DIRECTOR/WRITER

Erin Doyle Cooper is a screenwriter, director, and creative-turned-commercial director who makes character driven, cross-genre films that challenge the status quo. Her shorts have been selected at major fests including the Oscar-Qualifying Atlanta, Cinequest, Indy Shorts, and HollyShorts Film Festivals, and Believe Her, starring Allison Tolman, won Best Global Short: Narrative at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Her most recent short, a cringe comedy called Donor, was completed in early 2024 and is prepping for a festival run.

Major brand work includes directing the multiple award-winning #NoApologiesPeriod campaign for Midol, and a two year stint in-house at Pepsi, where she and a partner led advertising creative for Lady Gaga’s Halftime Show and the Super Bowl spot starring Cindy Crawford. In addition to a BFA in Acting from SUNY Buffalo, she studied classical acting at LAMDA and sketch/improv at UCB. She lives in LA, where she recently completed the Women in Film Mentoring Program.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Allison Tolman is a Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actress who successfully avoided actually making a living in the field until she was in her early thirties. Before then, Tolman played a veterinary receptionist, personal assistant, children’s theatre teacher, vocal coach, phone sales associate, client services representative, and dog walker – never on film, but in her actual life in order to pay her rent. However, in the fall of 2013 she landed a seminal role in FX’s Fargo and quit her last day job. Her performance as Molly Solverson put her on the map and garnered her a Critic’s Choice Award.

Born in Houston, Texas, Allison holds a BFA in theatrical performance from Baylor University. After graduation, she moved to Dallas where she helped found and foster the independent ensemble-based non-profit Second Thought Theatre, while also learning that being an adult is super hard. In 2009, she relocated to Chicago and was accepted into Second City's Conservatory Training Program. She went on to write and perform comedy in some of Chicago’s finest dive bars before relocating to California in 2014. There she continues to act, write, and lie to herself about one day doing the nine mile hike in her area where you supposedly get to see a waterfall. Other notable roles include Natalie in The Facts of Life, Live!, Mary Pat in Good Girls, Alma in Why Women Kill, and Seemingly Normal Woman that time she met Katey Sagal at a party. She currently lives in Hollywood with a toothless cat named Bud who enjoys lying on wrapping paper and sneezing directly into her face.

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Demi Waldron is a cinematographer based in NYC who specializes in narrative and documentary work. She is particularly drawn to stories that explore the nuance and candor of everyday life. Growing up as a queer kid in the rural south, Demi turned to fine art and photography to dream of something bigger — something that still shows up in her work today.

Her short documentary “CINEMATOGRAPHER,” which examines the role of women behind the camera, was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick in 2019 and received critical success. Films lensed by Demi have played at Outfest LA, Cannes Lions, Florida Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival, Athena Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, and more.

COSTUME DESIGNER/CONSULTANT: THE MOTHER

Leah Mata Fragua is a member of the yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini (the people of tiłhini) Northern Chumash Tribe, located on the Central California Coast. Leah is an Institute of American Indian Arts professor in the Indigenous Liberal Studies department. Leah also works as a contemporary artist creating through traditional practices, focused on living forms of regalia and jewelry while building ongoing traditions in California Indian arts. Her work as a place-based artist is grounded in an understanding of the past, which is interdependent with the future, and her relationship with her homelands. Mata Fragua has earned top honors such as the Autry Indian Market 2012 - Best in Diverse Cultural Arts, Heard Museum Fair 2013, 2016 - First Place, 2018 Best of Classification in Personal Attire. Santa Fe Indian Market 2018 Personal Attire- Second Place. In 2011, Leah was awarded the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and was selected as a Master Artist recipient for the Alliance of California Traditional Arts (ACTA) in 2013. Most recently, Mata Fragua is the 2020 Barbra Dobkin Fellow at the School of Advanced Research. Leah’s education, which includes a B.A. in Anthropology and an M.A. in Cultural Sustainability, has afforded her access to various collections and archives, furthering her understanding of the technical and material expertise of yak tityu tityu (The People) and resisting the hindered access for community members whose relatives’ works are held in academic collections. Unlike other mediums, most of the materials needed to create traditional Northern Chumash material culture are site-specific and can require years of planning to complete each piece. The importance of gathering materials seasonally and with respect for the limits of each environment, even before they can be processed and then used, is a practice she engages in collaboration with her homeland and her family. Leah is committed to environmental issues that directly impact the ability to gather materials needed to sustain her artistic practice. Finding ways to ensure each generation can sustain these art forms is an integral part of Mata Fragua’s process, allowing her to incorporate her artistic practice with her intention as an educator, researcher, and community member.

COMPOSER

Jessica Rae Huber is a film and television composer who has written music for hundreds of episodes of television, feature films, production libraries, trailers, and podcasts. She is also frequently recruited to write additional music for other composers across many genres and types of media. Her work can be heard on shows such as The Walking Dead, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Outlander, and Black Sails.

CASTING DIRECTOR

Jane hails from Upstate NY and moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA's MFA Acting program. Since graduating, she has gravitated towards Casting and worked her way up to garnering jobs as a Casting Associate on major studio projects including A Bad Mom’s Christmas and the forthcoming Daisy Jones and the Six. She dreams of one day opening her own office and loves giving actors opportunities. Jane would like to thank Erin Doyle Cooper for her friendship and for entrusting her with the task of casting this powerful piece.