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Bios/Credits

Heather de Michele, Director — Heather de Michele has 15 years experience directing and teaching professional theater, most recently as the Artistic Director of American Girl Theater, NYC.  Her directing/producing credits for film/tv include the feature documentary Lesbian Pulp-O-Rama Goes to Sweden! (Frameline, Newfest, IFC and more), The short film Sondra Stingray: Sapphic Gumshoe (Winner Best Short, Long Beach Q Film Festival) and the upcoming short, Cry For Me Now.  Heather also directs the ongoing improv based web-series Twins: It’s Like Looking in a Dirty Mirror and is collaborating on a new web-series for pre-teen girls called Go Girl!.  As a VCAM producer for Current TV, Heather has directed/edited over a dozen promo spots.

Carmen Elena Mitchell, Executive Producer/Writer — As a writer C armen’s words have appeared in Pieces: A Collection of New Voices (as recipient of the MTV/Pocket Books Short Fiction Award). She has also been published in The Sow’ s Ear Poetry Review, Deixis and The Seattle Medium.  She made her filmmaking debut with Evidence (Vine Shorts Fest, San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, Zero Film Festival, Red Orchid Film Festival), and co-wrote the Jury Level Filmaka Short “Who Could Ask for More?” with Craig Ouellette.  Playwriting credits include Beyond the Dinner Table: The Unintentional Poetry of Howie Small (Los Angeles Edge of the World Theatre Festival), and Off-Chance Production’s Anatomy of a Slap for which she served as lead writer with Luis Reyes .

Reena Dutt, Associate-Producer — Independent Producing: NYC International Fringe Festival production of White Cotton, That Takes Ovaries! Ovaries and Coffee(LA), Asian Pacific Women’s Center fundraising event @ Disney Concert Hall, Uterock Night @ The Gig-Hollywood; Theatre/Film Producing: Disha Theatre @ The Lark (NYC), Theatre of NOTE(Ovation, LA Weekly and GLAAD Award nominated), Off-Chance Productions; Red Dirt Productions, Artwallah. www.reenadutt.com

Jennifer Weaver, Associate-Producer — is able to turn her native Northern Jersey accent on and off.  She co-produced an Original Works Showcase and is a founder of Off-Chance Productions where she co-produced the original play Anatomy of a Slap . She is a proud, active member of Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood.  www.jenniferleeweaver.com

CAST

Robin Dalea, Rasha — A native New Yorker, Robin’s 20-year career spans two continents and a variety of media venues.  TV, film and webseries credits include:  WITHOUT A TRACE, ANGEL, WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU, THE FAMILY MANCUSO, THE MATING GAME, SWEET GOOD FORTUNE, COMA-PERIOD, CRY FOR ME NOW and the critically acclaimed short film, DUCK, DUCK GOOSE! for which she received a Best Actress Award (view film at http://www.hit-the-fan.com).  NYC stage credits include:  THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, DANCING AT LUGHNASA, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS, THE KATHY AND MO SHOW, THE ALAN BALL ONE ACT FESTIVAL and over 100 improv/sketch performances.  L.A. stage credits include: the debut of her self-written one-woman show, R.S.V.P… OR ELSE!, Jamison Newlander’s RIFF-CAT POLITO, METAMORPHOSES and Ms. Orange in RESEVOIR DAMES. The national tour of THE UN-PC SNOW WHITE took her through eight states in seven months. In New York and Budapest, Hungary, she originated the role of the Nazi resistance fighter, Sonia, in Jessica Litwak’s original piece, THE PROMISED LAND. More info and credits at http://www.RobinDalea.com.

Nikki Brown, Vanna — Nikki Brown hails from Chicago, IL…the home of so many true thespians.  She is a graduate from Columbia College with a BA in Theater, and has been working professionally for several years. Nikki comes from a theater background and has worked in many theaters in Chicago and LA, playing in roles such as Shelby in Steel Magnolias, Lady in Green in For Colored Girls.., Cass in Wonder of the World, Chiffon in Little Shop of Horrors, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and so much more.  Nikki was a member of Healthworks sketch comedy in Chicago, and She is currently a member of Theater of NOTE in Los Angeles. Nikki is now taking the T.V. and Film world on by the horns.  She has starred in Hungry Hearts, Dad’s Day, and Hypothetically Speaking. You can catch her this fall in Turn Off the Dark.  Nikki is a multi-talented star on the rise and she is delighted to be one of the phenomenal actors in Real Girls Guide to Everything Else.

