D. KERRY PRIOR
THE BLARE RABBIT PROJECT and THE REVENANT
Douglas Kerry Prior (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966), known professionally as Kerry Prior or D. Kerry Prior, was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer. He is best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Prior's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked without interruption" on a series of films that make him "the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies".
RYAN HARRISON
Ryan likes bacon and boobies. He's originally from Indianapolis, IN. NINJA BADASS is his feature debut. He's really visionary - probably the most visionary ninja movie director of all time. His movie career began with VFX - working on Kerry Prior's THE REVENANT, Don Coscarelli's JOHN DIES AT THE END and a Vietnamese TV show made in a nondescript warehouse in South El Monte.
He currently works in the movie trailer business as a creative director at Tiny Hero in Burbank, CA while he attempts to figure out what the fuck is gonna happen in NINJA BADASS 2. His favorite ninja movies are NINJA BADASS, NINJA TERMINATOR, and NINJA THUNDERBOLT.
TAMI HARRISON
Tami is from Greenwood, IN. When she is not working her day-job as a flight attendant, she is in pre-production on several documentary projects.
She is a true free spirit with a passion for the arts and an admiration for all forms of self-expression, except for Nicolas Winding Refn's ONLY GOD FORGIVES. She told him personally that his movie was boring and that it sucked.
She enjoys learning about gruesome murders and owns 4 extremely small dogs: Dino, Gracie, Pancake and Precious. NINJA BADASS is her debut as an actor and producer.
AV SUPER SUNSHINE
AV Super Sunshine has been living the peace, love and rock 'n roll life and has a string of hit songs/videos to show for it. His down-to-earth persona, contagiously positive perspective and unique blend of pop, rock and EDM have gained him hundreds of thousands of fans around the world.
Along with his wife, and creative partner, Philmonena Victor, AV recently produced and stars in the feature documentray ALIEN ABDUCTION, which, along with their short docu-narrative of the same title, screens at this year’s MidWest WeirdFest.
ZACHARY LONA
Zach Lona is a multimedia artist working in cinema, music, and writing. The mockumentary HE WHO LIVES IN HIDDEN LAKES is his feature directorial debut after producing various shorts and animation. He is the author of the dark comedy novella Brunch With Satan, and releases music under the post-punk/industrial duo SOLLEK and his solo label POST-LIFE INDUSTRIES.
Zach’s work is thematically concerned with social fringes, memes, religion, esoterica, and the end of the world. He is an alumni of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied design, painting, and screenwriting.
He is currently based in Chicago.
LUCAS LONA
Lucas Lona is an entertainer and performer at heart, having completed his BFA in Cinema Arts at Columbia College Chicago. He is a lifelong actor, as well as trained stage combatant, screenwriter, and director. He is also a practicing Magician in both the entertainment and ritualistic varieties.
He teaches Occult knowledge on his TikTok "The Devils Advocate" (@thedevilsadvocate415), where he has grown a dedicated following. Lucas currently lives in Chicago, collaborating with fellow creatives.
Ask him about his magick book collection!
ZACK LEWAND
Zack Lewand is a Chicago based musician and audio engineer and is the composer of the original musical score for the feature film HE WHO LIVES IN HIDDEN LAKES directed by Zach Lona. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Audio Design & Production from Columbia College Chicago and has recorded sessions at various Chicago area studios including Wall 2 Wall, Static Studios, Joyride Studios, and Bennett Road Studios. In addition to recording artists, Zack has also provided post production sound design and original musical scores for various short films. He writes and produces solo music and is also half of the post-punk/industrial duo SOLLEK in which he plays bass guitar and provides audio production.
