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- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known as The Rock, was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California. He is the son of Ata Johnson (born Feagaimaleata Fitisemanu) and professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). His father, from Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, is black (of Black Nova Scotian descent), and his mother is of Samoan background (her own father was Peter Fanene Maivia, also a professional wrestler). While growing up, Dwayne traveled around a lot with his parents and watched his father perform in the ring. During his high school years, Dwayne began playing football and he soon received a full scholarship from the University of Miami, where he had tremendous success as a football player. In 1995, Dwayne suffered a back injury which cost him a place in the NFL. He then signed a three-year deal with the Canadian League but left after a year to pursue a career in wrestling.
He made his wrestling debut in the USWA under the name Flex Kavanah where he won the tag team championship with Brett Sawyer. In 1996, Dwayne joined the WWE and became Rocky Maivia where he joined a group known as "The Nation of Domination" and turned heel. Rocky eventually took over leadership of the "Nation" and began taking the persona of The Rock. After the "Nation" split, The Rock joined another elite group of wrestlers known as the "Corporation" and began a memorable feud with Steve Austin. Soon the Rock was kicked out of the "Corporation". He turned face and became known as "The Peoples Champion". In 2000, the Rock took time off from WWE to film his appearance in The Mummy Returns (2001). He returned in 2001 during the WCW/ECW invasion where he joined a team of WWE wrestlers at The Scorpion King (2002), a prequel to The Mummy Returns (2001).
Dwayne has a daughter, Simone Alexandra Johnson, born in 2001, with his ex-wife Dany Garcia, and daughters, Jasmine, born in 2015, and Tiana Gia, born in 2018, with his wife, singer and songwriter Lauren Hashian.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Tamzin Merchant is a British born actress, writer and director. She grew up in Dubai and was cast in her first professional role as Georgiana Darcy in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005). She attended The University of Cambridge to read Education Studies and continued to develop her career as an actor alongside her studies.
Merchant has starred in period dramas ranging from the Tudor period (The Tudors (2007)) right through to the 1940s (Murder on the Home Front (2013)) and in many contemporary productions. She also appears as Imogen Spurnrose in Amazon's Carnival Row (2019).
She has written and directed four short films, all of which have picked up awards on the indie festival circuit.- Actor
- Stunts
Despite being one of the smallest actors in Hollywood at 37 inches, Josh proved quality early on in life. By creating and distributing his own business cards before he was even a teenager, Josh landed a spot on "The Dancing Baby" ice cream commercial, which led to his role in Baby Geniuses (1999), where he played all the babies and did all the dancing. His co-star in that, Peter MacNicol, introduced him to David E. Kelley, who cast him as recurring guest Oren Koolie on Ally McBeal (1997), a child lawyer who gives Ally a hard time. His role on Passions (1999) was his first contract role in a TV series. He also appeared in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) with Jim Carrey.
His mother added recently: "Perhaps he didn't live many years but he lived a life that was filled with big dreams most of which he lived as a reality rather than only dreaming about. He said the only dream that can't come true is one that no one dares to dream, other than that every dream is possible. I hope that Josh will always be remembered not because he died but because he really lived a life filled with love and laughter and lots and lots of dreams. He made the most out of what he had, he was larger than life and we should all be as wise as the little guy with the big dreams."- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Brandon Rogers is an American comedian, actor, director, and writer who has become best known for his sketches, where he impersonates various outlandish characters, often lampooning the stereotypes associated with them. Rogers was born on August 3, 1988, in Hayward, California. Though he was fascinated by cinema and acting at a very young age, he decided to become an actor around the age of nine. After completing high school, he attended college in San Francisco. Since he could not break into the field of mainstream entertainment, he decided to pursue his passion through social media. He created a YouTube channel in 2006 which has now amassed over 5 million subscribers.- Actor
- Music Department
- Director
James Monroe Iglehart was born on 4 September 1974 in Hayward, California, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Wish (2023), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (2017) and Disenchanted (2022). He has been married to Dawn Phelps since 11 January 2002.- Actor
- Producer
