ROBYN HYDEN
BAILEY ZIMM
Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Southern California, Robyn Hyden is a fierce and fearless actress. A natural born athlete, Robyn got her start as a stunt double in a national Kodak Film commercial promoting the film Jurassic Park. This lead to many other commercials and co-starring roles on television such as Deadwood, Crossing Jordan and many more. She landed her first lead role in the independent film Blood and Roses which she also associate produced. She was also seen on the first SoapNet show I Wanna Be A Soap Star, where she met her current acting coach Eric Stuart.
“Acting allows me to be on accelerated path to self-awareness and makes me feel truly alive and feel things deeply. I choose challenging, complex characters and love to play the strong female kick-ass type.” (Robyn Hyden quote).
When Robyn isn’t developing projects or acting, she is a certified massage therapist, a wife and a devoted mother to Samantha.
Follow Robyn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Robyn_Hyden
ARMIN SHIMERMAN
SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE RYAN SUTHERLAND
With a degree in English from UCLA, Armin Shimerman apprenticed at the San Diego Old Globe Theater and eventually took over the lead comic roles. He emigrated to New York where within a year he was performing for Joseph Papp in the highly acclaimed production of “3 Penny Opera” at Lincoln Center. Armin went on to work many years on Broadway in “St. Joan” with Lynn Redgrave at the Circle in the Square, “Broadway” with Teri Garr and Glen Close, and finally Richard Rogers’ last musical “I Remember Mama.” Years of work in Regional Theater followed including Stage West, Connecticut Shakespeare Festival, Vermont Champlain Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory, Rutgers’ Mason Gross Theater, Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Tyrone Guthrie Theater, Seattle’s ACT, and the San Diego Repertory Theatre production of “King Lear”. He was nominated for lead performance by the prestigious Los Angeles Ovation Awards for his performance in Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” at the Matrix Theatre. Last year, he returned to San Diego Rep. to play the lead in “Seafarer” and for his performance won the San Diego Critics Award.
Armin moved to Los Angeles in the early 80’s, where he started his television and film career. He has guest starred in over 80 different TV shows and had major recurring roles as Pascal in Beauty and the Beast, Cousin Bernie in Brooklyn Bridge, Tommy Walker in the Invisible Man, Judge Hooper on Boston Legal and, of course, Principal Snyder in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, he is perhaps best known to the public for his seven years as the incorrigible QUARK on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Mr. Shimerman is also a published author: The “34th Rule” ,“Merchant Prince,” “Outrrageous Fortune,” A Capital Offense” . His writings are a product of years of teaching Elizabethan Rhetoric to classical actors and a lifelong study of Shakespeare. He has directed several of the Bard’s plays. He is currently a board member and director for the Antaeus Theatre Company, L.A.’s classical company. In the last couple of years, he has carved out a niche for himself in the voice-over world and is most recognizable for his recurring work on the animated series: Evil Con Carne, Billy and Mandy, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He has done dozens of CD-Rom games including the characters of Toad in the X-Men: Legends, the Green Goblin in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Andrew Ryan in Bioshock.
CHARLES MALIK WHITFIELD
SPECIAL AGENT KEITH CLARKSON
For veteran actor Charles Malik Whitfield, the journey is more important than the destination – and right now, Whitfield is on the ride of his life. “Acting isn’t necessarily about who’s the best,” according to Whitfield, ”sometimes it’s about whose spirit is in the right place – spiritual warfare, if you will.”
On the box office battlefield, 2010 continues to be another banner year for Whitfield, with five feature films set for release. He takes aim at the feature film, “Gun,” starring opposite Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Val Kilmer. Set in the world of illegal drug dealing, the drama is based on an original story by Jackson.
Whitfield’s upcoming movie, “Blue,” won top honors at both the Hollywood Black Film Festival and the American Black Film Festival. In the gritty, urban drama, Whitfield plays a charismatic street hustler who lives life on the edge, always plotting some sort of dangerous, high-risk scheme.
