HENRY PRIEST

Henry Priest is a Educator, Motivator, Producer of film, TV and live events, actor, and Co-Founder and Festival Director of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) Film Festival.

Known for Veritas (2007) and Beyond the Mat (2013).

Having produced many film, TV and live events, Mr. Priests work has been showcased all over the world including some of the most prestigious film festivals as Festival De Cannes in France, Tribeca Film Festval in New York and AFI Fest in Los Angeles. Henry began his career in the film industry in 1989 when he was featured as an actor in Walt Disneys feature wrestling film titled Spooner, starring Robert Urich and Jane Kazmarik. The film called upon Henry’s knowledge of collegiate wrestling as he choreographed wrestling scenes for the production team.

Since then he has established himself as the go-to person to produce scenes that require Collegiate, Greco-Roman, or Freestyle wrestling. He has written, directed, choreographed, and cast wrestling scenes in international and national commercials for companies like Nike, Adidas, SBC Global and others. Henry recently served as a wrestling consultant to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His film “Legendary,” stars WWE superstar John Cena, Oscar nominated actors Danny Glover and Particia Clarkson; Devon Gray and Tylor Posey. Early in his career Henry produced the awrd winning film titled UnderDog. The comedic wrestling film has been featured in the prestigious AFI Fest and in many festivals across the country including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

With the success of UnderDog, Henry received an award as an Outstanding Producer during the 2004 National Association of Latino Independent Producers Conference (NALIP) in February 2004. Recently, Henry Produced the wrestling Documentary titled Veritas. The story of NCAA All American wrestler John Trenge. His latest film titled American Identity received a standing ovation on closing night at Festval De Cannes in France, considered to be the most pretigious film festival in the world.

In November 2010 Mr. Priest served as executive Producer of the 44th Annual NWCA All-Star Wrestling Match. The event was broadcast in 40 million homes on the Big Ten Network in an effort to raise funds to save the Cal State Fullerton Wrestling team. Thanks to many supporters that participated in the event such as actor Billy Baldwin, UFC superstars Randy Couture, Uriah Faber, Hector Ramirez, Mark Munoz and the cast of the new wrestling movie Beyond the Mat, the event raised over $200,000 for the struggling program.

Henry also serves the industry as a film festival director of the Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles. With his knowledge of film in front and behind the camera Henry serves on the Screen Actors Guild Diversity Committees, nationally and locally. He serves on the advisory board of the Silverlake Film Festival, American Latino Film Festival and Skid Row Films. He is also the executive producer of National High School Coaches Associations Productions. Mr. Priest is an advocate for the arts. He is has been a guest speaker and panelist at events hosted by the Screen Actors Guild, Showbiz Expo Los Angeles, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and many other industry organizations.

He has appeared on radio shows on ESPN Radio, Radio Disney, KPFK Radio, 92.3fm and many more promoting his various films and events. He has also been featured on LATV, The Disney Channel, SiTV, TV Guide and many other TV spots. As an advocate for education Mr. Priest created and produced the Future Estrellas Young Latino Performers Conference, an event presented by The Walt Disney Company, Latin Heat Entertainment, Nostros and the Ricardo Montalban Foundation.

“Beyond the Mat,” releases early 2011 as part of Tribeca Film festivals All Access program. The film is edited by Academy Award winner Scott Conrad (Rocky, 1976) with the former Paramount Pictures senior marketing executive Susan Wrenn spearheading our marketing team. In her 20-year tenure at Paramount she constructed the campaigns for 300+ feature films, including for Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Mission Impossible. Beyond the Mat stars Sara Fletcher, who is currently hosting her own TV show on Comedy Central titled Secret Girlfriend. You may have seen her in Maxim Magazine too! Also, Mark Hapka who plays one of the male leads, and is a regular on TV shows such as the Ghost Whisperers and Days of Our Lives. The lead actor John Wynn, was host of the hit TV show CD USA. Beyond the Mat also features UFC Hall of Fame member and World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Ken Shamrock and US Olympic Wrestling Champion and TNA Superstar Kurt Angle!

GIADA VALENTI

Singer and songwriter Giada Valenti is born and raised in Venice, Italy. Her career started in Europe where she was signed as a young singer with record label Sony BMG and had hits climb directly to the top of the charts. She has received critically acclaimed awards such as the prestigious San Remo Giovanni Talenti Nel Mondo and Festival di Castrocaro. 

In the United States she is most known for her stunning music special aired by PBS, entitled “From Venice With Love”. Because of the success of this television special, she has performed at theaters and performing arts centers all over the country. 

