Ungrateful Black Artist  (UGBA - 'oog ba') (pronoun inclusive) is a queer poet, rapper, playwright, actor, and activist based out of Brooklyn, NY. UGBA is the founder/host of CEREMONIES—a Brooklyn based monthly Black-Queer artist showcase held in honor of Essex Hemphill. UGBA is also the founder of "Dark-Skin Support Group" a virtual support network for dark-skin Black Americans in need of a space to discuss the realities of colorism. In 2020, UGBA was named a “Black LGBTQ+ playwright you need to know '' by Time Out NY. UGBA is the script assistant for the Pulitzer Prize winning and 5 time TONY nominated Broadway show Fat Ham. He is an alumnus of the Public Theater’s #BARS program. He is a current member of the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group 2020-2023 cohort. He is a 2023 Artivism Fellow through Broadway Advocacy Coalition, a 2022 MAP Grant recipient, a 2020-2021 BAM Resident, and current Artistic Director at NY Writers Coalition.

JaMeeka Holloway is a multi-dimensional Human and Artist identifying as an “Imaginative-Cancerian-Empath with a deep curiosity about the complex nature, experiences, and relationships of humans.”

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Raised and based in the South, she’s a revolutionary optimist with deep affection and concern for her local and diasporic communities and the plights of current and future art-makers.  She is a Storytelling Strategist, often emerging as a director elevating worlds and underrepresented voices, a Pathfinder raising platforms and unlocking opportunities, and a Creative Producer shaping compelling live performance experiences and events.

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A recipient of a 2018 Indy Arts Award, JaMeeka is also the recipient of a BOLD Ventures grant from the National BOLD Women's Circle as well as an NC Arts Council Art Equity grant.  In 2019, the African American Heritage Commission and Governor Cooper honored her for her contribution to North Carolina's arts and culture landscape.

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An alumnus of The Lark Play Development Center Apprenticeship program, JaMeeka has been an Assistant Director with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Playmakers Repertory Co.

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Her directing has been presented at La MaMa, Durham Performing Art Center, Kent State University, Northern Stage, Shakespeare in Detroit, The National Black Theatre Festival, Classic Stage, Ohio University, Dartmouth College, Duke Performances, and the School of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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Next up: Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls at the Charleston Gaillard Center. www.jdhdirectedit.com

Molly Beach Murphy is a writer of plays and musicals from Galveston, Texas. Musicals include: COWBOY BOB (Alley Theatre) and Credit (Civilians R&D + Mercury Store) both with core collaborators Annie Tippe + Jeanna Phillips. Plays include: The Air Got Thick; IKE; Big Bend in the Red Dirt Desert. Molly’s work has been developed with New York Theater Workshop, New York Stage & Film, Williamstown Theater Festival, Ars Nova, Page 73 Productions, The Orchard Project, Ucross Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers’ Fund, Yale Institute for Music Theater, Village Theater Festival of New Musicals, NYMF, Pipeline Theater Company. Molly was a semi-finalist for the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship and is a New Georges 22/23 Audrey Resident. Published works appear in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Hairpin, Santa Ana River Review & American Theatre Magazine.M

Jeanna Phillips (she/her) creates and facilitates communal experiences for people of all ages using music and theatre. COWBOY BOB, her musical with collaborators Molly Beach Murphy and Annie Tippe, premiered at the Alley Theatre in 2023. Her piece for young audiences, The Last Grove, was the inaugural Atlantic for Kids developmental residency at Atlantic Theatre Company. Jeanna makes and records music for kids with Alex Thrailkill as Little Bandits; they released their self-titled album in 2018. As a performer, she’s developed new musicals with Karen O, Toshi Reagon, Cynthia Hopkins, Elizabeth Swados, and others. Alumna: New Victory LabWorks, FGP’s Playground Playgroup, The Civilians R&D Group, Yale Institute of Music Theatre. Graduate candidate at the City University of New York’s Masters of the Arts in Applied Theatre.

Annie Tippe (she/her) is a director and creator of new work, film and music theater. Recent theater credits include the premiere of Dave Malloy's OCTET at Signature Theatre Company, for which she won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Direction and was named an SDC Callaway Award Finalist. She also directed the premiere and subsequent tours of Dave Malloy's award-winning GHOST QUARTET. Recent: Life After (Goodman; Jeff Award Nominee), COWBOY BOB (Alley Theatre), Your Own Personal Exegesis (LCT), Cult of Love (IAMA), Continuity (Goodman), The Hombres (Two River), and  (Bushwick Starr). Her film "HELP ME MARY'' won Best Narrative Short at the Lower East Side Film Festival. Former Ars Nova Director-in-Residence, Drama League Directing Fellow, Williamstown Directing Corps. UPCOMING: POTUS at Berkeley Rep. annietippe.com