After his chilling performance as a ruthless killer in “Blue,” Whitfield puts on a badge to play a by-the-book police detective in “A Line in the Sand.” Whitfield is caught in the middle of the international drug trade in “Krews,” and makes a hilarious comedic turn in “Grindin’,” playing a militant man who preaches black power, while romancing a white girlfriend.
Whitfield’s role in “Notorious” provided Fox Searchlight with its biggest opening weekend ever, while the home video release of the biopic about Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace led first-week sales, as well.
Most recently, Whitfield made a guest-starring appearance on the new USA Network drama, “White Collar” and appears in an upcoming episode of the new TNT series, “Rizzoli & Isles.” This fall, Whitfield guest starred in a ratings-winning episode of the ABC series, “Private Practice” and played a pivotal role in an episode of the long-running CBS drama, “Ghost Whisperer.” Last season, he helped launch an ABC drama, with a guest-starring appearance on “Castle,” and appeared in the memorable series finale of the CW show, “The Game.”
KITTY SWINK
DR. ELIZABETH BLAKE
Kitty Swink is a perennial television guest star, appearing on such shows as LEVERAGE, THE RICHES, HAWTHORNE, WITHOUT A TRACE, MONK , JOAN OF ARCADIA, JUDGING AMY, ALIAS, NYPD BLUE, and many others. She was a recurring character on The N’s series SOUTH OF NOWHERE and the Lifetime series, FOR THE PEOPLE. Sci-fi fans know her from her work on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and BABYLON FIVE. She’s done many movies of the week and feature films including the soon to be released teen comedy BOXBOARDERS and THE WORKS. She is going to shoot the feature HARD TO COME BY this summer. Her other film works include Paul Shrader’s PATTY HEARST, Phil Alden Robinson’s IN THE MOOD, and films as diverse as LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, IN THE MOOD, WAVE BABES and the festival hit BREATHING HARD. As a member of the classical ensemble, ANTEAUS THEATRE COMPANY she has appeared in all three parts of Noel Coward’s TONIGHT AT 8:30, in CLASSICSFEST 2006, 2008 and 2010. She is one of the Co-Artistic Directors of ANTAEUS. She is also a member of the award winning MATRIX THEATRE COMPANY where she has appeared in DANGEROUS CORNER (LA Drama Critics and Garland Awards and nomination for Ovation Award) and the West Coast Premiere of BOLD GIRLS. She has appeared in such plays as LAST SUMMER IN BLUEFISH COVE at the Tiffany Theatre and HAMLET with the UPRISING THEATRE COMPANY. She appeared Off Broadway in THE GREAT NEBULA IN ORION, AUGUSTUS DOES HIS BIT and THE LUGOSI TRILOGY. She has appeared in regional theatres around the country, notably in the American Premiere of Billy Roche’s THE CAVALCADERS at The Florida Stage Company.
ZADI DIAZ
RACHEL MATTHEWS
Zadi Diaz is a Webby and Streamy award-winning host, producer and co-creator of the web culture show, Epic Fu. She has worked in front and behind the camera developing original programming for the web, bridging new and traditional media, and building and cultivating online communities.
She began her career on the web in 2004 as a documentary filmmaker, videoblogger, web news correspondent, and mashup video artist. Prior to her work online, she produced, directed and acted in several off-Broadway productions and appeared in several TV shows and independent films. She is an alumni of HB Studio and the Lee Strasberg Institute in NYC.
Her online work has been highlighted in the New York Times, Forbes, CBS Evening News, MTV, The Associated Press, The Guardian, and many other national publications. She is a Film Independent Project:Involve Fellow, a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV), as well as a member of the Transatlantic Network 2020, an international initiative of young leaders founded by the British Council.