DAN S
SEED OF PERFECTION & THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT HASTINGS
Dan is an award-winning writer/director/editor and sometimes camera operator currently residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A recipient of two McKnight Fellowships (2010/2016) and The Creative Capital Award for Moving Image (2015), Dan has been recognized primarily for his experimental narrative work (SEEKING WELLNESS, INVINCIBLE FORCE), but recently delved into the documentary form with a personal exploration of fatherhood, familial violence, and the death of record stores entitled OLD MAN. His work has been called “uncomfortable to watch” (Urban Cinephile, 2009), “sublime yet terrifying” (Filmstock, 2008), “stunningly depraved” (Melbourne Underground, 2009) and “the kind of thinky/sadistic exercise that even the dark prince of psychological horror Michael Haneke might find difficult to watch” (City Pages, 2008). Dan recently finished his second feature documentary (entitled VORE KING), a detailed portrait of R.P. Whalen, world famous horror host, trash movie guru, carnival sideshow barker and America's premier purveyor of vorarephilia fetish pornography. It won BEST DOCUMENTARY at MWWF 2017.
STEVE CHAPPELL
Steve Chappell is a Madison artist who works in a variety of mediums. He switches around between printmaking, cartooning, filmmaking, and music. Having grown up in Central Wisconsin Steve has always been fascinated by the Ed Gein legend. Yes, far and wide Ed has become something of a macabre folk hero. And it seems that Gein has become something of a shtick for Chappell. ED GEIN INTERVIEW is the third film Chappell has made on the subject. Beginning with HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT ED GEIN (2017) and followed by ED GEIN, RARE RESTORED FOOTAGE (2019), ED GEIN INTERVIEW is likely the most controversial of the three.
AMBER ROSE MCNEILL
Amber Rose McNeill is an Australian filmmaker based in Wisconsin whose work centers around gender roles, sexuality, psychology and violence. Her films frequently examine social attitudes towards these themes within media and culture through the use of satire, absurdism and experimental techniques.
By utilizing found and existing footage Amber Rose is able to create transformative pieces of art that require the viewer to examine their existing beliefs and social behaviors, particularly as they pertain to the consumption of media and social norms.
A selection of her film works include YELLOW DOOR (2020), TWO MINUTES ON HIGH (2020), DEATH AND TACOS (2018), THE DUEL (2017) and GARDON (2017).
GRANT OSUM
Grant is a senior at Columbia College Chicago studying Cinema Arts & Science with a focus in producing, screenwriting, and documentary. Grant was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Since his time at Columbia, he has focused on producing dark comedy and narrative-driven short films. With the webcam-based short film “Neighbors of The Apocalypse”, Grant served as the films producer and in creating the story. He currently works as a script development intern at Mad Chance Productions and is expected to graduate from Columbia in May 2021.
JACKSON MCKEENAN
Jackson McKeehan works with writing, film, performance, and performance-as-research to engage and entertain audiences. Interested in in-betweenness, McKeehan twists fact and fiction to create nuanced narratives around time, vulnerability, and connectivity.
Jackson was born in the mountains of Montana and raised on a farm in rural Missouri. After studying acting, he went on to pursue a career in fashion design. His menswear collection, Boyswear, received critical success for its juxtaposition of cultural references and visual punch. Since, McKeehan has installed controversial sex cushions in a bathhouse, developed relationships with strangers through classified ads, lived in disguise in his hometown, and worked as a gas station attendant in rustic Montana. Jackson’s design work has been featured in The New York Times, WWD, The LA Times, and more. His short film BLUE, DIANNE screened at festivals across the country (including MidWest WeirdFest, SHEILA is currently starting its fest run, and Jackson is writing a pilot.
GUSTAVO MARTIN
Gustavo Martín Benites Gálvez is a Latinx director, writer, and producer based in Chicago. His work has been screened at film festivals around the world and featured on the popular short film website Filmshortage.com When not working on personal films, Gustavo contributes his talents to the ever-growing Chicago film industry as a Location Scout on feature films, television, and commercials. His most recent credits include the films CANDYMAN and THE LAST SHIFT, as well as the TV shows PROVEN INNOCENT, and BATWOMAN.