American actor, model and painter. Born Marco Dominic Dapper on July 9, 1983 in Hayward, California, is the youngest of two children (he has an older sister) Started acting as a child in plays and appeared in community theater productions after graduating high school. Raised and went to Catholic school. Worked as both an actor and a model. He has guest-starred in various television series including "The Client List," "Mistresses," "Dirty Sexy Money," "90210," and "Veronica Mars," and has also appeared in national commercials for Absolut Vodka, United Airlines, Sears and XBox. As a model, Dapper has appeared in Men's Health and in ads for Levi's Jeans for the Asian market and along the way has landed several European modeling assignments. Arrived in Hollywood in 2003 and went right to work pursuing his passion of becoming a professional actor where acting training includes Doug Warhit, Lesly Kahn, Beverly Hills Playhouse and with Chick Vennera. Was first discovered by NBC scouts and wasted no time moving forward and in 2006, after appearing on Meet My Folks, landed the first film role in the independent feature Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds. To his surprise, Marco developed a huge fan base from that experience, which is apparent as he travels the country promoting the recent release of the film on DVD (he appears in the cover art). He studied Martial Arts for over 10 years and has a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. Prior to getting the role, in addition to acting, Dapper worked for UPS warehouse, as a fitness trainer, and he sold shoes at a sporting goods store. He still has his day job as a waiter. Joined the cast of The Young and the restless on CBS in April, 2012. He plays the role of fun loving troublemaker Carmine Basco. In his spare time, Dapper enjoys going to the gym, painting, and playing video games, loves to cook and he's also into music, listens to Rock, Reggae and Rap. Most recently has exhibited his own artwork of acrylic paintings in a show art in Hollywood.- Born in Hayward, California as Kimberlin Ann Brown, Brown made daytime television history by successfully crossing over her character from the number one daytime drama The Young and the Restless (1973) to The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) causing the latter show's ratings to skyrocket in the early 1990s. Discovered by famed modeling agent Nina Blanchard, it took almost a year of soul-searching for Brown to decide if she really wanted to give up her dream of being an architect, before she moved to Los Angeles. The modeling work came quickly, and Brown jetted off to model in Tokyo, Milan and Paris. Upon her return to the United States, Brown decided to give acting a try. She guest starred on numerous television series, including Matt Houston (1982) and T.J. Hooker (1982) while taking acting classes. Brown soon won a recurring part on the daytime drama Capitol (1982). In addition, she had featured roles in the films Who's That Girl (1987), 18 Again! (1988), and Eye of the Tiger (1986). Brown's big break came in 1990: Jill Newton, the casting director of The Young and the Restless, remembered Brown from a previous audition and called her in for the role of nurse Sheila Carter. Originally designed as a minor recurring player, Brown's talents were quickly realized by the show's creator William J. Bell and culminated in a 1992 Daytime Emmy Award nomination as 'Best Supporting Actress'. As the role of Sheila Carter expanded to a full-flexed villain amidst a baby-snitch storyline along-side Tracey E. Bregman's Lauren Fenmore, the character was eventually "killed off" in dramatic fashion in May 1992. Little did viewers know, that the genius of William J. Bell saw a new lease of light for the character on sister-show The Bold And The Beautiful: A very much alive Sheila showed up in fictional Los Angeles where she was linked to the powerful Forrester dynasty. The rivalry of Sheila and Lauren continued to play a pivotal role in Los Angeles as well as Genoa City for another three years creating several story-lines spanning both shows. Brown's character was eventually reformed and continued in another direction until her shocking exit in October 1998. In 1999, Brown started a three-year-run as psychologist Dr. Rachel Locke on Port Charles (1997) - and no stranger to cross-over series-events - also brought this character to life on mother-show General Hospital (1963) on several occasions. In a top-secret move, Brown then made a highly publicized surprise return to The Bold And The Beautiful in May 2002. Due to a change of storyline, Brown was written off after just 6 months when the character of Sheila shot another legacy character, Dr. Taylor as played by Hunter Tylo. Following another quick return visit in 2003, Brown landed the role of Dr. Paige Miller on New York-based One Life to Live (1968), but left the show after several months to return to the role of Sheila Carter in August 2005. But this time, Brown returned to her original stomping grounds on The Young And The Restless. However, changes in storyline cut her return short and Brown was written off a mere 6 months later. In following years, scheduling conflicts prevented Brown from reprising her legacy character which was eventually killed off. In the last couple of years, Brown has starred in several independent movie productions and played a lead role on web-serial The Bay (2010) in 2011 in addition to starting her own interior design firm in 2012 in San Diego, California. Brown is married to Gary Pelzer since May 11, 1991 and they share a daughter and son.
