Meet Our Collaborators
Ato Essandoh
While studying Chemical Engineering at Cornell University, Ato was dared by his then college sweetheart to perform in a play. Years later, Ato still marvels at the experiences and opportunities that have been afforded to him since that fateful performance at school. Ato’s career has blossomed over the years with turns in movies such as “Garden State,” “Blood Diamond,” “Jason Bourne” and Netflix’s “Reptile.” On television Ato has had beloved recurring roles on “Blue Bloods” and “Elementary” for CBS as well as NBC’s “Chicago Med.” As a series regular, Ato has played a Civil War doctor in BBC America’s crime series “Copper;” a blues singer in HBO’s music industry drama “Vinyl;” an ex-Marine in Netflix’s sci-fi epic “Altered Carbon;” a military lawyer in CBS’ “The Code;” and an astronaut in Netflix’s space saga “Away.” Currently Ato stars as “Stuart Hayford” in Netflix’s hit drama “The Diplomat.” Ato’s play “Black Thang” was published in the annual play anthology “Plays and Playwrights 2003” (ISBN 9780967023441).
Paul Booth
A fine artist, tattooist, filmmaker, sculptor and musician, Booth has become synonymous with transgressive and provocative work which spans a vast range of expressive forms. In the 1990s, Booth’s inimitable style led to high demand within the celebrity circuit, and he soon became the go-to artist for top-tier clients such as Slayer, Pantera, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Sepultura, Cradle of Filth and the stars of the WWE (including The Undertaker and Aleister Black). It was with this enviable client list that Booth found himself one of the most famous tattoo artists in the world. Additionally, demand for his fine art pieces and album artwork grew, and with it, the Last Rites brand which Booth has been developing since the late ‘80s. In recent years his work has featured in everything from Rolling Stone to Forbes. A waiting list which is several years long and numerous, high-profile public appearances across the world, booked on a regular basis, ensure that Booth is never idle. With over half a million social media fans in eager anticipation of his actions, Booth is always sought after. The only thing we know about his next move, however, is that it will be remarkable.
Martyna Mayok
Martyna Majok was born in Bytom, Poland and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her Broadway debut play, Cost of Living, which was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. She is the recipient of many awards including The Arthur Miller Legacy Award, an Obie, Lucille Lortel, American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Champions of Change Award from New York City’s Mayoral Office, Lanford Wilson Prize, Lilly Award, and The Hodder Fellowship from Princeton. Martyna wrote the libretto for Gatsby, with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, has developed TV projects for HBO, and is writing feature films for Plan B/Pastel/MGM and Participant.
John Pollono
Part of Variety’s “Screenwriters to Watch” list, John’s first feature Stronger starred Jake Gyllenhaal and won #2 on the Black List. Stronger was released in 2017 to a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes. John’s screenplay Evel is currently in pre-production at Sony Pictures with Darren Aronofsky directing. As an actor, he has appeared on stage and screen, most recently in an award-winning recurring role in This Is Us. John’s plays include Small Engine Repair, Lost Girls, and Rules of Seconds.
Paola Lazaro
Paola Lázaro is an actress and playwright from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is currently playing Gomez in the Netflix series Obliterated, and was the recipient of the 2021 Steinberg Playwright Award. In 2015 she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in To the Bone by Lisa Ramirez. Her play Tell Hector I Miss Him at Atlantic Theater was nominated for a Drama League Award for Best Production of a Broadway or Off Broadway Play and for an Outer Critics Circle Award for the John Gassner Playwriting Award. In 2017 she was selected as a Sundance Theatre Lab writer with her play There’s Always the Hudson (2017 Relentless Award finalist) and as a Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellow. Paola is Atlantic Theater Company’s 2016 2017 Tow Playwright in Residence. She was the Van Lier Playwright Resident at the Public Theater 2018 2020. Acting for television: The Walking Dead, Lethal Weapon, SMILF, Wu Tang: An American Saga, Patty’s Auto, Shelter. Acting for film: Pimp, Black Bear. Nominations as an actress: (Imagen Awards 2021) Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama for The Walking Dead. (Drama Desk Awards 2015) Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. Nominations as a writer: (Drama League Award 2017) Best Production of a Broadway or Off Broadway Play. (Outer Critics Circle Award 2017) for the John Gassner Playwriting Award. Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellow 2017.