In November 2017 she made her debut as a headliner in Las Vegas with a concert at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. In October 2018 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

One of her recent career highlights is being asked to perform with Andrea Bocelli. She sang several duets with him at a concert benefitting the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. 

For the past eleven years Giada, currently a resident of Las Vegas, has released her CDs “And I Love You So, “Italian Signorina” and “My Lullaby”, “From Venice With Love”, garnering rave reviews. She is currently working on new recordings with multi Grammy-winning producer Cheche Alara and Jorge Calandrelli.

Giada is also a Tiramisu expert. She has been featured on morning shows of ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC television doing cooking demos on how to make this famous Italian dessert. Giada is very passionate about food. She is a longtime member of the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina, a by the Italian government recognized cultural organization that checks out Italian restaurants around the world. Giada loves to go out for dinner with friends but can also be found in her kitchen experimenting with recipes.

WANDA WEBSTER and CHRISTOPHER MACK

Christopher Mack has been facilitating recovery groups in Los Angeles for the past 16 years. He has been interviewed many times (NPR, LA Times, USA Today, LA Weekly, and Nightline) because he has a unique perspective about the condition of homelessness and our human nature. He is a beloved fixture on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, having worked for JWCH as an outreach worker for many years. He is known to many as The Urban Sage. Because Christopher used music and singing to uplift himself from the daily tribulations, he co-founded The Urban Voices Project five years ago, a choir for the urban community and underserved population. 

Wanda Webster graduated from Drake University with a bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Psychology. When she moved to Los Angeles, she accepted opportunities in the entertainment industry working as a development executive and a literary agent. She discovered she had a natural gift at helping writers develop and fine-tune their scripts. Many of her writers won awards in their field. More recently, Wanda obtained a master’s degree in Education and Psychology from Pepperdine University. She created curricula for large non-profits in the areas of spirituality, social-emotional development, and addiction/recovery. Wanda has always been fascinated by human behavior and believes that supporting people to become the best versions of themselves to be her ultimate joy and purpose.

KENNETH “KAYO” ANDERSON

Kenneth Anderson was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. After studying Music Education at Jackson State University with a concentration in Voice, Kenneth founded the Mosaic Singers of the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit.  Ken grew his group from 8 voices to an astounding 100 voices, and they transformed into one of the most acclaimed and sought after youth choirs in the world, and took to world stages to prove it. Under his direction, the student choir performed in 30 states, seven countries, and at such prestigious venues as the White House, The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, La Salle Sia in Singapore, Le Maison De Sclaves in Senegal and the Millennium Dome in England, among others.  They were invited to give command performances for US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and for acclaimed author Maya Angelou, who remarked that the Mosaic Singers were “the most amazing youth troupe I’ve ever seen.”

Kenneth’s work has been featured in “The Wall Street Journal”, “The New York Times”, on Public Radio’s and PBS “All Things Considered” and on NBC ‘s “The Today Show”, and he was also one of the featured subjects of “And They Flew,” an Emmy award winning documentary. 

In 2009, Kenneth left Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, after serving his final five years as their Artistic Director and Vice President. During his tenure, he and co-founder Rick Sperling nurtured Mosaic into an Internationally acclaimed arts organization. As he moved forward to pursue new passions, he proudly turned the group over to one of his former students, who has since taken the Mosaic Singers to higher heights. His philosophy of legacy is rooted in his belief in sowing seeds and allowing them the sunshine to blossom. Since moving to Los Angeles to work in the Television/Film and music industry, Kenneth has continued his legacy of ushering deep community involvement. He formed the Leimert Park Choir under the umbrella of the Harmony Project, anarts organization that provides free arts training to over 2000 at risk youth in Los Angeles. Since Ken’s founding it, the Leimert Park Choir has grown from 2 members to over 50 young voices from across South L.A., most of whom are African American. Recent performances include The Grammy Museum, the Vision Theatre, and a star studded concert celebrating Jazz Legend Barbara Morrison. The group was featured as the Opening Act for Tavis Smiley at Temple Israel’s King Day Celebration, all developed and organized by Michael Skloff, television composer most noted for composing the theme song to the show “Friends.” Kenneth’s impressive a capella youth choir was featured in “Exagogue”, produced by Jewish Theatre Dybbuk at Temple Israel of  Hollywood, UCLA and as part of Grand Performances in downtown LA.