- Writer
- Actress
- Producer
Sarah Tiana was born on 17 February 1978 in Hayward, California, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for The Roast of Tom Brady (2024), Idol (2006) and First Time Female Director (2023).- Actress
- Art Department
Emily Stofle was born on 14 March 1978 in Hayward, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Inland Empire (2006), Twin Peaks (2017) and Ted Bundy (2002). She has been married to David Lynch since 26 February 2009. They have one child.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Brian Beacock is an actor, writer, producer and musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. After completing the National Tour of "Les Miserables," he moved to Los Angeles where he created a diverse career including; Voice-overs for more than 30 animated series and video games including various "Digimon" series, "Naruto," "Bleach," "Durarara," Monokukma in the "Danganronpa" game series, "Doreamon," "Blue Exorcist," "Tenkei Knights," "Code Geass," "Blue Dragon," "Battle B-Daman," "Toradora," "Tales of Symphonia," "Dragon Ball," "Dragon Ball Super (Toonami Asia)", "Bobobo-Bobobobo", "Sailor Moon" and more. Television appearances: "Imagination Movers," "Kath & Kim," "CSI," "Passions," NBC's "The Rerun Show." Films include: "Colt Racer," "To The Beat", "Mulholland Drive," "Buying The Cow," "Globehunters," "Circuit," and the upcoming horror feature "Hollow Scream." Brian has been a featured performer at the world famous Roxy on The Sunset Strip, PS 122 in NYC, and as the featured musical guest on "The Conan O'Brien Show" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (singing for Betty White). Theatre credits include: the West Coast Premiere of "Elegies," "When Pigs Fly," "Pageant," "The Last Hairdresser," "Naked Boys Singing," and the insane 35-character one-man show "Fully Committed." He and his work have been featured in the New York Times, US Magazine, People Magazine, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Backstage West, LA Times, LA Weekly, USA Today, Daily Variety, and Entertainment Weekly. Not just an actor, Brian won the Royal Television Society's "Best Main Title Theme" Award for his lyrical composition work in "Playing It Straight," the UK's hit musical reality program, for which he wrote and produced 30 songs on location, performing them live on-set. As a writer/producer he is behind the much lauded and hugely successful web series "McCracken Live!" which won numerous awards and was one of only 22 shows in the world chosen to be in Europe's first webseries festival in Marseille France. Brian is the creator/writer/producer of the new insane zombie comedy "Acting Dead" which won a Primetime Emmy Award for actress Patrika Darbo, in addition to other numberous awards including best comedy and best writing at the Indie Series Awards. You can bite-and-binge watch all of Season 1 now on Amazon Prime Video. Stop by and say hi on Twitter and Instagram @brianbeacock, and check out www.mccrackenlive.com and www.actingdead.com.- Angelica Marliza DeChavez was born on September 18, 1999 in Hayward, California. She is a Filipino-American Actress, Model, and Digital Content Creator. Angelica was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2017, she graduated from Southwest Career and Technical Academy and received her Advanced High School Diploma with an emphasis in Fashion Design.
In 2019, Angelica graduated from College of Southern Nevada with High Honors and received her Associate of Arts Degree. - Music Department
- Actress
- Composer
Natasha Bedingfield was born on 26 November 1981 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for Morning Glory (2010), From Russia with Love (2005) and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012). She has been married to Matt Robinson since 21 March 2009. They have one child.- Sean Duffy was born on 3 October 1971 in Hayward, Wisconsin, USA. He has been married to Rachel Campos-Duffy since 10 April 1999. They have nine children.
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Bona Bones was born on 15 June 1988 in Hayward, California, USA. She is known for Grey Skies (2010), Tremors of Terror from Space (2007) and Battlefield America (2012).- Composer
- Music Department
- Sound Department
Jeff Beal is one of the most prolific and respected composers working in Hollywood today. He grew up studying the trumpet in the San Francisco Bay area, where he was immersed in the sounds of the 70's jazz, classical, and the rock & pop music scene. His prodigious talent in composition lead to many works for both big band and orchestra during his high school years. In his teens, his compositions were performed by the Oakland Youth Symphony under maestro Kent Nagano, the Monterey Jazz Festival All Star big band, and others.