Aaron Coleman is a New York City-based playwright and lyricist originally from Los Angeles. He is honored to be on the 2022 Short List for the Yale Drama Series Prize for his play Tell Me I’m Gorgeous At The End Of The World. In February 2022, his play Where Have All The Fairies Gone? had a reading with Brave New World Repertory Theatre. Recently, his original short family musical Leo’s Big Day Out (music by Chuck Pelletier) was virtually staged by Circle in the Square Theatre School. Tell Me I’m Gorgeous also received a lab reading with The Workshop Theater. His play Uncle Remus, His Life and Times, As Told to Aaron Coleman was chosen by Primary Stages for their 2019 ESPA Drills reading series at the famed Lucille Lortel Theatre. Over the past couple years, Aaron been a Semi-Finalist for the O’Neill and the Princess Grace Award, a two-time Finalist for the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center, a Finalist for New York Theater Workshop’s 2050 Fellowship, and a two-time Finalist for The Civilians’ R&D Group. Select works: Lyricist for the Off-Broadway musical Imelda written with East West Players and New Musicals Inc. (Pan Asian Rep, David Henry Hwang Theatre). Co-bookwriter for Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield (Renberg Theatre), produced at New World Stages as Forever Dusty. Aaron has developed musicals for McCoy Rigby Entertainment, the Celebration Theatre, and American Folklore Theatre. MFA: Writing for Screen and Television from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Nicholas Connors is a composer/lyricist, orchestrator, and conductor. His writing spans many genres and musical styles, from an award-winning short chamber musical, Here, In The Park to a zany sci-fi romp, Space Voyage: The Musical Frontier. Nicholas is currently at work on a new folk rock musical, Ten Long Years (book by Kyle Wilson) and an untitled bluegrass-infused musical about the West Virginia Coal Mine Wars. His songs have been performed throughout the country by artists including Karen Olivo, Kyle Selig, and Jenna Ushkowitz. Nicholas is the Assistant Music Director of the new Broadway musical Almost Famous and his past Broadway credits include Kristin Chenoweth’s For The Girls (Associate Music Director, Orchestrations) and Mean Girls (Keyboard). Nicholas was also an Associate Music Director for Kristin Bell’s Encore! on Disney+. His orchestrations have been performed at Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, and in televised concerts by some of America’s top performers and orchestras.  Website: www.Nicholas-Connors.com  Instagram: @nick_connors

Joriah Kwamé is a composer/lyricist/librettist based in NYC. In 2019, his career was launched when he won Tony Nominee Taylor Louderman’s Write Out Loud competition for “Little Miss Perfect,” which has since grossed over 15 million views and inspired a Broadway-aimed musical of the same name. He is a recipient of the 2020 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award and was one of six ASCAP writers featured in the ASCAP Songwriters: Next Generation showcase. He participated in the 2020 Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project. He has written pieces for The New York Film Academy, Prospect Theater Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and 54 Below. Andrew Lippa enlisted him to write a piece for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus premiere song cycle, Songs Of The Pheonix, alongside the likes of Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, and Ingrid Michaelson. With Pasek and Paul, he co-wrote “Top Of The World” from the upcoming Sony Picture Film Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, performed by Shawn Mendes. He has many musical projects in development, ranging greatly in style and subject matter. His upcoming work HOW TO: YOU is a 2022 O’Neil finalist and was featured in the 2022 NAMT Songwriter Showcase. He is a 2021 Jonathan Larson finalist.  @JoriahKwame  Joriahkwame.com

Matthew Libby is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, by way of Los Angeles. His play DATA won the Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, and was adapted as a digital production presented by the Tony-winning Alliance Theatre in May 2021, a production featured in a New York Times review of virtual theatre works that “clear a path toward continued innovation and growth of the form.” Matt is a two-time Princess Grace Award finalist, two-time O’Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalist, and Blue Ink Playwriting Award featured finalist, and his work has been produced and developed by theaters across the country, including Alliance Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Theater Masters, The Barrow Group, The Road Theater Company, WNYU’s Theatre-in-the-Sound, and others. With Stanford Repertory Theater, he helped devise and acted in THE MANY FACES OF FARCE, which was nominated for a 2018 Bay Area Critics Award for Best Production. As a TV writer, he is developing projects with eOne, Beau Willimon’s Westward Productions, and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, and his screenwriting work has been recognized by The Black List and Script Pipeline. Matt studied cognitive science and creative writing at Stanford University, and received his MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Chair’s Award for Distinguished Achievement. He is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Dramatists Guild of America. https://www.matthew-libby.com/

Julián Mesri is a New York-based Argentinean-American composer and writer who makes multilingual plays and musicals in the US and around the world. He is a current member of the Public Theater Emerging Writers Group and received a 2020-2021 EST/Sloan Commission for his musical Favaloro: A Heart in Pieces. This spring he will be writing the songs for the Public Mobile Unit’s musical adaptation for Comedy of Errors directed by Rebecca Martinez. Recent productions include Telo (Live and In Color Finalist, O’Neill NMTC Finalist), Bartolomé de las Casas Ruins My Pool (O’Neill NPC Finalist), Immersion (Ingenio Festival at Milagro Theater, Columbia/Roundabout Finalist, BAPF Semi-Finalist.) Mesri has been an Emerging Artist of Color Fellow and Usual Suspect at NYTW, a Van Lier fellow at Repertorio Español, and the recipient of an ASCAP Scholarship. His adaptation of Fuenteovejuna received the HOLA Outstanding production award. He has also translated dramatic works for the Lark US/Mexico Exchange and PEN World Voices. He received his MFA from Columbia University.

April Dae Okpwae is a performer, playwright, composer, librettist & community organizer who utilizes comedy to highlight the diversity of black identity while exploring the intersectionality of religion in racial, economic, & gender inequities. Her 15-character solo show, I’mma Do Me, satirically exposes the impact of poverty in America & has won several awards including Best Emerging Actress at United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC and Best Short Play at Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. Her concert credits include Poetic Theatre Production’s Feeling Good as Ritual, Musical Theatre Factory’s 4X15, and Maestra’s & Parent Artist Advocacy League’s Motherhood Concert. Her music(al) video, “Be Soft Be Pretty,” from her latest musical in development, Queens of Solomon, was a 2021 Hip Hop Film Festival Official Selection. As a community organizer & nonprofit leader for the past 15 years, April Dae has worked in black & brown communities throughout New York City and Detroit, MI conducting performance-based development workshops. She is a founding board member of BlackCount, an arts-based voter education, engagement, & advocacy organization. Born & raised in Detroit, April Dae received her BFA from SUNY Purchase performing in television, theatres, & universities throughout the country.