Jim Harberson
Jim Harberson loves writing weird stories. His most recent book, Comorbidities (Markosia 2022), comprises three novellas about irregular topics, including weaponized cats, serial-killer reincarnation, celebrity-grave robbery, mass murder, sociopathic spiritual gurus, ghost psychotherapy, military misbehavior, and more mass murder. He wrote A Disgusting Supermarket of Death (Markosia 2021), a short-story collection, and co-wrote Stay Alive (Markosia 2020), a graphic novel. Both were nominated for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award. His short story, “Daddy Issues,” appears Volume 1 of Chilling Tales for Dark Nights: 30 Tales of Terror (2021). The Simply Scary Podcast produced his audio drama, “Making Things Click,” in 2018. He lives in upstate New York.
Links to his works may be found at jamesharberson.com.
Ryan Mulkay
Ryan Mulkay is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles who has appeared in AMERICAN SKIN (Venice Film Festival), THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury and Audience Award winner), THE LAND (Sundance Film Festival), and SNAP (Primary Wave Entertainment, ALLBLK), among other Film/TV credits. His LA stage credits include the West Coast premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES (Rogue Machine Theatre) and CONK AND BONE (Pasadena Playhouse), among others. Ryan is a graduate of George Mason University, and an instructor at RD Studio.
Micah Hauptman
Micah Hauptman is an actor, filmmaker and founding partner of Chaotik Media, a production company that focuses on “content that matters” as a tool to enact social and political change. With Chaotik partner Ofrit Peres, he produced "Anything," a project executive produced by Mark Ruffalo and released by Paladin nationwide. On screen, he's most known for playing real-life documentary filmmaker and mountaineer David Breashears in the film “Everest," starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, and Jake Gyllenhaal. His breakout role came playing August Hardwicke in FilmDistrict’s “Parker” opposite Jennifer Lopez, Jason Statham and Nick Nolte, directed by Oscar-nominated Taylor Hackford. On the TV side, he’s best known for recurring on the 5th season of Showtime’s series “Homeland”. Micah's had projects in development with Lee Daniels Entertainment and Showtime, and up next comes "D is for Detroit," which will mark Micah's directorial debut.
Ted Lehane
Drawing on over 30 years of on-set experience in indies, studio films and television, Ted has come to thoroughly love the process of filmmaking andfinding ways to help others tell their stories. He previously ran Blue Collar Films, a documentary and short film cooperative that helped working crew tell their own stories. In 2017, he sold his motion picture screenplay “Keep Up the Good Work” to RGE. And is currently developing Tim Bellen and Chris Haifley’s feature film “Turret” for Flak Happy Films.
Fred Harper
Illustrator Fred Harper has painted Spiderman swinging from rooftops for Marvel, and interior illustrations for some of the world's best loved magazines (Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many others). His art has been seen in the window displays of Hermes stores, storyboards for movies, and on the bodies of metalheads everywhere (he did the key art for Ozzfest '05 and '06). When not busy with his commercial career, he exhibits work in galleries from Portland, OR, to Istanbul, Turkey, and a bunch of places in between. 
The Oddysy
KJ (they/them), who makes music as The Oddysy, is a bassist, singer, composer and producer in NYC. Their latest projects include a reggaeton-tinged EP with actor Paola Lazaro (The Walking Dead); a full-length album with Mexican-American LGBTQ icon Renee Goust; an album with DJ Johnny Juice (Public Enemy) that combines jazz, rock, and hip-hop; and a self-produced collection of EDM, House, and Dark-Wave. As a composer, The Oddysy has created original music for the world-famous video game Fortnite, luxury brands like Movado and Rodan + Fields, and various projects for Ghostlight Media, including the upcoming podcast Ghost Talk featuring Brad Fleischer and Joshua Stamburg. KJ is also 1/3 of JACKAL, a multimedia production company featuring actor Ato Essandoh (The Diplomat) and costume creator Cora Levin (The Gilded Age). KJ recently played bass on Public Enemy’s latest record, What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?, and will be featured as a singer and bass player on an upcoming solo album by Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, founding member of the iconic Run DMC, which will also feature rock legends Joan Jett and Sammy Hagar of Van Halen. KJ regularly plays bass, sings, produces, and collaborates with some of the most talented artists in New York City, including 2x Latin Grammy Award winner Ella Bric, Latinx crooner Erni Lu, and songstress Yify Zhang. 
