eades (Director of Photography)
is a New York based Director of Photography, editor and video producer who specializes in award-winning corporate and commercial work as well as narrative filmmaking. James-Eades.com
James Camali (Editor/featured)
is a filmmaking jack of all trades. He holds a BFA in Film with a focus in Cinematography from the School of Visual Arts. In his third year, he directed the made-for-tv movie, A Fatal Obsession, which was picked up by Lifetime Movie Network. His thesis short, Gary, was granted the Independent Filmmaker Project award. He executive produced the award-winning feature The Lennon Report. His most recent written-and-directed feature, The Mental State, hopes to secure distribution for 2021. He is currently in post-production on two shorts and writing his next feature.
Shirlee Idzakovich (Costume Designer)
is a seasoned professional costume designer / stylist from NYC/ LA with over 100 build outs under her name. She has worked on Broadway, off-broadway as well as for video, TV, movies and Red Carpet and special event styling. Her passion is to teach the next generation the way it really is in a professional costume shop. She is an editor as well as curriculum editor/ writer for the NAA/ NEA for HS students in costume design and costume construction.
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Tucker Aust (Featured)
is a New York based actor and creator. A graduate of the BFA Acting Program from the University of Southern California, he is also a founder of the LGBTQ+ play reading series, Queer Ensemble. He is represented by Circle of 10 Talent.
Kalen J Hall (Featured)
has had the opportunity to work on many stage and film endeavors throughout his career, but one of his favorites is Frank J. Avella’s play, Lured. (which played in NYC and Rome) Please visit Kalen’s website,www.kalenjhall.com, and his IMDB: Kalen J Hall.
Remington Moses (Featured)
is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts, a student of Wynn Handman, and an acting teacher at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Theatre credits include: The Tempest (Caliban), Rhinoceros (Mrs. Bouef), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Kayleen), Dog Sees God (CB’s Sister), Happy Days (Winnie) The Gnome (The Gnome) and many others. Film and TV credits include, The Mental State, Kecksburg, Lifetime Original Movies A Fatal Obsession and Buddy Hutchins, Netflix’s The Crew and CBS's Murphy Brown. Remington proudly comes from a family of actors and is the great-granddaughter of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.
Bill Schineller (Featured)
It has been a year… for all of us. Having an idea and taking pen to paper to create an outline, flesh out a story and create an opportunity for a collection of other creatives to come together and play with each other after so much isolation is another layer to the gift that Frank shares with us. The opportunity to play with this crew of talented individuals, even for a couple of minutes, is a blessing. Thanks to Frank and everyone involved for the blast and a chance to be back in the creating world again.
Nicholas Turturro (Featured)
is a New York based actor who graduated from Syracuse University’s acting program in 2019. Since graduating, he joined The Flea Theatre’s resident acting company (before its dissolution) and has worked on various projects at The Tank, Theatre for the New City, and MTC Studios. He is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work with such a talented group of artists, and is even more thrilled to be working creatively after a difficult year for the industry. He is represented by Glitter Talent Agency.
John David West (Featured)
lives in New York City. He most recently appeared in the award-winning short film series The Lessons by Alberto Ferreras and Catamitus by Frank J. Avella. Since the COVID pandemic shut down theaters, John David hosts Theater for the New City’s TNC “On The Air” new play series. In addition to acting, he is a freelance social media manager and photographer. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York and BS in Music & Theater from Indiana State University. You can follow him on Instagram @johndavidwest