Reena Dutt, Sydney — Reena Dutt is an actor of Film, Television, and Theatre.  Theatre NYC: Slamdance, MCC, Ars Nova, The National Asian American Theatre Company, HERE Arts Center, Miller Theatre, New York Fringe Festival. Theatre LA: Pasadena Playhouse Balcony Theatre, Mark Taper Forum’s New Works Festival, East West Players,  Will and Company, The Matrix Theatre. Film: FillumStar: The Peter Patel Story ,Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, Ways of the Flesh. TV: Criminal Minds (CBS), Medium (NBC), Out of Practice (CBS). Training: William Esper Studio NYC, Theatre Tribe LA, Robey Theatre Co. LA, Membership: SAG, Off-Chance Productions, Theatre of NOTE. www.reenadutt.com

Jennifer Weaver, Liz — Among her acting favorites are “Lady Macbeth,” and “Rosanna,” the hot-headed Italian in No More Sundays. Having studied in New York , London , and Los Angeles , she has had the opportunity to learn from the best including her amazing current teacher, Stephanie Nash (Yale Drama MFA). TV and film credits include the “Maid of Honor” on Fuel TV’s Stupidface and “Elma” in National Lampoon’s Brokeback Bowling Alley.  She will get a chance to prove her “scream-queenness” since a horror feature is on the horizon .  She helped white pants come back to life in the Shout Rescue Mission commercial and was behind bars due to being stuck in the kitchen for King Soopers .  www.jenniferleeweaver.com

Carmen Elena Mitchell, Angie — As an actor, Carmen received her training at Sarah Lawrence College, The British American Drama Academy, and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. Recent LA stage credits include Anatomy of a Slap, The Golden Round, Death Comes to Us All , Mary Agnes (Open Fist Theatre Company), Sound the Country and Colette Call and the Meaningless Void (developed in collaboration with playwright Lisi DeHass). Recent film, television, and internet credits include the films Apples and Oranges , Rations, Who Could Ask for More? and  TV pilots Possession Point and Taffeta .

Anna Fitzwater, Barista — Anna is currently starring in the improvised web series “Twins:  It’s Like Looking in a Dirty Mirror” as precocious 13 year old Sigourney Snamf, the short film (in festivals now) “Sondra Stingray:  Sapphic Gumshoe” as the title character and she just completed the short film “Cry For Me Now” in which she plays a Marlene Dietrich impersonator.  You may have seen her as Cooper’s mom on Nickelodeon’s “The Naked Brothers Band” and in the United Way PSA “Live United” campaign.  Some favorite stage roles include Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”, Elizabeth Proctor in “The Crucible”, Amelia Earhart in “Fugitive Angels” (HERE Arts Center, NYC), Anna in “Burn This” (Manhattan Theatre Source, NYC), Helen of Troy in “The Odyssey” (Seattle Rep/McCarter), Lucretia in “The Cenci” (The Ohio Theatre, NYC), May in “Fool for Love” (78th St. Theatre Lab, NYC) and Clytemnestra in “Electra” (HERE Arts Center).  Much respect to all the Real Girls cast and crew!