Gloria Oladipo is a playwright and journalist from Chicago, IL (best city in the world) and based in New York. She is a 2022 National Critics Institute Fellow with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She is also the 2022 KCACTF Institute for Theater Journalism and Advocacy Fellowship winner. Gloria graduated from Cornell University in 2021, where she won second place in the Heermans-McCalmon Competition for Dramatic Writing and showcased her play THE GOOD VICTIM. She was a 2019 Jeff Ubben Posse Fellow and script reader with the Public Theater in New York. She also created and led the Veterans’ Playwriting Project in partnership with Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, IL. Her short plays and longer works have received readings with the Curious Theater in Denver, CO, at Cornell University, and in other spaces. She is extremely excited and grateful to be named a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow!

SMJ (they/them) is an NYC-based, mixed-race, and Trans non-binary playwright, educator, and theatermaker. They are currently creating work at Carnegie Mellon University (this old haunt), The Fled Collective at The Flea Theater (SWAY & Serials), and CAMP at Ars Nova (Bora & Doots II with Anne-Marie Pietersma). Their work has been seen in various forms throughout the US and the UK including the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, The Workshop Theater, DR2 Theatre, Moxie Arts NY, Art House Productions, The Artist Co-op, Fort Salem Theater, Access Theater, Fresh Ground Pepper, the HMBG Foundation, The Citadel of Playwrights, The Strides Collective, The Sappho Project, The Workshop Theater, The Dare Tactic, The Midnight Factory, and Dragon’s Egg Studio. SMJ has been a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, the Princess Grace Award at New Dramatists, and the R&D Group as well as a finalist for the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award, The 5th Avenue Theater’s First Draft Commission, and Echo Theater’s 2021 National Young Playwright in Residence. They’re a graduate of Otterbein University and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. SMJ is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys. www.smjwrites.com

Estefanía Fadul is a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised, New York-based director, and a co-Artistic Director of NYC’s Ensemble Studio Theatre. She has directed multiple world premieres, including Caridad Svich’s Spanish-language adaptation of Eva Luna, based on the novel by Isabel Allende (Repertorio Español); The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (Philadelphia Theatre Company); The Same Day by Stefan Ivanov (Theatre Laboratory Sfumato, Bulgaria); Scissoring by C. Quintana (INTAR); and the Drama League Award-nominated Carla’s Quince, which she conceived and devised with the Voting Project Ensemble to mobilize Latiné voters to the polls. She has developed work off-Broadway and regionally at the Public Theater, Playwrights’ Realm, NYTW, Chautauqua, Audible, and more, and has guest directed at training programs including Juilliard, Princeton, and NYU. She is a recipient of New York Stage and Film’s Pfaelzer Award, and fellowships including the Drama League Directors Project, O’Neill/NNPN National Directors Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship, Williamstown Foeller Fellowship, and Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español. She serves on the Drama League’s Board of Directors, and is a member of the leadership circle of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, the Latinx Theatre Commons advisory committee, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, New Georges, and SDC. B.A. Vassar College. www.estefaniafadul.com.

Graeme Gillis is from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre with Estefanía Fadul. Prior to this appointment he has co-led  EST/Youngblood with RJ Tolan, fostering early-career playwrights (Obie Award winner); and the EST/Sloan Project with Linsay Firman, fostering plays about science and technology (over $3 million in grants awarded nationwide).  As a Canadian he proudly bears a US green card for playwriting. He is a member of the Actors Studio and EST. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.

Montana Adams is a theatre creator based out of Akwesasne. She began her theatre career in the indie theatre scene while she was at the University of Ottawa, where she received a BA in Theatre. In 2019 she participated in the Ottawa Fringe Festival and won the Emerging Artist Award for her play My Good Friend Jay, which was remounted online with the NYC Indian Community House's Native Theatre Thursdays, and in-person at the 2022 Undercurrents Festival. In 2021 she received the Ionkwakwé:nion Community Award from the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne for her accomplishments in the performing arts. Currently she is a festival producer for the Fresh Meat Theatre festival in Ottawa, Ontario. She has worked with a bunch of productions as either an actor, playwright, a director, mentor, or all of the above. Her hope is to create theatre with culturally informed practices that are specific to the culture and beliefs of the Haudenosaunee.

Dawn Jamieson began her acting and writing careers later in life. She appeared on Broadway twice and in many NY Theaters as well as a few films a voiceovers. The plays She wrote: Mangled Beams: Mohawk ironworkers clearing the beams at 9/11. Crooked Paths: Natives, political ambition, Medicare fraud. Silent Quest: search for abusive priest leads to a Native boy. Mush Hole: We follow the lives of 3 children that illustrate generational trauma caused by the residential schools that existed for 140 years to "take the Indian out of the Indians, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, DG. IMDB https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1748514/?rel_=nv_sr_Srse_O

Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora) is a founding member of Chukalokoli and Amerinda Theater. Her work has been developed and/or produced at Native Voices at the Autry, Alter Theater, The Public Theater, The Roundabout Theatre Company, Labyrinth Theater Company, LaJolla Playhouse, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Honors: Resident-New Dramatists through 2027, Winner-2020 Smith Prize for Political Theater (NNPN), The Kilroys-Honorary Mention 2019 for Pure Native anl,d 2014 for Standoff At Hwy#37, Semi-finalist-Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2019, Semi-finalist Eugene O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference 2018, Alumna-Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group (2009). Productions: Pure Native - Alter Theater, Native Voices at the Autry, Standoff at Hwy#37 – NVat Autry and the University of South Dakota, Glenburn 12 WP - Summer Shorts at 59E59, Smoke - Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group at Pershing Square Signature Center. Published: Smoke (Broadway Play Publishing), Glenburn 12 WP (Short Plays 2023, TRW), Monologues for Actors of Color: Women, Monologues for Actors of Color: Men and Contemporary Plays by Women of Color Edition 2: (Routledge Press). Member: Dramatists Guild, PEN America Consultant: Outer Range for Amazon TV.

