Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 146
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Maya Rudolph was born on July 27, 1972 in Gainesville, Florida, to Richard Rudolph, a music producer, and soul singer Minnie Riperton. Her mother was African-American and her father is Ashkenazi Jewish (from a family from Lithuania, Russia, Germany, and Hungary). In 1973, Maya, her parents, and her older brother, Marc Rudolph, moved to California to further Minnie's music career. Here Minnie recorded "Lovin' You", her most famous single, in which one can hear her sing "Maya, Maya, Maya" at the end of the song; Riperton said that the song was used as a lullaby for Maya.
During adolescence, Maya attended St. Augustine by the Sea School, where she met childhood friend, Gwyneth Paltrow. The Paltrows and the Rudolphs became family friends and, in 2000, Richard Rudolph and Maya filled the role of music supervisors on the Bruce Paltrow-directed film Duets (2000), which starred Gwyneth.
In 1990, Maya enrolled at the University of California at Santa Cruz, majoring in photography. It was here that Maya formed the band "Supersauce" with fellow students. After graduation in 1994, Maya left the band and soon joined The Rentals, fronted by Weezer bassist Matt Sharp. Maya was featured on the 1999 release "Seven More Minutes", where she sang backup vocals on "Barcelona" and "My Head is in the Sun". Maya began touring with the group, singing backup and playing Moog synthesizer. When The Rentals disbanded, Maya decided to pursue her dream of a career in comedy, joining the famed troupe "The Groundlings".
On May 6, 2000, Maya joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), and became one of that show's most popular performers. Famous sketches include a dead-on impression of fashion diva Donatella Versace; high school flake "Megan", the host of her own morning talk show, "Wake-up WakeField"; and one of the members of the R&B parody "Gemini's Twin". In 2006, she co-starred in the film A Prairie Home Companion (2006), directed by the legendary Robert Altman and based on the NPR show by Garrison Keillor.
Maya has four children with her partner, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Since SVH, Brittany has starred in Dawson's Creek, Joe Dirt and 2, other shows and movies and starred in the long series The Game. She battled stage four non-Hodgkin's's lymphoma and survived. She married her husband Adam Touni in 2017 and have now become parents to a daughter named Hope via surrogacy.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A natural talent with a striking presence, emerging actress Abigail Cowen is making an undeniable mark with her enchanting performances across film and television.
Cowen leads the cast of the Netflix young adult series, Fate: The Winx Saga (2021), a live-action re-imagining of the Nickelodeon animated series Winx Club (2004). She brings life to fairy warrior 'Bloom', whom the series follows as she adjusts to life in the Otherworld, learning to control her dangerous magical powers while a looming peril threatens their very existence. The show rose to #1 on Netflix's top 10 movie and TV series feature upon launch and held the spot its entire first week run.
In film, she stars as the lead of Redeeming Love (2022) from director DJ Caruso, the film adaptation of the historical romance and international best-selling novel of the same name, which is set to release in Fall 2021. Set in the 1850s Gold Rush in California, the period drama is a complicated love story and retelling of the book of Hosea. Cowen also stars in a leading role in the supernatural thriller Witch Hunt (2021), from emerging writer-director Elle Callahan, which premiered at SXSW in 2021. This follows her memorable performance opposite K.J. Apa in the beloved biopic from Lionsgate, I Still Believe (2020).
No stranger to audiences, Cowen first gained recognition for her breakout role as 'Dorcas' in the Netflix phenomenon, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018). Other notable television credits include: the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking hit Netflix series Stranger Things (2016) opposite Millie Bobby Brown; ABC's unconventional family drama The Fosters (2013); the CBS crime thriller Wisdom of the Crowd (2017); and the medical dramedy Red Band Society (2014) with Octavia Spencer.
In addition to her thriving acting career, she has also found success with the renowned international modeling agency, IMG. Cowen is also passionate about raising awareness and normalizing honest conversations surrounding mental health, working to use her platform to align with nonprofits to further this narrative.
