Mike Ostroski (Actor / Co-Writer / Co-Producer) is an actor, writer, director, and producer. Mike recently shot the Bold Films feature, Shot Caller, with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lifetime’s New York Prison Break with Penelope Ann Miller. Mike has appeared in episodes of Breaking Bad, Criminal Minds, How To Get Away With Murder, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fuller House, The Middle, The Muppets, Legends, Manhattan, and Henry Danger. Mike has performed in over 75 productions as a 12-year member of The Barter Theatre’s Resident Acting Company, in roles such as Jamie Wellerstein (The Last Five Years), Sam Peliczowski (Fully Committed), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Gaston (Beauty and the Beast), Ty Saybrook (Revolutions by Richard Alfieri, world premiere), and Lennie in The Barter’s national tour of Of Mice and Men. After performing Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol and Taming of the Shrew with the award-winning Duke City Repertory Theatre, Mike premiered In/Visible Theatre’s Bumbershoot at The New York International Fringe Festival, and performed the role of Robert Novum Smith in the new comedy The Book Club Play by Karen Zacarias at both The Public Theatre of Maine and The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Mike has been performing his award-winning solo show, Groundwork, co-written and directed by Derek Davidson, since 2013. Mike attended The University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) for musical theatre, Miami University (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) for creative writing, and abroad at both Cambridge University and London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Kate Cook.
Derek Davidson (Director / Co-Writer) received his BFA in acting from Florida State University (’85); MA in Playwriting from Miami University of Ohio (’96); PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Washington (’08). He currently teaches playwriting and theatre history at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He is an actor, playwright and director. His plays The Road Where It Curves Away, Holmes, Jack of Dover (among others) have been performed across the country. His play Bumbershootpremiered at the New York International Fringe Festival the summer of 2012. His award-winning film This Is Not the South (which he wrote and directed), has played at various festivals and conferences across the southeast. His most recent project, Groundwork, is a solo performance piece he co-wrote with actor Mike Ostroski; it premiered in North Carolina the summer of 2013. He and his wife, Karen Sabo have founded In/Visible Theatre, a professional theatre company based in Boone.
Karen Sabo (Original Producer / Producing Artistic Director of In/Visible Theatre) is a producer, director, actor, and teacher originally from New York. She has a BA in liberal arts from Hampshire College, and a Master's in liberal arts from East Tennessee State University. She studied acting with the American Conservatory Theatre, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Shakespeare and Company, and the Saratoga International Theatre Institute. Karen was a member of three resident acting companies, most recently the Barter Theatre, where she also became a resident director and dialect coach, and eventually served as the Director of Education. In addition to running In/Visible Theatre in Boone, NC, she is Executive Director of the Women's Fund of the Blue Ridge, a philanthropic fund in the Appalachian mountains.
Kate Cook (Assistant Director - Los Angeles) is an actor whose credits include: Utah Shakespeare Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Chicago Dramatists, Classical Acting Company, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She served on theater faculty at Illinois State University and Wheaton College, assisted at The School for Theatre Creators, has an ongoing interest in movement for the actor, and as of 2015, will be certified in the Alexander Technique. Kate enjoys new play development; she has workshopped plays for Enda Walsh, Richard Kalinovski, Aline Lathrop, J.R. Sullivan, and Rahul Varma. Kate is thrilled to participate in Groundwork. www.katecook.org
Terrie Marroquin (Producer - Los Angeles) is the owner of TLynn Talent Management, a boutique talent management company based in Los Angeles. Terrie is excited to be working with such a wonderful production and with such a talented team. www.tlynntalent.com
Marianne Lu (Stage Manager - Los Angeles) is pleased to be a part of such a wonderful production of Groundwork. Recent credits include Belz! (Whitefire Theater, LA), Bedroom Farce, Joking Apart, (Mary McArthur Theater, NY) , La Chunga (Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NY), Female Transport, Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Lester Martin Theater, NY). www.mariannelu.com
Carly Mungovan (Stage Manager - NYC) is a senior at Miami University, studying Theatre with minors in Arts Management and Art History. Her previous stage management work includes productions of Macbeth, Beyond Therapy, Angels in America Part One, and several shows for the Miami University Dance Theatre. She has just finished her internship with the Seattle Children's Theatre and is currently directing a production of The Little Dog Laughed for the Miami Unviersity Theatre Department.
Erin Mizer (Lighting Designer / Stage Manager - NYC) is a graduate of Miami University with a B.A. in Theatre/Arts Management. She recently interned at Jujamcyn Theaters and the York Theatre Company, and is currently working at Playwrights Horizons. Past Lighting Design experiences: Peter Pan, Vision Dance Company: Good vs. Evil and The Wizard of Oz. Other credits: Albert Herring (Stage Manager), Rent (Stage Manager), Spring Awakening (Assistant Director), Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Assistant Technical Director), 9 Circles (Stage Manager), and All in the Timing (Stage Manager).
Katie Kahut (Stage Manager - Boone) - Katie is a senior at Appalachian State University, majoring in Theatre with a concentration in design/technology. She is currently a stage technician at The Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts, but can normally be found as a stage manager or an actor combatant throughout the year.
Matthew Nielson (Sound Designer) is an award winning producer, sound designer and composer for theatre, film and television. Theatre work includes Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Signature Theatre (NY and DC), Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, New York Shakespeare Festival. Film/TV work includes Epix Drive-In, Hometrust Bank, v05, Elbow Grease (2014), Blue (2014), The Long Road (2013). He created,wrote, directed, designed and scored the acclaimed audio series Troublesome Gap. He currently runs Sound Lab Studios, a production house and recording studio in Asheville, NC. www.soundlabstudios.com
David Zaugh (Marketing Photographer - Los Angeles) - David is a photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles who also periodically shoots in Chicago and New York. David is currently preparing to direct his original feature film, The Monarch of Crystal Falls, starring Allison Janney. www.zaughphotography.com
Tori Allen (Graphic Designer, Costume Designer) - Tori Allen is an actor and costume and graphic designer originally from Chicago and currently residing in Boone, North Carolina.
Geoffrey Wade (Production Photographer - Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles) - Geoffrey is an actor, director, and photographer based in Los Angeles. www.geoffreywadephotography.com
Rae Filsinger (Production Photographer - Boone)
John Broadhead (Promotional Video Editor) - John is the founder of Reflection Films, LLC. He is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer. http://www.reflectionfilmsllc.com