MICHELE BOYD
HALLEY ZIMM
Michele Boyd hails from a Navy family, constantly traveling everywhere from Florida and California to Japan and Italy. It is partially due to this that she attributes her love of acting, reinventing herself with every new move. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiology from UC Davis and working as a model, she trained in acting in New York City before moving back to California to actively pursue an acting career in Los Angeles. She has since appeared in numerous television shows including Sons of Anarchy, The Young and the Restless, FlashForward and How I Met Your Mother. She is currently the lead in several webseries including The Guild and SOLO the Series. You can find out more about Michele at her website http://www.micheleboyd.com or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/micheleboyd
MERIT LEIGHTON
YOUNG BAILEY ZIMM
Merit Leighton has just wrapped filming the Indie feature Grooming Giselle and a short film called Male Idiot directed by George Newbern. Merit is only eight years old, but she’s a seasoned veteran, having booked many national commercials including Target, Kmart, Leapfrog, Yoplait and more. Merit loves the creative process and truly enjoys her time on set. You’ll find her carrying a video camera with her most of the time, because making movies is Merit’s passion.
She is a funny, energetic and smart girl who is very passionate about saving the earth. Merit and her sister Marlowe are both green advocates and have created The Plastic Patrol @ www.theplasticpatrol.org funded with their own money from acting. This project is all about kids teaching kids how they can help save the oceans. Merit and The Plastic Patrol are currently in pre-production on a series of webisodes.
For more about Merit visit http://www.meritleighton.com and you can follow Merit and her family on Twitter via http://twitter.com/glitterguru
Actor ALIMI BALLARD has had the distinction of starring in memorable television programming created by prolific filmmakers. He has portrayed Special Agent David Sinclair on Tony and Ridley Scott’s highly successful CBS crime drama NUMB3RS for the past five seasons, and previously starred with Jessica Alba as Herbal Thought on James Cameron’s cult favorite DARK ANGEL..
An avid comic collector, Ballard is thrilled to lend his voice to the role of Falcon in the Marvel animated series SUPER HERO SQUAD which he tapes concurrently with NUMB3RS. No stranger to series television, Ballard has also starred in the likes of SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH as the Quizmaster, as Vivica Fox’s younger brother on ARSENIO, and on the ABC daytime drama LOVING. Guest-starring roles include CSI, AMERICAN DREAMS, BOOMTOWN, and NYPD BLUE among others. He also co-starred as one of Little Richard’s band members in the ABC telefilm THE LITTLE RICHARD STORY.
On the feature front, Ballard has graced the screen alongside such talent as Robert DeNiro in 20th Century Fox’s MEN OF HONOR and Morgan Freeman in Dreamworks’ DEEP IMPACT.
Born in Bronx, New York, at the encouragement of his godfather, Ballard became involved with MindBuilders, a local community center dedicated to the empowerment of youth, for which he was swiftly cast in a play called No Laughing Matter. Weeks later he found himself touring NYC’s inner-city districts as a means by which to spread the message. He soon set his sights on a professional acting career and came to perform with such notable companies as the Manhattan Theater Club and the National Black Theater. Ballard currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
MAY WANG
CHRISTINA HESLOV
Born in San Francisco, May Wang later moved to Los Angeles where she trained in ballet, acting, piano, and martial arts. Her traditional father encouraged her to study in other areas. So as a dutiful daughter, May took honor classes in math, science and managed to squeeze additional training in theatre.
May landed the role of Xiao Fei in “NYPD Blue”, and has since appeared on such series as FOX’s sitcom “Do Not Disturb” directed by Jason Bateman, “90210″ (2009), the Sci-Fi Network’s “Chronicle”, and Life-Time’s “Unsolved Mysteries”. She also appeared in the role of Chin/Suzuki in the Tony winning ‘Best Play’ “M Butterfly”. Her additional credits include the lead in the webseries “Good Taste”, “Spank Bank”, “Eminent Domain”, “The Lesson Plan”, “Joy In the Mourning”, “No Return”, “Aaseamah’s Journey” and in several commercials, including the T-Mobile national campaign with Catherine Zeta-Jones in which she was the Ni-ni-ni girl. Currently, she co-stars as “Lisa” on “Cougar Town” with Courteney Cox and leads as “Rhy Ming” in “The Gunrunner Billy Kane”.
When she has time, May enjoys hiking in the Griffith Park, playing the piano, backpacking in Europe, and traveling to China to visit her family.
