2024

Alan Marriott has been teaching and performing internationally for over 25 years. A graduate of LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), his professional career spans many disciplines including voice acting, (Bob The Builder/ LEGO Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Star Wars, and My Little Pony, Martha Speaks, Dinosaur Train). Alan is a voice and presentation skills coach for fortune 500 clients, teaches improvisation and creativity (and wrote a book on it – ‘Genius Now’). He has co-written two albums (Happily Ever Now, and the soon to be released ‘Seasons in Jazz’ with Sandra-Mae lux) and five stage musicals.  Alan directs and performs regularly on radio, film and television. Alan is a current tutor at Mountview Academy and The Drama Studio in London UK and former head of the Comedy program at Vancouver Acting School (School Creative). His podcast ‘Grumpy Old Improvisers’ comes out next month.

Freddy Aung, from Yangon, Myanmar, is the founder of the indie film production company Rockals Pictures. With over seven years of filmmaking experience, his films have been selected and screened at prestigious film festivals such as the Fajr International Film Festival, Chaktomuk Short Film Festival, Regina International Film Festival, Elche International Independent Film Festival, and more.

Over a 40-year career in the arts and culture, Chris has been many things. Working across Canada and the United States, Chris has worked professionally as an actor, performer and producer of live theatre. He is a musician and storyteller. For 23 years Chris served as an arts consultant for the Ontario Ministry of Culture working on policy initiatives in the arts and cultural industries and serving as program lead for numerous provincial arts granting programs. A creature of the early West Coast Theatresports improv scene, Chris is a classically trained actor with a number of credits in film and live theatre.

Dan Joffre is an award-winning comedian, established actor, improviser, singer, screenwriter and live show producer. Identifying and connecting with many ethnicities and cultures, Dan strives to reach and entertain people from all backgrounds, focusing on humor to find the humanity that binds us together. A deep love of performance, bolstered by years of acting training, has led Dan to work for many of the industry’s top directors, producers, and studios, resulting in an extensive list of Film and TV credits. His inexhaustible energy, audacious comedic sensibilities and collaborative skills have also allowed him to thrive in the improv comedy world. Dan is a 2x Just for Laughs World Improv Champion (7x MVP) and Winner of the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Comedian. He has performed live in over 1,800 improvised and scripted shows, and has a long history of creating and producing clean corporate comedy experiences.

David was born into the unorthodox and particularly creative environment of Big Sur in the 1960s. He is the son of Esalen Institute co-founder Dick Price and later was, himself, Esalen’s General Manager. He was dubbed “the first child of the 1960s” by San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner writer Don Lattin in his book “Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today.
He worked extensively as a musician including 13 years as a member of Grammy winner Babatunde Olatunji’s “Drums of Passion” and has been a longtime stage manager at The Monterey Jazz Festival.
He works as an actor in film and television based in Poland. He has worked with iconic Polish directors Jerzy Skolimowski and Lech Majewski including the former’s Venice Film Festival multi prize winner “Essential Killing”. He has also worked on international co-productions (US, Indian, German, Danish, Japanese, Russian, etc) and several Netflix series (“1983”, “The Liberator”). He also works in dubbing, voiceover, dialog replacement and consulting as well as having played bass on a number of film soundtracks. Recent acting projects include the Tollywood film “Eagle”, Polish war drama “Czerwone Maki” (Red Poppies) and the upcoming feature “Droga Do Domu”.

René Brar was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He earned a bachelor’s degree in film studies and a master’s degree in religion, both from Yale University. After interning with New York indie legend Christine Vachon, he spent several years in Los Angeles, working as a story editor for filmmaker Ridley Scott.

His first feature film as a director was TAYLOR’S WAY, a luscious but disturbing road trip film that premiered at the Whistler Film Festival and earned rave reviews for its naturalist performances, cinematography, and unsettling twist. His second feature film, MARTIN’S PINK PICKLE, was a bittersweet coming-of-age drama that premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

As a television producer, René has created original formats for NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Television, Netflix, and Channel 4 in the UK.