The Florida native currently resides in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sung-Ho Kang is a Korean-American actor and producer from Clarkston, Georgia who is widely known for playing Han Lue from the Fast & Furious series of films and Better Luck Tomorrow. He also acted in Raya and the Last Dragon, Pearl Harbor, Ninja Assassin and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is married to Miki Yim.- Cynthia Daniel was born on 17 March 1976 in Gainesville, Florida, USA. She is an actress, known for The Basketball Diaries (1995), Sweet Valley High (1994) and That '80s Show (2002). She has been married to Cole Hauser since 22 December 2006. They have three children.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Excellent and engaging Texas-born character actor Lou Perryman never became a household name, but he nonetheless proved to be a substantial and delightful asset to the handful of movies he appeared in throughout the years. Perryman first became involved in the film business back in 1961 while on leave from the US Army. After getting out of the Army, Lou in 1968 worked as a production manager at the Texas Pavilion at the World's Fair in San Antonio and worked as a cinematographer, sound man and production manager at the Filmhouse in Austin from 1969 to 1971. In addition, Perryman worked as a sports cinematographer for both NCAA and ABC TV from 1969 to 1977. Lou was outstanding as Claude in the wonderful seriocomic indie sleeper gem "Last Night at the Alamo" (1984). Alternately funny and pitiable, Perryman as the despondent and excitable Claude spends a sizable amount of his screen time angrily (and profanely) berating his estranged wife on the phone while making game, albeit futile attempts at reconciling with her. Perryman brought a lovely, touching pathos and rueful, rumpled dignity to the role of Claude that's a true joy to behold. Lou was likewise memorable and personable as affable radio station engineer L.G. McPeters in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2" (1986). (Perryman worked behind the scenes on the classic '74 original as an assistant cameraman.) Moreover, Perryman had nice small parts as a hostile redneck bar patron in "The Blues Brothers" (1980), a construction worker in "Poltergeist" (1982), and the sheriff Hilary Swank relates in flashback what happened to her to in the acclaimed award-winning indie hit "Boys Don't Cry" (1999). Among the plays Lou appeared in are "The Time of Your Life," "Fool for Love," "The Night Hank Williams Died," and the especially well-received "In the West" (Perryman also co-wrote this latter play). He also acted under the alternate names of Lou Perry and Louis Perryman. Lou was tragically murdered in his home in South Austin, Texas on April 1, 2009. Lou Perryman was 67 years old. He's survived by his daughter Jennifer.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Award Winning Actress Alysia Reiner just originated the role of #DODC Agent Sadie Deever in the much anticipated and critically acclaimed Disney+/Marvel TV series, Ms. Marvel, and is best known as "FIG" on all 7 seasons of Orange Is the New Black, for which she won a SAG AWARD, Additionally, she just finished her 5th season as Sunny on Peabody Award-winning Better Things on F/X x HULU, and is about to start her second season playing Katharyn in STARZ's Shining Vale with Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear, after finishing 2 seasons as KIKI on HBO's THE DUECE.
As a producer, Alysia produced and stars in the motherhood dark comedy EGG with Christina Hendricks and Anna Camp. It premiered at Tribeca film festival, is 100% FRESH on Rotten tomatoes and available on iTunes, Amazon & VOD Now. Additionally, Alysia conceived of, developed, produced and starred in the feature film EQUITY, bought/distributed by Sony Pictures Classics at Sundance 2016.
A few other filmed adventures include getting married in the Oscar winning film Sideways, getting naked in an Emmy Award winning episode of Broad City, and going head to head against Viola Davis on How To Get Away with Murder, and she just starred in Stampede Ventures' feature film, Going Places, and wrapped The Independent with John Cena, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Brian Cox.
Equity was Alysia's first feature as both actress and producer, but she has acted in countless critically acclaimed and award winning films and shows, working with film masters like "Sideways" director Alexander Payne, Jodie Foster, Richard Loncraine, Matt Weiner, and of course Jenji Kohan and Pamela Adlon. You may also know her from feature films like Sideways, 5 Flights up, Kelly and Cal, Shine, Fort Tilden, Kissing Jessica Stein, or countless other indie films and TV shows (and yes you have seen her on all of the Law & Orders multiple times).
