Contest Judges
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Chris Weitz
Producer/Writer/Director American Pie, The Golden Compass, About A Boy,The Twilight Saga: New Moon |
Simon Mirren
Producer/Writer
Criminal Minds,
Without a Trace
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Matt Skrobalak
Vice President, Casting, CBS Paramount Network Television |
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Staff
BIOS
Alfred Molina Actor/Screenplay Contest Judge
ALFRED MOLINA is an accomplished and versatile actor with over one hundred film, television and theater productions to his credit.
Recent film projects from 2009 include Poe, Vivaldi, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Tempest, Carmel, Big Buy, Lessons in Self-Defense, and An Education.
Some of his other films include Da Vinci Code for director Ron Howard and Sony Pictures; Doc Ock in Spiderman II; Hoax opposite Richard Gere for director Lasse Hallstrom; Chocolate with Johnny Depp, As You Like It starring opposite Bryce Dallas Howard for director Kenneth Branagh; Frida, opposite Salma Hayek, Edward Norton, Geoffrey Rush and Ashley Judd, earning him Best Supporting Actor nominations from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Critics Association. Molina also appeared in the Columbia Pictures thriller Identity, opposite John Cusack, Ray Liotta and Amanda Peet, the Jim Jarmusch film Coffee and Cigarettes and the Miramax release Undertaking Betty, a comedy with Brenda Blethyn, Naomi Watts and Christopher Walken.
Molina made his movie debut with a small role in Raiders of the Lost Ark and had a notable role as a Soviet sailor in Letter to Brezhnev. His breakthrough role came in 1987 when he portrayed Kenneth Halliwell, the tragic lover of Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears. In 1998, Molina earned accolades for his powerful performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Boogie Nights, which won the Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a theatrical motion picture. His other films include The Imposters, Anna Karenina, Species, The Perez Family, Maverick, Enchanted April, Pete’s Meteor, Not Without My Daughter, Dudley Do-Right and Texas Rangers. For television, Molina served as a producer and actor for the CBS situation comedy Ladies Man, co-starring Sharon Lawrence and Betty White.
Molina made his Broadway debut in 1998 in the Tony winning play Art with Alan Alda and Victor Garber. In addition to his own Best Actor Tony nomination, he received a Drama Desk Award for his performance, and the production was honored with an Outer Circle Critics Award for best ensemble. He starred in the off-Broadway production of Molly Sweeney, for which he was honored with a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Most Outstanding Debut Performance. His other theatre credits include roles in two Royal National Theatre productions, Night of the Iguana, and David Mamet’s Speed the Plow, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance; and Serious Money for the Royal Court Theatre and The West End. Molina also received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in Oklahoma at the Palace Theatre. His history in the theatre has been highly recognized with two Tony nominations, for Fiddler on the Roof and for Art, as well as, a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Circle Critics Award for Art. He was seen in the spring of 2007 in playwright Patrick Marber’s Howard Katz for the Roundabout Theatre, in New York.
In Los Angeles, Molina serves as Associate Artist for Circus Theatricals, where he occassionally teaches a Shakespeare workshop. For Circus Theatricals, he has appeared on stage as Buckingham in Richard III, and as Lophakhin in The Cherry Orchard opposite his wife, actress Jill Gascoine. He also completed a run of The Cherry Orchard opposite Annette Bening at the Mark Taper Forum. You can read more about Alfred Molina on imdb.com
Chris Weitz is an Academy Award nominated producer, writer and director. He is best known for his work on the films American Pie and About A Boy. Other notable credits include The Golden Compass, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, and the animated feature Antz. He directed the feature The Twilight Saga: New Moon, opening November 2009. You can read more about Chris on imdb.com.
Simon Mirren
Simon Mirren is currently Co-Executive producer of the popular television program Criminal Minds. Other producing credits include Third Watch, Without a Trace, Waking the Dead, MI-5 and Casualty. You can read more about Simon on imdb.com
Matt Skrobalak
Matt Skrobalak is Vice President, Casting, CBS Paramount Network Television. Prior to joining CBS Paramount, Skrobalak founded "Skrobalak & Ross Casting," an agency that specialized in casting independent films and television. Before he ran his own company he worked as Casting Associate for Gary Zuckerbrod on the hit television series, "Without A Trace" for CBS. He started his career as an assistant at Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting, where he worked his way up to Casting Associate. Here he worked on shows such as "Hope & Faith" for ABC and "Felicity" for the WB. Also on his casting resume are "A Mighty Wind" from Castle Rock Entertainment and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for HBO.