Danielle Soames (Mohawk) Acts, writes, directs, educates and was a featured artist for Identity/ Identify at the Iroquois Museum in Howes Cove, NY in 2022. An artist in residency for AICH NYC on Governors Island -Summer 2023. Facilitated and selected Native plays for Exploring the Canon reading/discussion series for Theatre Kapow. Honored by the Artist Forum for directing Este Cate by Nicholson Billey. One of six playwrights for the theatrical experience piece, The Butterfly Effect NYC,- produced by NoMad Theatrical Co. Wrote “Stuck” for Nomad Theatrical Company’s microfilms in Winter, 2022. Featured on the cover for Spring 2021 issue of Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian magazine. Founding and ensemble member of Safe Harbors NYC. Featured in the show Don’t Feed the Indians as “Birdie” by Murielle Borst-Tarrant for Safe Harbors NYC- Reflections of Native Voices Theater Festival, hosted by New York Theatre Workshop and LaMama, ETC. Directed a performance piece into film titled: Este-Cate by Nicholson Billey, as part of the festival. Summer of 2019, worked with People’s Light Theater in Malvern, PA to help develop a new script: The Crushed Earth written by Sanjit De Silva and Deepa Purohit. Fully produced Vickie Ramirez’s play: SMOKE at the Signature Theatre on 42nd Street as part of Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group (2008-2014); which she was the Artistic Director for 6 years. Holds a Masters Degree in Educational Theatre from NYU  with Honors and Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University. Her personal mission has been to break stereotypes of mixed-ethnicities and mixed cultures by exploring identity, primarily in new plays and arts events which address conflict within cultures. She is thrilled to be a part of the NYSAF Artists in Residency Program~ Nia:wen- Thank you

Deirdre O'Connell is a Tony Award winning theater actress for her performance as / in Dana H. She most recently starred in the title role in Becky Nurse of Salem at Lincoln Center. Other favorite theatre includes: Corsicana by Will Arbery; Before The Meeting by Adam Bock (Williamstown Theater Festival); Fulfillment Center by Abe Koogler (Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations) and By the Water by Sharyn Rothstein (Lortel nomination, Manhattan Theatre Club); Terminus by Gabriel Jason Dean (NYTW); The Way West by Mona Mansour and Thinner Than Water by Melissa Ross (Labyrinth); Judy by Max Posner (Page 73); Little Children Dream of God by Jeff Augustin (Manhattan Theatre Club); Scarcity by Lucy Thurber (Rattlestick); The Vandal by Hamish Linklater (Flea); Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker (Obie and Drama Desk Awards; Playwrights Horizons); In the Wake by Lisa Kron (Los Angeles Ovation Award, Richard Seff Actors’ Equity Award, Lortel nomination, Kirk Douglas Theatre and Public Theatre) Recent films include Diane, Lez Bomb, I Am a Seagull, The Boy Downstairs, Gabriel, Synecdoche, NY, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. TV includes roles on the upcoming The Penguin, as well as in The Big Door Prize, Outer Range, One Dollar, The Path, The Affair, and Nurse Jackie. Didi was the recipient of the New York Drama Critics Special Citation for her work in Dana H. as well as an Outer Circle Award, Los Angeles Critics Circle Award and an Ovation Award.  She also has an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Performance and a Lilly Award. 

Lila Neugebauer is an award winning stage and screen director. Broadway: Kenneth Lonergan’s THE WAVERLY GALLERY. Recent Off-Broadway credits include Simon Stephens’ MORNING SUN (MTC), Tracy Letts’ MARY PAGE MARLOWE (Second Stage), Annie Baker’s THE ANTIPODES, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ EVERYBODY, and Edward Albee’s AT HOME AT THE ZOO: HOMELIFE/THE ZOO STORY (Signature Theatre), Sarah DeLappe’s THE WOLVES and Zoe Kazan’s AFTER THE BLAST (Lincoln Center). As co-Artistic Director of The Mad Ones: MRS. MURRAY’S MENAGERIE (Ars Nova) and MILES FOR MARY (Playwrights Horizons), among others. Lila is an alum of the Drama League, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, an Ensemble Studio Theatre member, New Georges Affiliated Artist, and New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. She is a recipient of the Obie Award, Drama Desk Sam Norkin Special Award, and Princess Grace Award. TV: “Maid” (Netflix), “The Last Thing He Told Me” (Apple TV+), “The Sex Lives of College Girls” and “Room 104” (HBO Max). Lila’s directorial feature debut CAUSEWAY, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry (Oscar nomination) is available on AppleTV+.

Heidi Schreck is a playwright, screenwriter, and actor. Her sold-out Broadway play What the Constitution Means to Me was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, won the New York Critic’s Circle and OBIE awards for best play, and received TONY nominations for Best Play and Best Actress for Schreck’s performance in the lead role. She has been profiled in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, and Vogue, and has been featured on Good Morning America and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, among others. She has also served as a writer/producer on Nurse Jackie, Billions, I Love Dick, and on the filmed special of Constitution. These shows have earned numerous awards including Emmys, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes. In 2019, she received the “American Ingenuity Award” from the Smithsonian Institute and was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People.”