Anna Khaja, Aliyah — In four feature films due out on the big screen in 2009, Anna plays an eclectic mix of memorable roles, shining alongside Jim Carrey and Bradley Cooper (YES MAN), Chris McDonald (Reunion), JK Simmons and Alexis Bledel (Ticket To Ride) and Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia (Chaos Theory). Anna first gained recognition on the big screen in last year’s King Of California, as the unyielding cop who faces off with – and eventually is seduced by – Michael Douglas. With these roles, as well as her work on numerous television shows such as Numb3rs, Sleeper Cell, DIRT and Weeds, as well as ABC’s all-improv half hour comedy This Might Hurt, Anna is making a name for herself playing strong-willed, independent women.  She is a two-time LA Weekly Award winner and a two time Ovation Nominee. Anna has received outstanding notices from the LA TIMES, VARIETY, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, LA WEEKLY, Curtain Up, LA Stage Scene, CITY BEAT and BACKSTAGE. She has just returned from performing in Around The World In 80 Days at the Historic Cleveland Playhouse.

Bruno Oliver, “Big” — Bruno Oliver is from Chicago, something about which he is endlessly proud and annoyingly snotty. After graduating from Wesleyan University, he was busy in the hopping Chicago theatre scene before moving to Seattle to get his MFA from Univ. of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program. Much to his surprise and his families horror, he ended up in Los Angeles. Over the years in L.A. he has worked with some of the most scrappy and influential small theatres in town, including Sacred Fools and Zoo District, and picked up LA Weekly and Garland Awards along the way. Bruno’s work on TV includes House, MD, Party Down, Mad Men, Arrested Develpment and more. He has appeared in Indie features, webseries, and a truly ridiculous number of short films. More info @ www.brunooliver.com.

Joe Roche, Sleazy Bar Guy  – has appeared in numerous short and feature length independent films including Defiant Productions “The Big Date.”  He has also performed with various improv groups at Donny’s Skybox Studio at Second City Chicago, and in award-winning theatre productions in both Chicago and Los Angeles, including the original production of “He Asked For It” at Theatre of Note, “I Never Sang For My Father” at Steppenwolf Theatre, “The Mystery of Irma Vep” at Northlight Theatre, and numerous productions with Chicago’s Defiant Theatre.

Shawn MacAulay, Sleazy Picnic Guy — Shawn was born and raised on a farm near Alexandria, Minnesota. He fled rural life at 18 to study theater and chemistry at St.Olaf college, then used his education as a springboard into the Seattle theater scene where he co-founded Theatre Paradox.  Recent theatrical credits include: Love’s Old Sweet Song, by William Saroyan; Blue Night in the Heart of the West, by James Stock; the world premiers of The Room, by Michael Franco and Little Golden Fish, by Jamie Duneier; the U.S. premier of Tender, by Abi Morgan; How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients, adapted by Jeremy Lawrence (both in LA. and in Edinburgh); and Voices from Chornobyl, adapted by Cindy Jenkins.

Dan Wingard, Sleazy IRS Guy — Dan grew up in San Diego, California.  There he’s appeared at the Old Globe Theatre, the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre and Starlight.  In Los Angeles Dan has been a proud member of Theatre of NOTE for eight years and a member of the Sacred Fools Theatre for two.  NOTE and Fools appearances include award-winning productions of Hamlet, A Mulholland Christmas Carol, La Bete, and The Swine Show.  Dan has won an ADA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy, and his television appearances include Vanishing Son and Point Pleasant on Fox.

Ronobir Lahiri, Mullah — TV:  Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Cold Case, Bones, Ghost Whisperer, Rita Rocks, Dirt, Without a Trace, Related, The Sopranos,  Law & Order, among others.  Film:  Ta Ra Rum Pum, Stuart Little II, Igby Goes Down, You’ve Got Mail.  Theater:  The King & I (Broadway, West End), favorite regional and off-broadway include Indian Ink, (Washington D.C.), The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here, (Williamstown Theater Festival), The Crucifer of Blood (Berkshire Theater Festival), and The Three Sisters (ECA/ La Mama etc.)  An accomplished sitar player and composer, was awarded the 2000 Helen Hayes Award for an original score.

CREW

Rob Webb, DP — Robert Christopher Webb completed films studies at the California State University Long Beach in 1994. Since then he has photographed numerous short films that have went on to receive many awards at various film festivals around the United States. In 2001 the feature film which he shot, ” The Flip Side ” was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, in The Native American Forum. He then went on to shoot the feature film ” Americano” with Joshua Jackson, Dennis Hopper, and Leonor Varela. Robert received a Best Cinematography Award in 2005 from The Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Alabama for ” Americano “.