David Trainer Director/Judge
DAVID TRAINER directed Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy and Keith Carradine in Foxfire on Broadway and at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. He directed the original Playwrights Horizons production of The Dining Room by A. R. Gurney in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He has directed at The Long Wharf in New Haven, the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, and the Williamstown Theater Festival, among many others. On television he directed Designing Women, Grace Under Fire, Cybill, and all eight seasons of That ‘70s Show. You can read more about David on imdb.com
Jack Stehlin Screenplay Contest Judge / Producer
In Weeds, Showtime’s hit comedy series about a single mother who makes ends meet by selling marijuana in the fictional suburb of Agrestic, California, veteran actor JACK STEHLIN co-stars alongside Mary Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins and Kevin Nealon as “Captain Roy Till” of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). STEHLIN shared a 2009 Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) nomination with his fellow Weeds cast members for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series”
A descendent of circus trapeze artists, jugglers, and acrobats on one side of his family, and coal miners and minor league ball players on the other side, STEHLIN began his career at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School, landing a role in Henry VI, Part I with fellow alums Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer and Mandy Patinkin. After graduation, he joined the New York Shakespeare Festival, acting in dozens of plays including, Richard II,Henry V, Casanova, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, Don Juan and Romeo and Juliet, among others.
Inheriting the circus performer work ethic, Jack founded his theatre company Circus Theatricals in 1983. The company’s first performance was Chekov’s Uncle Vanya in which he starred opposite Kevin Spacey and Tom Hewitt. Now based out of Los Angeles, Circus Theatricals continues to thrive today, producing classic and new plays to critical acclaim. Jack runs the company with his wife and partner Jeannine, an actress/producer he met in 1995. Together, they have produced more than 50 plays in NYC and Los Angeles, including Harm 's Way, The Misanthrope, Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard III, Tartuffe, True West, The Cheats of Scapin, The Circle, and The Job.
Jumping effortlessly from stage to screen, Jack's film credits range from the Weinstein Company’s wildly popular cult sensation, Boston Strangler: The Untold Story to the thriller tale Blackout Effect alongside Eric Stoltz. Jack collaborated with film legend Al Pacino in an unraveling interpretation of Oscar Wilde's once banned and most controversial work in the upcoming release, Salomaybe? Written and Directed by Pacino, Salomaybe? is a scintillating tale of lust, greed and one woman's scorn. In October 2009, Jack created the role of Marshall Jones in the film Chicago 8, written and directed by Pinchas Perry.
Constantly lighting up the small screen, Jack has guest-starred on countless hit TV series such as Without a Trace, Monk, NCIS., ER, and NYPD Blue He has also had memorable recurring roles in fan favorites: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, JAG and The Practice. You can read more about Jack Stehlin at jackstehlin.com
Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin Screenplay Contest staff/Executive producer
As Managing Director of Circus Theatricals Foundation, Jeannine divides her time between running the day-to-day administrative functions, producing plays, organizing and producing the annual Circus Theatricals Festival of New One Act plays, serves as the interactive producer for the Circus Theatricals website, and runs all marketing programs (Traditional/Email/Social marketing).
Prior to Circus Theatricals, Jeannine served as marketing and interactive director for a Business Reengineering and Special Education software company. Additionally, she serves as an interactive producer for advertising agencies in the for-profit and non-profit sectors.
As a producer for Circus Theatricals, Jeannine has produced over 50 plays, including the critically-acclaimed world premiere plays "Harm's Way and " "Man.gov" by playwright Shem Bitterman (both in LA and Off-Broadway), and the LA Times critic's choice hit "Safe" by Chuck Rose.
Also an actress, stage acting credits include: The Heiress, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Job, Peer Gynt, Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, Hippolytus, The Stronger, The Art of Success, Women and Wallace and the films, “Watch It,” and “ Rancho Cucamonga." Jeannine made her TV debut as a child on the popular children's program, "Romper Room."
Jeannine earned a B.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois, and an M.B.A. in Marketing from the Illinois Institute of
Technology.
Jonathan Doone Screenplay contest staff
Jonathan Doone has had a diverse career beginning with his success as a Ballroom dancer where he was noticed and asked to join a TV production called 3 Men and a Baby Grand with his first acting credit. He retired from competitive Ballroom dancing at the age of 20, by then he was 14 times Australian Champion, a world representative for Australia competing around the globe with a Young Australian Of The Year award. He then joined Universal Studios project Burn the Floor (currently on Broadway again) where he was a lead performer for 5 years before doing Dancing with the Stars in Australia.
In a recent move to Los Angeles he proudly joined Circus Theatricals and with them performed in two plays, LA8AM and Macbeth. Recent TV and Film credits include Young and The Restless. He Co – Executive Produced "Boston Girls", a film with Danny Trejo and Renee Taylor.
The New American Screenplay Contest
c/o Circus Theatricals Foundation
PO Box 586
Culver City, CA 90232
Email Us jeannine@newamericanscreenplaycontest.com