Joel Perez’s stage acting work includes Fun Home (Broadway), Kiss My Aztec! (Hartford Stage) and Sweet Charity (New Group; Lortel Award). On screen in tick, tick… Boom! (Netflix), Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (NBC), and Odd Mom Out (Bravo). His writing includes The Black Beans Project (The Huntington/Old Globe) and Playing With Myself (Ars Nova). His short film, Beautiful, FL, is a selection of Disney Launchpad and will premiere on Disney+ in 2023. He is a Warner Bros. Discovery 150 Artist for his comedy pilot You’re Tired, You’re Poor. He won the 2021 Voces Latinx National Playwriting Competition for his play From the Fountain. He is a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting. Follow him @misterjoelperez and www.misterjoelperez.com

Benjamin Velez is a composer/lyricist and Columbia graduate (114th Varsity Show), originally from Miami, FL. Proud member of the BMI workshop (2012 Harrington Award), he's developed original musicals, including AFTERLAND and BOOMERANGS, at Ars Nova, the Yale Institute for Music Theater, Dixon Place, the York Theater, Sundance at UCROSS, and Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor. His musical BORDERLINE won the 2018 Weston Playhouse New Musical Award and opened the 2019 O’Neill Musical Theater Conference. He was a 2018-2019 Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow, the 2019 Fred Ebb Award Winner, and a 2020 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient. His musical KISS MY AZTEC, written with John Leguizamo, was performed at Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse (2019), and Hartford Stage (2022). Upcoming projects include a La Jolla Playhouse commission, a Public Works musical of THE TEMPEST this summer, and the premiere of REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES at the ART this fall in Boston. www.BenjaminVelez.com

Sheryl Kaller, Tony Award-nominated director (Broadway’s NEXT FALL by Geoffrey Nauffts) is thrilled to collaborate with Marilyn Ness on POSTMORTEM. She directed BLISS the musical by Tyler Beattie and Emma Lively at Seattle 5th Avenue Theater. Other recent productions include THE WHITE CHIP by Sean Daniels at 59 E. 59 in NYC (a New York Times “Critics Pick”), A WALK ON THE MOON by Paul Scott Goodman and Pamela Grey at George St. and A.C.T, Terrence McNally’s Tony Award-nominated play on Broadway, MOTHERS AND SONS with Tyne Daly, OUR TOWN with Deaf West Theater at Pasadena Playhouse, and SACRED VALLEY by Josh Radnor at NYSAF. 

Beth Levison is an Academy Award-nominated and independent Emmy and Peabody-winning filmmaker based in NYC. Her most recent film, THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT, a 40-minute archival short about Watergate whistleblower and Republican cabinet wife Martha Mitchell, World Premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, is available on Netflix, and was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short category. The film is directed by Anne Alvergue, co-directed by Debra McClutchy, and produced by Levison and producing partner Judith Mizrachy. Levison’s previous film, STORM LAKE, which she directed alongside director/DP Jerry Risius and also produced, was nominated for a 2022 News & Documentary Emmy and a Peabody Award, premiered at the 2021 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, was shortlisted by the IDA as one of the best documentaries of the year, and was broadcast nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens; it is about one family’s efforts to protect their Iowan farming town through their biweekly newspaper—come hell or pandemic. Levison’s prior producing credits include WOMEN IN BLUE (2019 Tribeca Film Festival, Independent Lens 2020) about gender, violence and race in American policing; Emmy-nominated MADE IN BOISE (AFI DOCS 2019, Independent Lens 2019), about four women who carry babies for strangers in Boise, Idaho – the unofficial surrogacy capital of the U.S.; Emmy-nominated PERSONAL STATEMENT (PBS 2018); and 32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE (HBO 2017). As an accomplished filmmaker, Levison has also contributed her industry expertise to several projects as a consulting producer, including WITH PETER BRADLEY that had its World Premiere at Slamdance Film Festival 2023, and REMEMBER THIS, starring David Strathairn in a tour de force, one man performance. Following a career in television, Levison shifted over to documentary film with her directorial/producorial debut, LEMON (PBS 2011). She is the founder of Hazel Pictures, a co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA), producing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Marilyn Ness is a two-time Emmy, Peabody, and DuPont Award-winning documentary director and producer. She directed CHARM CITY, an observational documentary exploring the divide between police and citizens, that premiered at Tribeca 2018, was shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Award®, was broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens, and nominated for an Emmy. Her directorial debut, BAD BLOOD, broadcast nationally on PBS in 2011 and helped spur changes to the national blood donation policy. She is a partner in the woman-owned and led Big Mouth Productions, and produced Kirsten Johnson’s groundbreaking films DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD and CAMERAPERSON; Netflix’s BECOMING about former First Lady Michelle Obama; Independent Lens’ TRAPPED about abortion access in the South, and others. 