A classically trained theatre actor, Alysia has appeared on stages around the world; from the Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Utah to The Royal Court Theatre in London; from the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem NYC to The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. She starred in the NY premiere of "Pentecost" by Tony-winning playwright David Edgar, and the provocative two character play "An Oak Tree" with Tim Crouch, which won a Special Obie Award. Her portrayal of June Miller in "Anais Nin: One Of Her Lives" was critically acclaimed, as was her turn in "Wasps in Bed" of which The New York Times wrote "Alysia Reiner is priceless."
As a voice actress, Alysia just finished her second season as the voice of Ms. Marmalady on Butterbean's Cafe on Nickelodeon, has voiced other cartoons as well as many books on tape, video games, podcasts for audible, as well as many national commercial campaigns, including the award winning brand change for Campbell's Soup.
She loves working as a change maker for women and an advocate for women's rights & climate change initiatives. Along with being on the board and an ambassador for Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, on the board of EARTH DAY INITIATIVE, on the advisory board for AIR PROTEIN, Alysia is the face and zero waste eco-emissary for IZZY BEAUTY and started eco-fashion zero waste initiative, Livari. As a champion of all things eco-friendly, she and her husband used their home as a way to share information about building green. Their brownstone eco-renovation in Harlem was featured on television's "World's Greenest Homes'' and "Renovation Nation"; in various magazines like Dwell, Gotham, Origin and The Nest; and they allowed the environmentally friendly construction process to be chronicled on websites such as Dwell.com and Kohler.com. Alysia has been invited to speak and keynote at The White House, The United Nations, Google, Cannes Lion, Women's Media Summit, Collision, and countless film festivals and events about breaking barriers for women in all fields, specifically the entertainment industry.
Alysia received the Acclaimed Collaborator Award from Women in Arts and Media, is an ambassador and on the board of the Geena Davis Institute for Gender Equality, recently received a MUSE "MADE IN NY" AWARD from The Mayor's office and New York Women in Film and Television, and has been invited to THE WHITE HOUSE, THE UNITED NATIONS, S.H.E. SUMMIT, GOOGLE, CANNES LION and countless film festivals and events to speak about breaking barriers for women in all fields. Additionally, she was awarded the SARAH POWELL HUNTINGTON LEADERSHIP AWARD by the Women's Prison Association, and was honored with the VOICE OF A WOMAN AWARD, the PIONEER IN FILMMAKING AWARD, and the FOUNDERS AWARD FOR SUPPORT.
She works regularly with Bard Prison Association, Sanctuary Neighborhood, This is about Humanity, Vote plus 10, is an ambassador for The Geena Davis Institute for Gender Equality, the Women's Prison Association, who gave her the Sarah Powell Huntington Leadership Award; The Cancer Support Community, Actors for Autism, The Young Women's Leadership Network, SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young, and Bent on Learning.
"Speed Grieving," the award winning short film that Alysia created, produced and stars in, had it's world premiere at The Hamptons International Film Festival, went on to dozens of festivals winning awards and is now used as a grief counseling tool in every Cancer Support Community center in the country.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Merritt Butrick was an American actor from Gainesville, Florida. He is primarily remembered for portraying Dr. David Marcus in the science fiction films "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982) and "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984). His character was depicted as a son of the Starfleet officer James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk (played by William Shatner) and the leading scientist Dr. Carol Marcus (played by Bibi Besch). Butrick also portrayed the one-shot character of Captain T'Jon in a 1988 episode of the science fiction series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". His character was depicted as a ship's commanding officer who had been tasked with transporting medication, but had become addicted to the drug felicium.
Butrick received his high school education at the Tamalpais High School, located in Mill Valley, California. The city is part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Butrick graduated from high school in 1977, and subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts with the intent of becoming an actor. He dropped out, as his instructors thought that he did not have the necessary skills to become an actor. He subsequently found steady work as an actor throughout the 1980s.
