The BraveMaker Podcast

https://instagram.com/briandactor/

Brian  D. Cohen is a burgeoning actor from the Bay Area who is quickly making a  name for himself with such roles “Greg Zlotsky” in the Nash Bridges  reboot (USA network/Peacock) and “Mr. Stubbins” in the upcoming HBO Max  holiday film “A Christmas Mystery.” Although he is relatively “new” to  the acting world, Brian has dabbled in entertainment his whole life;  acting and modeling as a child from age 8-12, and writing, singing and  co-producing his own R&B music in his 20’s and 30’s. Since 2019,  Brian has dedicated his life to the craft of acting, consistently  training with ZA studios and acting coaches Jamie Carroll, Howard Fine  and Jamison Jones among others, as well as constantly auditioning and  networking. Brian also recently had a baby with his lovely and  supportive wife Heather!

https://www.instagram.com/itsqwere/ 

TICKETS FOR Novemeber 5th, 2022: https://www.itsqwere.com/mightyreal/

Tony Taylor is a writer, photographer, editor, and proud Black man creating spaces that push the queer agenda. In 2018 he started ItsQwere, a community social group that centers and celebrates the experiences of Black and Brown queers through conversation salons and events.  With ItsQwere, Tony has moderated salons throughout California, New York City, Philadelphia, Paris, Istanbul, Bucharest, and thanks to The Rona: the limitless virtual world of Zoom. As a writer, he’s interviewed the likes of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen, Star Trek’s George Takei, and TV pioneer Barbara Eden, star of I Dream of Jeannie. As a regular person he consumes memoirs, biopics, wine and edibles, and he loves each of his 50+ plant babies equally.

https://forciercasting.com

https://www.instagram.com/forciercasting/

https://www.facebook.com/forciercasting.sacramento

Casting  Director and Producer Sally Forcier has been in the business for over  29 years. She got her start as an actor, and portrayed Alexa in the film  ENAMORED. As time went on she grew a love for all things filmmaking and  behind the scenes. She has produced 8 films in 6 years. In 2019 she  received the 2018 CFAA President’s Award from The Capital Film Arts  Alliance in Sacramento, CA. She is a champion for the local film  community, and moved into casting to meet a need in the Sacramento  Valley!

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PODCAST EDITED BY: https://www.instagram.com/speakmediaservices/

SOCIAL MEDIA BY: https://www.instagram.com/kerrialley95/

PRODUCED BY: https://www.instagram.com/cohen.amy/

HOSTED BY: https://www.instagram.com/tonygapastione/ + https://www.instagram.com/krystinawrayjackson/

Actor and business owner Julie Dove is currently the voice of Jessica From Accounting in the @adultswim @hbomax and show BIRDGIRL!

https://www.instagram.com/juliedove/

She  can also be seen in INSATIABLE, ANGIE TRIBECA, LEGIT, PLAYDATE, and  Tyler Perry’s YOUNG DYLAN. In addition to acting she also has an editing  business called, Actorediting, where actors can get their own reels  updated or created! You can watch on our Facebook page, or subscribe to  our YouTube Channel to watch!

Jason Fong joins hosts Krystina Wray Jackson and Tony Gapastione for episode 162 with actor/filmmaker and cult survivor Giovannie Espiritu. 

Giovannie’s identity is inherently political: A bisexual, once-undocumented immigrant Filipina mom who spent time in a Biblical doomsday cult as a teen. Her first short film, “Ultra-Feminist,” got an Honorable Mention at Outfest: Fusion, and her second film, “ALLY 3000,” won over 12 awards at film festivals mainly in scriptwriting and social justice. 

https://www.instagram.com/giospirit2/

Most of her work has taken aim at dismantling the patriarchy, healing generational trauma, and exposing systems of bias with humor. Her primetime credits include a recurring role on ER (NBC), Bones (FOX), Gilmore Girls (ABC), and Trauma (NBC). She can currently be seen as the lead in the Amazon series, “Dyke Central.” She can currently be seen as Nancy on the Tubi Original “Titanic 666,” alongside Jaime Bamber, Keesha Sharp, and Annalynne McCord. She coaches kids/teens/adults online internationally through HollywoodActorsWorkshop.com and was the on-call coach Rosalie Chiang for Pixar’s Turning Red. 

https://www.instagram.com/jjsoria/

J.J. Soria has been acting for over 20 years doing award-winning televisions series such as Dexter, The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Bones, and The Closer, among others. In addition, he starred opposite Gina Rodriguez on the big screen in Filly Brown, which debuted at Sundance, and Kristen Stewart in Camp X-Ray. In 2020, Soria starred opposite Terry Crews in the hit movie John Henry for Netflix. In 2019, he was a lead in the Peabody nominated Netflix series Gentefied executive produced by America Ferrera. Most recently you can find him opposite Kaley Cuoco on the award-winning show The Flight Attendant for HBO Max.

https://twitter.com/JJSoria

How do you film a sex scene, er...(scratch that) a SIMULATED SEX scene? 

https://www.instagram.com/hollywoodintimacycoordinator/

Jean Franzblau has some thoughts. Jean is a Los Angeles-based Intimacy Professional who works in TV, film and theater. Her role is to help actors navigate scenes with intimate content with respect and care. Jean’s credits include CSI: Vegas on NBC, Deep Water on Hulu, M. Night Shymalan’s latest thriller, Old, and Netflix’s upcoming feature, Blonde. Her background includes acting, casting, and sex education.