Noelle Viñas is a playwright, TV writer, and educator from Springfield, Virginia and Montevideo, Uruguay. Viñas was a recipient of the 2020 John Gassner Award and the 2021 Jeffry Melnick New Playwright Award at Primary Stages. During the pandemic, her plays were produced by Shotgun Players, Colt Coeur, Imagination Stage, and Westtown School. Her work has been developed or in residence as a member of the 2022 Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, New York Stage and Film, Tofte Lake Center, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Civilians R&D Group. Raimunda, a musical she is developing with Michelle J. Rodriguez, was recently shared as a concert at Joe's Pub in Jan 2023, and she is currently working on a commission from IAMA Theater in LA. Viñas resides between Brooklyn and LA, where she was most recently a staff writer on MRS. DAVIS for Peacock. BA: Emerson College, MFA: Brooklyn College.​

Michelle J. Rodriguez (she/her) performs and writes in the worlds of music and theater. Ms. Rodriguez is the winner of the 2022 Helen Merrill Award for playwriting, and is a commissioned composer and lyricist at Portland Center Stage, Baltimore Center Stage and Black Cap Productions. She received a 2022 grant from NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theater, and was a Van Lier Fellow at Ars Nova in their Makers Lab. Other support includes: Artist in Residence, Lexington Theater Company in Lexington, KY; New York Theater Workshop; The Public Theater; the Sundance Institute; SPACE on Ryder Farm; The Sol Project; Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts; Salonathon and the University of Chicago. Raised in the Pacific Northwest and Kentucky by Puerto Rican parents, Michelle’s work explores kids-of-immigrants stories, divine femininity, intuition, joy as resistance, healing and spaces in-between. Her music project MICHA became a finalist for NPR’s 2018 Tiny Desk Contest with her song “Nena Nena Nena,” praised for a “bilingual set spanning laid-back southern soul and Latin pop flare” (NPR). Upcoming: Sunday, August 6th, a free concert of songs from her musical PRESENCIA at Hearst Plaza at Lincoln Center. www.michamusica.com

Dwight Howard is a classically trained jazz pianist, band leader, arranger, orchestrator, and composer based in Carmel, Indiana. Over the last decade, Dwight has composed and arranged works for directors and producers including Kimille Howard and Adrienne Danrich. Select works: Ripper by Kimille Howard (orchestrator co-composer), Girl With No Hands by Charly Evon Simpson (composer), A Natural Man by Theodore Browne (composer), Our Lan’ by Theodore Ward (arranger, performance tracks and composer), and American Opera Project: Music As The Message by Adrienne Danrich (arranger/studio performance tracks). Dwight has also led numerous jazz ensembles spanning four decades, His groups have performed at major venues, clubs, and private functions in central Indiana and surrounding states. Dwight has developed a huge catalog of original compositions and interpretations of a significant number of highly recognized contemporary and modern jazz works which reflect the arrangements and orchestrations through which his jazz ensembles achieved acclaim in live performances.​

Kimille Howard is a director, deviser, writer and filmmaker. She’s an Assistant Stage Director at the Metropolitan Opera and Artistic Director of the Lucille Lortel Theatre’s NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship. Her writing includes “Ripper the musical” (ECU workshop), “Hold Me When I’m Gone” (The Tank), “Just Like Viola, But Maybe Don’t” (New York Theatre Workshop), “A Night on Olympus” (PlayRise Festival of New Works), and “Where We Flounder” (Manhattan Repertory Theater). Other written work in development includes “How to Move: a Dansical” and a TV pilot currently titled “Ireland Project.” Recent directing credits: The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson (Glimmerglass/Washington National Opera), Songs in Flight (Sparks and Wiry Cries/Met Live), The Italian Girl (Tulsa Opera), American Apollo (DMMO). Her work has also been seen at Berkshire Theatre Group, Chicago Opera Theater, Playwrights’ Horizons, 59E59, Wolf Trap Opera, Cherry Lane Theatre, among others. Broadway: Ain’t Too Proud (Assistant Director) Met Opera: Champion, Die Zauberflöte, Porgy And Bess, Tosca (Assistant Stage Director) Recent Fellowships: NYTW 2050 Fellowship, MTC Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship, New York Stage and Film’s inaugural NYSAF NEXUS project. She is a recipient of OPERA America’s 2023 Robert L. B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize.

Mikhail Fiksel (he/him/his) is a Tony Award-winning designer, composer, DJ, and audio producer, residing on airplanes traveling between New York and Chicago. Recent collaborations include The Atlantic, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory, New York Theater Workshop, Audible Originals, Guthrie Theater, The Public, The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Third Rail Projects, and Albany Park Theatre Project, as well as various film scores and multiple scripted audio productions with Make Believe Association, including a recently Webby-nominated science fiction series “Lake Song”. Currently, Fiksel is a Practitioner-In-Residence at Columbia College Chicago and is a proud member of USA and TSDCA.

Sarah Lunnie's favorite projects include Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Public Obscenities (Soho Rep); Heidi Schreck’s What The Constitution Means to Me (Broadway, NYTW, Clubbed Thumb); Jeff Augustin’s Where The Mountain Meets the Sea, featuring original music by The Bengsons (MTC, Humana Festival); Anne Washburn’s Shipwreck (Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth); Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Hillary and Clinton (Broadway), The Thin Place (Playwrights Horizons), The Christians, nightnight and Death Tax (Humana); Charles Mee’s Under Construction, made with SITI Company (Humana); and, with The Mad Ones, Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (Ars Nova) and Miles for Mary (Playwrights Horizons, Bushwick Starr). With Telephonic Literary Union and Woolly Mammoth, Sarah commissioned Brittany K. Allen, Christopher Chen, Hansol Jung, and Zeniba Now to create the dial-in hotline Human Resources (Woolly, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). She has produced a number of projects for Audible, including Christopher Chen’s The Podcaster, and collaborates regularly with the New York Choreographic Institute at New York City Ballet. She previously worked in the literary offices of Actors Theatre of Louisville and Playwrights Horizons, and was an Associate Artistic Director of the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. She is currently the Senior Dramaturg of the Public Theater.