In his television debut, Butrick portrayed a recurring rapist in two episodes of the police procedural "Hill Street Blues". His first major role in television was portraying the supporting character Johnny Slash in the sitcom "Square Pegs" (1982-1983). His character was depicted as a geeky high school student. Johnny demonstrated eccentric behavior, but insisted that he was not on drugs. He hung out with the social misfit Patty Greene (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), and was hinted to be attracted to her. The series was praised for its realism, but it was canceled prematurely. The production company received several complains concerning drug and alcohol abuse by teenage members of the cast, and decided to pull the plug to avoid further controversy.
Butrick's other films included the telekinesis-themed comedy "Zapped! (1982)", the corporate corruption-themed black comedy "Head Office" (1985), the dysfunctional family-themed drama "Shy People" (1987), the vampire-themed horror film "Fright Night Part 2" (1988), and the ghost-themed horror film "Death Spa" (1989). He received praise in 1988 for his portrayal of a ditzy male prostitute in the stage play "Kingfish".
In March 1989, Butrick died at the age of 29. His death was caused by toxoplasmosis, complicated by an AIDS infection. Two panels were dedicated to him as part of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, both referencing his role as David Marcus. A few of his former co-stars have recorded anecdotes about his life and career in DVD featurettes, though Butrick had few confidants.- Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut was born in Gainesville, Florida, USA. She is an actress, known for Star Trek: Picard (2020), Chicago Med (2015) and Cruel Summer (2021).
- Shane McRae was born in Gainesville, Florida and grew up in Starkville, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Evansville he went to New York City to attend the NYU Graduate Acting program where he received his masters degree. Soon after he landed his first role in the Tony Award-winning play Richard Greenberg's "Take Me Out" on Broadway. He later appeared in "Richard III" at the Public Theatre. Shane appeared as a guest star on "Hack" for CBS and is currently playing Bobby on the new NBC comedy "Four Kings".
- Actress
- Producer
Best known as WWE Superstar "Lana" for the past decade, CJ Perry Barnyashev recently appeared opposite Bruce Willis and Frank Grillo in the sci-fi feature Cosmic Sin for Netflix and will next be seen in the thriller Wifelike opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Elena Kampouris for Paramount+. Raised in Latvia & Moscow the former Soviet Union instilled discipline & work ethic. CJ is a Jewish Russian with also Swedish / Portuguese heritage. She is also a Bulgarian and American citizen and splits her time living in Plovdiv Bulgaria, Riga Latvia, Hollywood & Nashville TN. CJ is a lover of adventure, storytelling & the arts. She began dancing at the professional level at the age of 10 with the Latvian National Ballet before moving to NYC at 17 to train with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet Hispanico and Broadway Dance Center. Her additional feature credits include Interrogation for Lionsgate, Another Versions of You on Amazon Prime, Pitch Perfect 1 & 2 for Universal, and a lead role in the indie SOUL. CJ's TV credits include guest spots on Banshee for Cinemax, The Game for Bet and Adam Devine House Party for Comedy Central. CJ speaks fluent Russian and Bulgarian and has amassed a following across social media with over 4 million on Instagram, 1.6m on TikTok and 1.2m on Twitter- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Robert James Hoffman III was born in Gainesville, Florida, the son of Charlotte and Robert Hoffman II, and moved with his family to Madison, Alabama when he was seven. He has one younger brother, Chris, and two younger sisters, Ashley and Lauren. He attended Bob Jones High School. He discovered his passion for dancing after seeing Michael Jackson's Thriller. He briefly attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Thomas Earl Petty was an American musician and actor who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the late 1980s super-group the Traveling Wilburys, and had success as a solo artist.
Petty had many hit records. Hit singles with the Heartbreakers include "Don't Do Me Like That" (1979), "Refugee" (1980), "The Waiting" (1981), "Don't Come Around Here No More" (1985) and "Learning to Fly" (1991). Petty's solo hits include "I Won't Back Down" (1989), "Free Fallin'" (1989), and "You Don't Know How It Feels" (1994). Solo or with the Heartbreakers, he had hit albums from the 1970s through the 2010s and sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in February 2017 for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy.
