A native of Mississippi, a state known as the birthplace of the Gospel and the Blues, Maurice Smith has been one of Los Angeles’ most sought after vocalist for the past few years. He has graced the stage with some of the finest artists the music industry has to offer such as Beyonce, Kanye West, Seal, LeAnn Rimes, The Mary Jane Girls, Sy Smith (Who was nominated for “Song of the Year” by SoulTracks.com in 2010), Jessy J (Billboard Jazz charts #1 album, Hot Sauce, in 2011), and DeWayne Wiggins (founding member, writer, and producer for Tony Toni Tone) just to name a few. Maurice Smith has garnered praise from these artists and fans alike. Smith featured with Jessy J at the 2012 Gardena Jazz Festival and quickly became the talk of the festival with a lineup that included, DW3, Kori Withers, and Eric Darius. Along with these performances, Smith was personally asked by DeVon Franklin, Studio Executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment, to perform at his wedding reception following his marriage to actress, Meagan Good, after Franklin caught one of Smith’s highly acclaimed performances.

On any given day you can find him serenading audiences throughout the world. Maurice just wrapped up a solo tour of Italy and has released several projects from which he has received high praise. SoulTracks.com compares his EP, Delta Soul to works by Curtis Mayfield. An old soul, Maurice is clearly influenced by the greats. He counts among his influences, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, and Al Green and is often compared to the celebrated tenors of our time such as Stokeley, Raphael Saadiq, El DeBarge, and the greatest of them all Stevie Wonder. His debut EP, Private Use Only; Vol. 1 was released to high praises due to it's sensual nature. And while having a gift for romance, Smith has also released several dance tracks to keep you moving. Smith features with Grammy award winning DJ Terry Hunter on Juan Hoerni’s Soul House track, Love Rewind.

Kinna is an actor, singer, improvisor, voice talent, YouTuber and teacher. She has over 20 years professional experience in the business and is a life-long student of her craft. Some of her credits include: Office Space, Where The Heart Is, CSI, Criminal Minds and Hawaii Five-0. Currently you can see Kinna in a national Folgers commercial and on the 2nd episode of the Mad About You reboot on Spectrum Streaming. You may recognize Kinna’s voice from Parcast’s True Crime podcasts, she was also the voice host of over 100 Kick It Naturally podcasts and the voice of the YouTube channel Squirrel Monkey. Last year she and her husband received Youtube’s Silver Creator Award for their channel Squirrel Monkey. She is the host of the streaming show The Ultimate Feel Good Show from the people who brought you America’s Funniest Videos at What The Family. She also performs monthly with the non-profit Turbine, founded and directed by Rob Watzke. It’s a completely improvised show called Shplotz in which she has improvised along side Helen Hunt, Jason Alexander, Helen Slater, James Corden, Jeff Garlin and many other notable actors. Kinna is happy to be on the show tonight.

LAMONT MAGEE has penned or had a hand in penning well over a dozen screenplays with two films, “THE SPEAK” (2011) and “A BEAUTIFUL SOUL” (2012) receiving theatrical releases. Magee also partnered with Enderby Entertainment (About Cherry, Combat Hospital) to create “GET WYLDE” (2011) a teen, web series written by Magee and created by Magee and Brett Donowho (The Music Within, A Haunting at Silver Falls.

At the close of 2014, Magee was staffed on the BET/CENTRIC drama “SINGLE LADIES”, produced by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere and starring LisaRaye McCoy, Letoya Luckett and Travis Winfrey among others.

2015 has already proven to be a banner year for Magee. Arclight Films and Huace Media Group has acquired the rights to “LIGHTS OUT”, a thriller co-written by Magee and Jeff Byrd (Jasper Texas) and produced by Mike Gabrawy (Resident Evil, Reclaim). Currently the production is finalizing a deal with a "legendary" director to take the reign with casting to begin shortly afterward. Arclight Films and Huace Media (a China based company) also signed Magee and Byrd to a feature deal to develop films for the company in the 20M-60M range.

Magee currently has been writing on the CW's BLACK LIGHTNING and has several projects, both film and television, at various stages of development at production companies around town and should have more exciting news to share in the coming months.

Cat Ivy is on the prowl, following her heart to discover life's core truths. Driven by the need to understand what makes us human and why humans react the way they do, Cat combines modern-day pop music with sounds of folk to help us arrive to simple and refreshing truths. Influenced by musicians such as Sara Bareilles, John Mayer, the Beatles, and Ingrid Michaelson, Cat reminds us that our hearts know the truth about ourselves and her enchanting melodies provide a map to help us arrive at the truth we've been searching for.

After releasing her first EP at 16, Cat left for college, trading pop music for Classical and Jazz. Studying intensively at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, Cat found herself aching to get back in the studio and have the freedom to create her own music. On her 21st birthday, Cat realized that she couldn’t picture herself doing anything other than creating music and decided that night she would move back to Los Angeles and pursue a career as a pop artist.