To attend JEAN'S show: Coming Out Kinky: September 8th, 2022--in LA click here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coming-out-kinky-a-sex-positive-story-tickets-405471705787?fbclid=IwAR3smUDsjcHw0XC20t2ncraVZjwY_Y3nqKgbIqVON_btzo2n-7jQNze5JaY

https://www.zaksandler.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/bipolar_broadway/ 

Zak Sandler has played piano on Broadway for Wicked, Mean Girls, Motown, and The Color Purple. His original musical about his mental health journey, Inside My Head, premiered at the NY Theatre Barn, was selected as a semi-finalist at the O’Neill Theater’s National Music Theater Conference, and presented at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Zak revised the show as a writer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center’s REACH page-to-stage festival in January 2022. He is touring the show - which includes a group discussion - to colleges, high schools, mental health and non-profit organizations, medical schools, companies, and anyone else who wants to host this inspiring, life changing event. 

Virtual performances are available, though in-person is preferred! In addition to Inside My Head, Zak is creating a docuseries about the connection between mental conditions and creativity, called Insanely Talented. He is co-writing three shows with the brilliant and lovely Adele Powers: Anthem, a musical that explores why we sing the national anthem (conceived by Rachel Payne); a musical about a unicorn called That Musical About a Unicorn; and a musical about Judaism, called Happy Challah Days: A Jewish Revue-ish. Zak is also arranging and co-orchestrating Unlimited, a musical revue of the work of Stephen Schwartz’s (composer of Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, and Children of Eden, and soundtracks of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince of Egypt, Pocahontas, and Enchanted). Zak has won several music awards including the Fenno Heath Award for writing the new Yale song, the Neva Greenwood award for writing a symphony in 8th grade, the Mount Vernon Piano Competition (playing “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Mount Vernon Orchestra in 8th grade), and was selected as a composer for the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project at Northwestern (a mixture of a thrilling week of writing, and a deep depression). 

https://www.insidemyheadmusical.com/

Zak graduated from Yale with a BA in music composition in 2008 - two years after his exhilarating and terrifying first psychotic episode. He is very glad that he returned to school for the following semester, following his psychiatrist’s advice. Beyond musical theater, Zak is an avid mental health activist, speaking about his mental conditions on “This is Actually Happening” (podcast with 45K+ plays), and “Moments of Clarity” (radio show with 1M+ listeners). In 2018, he won the Young Leader Award from the New York State chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and is a featured speaker with This is My Brave, RespectAbility, and the JED Foundation. Zak’s hobbies include barbershop singing (he is a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers, a choir of 60 people who age from their 20s to 80s!), playing golf, watching college basketball, spending time with his cats, eating fancy food (usually vegetarian), traveling (he has been to 48 US states and 26 countries), and, after years of resisting TV, watching shows like “Grace and Frankie” and “The Ultimatum” with his fiancee, Lenna. He feels incredibly grateful to have her and the rest of his family and friends in his life. Zak tries not to use phrases "mental illness" or "bipolar disorder", because he feels they imply there's something wrong with him (although he knows those terms fit well for some of us). He prefers the terms “mental conditions” and simply, “bipolar”.

https://soundcloud.com/zaksandler/mental-episode-1-from-a-bit-too-much-about-me

Marco Cerritos is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle. He’s written about films at home and all over the world in festivals including; Cannes, Sundance, and Toronto.

https://www.themovielens.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mspriscillalam/

Priscilla  Lam is a 1 year Meisner trained actor with over 3 years of experience.  Most recently she could be found playing Cafe Barista in Last Chance  Charlene by Tony Gapastione. She has also entertained audiences as CoCo  in the Things Will Change by Shalini Agrawal, and Young Crystal in Wives  with Knives.

Priscilla  received her B.A. in Business Administration. While pursuing her  degree, she learned her passion truly lies with storytelling in the form  of acting. After graduation, Priscilla sought out avenues to train as  an actor and to focus on her career as an commercial/ film actor.

Priscilla  is looking forward to starring in an Emmy award winning tv series in  the near future. Until then, she is continuing to train and ground in  the techniques as she tells stories.