Mallory Portnoy's New York theatre credits include Daniel Fish's Tony Award Winning revival of Oklahoma! on Broadway, after doing the production at Bard Summerscape and St. Ann's Warehouse. Other New York credits include California (Clubbed Thumb Summerworks), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Park) and Privacy (in Association with The Donmar Warehouse) both at The Public Theater. Regional credits include productions at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival where she recently returned with a new Daniel Fish piece entitled Most Happy (also done in concert at Bard Summerscape). TV: American Rust (Amazon Freevee), The Good Fight (Paramount+), Grace and Frankie (Netflix), Helpsters (Apple TV). Film: Maestro (upcoming). Mallory is co-creator of the comedy series Human Interest (Winner of Best Digital Short Series at Series Fest) and Roger, The Chicken (LA Comedy Film Fest, Friars Club Comedy Film Fest). Training: University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, Juilliard.

Gaye Taylor Upchurch is a freelance director with a background in dance. World premieres include: Sanaz Toossi’s Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons); Anna Zeigler’s The Last Match (Old Globe, Roundabout); Clare Lizzimore’s Animal (Studio Theaer, Atlantic Theater); Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie (Audible, Minetta Lane); Nick Gandiello’s The Blameless (Old Globe); Laura Marks’s Bethany (WP). Other: The Member of the Wedding (Williamstown); Simon Stephens’ Bluebird and Harper Regan (Atlantic); the musical Songbird (Two River); Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It and An Iliad (Hudson Valley Shakespeare). Proud member of SDC and alum of UNCSA.

Maria Alfonsine s a Swedish-born composer, songwriter, musical director, and performer, who has received two APRA nominations “Best Music for a Television Series" and “Best Television Theme”, and an ARIA nomination “Best Soundtrack Album” for ABC TV series WAKEFIELD, for which she was both co-composer and musical director.

Most recently she performed her score on clarinet for Sydney Theatre Company’s THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT in the Roslyn Packer Theatre starring Sigrid Thornton, Gareth Davies and Charles Wu, directed by Paige Rattray.

In 2023 she will again be performing in and music directing Hilary Bell and Greta Gertler Gold’s children’s musical ALPHABETICAL SYDNEY: ALL ABOARD!, directed by Liesel Badorrek, this time at the Sydney Opera House.

Other recent composing work includes Australian feature film AKONI for which Maria’s score also received an ARIA nomination, and music theatre productions with Hilary Bell: TAKE TWO: A COMEDY OF ERRORS (Riverside Theatres) and THE HYPOCHONDRIAC (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), and advertisements including AMAZON, AMERICAN EXPRESS and SPECSAVERS.

Trained in Sweden at Ingesund's Music School and Wendelsberg's Theatre School, Maria then obtained a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Music Production from the Australian Institute of Music as well as a First Class Honours in Composition from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Damian De Boos-Smith is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, who received a 2022 and a 2017 APRA nomination for “Most Performed Screen Composer - Australia”, and a 2021 ARIA nomination for “Best Soundtrack Album” for ABC series WAKEFIELD, on which he was the featured cellist.

Damian’s recent composing work includes prime time TV shows THE BLOCK, THE FORCE, MY KITCHEN RULES and LEGO MASTERS, and TV advertising music including clients AMAZON, NRL, AFL, TELSTRA, QANTAS, FEDEX, WRIGLEYS, MCDONALDS, PEPSI, LG, TOYOTA, FORD, WESTFIELD and ING. He has proudly shredded guitar on feature film scores HAPPY FEET 2, LEGO BATMAN and PETER RABBIT.

Damian is the co-founder, cellist and guitarist for contemporary flamenco group Arrebato Ensemble who toured Australia with Musica Viva’s Concert Series in 2019.

Maria and Damian run MADBS Composing Palace, where they compose, record, and produce music for stage, screen, and commercial release. They are currently adapting the critically acclaimed TV series WAKEFIELD into a stage musical together with writer Kristen Dunphy.

For any further information please contact MADBS Composing Palace at madbscomposingpalace@gmail.com

Kristen Dunphy has over 30 years’ experience creating, writing and story producing drama for Australian television. She co-created and co-wrote THE PRINCIPAL (aired on SBS TV/Netflix) and created, co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed WAKEFIELD (aired on ABC TV/Showtime USA).

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She has written for multiple networks and streamers across a variety of genres on shows such as HEARTLAND, starring Ernie Dingo and Cate Blanchett, CORRELLI, starring Hugh Jackman, BLACKJACK (BBC1) starring Colin Friels, Vince Colosimo and Chris Haywood, A PLACE TO CALL HOME and HEARTBREAK HIGH.

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In 2012, Kristen was awarded the Foxtel (Australia) Fellowship for Excellence in Screenwriting. She is the recipient of three Australian Writers Guild Awards: Best Mini-Series Television Drama for THE STRAITS (Australian Broadcasting Commission/Matchbox) 2012, Best Television Series Drama for EASTWEST 101 (Special Broadcasting Service/Knapman Wyld) 2008 and Best Television Series Episode WHITE COLLAR BLUE (Network 10/Knapman Wyld) 2003. She has been nominated for numerous other awards, including three New South Wales Literary Awards and two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. 

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She is currently adapting an iconic Australia novel into a miniseries for Carver Films and Wiip (USA) and adapting WAKEFIELD into a musical stage production.

AMY TINKHAM is a Creative Director, Show Director, and Writer in Los Angeles, who has been designing and conceiving works with a multi-media approach throughout the world for the last 25 years.  Blending her experiences directing live music tours and videos for rock, pop, R&B, and country artists, with her in depth history as a director of the circus and as a choreographer and professional dancer, Amy is known for her innovative approach to mixing mediums and performance elements to tell stories in all fields of live entertainment. From arena & stadium spectacles to intimate theater, she does not limit herself to the constraints or rules of any one form. 