After high school, Jeff went to the Eastman School of Music to study composition with Pulitzer prize winner Christopher Rouse, Rayburn Wright and Bill Dobbins. During the Eastman years, he was awarded an unprecedented 11 student awards from Downbeat Magazine for his compositions and trumpet playing. It was at Eastman Jeff also studied film scoring, and met the producers of what would become his first film assignment, Cheap Shots (1988).
Before moving to Los Angeles, Beal lived in New York City and San Francisco, where he pursued a career as a jazz recording artist and composer. His debut recording "Liberation" for Island Records was considered an underground classic by the New York jazz community. Beal would continue to release a total of seven solo recordings, and frequented as a guest artist on other recordings.
In 1993, after his "Concerto for Jazz Bass" was recorded by John Patitucci on Chick Corea's new label, Beal decided to make the move to Los Angeles. His big break came when Ed Harris called on Jeff to score his directorial debut Pollock (2000). Beal's unique blend of Americana, minimalism, and chamber orchestra caught the ear of many in Hollywood. This led to his relationship with HBO, where he has provided scores for two of their most adventurous series, Rome (2005) and Carnivàle (2003), resulting in 3 Emmy nominations. In total Beal has received 15 prime time nominations and 4 Emmy Awards to date.
Frequently called on to score assignments that require a unique and diverse musical approach, Beal won an Emmy for Battleground (2006)- a one-hour no-dialog installment of "NIghtmares and Dreamscapes,"
Other notable scores include Appaloosa (2008) dir. Ed Harris, No Good Deed (2002) dir. Bob Rafelson, Little Red Wagon (2012) dir. David Anspaugh, Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) dir. Bob Balaban, the "Jesse Stone" films, dir. by Robert Harmon and the Golden Globe-winning series Ugly Betty (2006). He also scored Wilde Salomé (2011) for Al Pacino, Mr. Pacino's long-awaited follow-up to Looking for Richard (1996). Beal has also been a frequent collaborator of Academy Award winner Jessica Yu, on In the Realms of the Unreal (2004), Protagonist (2007), and her feature documentary for Participant Productions; Last Call at the Oasis (2011).
Jeff's 1st prime-time Emmy award came in 2001 for his season one theme song to Monk (2002). The instrumental theme was replaced in season two by the producers and became a cause célèbre among Monk fans and critics. This resulted in an online petition with thousands of signatures, and an episode by the show's writers "Mr. Monk and The TV Star" where a theme song change is protested by guest star Sarah Silverman.
Beal's scores are often driven by a strong sense of melody, and frequent use of chamber-size instrumentations. In a musical climate where bigger is better seems to be the pervading aesthetic, his scores are often intimate, dramatically specific and character-driven. He conducts and orchestrates his own scores, and often performs on them. He plays piano, trumpet, duduk, recorders, harmonica, percussion, rababa, oud, and french horn. Beal's wife Joan Beal is a trained opera singer and has sung on several of his scores, including Carnivàle (2003), The Situation (2006), and Wilde Salomé (2011).- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Leigh Elaine Takata was born in Hayward, California. Her family relocated to the Atlanta area in the early 1990s. It was there that she began learning how to act and dance. She went on to attend Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. While there, she acted in a handful of plays produced by the school's theatre group known as Blackfriars. One of them was done in partnership with the Alliance Theatre and was performed at local high schools in the area. Takata also holds a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University. Takata currently resides in Phoenix, AZ but continues to travel to work on various productions in which she acts, models and/or dances.- Kristi was the Gold Medalist in figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. She was World Champion twice, in 1991 and 1992, and U. S. National Champion in 1992. Kristi was also U.S. National Pairs Champion twi ce, in 1989 and 1990, before deciding to focus on singles. In 1988, she won the Wo rld Juniors Championships in both singles and pairs.