Kenneth is known also for his voice and performance coaching with adults; having worked with many artists at various levels, including artists for Universal Recording Group and LIVE the Music Group, and an elite Hollywood clientele that include stars from “Glee” and “Grey’s Anatomy”, just to name a few. Kenneth has directed and produced shows in Los Angeles,  as well as in Detroit, Washington, D.C., New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, London, UK, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Dakar, Senegal, and has collaborated with some of the greatest artists in the world on a variety of projects, including Aretha Franklin, John Legend, Amber Riley, B Slade, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Al Green, just to name a few.

 A multi-talented artist of many mediums, Kenneth’s award-winning photographic work has appeared in several fashion/contemporary magazines, newspapers and global publications, CD/album and LP covers. His striking photography was recently featured in an article in Time magazine. His unique artistic eye and his keen belief in social justice give his images an international appeal. In his occasional spare time, he enjoys singing and performing gospel and Opera. He has appeared in Opera favorites including Verdi’s “Nabucco” and Gazzaniga’s “Don Giovanni” at the Detroit Opera House and also appeared alongside living opera legend Denyce Graves in librettist Toni Morrison’s  “Margaret Garner” at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

 His current photo exhibit “blaque boi bleu”, which features his coveted images of diverse African American men in America, is actively touring to galleries across the nation. He plans to publish his first book of photography, humor and poetry in 2021.

Kenneth “Kayo” Anderson is currently embarking on his MOST exciting endeavor as the “Minister of Culture” at Los Angeles Community Action Network. This is a dream job! He has already formed the “Freedom Singers”, a multi-dsciplinary performance troupe, based out of LA CAN in downtown’s Skid Row neighborhood. After a personal bout with homelessness, Kayo realizied the immense need for targeted supportive services for the MANY artists who reside in Skid Row. The LA CAN arts and cultured initiative takes a holistic approach to the redevelopment and reintroduction of artists into viability.  

 Ken has received numerous honors, awards and recognition, including Crains Business Top Twenty in Their Twenties in 2007, the Spirit of Detroit, Alpha Kappa Alpha Distinguished Community Leader Award, and he was named as one of the 100 Distinguished Gentlemen of Detroit, by the Detroit Conversation. Most recently Ken was given an award from the National Arts Education Forum for his Creativity and Innovation in arts education.

 Ken has been a continuous advocate for human rights, with a particularly spirited focus on young people, LGBT and women’s rights. He’s written several scholarly articles, including a feature in “Swerv Magazine”, garnering crucial national attention to the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, which provides much needed support for homeless and exploited LGBT youth.

R   E   X

P   I   C   K   E   T   T

screenwriter, novelist, playwright and film producer 

Author of SIDEWAYS TRILOGY

NEW NOVEL

'THE ARCHIVEST' 

available soon!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

REX PICKETT is the author of the novel Sideways, the multiple award-winning Alexander Payne film of the same title.  Sideways captured over 350 critics and awards organization plaudits, including 2 Golden Globes, an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the prestigious Writers Guild Award, 6 Indie Spirit Awards … and the list goes on.

Rex has written and directed two independent feature films, California Without End and From Hollywood to Deadwood (Island Pictures).  He wrote the 2000 Academy Award-winning Best Live Action Short My Mother Dreams the Satan’s Disciples in New York.  His Sideways sequel Vertical won the Gold Medal for Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2012.  His Sideways 3 Chile forms the final leg of the trilogy.

In 2012, Rex adapted his novel into Sideways: the Play.  He staged four record-breaking runs, first at Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica where it ran for 6 months, then the La Jolla Playhouse, where it broke all attendance records for a non-musical in their 35-year history, with 3-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff directing. 

In 2017, in collaboration with composer Anthony Adams, Rex turned his attention to the musical version of Sideways.  Two years later the Book for the musical is finished, half the songs are composed and recorded, and a 3-time Tony Award-winning musical theater director (to be announced soon) has come on board.  There is every likelihood that the “workshop” (or premiere) production will happen in the latter part of 2020.

Rex grew up in southern California, matriculated from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD).  He was a Special Projects major, specializing in literary and film criticism, and creative writing.  A member of the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, and now ASCAP, Rex has enjoyed success in long-form fiction, screenwriting, independent film, and now stage. 

The Rex Pickett Papers are now enshrined at his alma mater UCSD in Geisel Library’s Special Collections & Archives. 

Rex’s new novel The Archivist will be published in Dec. of 2019 by Blackstone Publishing.

For more information about Rex Pickett

visit …

http://rexpickett.com/

Follow Miles and Jack beyond the first novel into the Sideways trilogy. Through successes to hardship, the story of Miles continues…

available at amazon

Rex’s new novel The Archivist will be published in Dec. of 2019 by Blackstone Publishing.