Recently Robert has photographed the Spanish feature film “Under The Snow”, which won an audience award Valladolid Film Festival in Spain and made it’s North American Premiere at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival. He has been working with the music video directing team Artificial Army, shooting videos for such bands as, Operator, Obie Trice, Trivium, These Arms are Snakes, The Willows, Repeater, Manntis, The Sword, and One Block Radius. Robert also shot Artificial Army’s Feature Mockumentary “Wreckless Epic”.

He has won an Emmy Award and 2 Telly awards for cinematography with his work on industrial spots for Lockheed Martin, which have involved traveling around the world to such countries as Japan, Korea, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Columbia, and Honduras.  He has done commercial spots for Gonzaga University, Aussie Hair Care Products, and Nature Made. His most recent projects were with Jim Henson Studios & Warner Bros., Cadburry Schwepps, and Smashbox.

Mark Legaspi, AC — Mark Legaspi was born in a trailer to a pack of wolves, somewhere near Glen Allen, MS.  He soon found his way to Southern California where he immediately attended Santa Barbara City College and San Diego State University.  He currently works as a freelancer in the camera department.  He also plays in a band called Kissing Tigers.

Geeta Malik, Editor/Script Supervisor — Geeta Malik received her Masters of Fine Arts from UCLA’s prestigious Graduate Film Program in Directing.  She has created several acclaimed narrative short films that have played in festivals worldwide. Her viral narrative short, “Aunty Gs,” earned a College Television Award in comedy from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (a “Student Emmy”).  Geeta worked for several years at Showbiz India Television, where she was lead editor, director, and segment producer.

She currently works for the MY HERO Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to social activism and media arts education around the globe.  Her website is www.shetanifilms.com.

Ashley Hillard/Script Supervisor — From a young age, Ashley Hillard knew she wanted to go into the entertainment business.  Her passion for film and television led her to pursue her career aspirations by attending the University of Arizona in Tucson, were she studied film with a minor in Creative Writing..  During her college summer breaks, she traveled to Hollywood and worked as an intern in companies such as Lynda Obst Productions, MTV Films, The Insider TV show, ICM and Stuber / Parent Productions.  During her senior year, Ashley produced her first short film entitled “THE ELECTRIC SLEEP”, which is a sci-fi noir directed by Chapman grad student, Matt Brailey.  Ashley graduated in 2006, and received an Outstanding Senior award from the Department of Media Arts. Shortly thereafter, she landed her first job as an assistant at Alcon Entertainment and then worked at Endeavor, which is one of the top agencies in Hollywood.  Ashley later took some time off to travel and work on film sets. When she returned to Hollywood, she started working as a producer on the webseries TEMPORARY INSANITY.  Currently, she is working as an Associate Producer on the feature “CHRISTMAS MISFITS”, with Brittany Snow attached and is also attached as a Producer to the Western “THE PRICE” starring Carlos Gallardo (EL MARIACHI).  Along with producing, Ashley works for EMJAG as a reader and as a correspondent and critic for the Australian based film site Moviehole.net.

Bill Coy, Sound mixer/editor — Sound has been his passion since he acquired a tape recorder sometime in the mid part of the last century! This led to a degree in Electrical Engineering and the discovery that you really can sync audio tape and film together and get “Talkies”. His most recent sound work on short films includes, “Evidence”, “Coming Together”, “Hazzah” and “Local Stigmatic”. Feature films include production sound for the award winning feature “Minds’ Eye” for Desert Sky Productions. He has also done sound design for several theater productions in Los Angeles and Long Beach and for several years was the Technical Director for the Long Beach Shakespeare Company. In a previous life he was Principle Sound Designer for the Drama Workshop in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ragini Gill, Makeup — Ragini learned about makeup at an early age by watching her mother who was an aspiring model.  She later formalized her training by attending the highly recommended Make-up Designory.  She has since been pursuing her passion and is valued for her skills in beauty makeup.  Ragini is experienced in film, print and special event production makeup.