In 2017, Petty died of an accidental drug overdose, at the age of 66, one week after the end of the Heartbreakers' 40th Anniversary Tour.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Johanna was raised by hippies in rural Florida, far from the bright lights of Hollywood. But from elementary school she insisted on acting, singing, and dancing lessons, and made her first theatrical appearance at the age of seven.
In her teens, Johanna was plucked from the stage in Gainesville, Florida, and cast in the PBS film Catherine's Story. Soon she was modeling and acting in New York and Los Angeles.
Johanna's first Hollywood break came from her second professional audition, when she was cast as the younger version of Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Eggar in Cold Case. She has gone on to appear in CSI:Miami, Star Trek Enterprise, and a series of independent films.
She continues to act on stage as well, where she is drawn to strong, heroic women who think outside the box. She has played an unusual number of women in disguise, as well as typically male roles in Shakespeare productions.
Johanna's passion for performance is equaled by her desire to make a difference in the world. Her battle with a rare form of cancer in her early teens left her with a lasting interest in helping children. Today she spends much of her time working with the non-profit organization Inside Out Community Arts.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Alix is a theatrically trained actress known for The Cleansing Hour (2019), This Is Me... Now (2024), and Imaginary (2024). Born in Gainesville, FL. Daughter of Diana Angelis, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Systems Engineer and James Angelis, an Air Force Major Flight Nurse. She grew up with her twin sister, singer-songwriter Kris Angelis, on a small farm with free range cows and retired dressage horses. She studied Environmental Studies at UCSB before attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts Experimental Theatre Wing (ETW). She is a founding member of internationally-acclaimed physical theatre company, Not Man Apart, and co-founder of Badcake Films.- Ana Yi Puig is a first-generation Chinese and Puerto Rican actor based in New York City. Hailing from Gainesville, FL, she attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre at Texas State University. Ana is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity Association.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Born in Gainesville, Florida, Michele's childhood was spent constantly moving due to her father's Navy career, traveling everywhere from Virginia to Japan. Eschewing the usual career path of most actors, Michele earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from the University of California, Davis. Besides academia, Michele became an avid snowboarder and active in Hapkido, a street-style martial art that blends Aikido and Tae Kwon Do.
After moving across country yet again to Boston, Michele started traveling down to New York City two or three times a week for auditions and acting training. After landing roles in several independent films, Michele came back to California, signed with a manager and soon landed her first television role as a surgical intern on Untold Stories of the ER (2004).- Aurelian Smith Jr. better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation (later called WWE); the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997 and made appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.
Throughout his career, Roberts was known for his intense and cerebral promos, dark charisma, extensive use of psychology in his matches, and innovative use of the DDT finishing move (which was later named the "coolest" maneuver of all time by WWE). He often brought snakes into the ring, most famously a python. He was one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat. In 2012, he moved in with fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page to seek help in getting his life back on track following years of alcohol and drug addiction, a period covered in the 2015 documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020. - Bill is from Norfolk, VA and attended William & Mary College. His career spanned 8 decades, finding him on stage, TV, & films. On Broadway he was in Hadrian the Seventh", and he was in the original cast of Sam Shephard's Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Buried Child". He and his wife, Mary Linda Phillips moved from NYC to LA in 1980 and did a lot of work, as shown in his credits. They raised two sons, Henry Phillips (Comedian/Musician) and Bill Phillips. He was born 11/1/28 and died 7/12/21.
- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Erin Micklow is an American model, SAG-AFTRA actress, wardrobe stylist and host, best known for her popular weekly show on YouTube, Last Rockers TV, where she travels the world covering punk rock festivals and giving punk rock bands a voice to tell their stories and promote their music and projects. In a short period of time, the show has amassed millions of channel views. Erin started her channel from the ground up with the punk rock DIY ethos, where she directs, films, produces, stars in and edits the show all herself. Regarded as one of the punk queens of the modern-day subculture because of her ties to the bands and her DIY self-made fashion designs, Erin is also a poplar model and fashion icon boasting a large online audience. Beginning a career as an actress and model in 2005, Erin has easily transitioned into the wave of the future, fully utilizing the invention of social media not only to her advantage, but to build herself into a legitimate brand, which has also resulted in numerous directors in recent years writing roles specifically for Erin in their films. With over 17 years of professional acting training at institutions such as Anthony Meindl, UCB, Groundlings, Howard Fine, Killian's Commercial Workshop and more, companies and musicians hire her services as an actress and model to promote and advertise their products on her pages to her broad audience. Paralleling her career as a model, host and actress, Erin also works as a professional wardrobe stylist. In 2013, Erin branched out on her own as an independent stylist and image consultant putting looks together for clients for TV, film, music videos, editorial photo shoots, as well as red carpet events. Her styling work has been featured on The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Insider, TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, UsWeekly, Yahoo!, AOL, Huffington Post and MTV. Among her services outside of entertainment jobs, Erin offers personal shopping trips, closet raids, travel packing, and customized, hand made designs that she sews and creates herself. With all of that, Erin has also authored numerous fashion columns giving tips and advice to thousands of readers for publications such as wikiHow, Naluda Magazine, DirtyandThirty.com, CafeYak.com, TheStyleGlossy.com and AngryYoungandPoor.com.- Susan Pratt was born on 29 April 1956 in Gainesville, Florida, USA. She is an actress, known for All My Children (1970), Private Parts (1997) and Survival Run (1979). She has been married to Alfredo Pecora since 1981. They have three children. She was previously married to George O'Hanlon Jr..
- Actor
- Soundtrack
James Edward Coleman II was born on 23 June 1984 in Gainesville, Florida, USA. He was an actor, known for Rosewood (1997), ER (1994) and Sheena (2000). He died on 10 March 2021 in Florida, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Thomas Sanders was born in Gainesville, Florida, USA as Thomas Foley Sanders. He is an actor, singer and writer and is better known for his Vine series "Narrating People's Lives", also known as "Storytime", and his YouTube series "Sanders Sides" among other works.
Sanders' parents are both school teachers and he has three brothers, Patrick, Christian and Shae. Thomas is two years older than Shae and eight years younger than Patrick and Christian. Sanders is descendant of Irish immigrants on his mother's side and is proud of his Irish Catholic heritage, having the chance to travel to Ireland where his ancestors used to live a few times. Even though he travels with some frequency to New York City and L.A., Sanders has lived all his life in Gainesville and still lives there.
Sanders' interest in theater and singing began when he was in middle school. His debut was when he was in seventh grade, in a middle school production of "Macbeth", where he played Macduff. In middle school, he also started singing in choruses. He did his first musical in high school, when he played the evil scientist Prospero in an adaptation of "Return to the Forbidden Planet", based on Forbidden Planet (1956). He was chosen because he was a bass singer and was the only one among the students who could reach the ultra-bass notes the character required.
Later he became part of the Gainesville Community Playhouse, one of the most important community theater companies in his native Gainesville, and, founded in 1927, one of the oldest active community theater companies in all Florida. He debuted in the GCP in 2006, in a production of "Beauty and the Beast", the same year he started college in the University of Florida, which is located in Gainesville, combining his studies of science in chemical engineering with theater. He won three Golden Apples, an award honoring excellence in GCP productions each season, as the best actor in a musical in 2007 for his portrayal of Ko-Ko in "Hot Mikado", in 2010 for his portrayal of Leo Bloom in "The Producers", and in 2011 for his portrayal of Billy Crocker in "Anything Goes". He also starred in shows like "Into the Woods", "Singing in the Rain" and "Les Miserables" among others.
In April 2013, a friend of Sanders, Antonio Romero, showed him a new smartphone app, named Vine. It allowed recording of videos of six seconds of length and its upload on a new social media network. Together, Sanders and Antonio recorded Dinner After SHR (2013) which became the first in a long list of Vines, later known as the Sanders Shorts (2013). At first, Sanders only experimented with the app, uploading Vines just for fun or recording real life events like parties or moments before or after stage performances. It wouldn't be long until he started doing proper scripted Vines, singing snippets of songs, showing his comedy and doing impressions of characters like Stewie Griffin from Family Guy (1999), Stitch from Lilo & Stitch (2002) or Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Show (1976) and Sesame Street (1969) among others.