Amy is currently creative & show director for the upcoming AEROSMITH FAREWELL TOUR as well as their 2019- 22 Vegas residency. She will be directing Melissa Etheridge’s one woman Broadway show, “My Window,” this fall at Circle in the Square. She is currently working on an upcoming CIRQUE DU SOLIEL project, as well as a new original project for Las Vegas, 2024. She has worked extensively with Creator FRANCO DRAGONE (creator of “O” and “Mystere” in Las Vegas) on projects including SPLENDOR, in Wuxi, China. She is director of JAMES TAYLOR 2018-23 tours as well as his HOLLYWOOD BOWL performances and his 2019 residency in LAS VEGAS. Her other live shows include work with PAUL McCARTNEY, HARRY BELAFONTE, MATT MORRISON, EARTH,WIND, & FIRE, BRITNEY SPEARS, A.R. RAHMAN, THE DIXIE CHICKS, RINGLING BROTHERS, A ROYAL WEDDING IN DUBAI, Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, MARTINA MCBRIDE, PBS, and THE GRAMMY AWARDS and COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. She wrote and directed a short film for the band INXS, and also directed a short film, “The Acting Thing” that was featured at SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. She is also a Creative Director for DISNEY, conceiving live shows and concerts for various brands, from STAR WARS to MARVEL, and the current DISNEY JR. LIVE tours, and SOUND OF MAGIC philharmonic tours.

For her complete work go to: www.amytinkham.com

Juliet Pearson (She/Her) is an actor, writer, vocalist, improviser, and dancer, based in Hyde Park, NY. She is currently obtaining a BFA in Musical Theatre ‘24 at Fredonia State University. Juliet founded the sketch comedy group Fredonia Night Live (Artistic Director, Head Writer). She is a member of Random Acts Improv Comedy Team. Most recently, Juliet worked as Juliet Capulet in the Walter Gloor Mainstage Production of Romeo and Juliet; where she assisted in workshopping and devising the play. Other credits include: Future Fest at Feinstein’s 54 Below (Open Hydrant Theatre) The Wild Party (Walter Gloor Mainstage) Eurydice and A New Brain (Fredonia Performing Arts Company) Puffs (Trash Rat’s Theatre Collective) and originated the role of Helga Haar in the devised work The Disappearance of Shandrea Fillet (Venture Productions). Juliet has recently been certified in Unarmed, Knife, Rapier Dagger, and Single Sword stage combat by the Society of American Fight Directors. This is Juliet’s first time with NYSAF and she is overjoyed to be a part of this stellar community.

Nia Akilah Robinson (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Nia will be mentored by Mitzi Miller (Vice President at Warner Bros. Entertainment and HBO Drama) through YoungArts’ Emerging Professional Artists program (Alumni Award). Her work has been seen and developed with, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, National Black Theater: Soul Series, Great Plains Theater Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theater, Waterwell, Classical Theater of Harlem, Urbanite, New Georges, The Dramatist Guild in partnership with The 24 Hour Plays, and Nuyorican. She has been a MacDowell Fellow, YoungArts Artist Fellow supported by Rockefeller Brothers Fund (Alumni Award), Travis Bogard Artist-in-Residence at the Eugene O'Neill Foundation, a commissioned writer for Pen America & EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play), in residence at Prospect Street Writer’s House, and The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s DEAR fellow. Awards: 2023 NYSCA Play Support through The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute. Finalist: O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Blue Ink Playwriting Award, New York Theater Workshop 2050 Artistic Fellowship, and a Semi-Finalist for The Blank Theater’s “Future of Playwriting Award ''. Member/ Alum: Interstate 73 @ Page 73, EST's Youngblood, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. She was a Consultant for (CLASSIX), Archival Researcher for CLASSIX in collaboration with Princeton University, Co-Program Manager & Co-Facilitator of Inaugural National Fellowship dedicated to Black Femme Artist-Activists at The 2021 Tony Award Winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Co-Program Manager & Co-Facilitator of a Monologue Writing Program in partnership with Exodus Transitional Community & BOLD, Facilitator at Columbia Law School (Theater of Change), and was presented a certificate for her “Commitment to Black Stories” by BAC. Additionally, she is a faculty member at a middle school (teaching acting). She is 2022-2023 Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at Juilliard.

Nadia Guevara (she/her) - Proud recipient of the 2022-2044 Drama League Stage Directing Fellowship. Directing: Fefu and Her Friends (American University), "N" (Keegan Theatre), Palabras de encanto: Tales of Borikén (Academy of Classical Acting at George Washington University), Little Women (Johns Hopkins University), Guadalupe in the Guest Room, Cinderella: A Salsa Fairy Tale (NVA), El encuentro (Old Globe). Readings: L'HÔTEL (Fulton Theatre), Azul (SD Rep/LNFP). Associate/Assistant/Resident Director: Acoustic Rooster, Show Way (The Kennedy Center), The Wolves (McCarter Theatre Center), The Odyssey (Dallas Theatre Center/Dallas Public Works), Daphne’s Dive (Signature Theatre), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse). Upcoming Off-Broadway: Movement Director/Assistant Director, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Director, Short New Play Festival (Red Bull Theatre). In 2024, Nadia will direct a revamped Cinderella: A Salsa Fairy Tale (Imagination Stage), Spring Awakening (American University), Off-Broadway directorial debut (TBA). www.nadiaguevara.com