Josh Abraham is a freelance writer and artist living in New York City. He is a founding editor of Yankee Pot Roast, the journal of literary satire; a contributing editor for the new Cracked magazine; an interviewer of interesting New Yorkers for Gothamist.com; and coauthor of the book Birthday Cards to Celebrities, forthcoming in 2006 from Chamberlain Bros., the new imprint of Penguin Putnam. He wrote and assistant directed his first film over the course of a weekend in Boston as part of the 48 Hour Film Project. Most recently, he directed the short film Videotape for SLM Production.
Seth Melnick is a credited actor, an accomplished Director of Photography and a business-oriented producer. Originally a technical consultant he managed projects with budgets of several million dollars and dozens of people such as Iwon.com and the first Internet ISP in Brazil, IG.com. After a life-changing experience traveling New Zealand and Australia risking life and limb in every adventure activity he could find, Seth decided to enter the arts. His jumping off point was acting where he trained in the Meisner Technique at the Ward Studio. His career has progressed steadily and he has starred in various independent films produced in New York. He has also appeared on the History Channel as well as stage productions.
Seth co-created SLM Production Group LLC with Lauzanne Nel as a venue to produce original and provocative works. As a production company they have produced several short-format films and a trailer. They are equipped to bring project from concept through preproduction, principle photography, editing, and other post-production to a completed product. SLM Production combines the best of creative, technical, and managerial skills to bring projects to fruition. His other projects have been sidelined to make room for American Standard. When this project is complete he will get back to writing and producing a play and film on the topic of addiction, writing and producing a science-fiction screenplay and completing the series of short films.
Jason Kucharsky is a screenwriter, former schoolteacher, and inventor. He has penned self-help manuals under the name “Bobby Rufferto”, wrote the rules and owns the trademark for a popular college board game, and is currently working on a romantic comedy about terrorism. Jason has acted in NYU student films and recently coproduced the short Videotape for SLM Production.
Lauzanne Nel is originally from the beautiful wine country Stellenbosch, South Africa, where she studied fashion. Lauzanne is trained in the Meisner Technique and has performed in stage productions and independent films. She is also resident makeup artist for SLM Production, and she is coproducing Addiction.
Dave “Paco” Abraham dabbles in photography and architecture, planning to marry rich and retire as a househusband. Until that pans out, he’s engulfed himself in the entertainment industry: he has written and directed a short film (Spot: A Sign of the Times), directed and edited a documentary on sustainable design (It Ain’t Easy Being Green), production-assisted, gripped, and boomed on several films for Gigantic Pictures and Blatantly Subtle Productions, and shot a documentary about balloon twisting (Twisted: a Balloonamentary). Paco has associate-produced many of your favorite celebrity talking-head clip-show countdowns for VH1, directed a commercial for Connelly Partners Ad Agency, and is currently an associate producer for Bravo cable television. He cannot swim or whistle and is averse to both wheat and cotton balls.
Scott Meyer graduated N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts with a major in film. In 1998, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began his career as an assistant editor for the award-winning music-video director Dave Meyers. Scott has cut music videos for scores of popular artists including Britney Spears, Dave Matthews Band, OutKast, 50 Cent, and Missy Elliott, as well as commercials for Target and the Gap. He is currently editing the documentary A Moment in the World, produced and directed by Angelina Jolie.
A quarterfinalist for the 2003 Nicholls Fellowship, Amber Doe has worked in various production capacities on numerous independent films in New York City, most recently Temptation, directed by Mark Tarlov and starring Adam Pascal (Rent). She also invented the electric pencil sharpener.
Sam Baharvar is a filmmaker and attorney in New York City. He directed and produced the documentary film Irritation: A Radio Saga which was officially selected for the 2006 Bare Bones Film Festival and New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Sam is currently developing feature screenplays about ambivalent New Yorkers, short films and documentaries and continues to intake copious amounts of chocolate by day and burn it off by night at New York Sports Club on the treadmill at 5.7 mph while enjoying the view of Murray Hill females on the elipticals. Sam’s production company is Buca Pictures.
Thomas Graduated from New York University in 2005. Where he had costume designed for GSP Players and worked in the Steinhardt School of Educations MPAP Costume shop. While at MPAP he costume designed the debut performance of the economic treatise inspired and truly unique musical, Thorstien Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class. Since graduating Thomas has been on an adventure in the glamorous world of independent film. While working as a wardrobe supervisor on the films Haber and Stanley Cuba he discovered the wonders of trench warfare, latex sheen, and merkins. As the costume designer on Night Falls Fast Thomas not only created the outfits for a gay whore and a cancer victim, but learned how to quickly fill a meth pipe. He would like to thank everybody involved with American Standard for making the project such joy to be a part of. Thomas would also like to give a special thanks to the makers of the crotch pasty. You’ve got to love crotch pasties.
A seasoned stage manager for live entertainment, her Broadway credits include Flower Drum Song, Riverdance on Broadway, Saturday Night Fever, and Side Show. In addition, Ms. Monroe has toured nationally with Disney’s On the Record and has stage managed for numerous Off Broadway, regional theatre, and opera productions. The eclectic array of artists she has had the privilege to work with include David Mamet, Patti Lupone, Maurice Sendak, Bette Midler, Felicity Huffman, David Hockney, and Elton John.
James Parsons is a onetime sometime high-school teacher, improv actor, bookseller, storytime host, writer, director, D.P., A.C., P.A., and whatnot-ist among other things. His production-assistant gigs are his film school.
Jan Schnur hails from Forrest Hills, Queens. She graduated from Adelphi University in January 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in film. She has written, produced, and acted in several college films. She is quite modest of her achievements and refuses to further disclose their greatness.