On the first months he was still doing Vines just for fun, until he started getting popular with series like "Narrating People's Lives" (also known as "Storytime", which earned him the nickname "Storytime Guy"), "Disney Pranks with Friends", "Pokemon Pranks" and "Stewie vs. Herbert" (co-starring Taylor Shrum as Herbert) among others, and his subscriber count grew amazingly fast, reaching 1 million followers in October 2013, only six months after his debut on Vine. It was then when he was approached by Matt Hogan, who became his manager and producer. Sanders then left his daytime job on an engineering firm and focused on Vines on the daytime and theater at night. Sanders also released his first musical EP, containing Christmas songs, in December 2013.
Vine popularity allowed Sanders to go to conventions around America and abroad, even reaching Tel-Aviv, Israel, and Melbourne, Australia. He still kept working on the GCP for some more years until he did his first professional theater musical in 2015, portraying J.D. in an Orlando production of "Heathers: The Musical". He used his Vine series to help drama teachers in Gainesville high schools give their students an acting exercise, and his high school Vines alongside real life students became some of his most popular, first playing one of the students, and later introducing the Teacher character that, along with the Dad character and the Prince character, became essential characters in his career. Meanwhile, he also started a YouTube channel where he did longer productions and collabs with other famous Viners and YouTubers like Anna Brisbin (Brizzy Voices), Hannah Hart, Miss Benny and Gabe Erwin among others. He also started publishing monthly compilations of his Vines from September 2014 onward. Sanders won a Shorty Award in 2015 and a Streamy Award in 2016 to the best Viner. By January 2017, Sanders had reached 8.3 million subscribers and over 7.4 billion reproductions of his Vines, which made Thomas Sanders one of the most successful Viners in the history of the Vine platform. His popularity as a Viner allowed him to appear on The View (1997) as an interviewee and one of his Vines was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003). He also appeared as a guest actor in an episode of the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark (2016) and co-hosted on Disney XD a special edition of Walk the Prank (2016), Talk the Prank with Thomas Sanders and David Lopez (2017).
In the middle of 2016, Twitter announced that they would shut down Vine. Sanders announced that he would keep doing Vines until the app's last day, and then he would focus on his YouTube career. On August and September 2016, Sanders went on a tour with his own stage musical, "Ultimate Storytime", based on his Vine series "Narrating People's Lives", with which he toured through 17 cities in the U.S.A. and Canada, including Toronto and New York City. He also released an album on iTunes and Spotify with the soundtrack of this musical. After the tour ended, he started thinking on how to make the transition from Vine to YouTube, and he had the idea of using three characters from his Vine series, the Teacher character, the Dad character and the Prince character, which had became some of the most important and renowned characters by his viewers and which he had also used in his tour, to represent the different aspects of his personality. Initially it was going to be a one-off vlog, but it was so well received that he did a second and a third installment, where he had Lilly Singh as a guest star and introduced the character of Anxiety/Virgil, which became by far one of the most iconic characters in his career. That's how the Sanders Sides (2016) was born, a series that became "the staple of (his YouTube) channel", as it was demonstrated on Halloween 2017 when hundreds and hundreds of people cosplayed as the Sanders Sides characters, as well as the thousands of drawings and cosplay pics Sanders has kept on receiving and publishing since the beginning of the series. Joan S., one of Sanders' best friends and a long-term collaborator since the beginning on Vine, joined "Sanders Sides" from the 8th episode as a co-writer, and together they expanded the series and developed characters to a new level, incorporating dramatic and thrilling moments as well as further improving the comedic moments that were the root of the series. "Sanders Sides" would also see special collaborations, like the one from Butch Hartman, who not only appeared as himself but also did a special animated sequence exclusively for "Sanders Sides" where Thomas and the "Sanders Sides" became cartoon characters, and also a cameo by Leslie Odom Jr..