Catya McMullen
Catya is a playwright and comedian whose short play, Missed Connection won the 37th Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival, was directed by Leslye Headland and is published by Samuel French. She is the author of eight full-length plays: Georgia Mertching Is Dead; Agnes; Everything is Probably Going to be Okay; We Pray to Elephants; A**holes in Gas Stations; Locked Up Bitches; Rubber Ducks and Sunsets; and The Collective along with numerous shorts. Catya is an alum of the Obie Award winning EST/Youngblood and a company member of The Middle Voice Theater Company; the apprentice company of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. She was a finalist for the City Theater National Award for Short Playwriting and is the Creator of the We Are Animals series, a quarterly variety show series she writes with Scott Klopfenstein of the Gold Record selling band Reel Big Fish, where she raps under her feminist hip hop alias “MC Chihuahua Fancy.” In TV she's staffed on Y The Last Man (FX), Peter Warren and Taika Waitit i’s The Auteur (Showtime), Marti Noxon’s Dietland (AMC), Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (Freeform), and If/Then (Apple). She’s developed with Hulu and is currently developing with NBC Universal International and Amazon.
Kristoffer Diaz
Kristoffer Diaz is a playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and educator. His play The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. His adaptation of the Disney film Hercules premiered in Central Park in Summer 2019 as part of the Joseph Papp Public Theater’s Public Works program with a cast of nearly 200. Other full length titles include Welcome to Arroyo’s , Reggie Hoops , and The Unfortunates. Kristoffer’s work has been produced, commissioned, and developed at The Public Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Geffen Playhouse, ACT, Center Theatre Group, The Goodman, Second Stage, Victory Gardens, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among many others. Awards include the Guggenheim, Jerome, Van Lier, NYFA, and Gail Merrifield Papp Fellowships; New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award; Lucille Lortel , Equity Jeff, and OBIE Awards; and the Future Aesthetics Artist Regrant, among others. As a screenwriter, Kristoffer has developed original television pilots for HBO and FX, written for the first season of Netflix's GLOW, and adapted the musical Rent for FOX.
Andrew Fleischer
Andrew is an actor, writer, producer, and digital designer who grew up in Massachusetts through high school, went to college in Minnesota, moved to New York after college, went to graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, moved back to New York, and then finally moved to Los Angeles where he has remained for 18 years. Andrew has performed in theater productions in New York and San Francisco, including productions of "The Day Room" and "The Speculator" with the Rude Mechanicals theater company, Koroviev in "The Master and Margarita" at the Zeum Theatre in San Francisco and playing Young Kuno in a workshop of Robert Wilson's "The Black Rider" at ACT in San Francisco, directed by Robert Wilson and featuring Tom Waits. Highlights of Andrew's work on screen include co-creating and starring in the award-winning web series "Jeff's Place", the role of Harmless Man in the short film Virtually Happy, and the role of Josh in the feature film "Hacker". Andrew has appeared in numerous commercials, including spots for Sprint, Sony, Best Buy, Progressive, and Activision/Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. He also works as a voice-over actor, and can be currently heard in Kellog's "Breakfast For Dinner" spot as Chicken. Look for Andrew in the role of Mickey in the upcoming horror film "Mama Bear". He's also a fantasy football analyst and writer for 4for4.com.
James Elkin
James has over 15 years' experience as a digital producer, writer, director and showrunner at NBCUniversal. In that time, he's created video content both nationally and internationally in every imaginable scenario. He's directed multi-camera 100-person crews and at other times served as lighting/audio/writer/director simultaneously. He's written for a variety of top talent in both comedy and drama, and his videos and shows have generated millions of views across multiple platforms. James' portfolio can be seen here: www.jameselkin.com