- Actress
- Producer
- Sound Department
Mimi Torres hails from San Francisco where she began her career as a voiceover actress. Since then she has relocated to Los Angeles, and has made her way into Film and TV as both actress and producer. Mimi has contributed her impressive vocal talents to some of the largest Video Game titles & animated series over the last few years, including "Fall Out 4," "Sleeping dogs," "World of Final Fantasy", "Winx Club" and a forthcoming animated TV series for The Disney Channel (2017) . Mimi has also become a staple in films by Bad & Classic Productions.- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Charles Chen is a California native raised in San Lorenzo. At a very young age he was interested in taking pictures and filming video. During high school, he launched his professional video production career by starting his own video production company, providing video production services for weddings and also producing commercials for private businesses in the San Francisco bay area. Upon graduating from high school, Charles decided to moved down to Los Angeles in order to attend film school. While in school, he had the opportunity to work on the hit MTV show Pimp My Ride and also at a major music video and commercial production company. Upon graduating from film school, Charles was accepted into the prestigious page program at CBS Television City Studios in Hollywood where he had an opportunity to work on many hit shows such as, The Price is Right, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and many more. As of now he is working as a producer, actor, and camera jib operator in Los Angeles, CA.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Tom Eplin was born on 25 October 1960 in Hayward, California, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Another World (1964), Delta Fever (1987) and As the World Turns (1956). He was previously married to Courtney Gibbs and Ellen Wheeler.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Tim Harrold was born on 19 August 1971 in Hayward, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Competition (2018), The Librarians (2014) and Leverage (2008). He has been married to Kelly Harrold since 10 August 1996. They have one child.- Composer
- Music Department
- Production Manager
Mat Osman was born on 9 October 1967 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. He is a composer and production manager, known for 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2012), You Have Been Watching (2009) and The Conspiracy for Good: London 2010 (2010).- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Jamie Walker is an award-winning Director/Writer who was recently selected by the Academy of Motion Pictures to serve on the leadership board for Gold Rising, an initiative spearheaded by Bettina Fisher to promote and provide access in the film industry for diverse filmmakers. A graduate of USC's M.F.A. Program in Directing, where she was funded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, Jamie also has a graduate degree from Howard University, where she received a full ride. Originally from Oakland, CA, Jamie has over 15 years of experience in the film industry and primarily specializes in scripted TV and narrative features (drama, rom com, romantic drama, comedy, and family). She has directed both single cam and multicam. She has also taught directing on the college level for over 10 years. Her long term goal is to direct original content for episodic TV and to helm inspiring stories about leading women and marginalized characters with depth and agency who have triumphed over adversity.
Walker has received Directing fellowships from The Blackhouse Foundation at Sundance, Facebook SEEN's Emerging Director Program, The Academy of Motion Pictures, and The George Lucas Family Foundation. Her short film "Oscar Micheaux" that she wrote and directed screened at Cannes (Short Film Corner) and won "Best Short" at The African American Film Festival. Another short that she wrote and directed, "Sandra: Say Her Name" won "Best Short" at the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival. Her shorts have screened at numerous film festivals. Walker worked at AMPAS for Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and The Student Academy Awards. She has also worked at Buzz Feed, helping to manage over 20 commercials weekly.
Some of her clients include Disney Plus, HBO Max, Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, Wayfarer Entertainment, Lifetime, ESPN, Pepsi, Kroger, Nationwide, and more. Originally from Oakland, she resides in Los Angeles and has worked with Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther), Tessa Thompson (Dear White People/Passing), Lin Miranda (Hamilton), Andre Holland (Moonlight), Adepero Odune (12 Years a Slave), Janelle Mona'e, Tiffany Haddish, J Lo, and Jill Scott, to name a few.
Jamie is a member of the Alliance of Women Directors, Film Fatales, Women in Media, Women in Film, Academy Gold, JTC Women Unite, and the PGA. She has worked for Disney Plus, ESPN, Lifetime, Array, HGTV and several other companies. She is one of the founding members of Rachel Raimist's "Saturday Sessions" and has participated in Directing workshops with Bola Ogun, Joel Zwick (Disney), Tessa Blake (ABC), Rachel Raimist (CW Network), Andy Cadiff (CBS), Eva McKenna (CW Network) and Jenn Page (Heart on Fire Productions).- Darrell Taylor was born in Hayward, California, USA. He is known for Citizen Dame (2017), The Challenge: World Championship (2023) and The Challenge (1998).
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Thia Megia was born on 30 January 1995 in Hayward, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Totally Funny (2017) and Tails of the Blue (2017).