Vine was finally shut down in January 2017, and from that moment Sanders kept on releasing the now renamed as "Sanders Shorts" episodes on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat, while maintaining the monthly compilations on YouTube which were combined with "Sanders Sides" and many more YouTube shows in the Thomas Sanders (2013) series like "Real or Fake Anime", "I Can't Believe I Never Knew", "Storytime Madlibs" and "Voices of Unreason" among many others. It was in one of these episodes where Sanders officially came out as gay, becoming LGBTQ+ normalization one of the main themes in his career from this point on. He also did some musical collaborations with people like Adam Pascal, Deedee Magno, Dodie Clark and Jon Cozart among others, and kept on releasing music, being "The Things We Used to Share", released in July 2017, his first original single, composed and written by Joan Stokes, based on real events in Sanders' life. He also released a new YouTube series, "Cartoon Therapy", that was also highly praised. Sanders won his second Shorty Award, to the best YouTube comedian in 2017 and was nominated with Jon Cozart to another Streamy Award to the best YouTube collaboration. These were his first YouTube related award and nomination, which gave him high hopes for the future.
Although, due to his busy schedule, Sanders had been unable to work as much as he used to in community theater, or theater in general, he's still open to collaborate with the Gainesville Community Playhouse, and he has done it from time to time, the most recent time in December 2019, when he portrayed the Beast in a GCP production of Beauty and the Beast. It was his return to stage after three years, even when his busy schedule only allowed him to participate as an understudy for three shows only.
Sanders had owned an account in what was then known as Musica.ly for many years, but he hadn't given much use to it. When Musica.ly was renamed as TikTok and started gaining popularity as the spiritual successor of Vine, Thomas' account started gaining subscribers at a great speed, and Thomas started, first reposting his "Sanders Shorts" on TikTok, then turning Tiktok into his main social media account to post his shorts, many times in unique montages or in aspect ratio formats not seen in his other traditional platforms like Instagram and others. He had 4 million subscribers by mid 2019, and by July 2020, he already had more than 6.4 million, doubling his YouTube subscriber count. At this rate, by mid 2021 he will have recovered all the 8.3 million subscribers he had at the end of Vine and possibly even surpass it.- Producer
- Executive
- Director
Jenna Cavelle is an entertainment executive and producer whose feature films can be found streaming on platforms such as Disney+, Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix. Formerly the Vice President of 20th Digital Studio (A Walt Disney Company), Jenna serves as a lead producer overseeing production and business operations for WorthenBrooks' (formerly 20th Digital Studio) First-Look feature slate of Hulu Originals. She formerly served as the Head of Production at SLiC Studios and No Label Productions, founded by Two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis from March 2018- June 2021.
Jenna graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BS in Conservation & Resources Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds an MFA in Film & Television Production from USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where she also serves on the board of USC's Media Institute for Social Change. She holds an Executive MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and is a Master of Legal Studies candidate at UCLA's School of Law.- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Allen Neal Jones best known by the ring name AJ Styles is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. Long regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world, Styles has headlined numerous pay-per-view events internationally.
Styles debuted in 1998 and competed for various independent promotions, before gaining his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001. He became widely known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2002-2013, where he was dubbed "Mr. TNA". While in TNA, Styles held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice. He was also the inaugural titleholder of the X Division Championship, which he won six times. Styles is the first professional wrestler ever to complete the TNA Triple Crown (five times) and the TNA Grand Slam (two times).
In 2010, Styles became the first ever TNA-contracted wrestler to be ranked number one on the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) PWI 500 list. He simultaneously appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002-2006, where he became the first ROH Pure Champion. In 2014, Styles signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and won his first of two IWGP Heavyweight Championships in his debut match, later becoming the third leader of the Bullet Club. Styles has also won various titles on international independent circuits, including the PWG World Championship.
Styles first appeared in WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation, or the WWF) in 2002, but turned down a developmental contract he was offered with the company. He signed a multi-year contract with WWE fourteen years later in January 2016, making his re-debut that month and going on to win the WWE Championship in September. Both PWI and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) voted him Wrestler of the Year for 2016. With his second WWE Championship victory in Manchester, England in November 2017, Styles was recognized by WWE as the first wrestler to win the title outside of North America. Also that year, he was inducted into the WON Hall of Fame.