Luis Reyes, Production Assistant (Co-founder Off-Chance) — A graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Luis has been a writer, director, dramatrug and theater critic both independently and with a host of California arts institutions. He is also a comic book editor and video game producer, who moonlights as the front man for the original pioneers of superfunk, Jacaranda. Luis first came to Off-Chance Productions as a writer and director for last year’s Anatomy of a Slap, and continues to produce work with OCP. He is also the Executive Producer of the Blank Theater Company’s Living Room Staged Reading series.

CAST & CREW INFO:

DIRECTOR, Heather de Michele

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER, Carmen Elena Mitchell

PRODUCERS,  Reena Dutt, Jennifer Weaver

CO-PRODUCER, Steven Calcote

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, Robert C. Webb

EDITOR, Geeta Malik

SOUND EDITOR, Bill Coy

CAST LIST:

RASHA, Robin Daléa

VANNA, Nikki Brown

SYDNEY, Reena Dutt

ANGIE, Carmen Elena Mitchell

LIZ, Jennifer Weaver

“BIG”, Bruno Oliver

SLEAZY BAR GUY, Joe Roche

SLEAZY PICNIC GUY, Shawn MacAulay

SLEAZY ACTOR GUY, Phinny Kiyomura

SLEAZY BARISTA-GIRL, Anna Fitzwater

NUSHEEN, Meena Seredib

MULLAH HABIB, Ronobir Lahiri

ALIYAH, Anna Khaja

SLEAZY IRS GUY, Dan Wingard

BARTENDER, Mike Datz

ADDITIONAL CREW LIST

TITLE SEQUENCE CREATOR, Craig Ouellette

GAFFERS, Eric Boland & Danny Vincent

ASSISTANT CAMERA OPS, Mark Legaspi & Nick Ouellette

SCRIPT SUPERVISORS, Geeta Malik & Ashley Hillard

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR, Victoria Watson

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS, Luis Reyes, Christian Vinces,

Mariah Robinson

MAKEUP, Ragini Gill

CRAFT SERVICES, Reena Dutt, Victoria Watson

CATERING, Victoria Watson, Reena Dutt, Maribeth Gallion, Alison Star Locke,

Carol Ann Susi

PASHTU TRANSLATOR/COACH, Roya Rahmani

TENT DESIGN, Shawn MacAulay

THEME MUSIC, Jason Olsen

THEME MUSIC, Janice Misurell-Mitchell

PORN VARIATIONS ON THEME, Jason Olsen

ORIGINAL AFGHAN MUSIC, Ronobir Lahiri

“MOLLY IN MAY”, Ronobir Lahiri

“ICARUS KISS”, Melinah Kurdian

“NIGHTFIRE”, Thunderdikk

“THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR LOVE”, Josh Lee

Thank you to our donors:

Mr. and Mrs. Bhattacharya

Sarah Boughton

Sheryl Brock

Ruby Roy and Toby Chaudhuri

Nandita Datta

Mr. and Mrs. Dutt

Sarah Forth

Michael Galvin

Sean Hale

Laura Huffman

Helen Maio

Alanna Medlock

Mr. and Mrs. Mukherjee

Robert Misurell

Florence Misurell

Janice and Tom Mitchell

Shannon Swilley

Mr. and Mrs. Sinha Roy

Sandra and Mike Ryan

Rod Weaver

Thanks for keeping it REAL!:

Camille Aleck

Lise Anderson

Sonora Chase

Parvesh Cheena

Rebecca Cremona

Henry Dittmen

Michelle Dunn

Kahshanna Evans

Steven Falk

Elisabeth Flack

Melinda Foley

Stephen Gergley

Roz Helfand

Rebecca Hughes

Carrie La Ferle

Deb Loftis

Alanna Medlock

Kim Meyers

Gabriel Mitchell

Beth Robbins

Joe Rubalcaba

Pam Sukwiwatsirikun

Francis Stokes

Carol Ann Susi

Theatre of Note

Anna Wenger

Brianna Young

Erika Zucker

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