Upon moving back to Los Angeles, Cat became involved at the Songwriting School of Los Angeles where she diligently focused on creating music both on her own and with other members of the community. Currently recording her second EP, Cat plays with themes of self-empowerment, self-discovery, and freedom. Cat hopes others will connect to her journey and be inspired to live their lives full of hope, wonder, and love.

Let's Connect:

Website: cativymusic.com

Facebook: facebook.com/cativymusic

Instagram: @cativymusic

Twitter @cativymusic

YouTube: YouTube.com/user/cativymusic

Horrible Haikus is the creation of 575 Games, with both the game and the company being created by David Mickler and Brad Fletcher. Horrible Haikus was originally launched through a Kickstarter campaign in 2018 where it smashed its funding goals and gave birth to the greatest game humanity has ever known (according to that one drunk guy in the second test group).

In addition to the Horrible Haikus game, a book of poetry was also released featuring some of the haikus as they were originally written before being deconstructed for the game. These books have brought joy to many, but shame to our families.

575 Games plans to launch expansion packs for the current version of the game as well as a more family friendly version in the not too distant future. We are also currently developing several new games for both adults and families. We look forward to rolling out these games into the 575 Games universe soon.

horriblehaikusgame.com

facebook.com/horriblehaikus

Instagram: @horriblehaikus_

Twitter: @horriblehaikus_

Joy Graysen is an LA based recording artist, performance coach and activist whose mission is to help people learn to trust love and find their true voices. Born Joy Holly Stimmel, in New York to Sam and Honi, Joy was a child of music. She began singing before she could walk or talk and, as a result, feels that music was her first true language. By the age of three, Joy could sing in three part harmony and play three instruments by ear. She felt more fluent with music than any other form of communication from the beginning of her life.

Joy realized that when she was singing, she felt an enormous sense of love and belonging and wholeness; but when she wasn’t singing, she felt a deep loneliness. She longed to feel the level of love she experienced while singing in all the other areas of her life. Joy began a journey to discover how to connect the freedom of music to everything else in her life. What she discovered became the foundation she uses as an artist and a performance coach to free herself and others into their own lives by freeing their true voices.

Inspired by artists like Sting, Joy writes and creates music from a cinematic point of view, to showcase the magic that happens when we surrender to love and let go of the need to withhold it. Her lyrics reflect her journey to find the most authentic truth. Simultaneously working on her next release, Joy is also writing her book called, “Finding Joy, The Great Experiment,” to capture and share all of the discoveries and realizations she has had about what it means to truly live, to love, and to be who we authentically are.

Joy Graysen

The Joy Graysen Vocal Studio

(818) 421-3131

joygraysen.com

Instagram @freeyourvoicewithjoy

facebook.com/thejoygraysenvocalstudio

facebook.com/joygraysen

Twitter and Instagram @joygraysen

Ken Caillat is best known for producing and engineering the Fleetwood Mac albums Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, Live, and The Chain Box Set, along with his daughter, Colbie Caillat's albums: Coco (2007), Breakthrough (2009), All of You (2011), and Christmas in the Sand (2012). He also worked on albums for Billy Idol, Frank Sinatra, Pat Benatar, Wilson Phillips, the Beach Boys, Herbie Hancock, David Becker and Alice Cooper, as well as with Christine McVie on her solo album.Ken's recordings have sold over 50 million copies. His record production and engineering efforts earned him numerous Grammy nominations, including an Album of the Year Grammy and Best Engineered Album.

?In 2012 Ken founded Sleeping Giant Records, so he could help other talented kids like Colbie to make a career in music. In 2013 Ken founded Sleeping Giant Entertainment to create new music for film, TV and radio, and partnered with Alcon Entertainment and ArtistMax to discover and develop new artists. In 2018 Ken Sold Sleeping Giant Entertainment to focus on ArtistMax, both a non-profit and for profit company.

gettusked.com

Leah McKendrick is a filmmaker/actress originally from San Francisco. In 2014 she formed Villainess Productions, aimed at creating content featuring women in diverse and compelling roles. Her feature film debut as a writer/producer/actress- the vigilante thriller MFA- was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at SXSW 2017 and dubbed "the first horror movie to speak to the #MeToo era" by the New York Times. Leah's romcom script Voicemails for Isabelle was preempted by Sony Pictures and will star Hailee Steinfeld, and her first TV show, What the Fuck, Glenn? is in the works at HBO Max. Acting credits include Bad Moms, Misconduct starring Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins and Lionsgate’s Thanksgiving comedy, The Turkey Bowl - out now.

MFA is streaming free on Amazon Prime and you can follow Leah on instagram: @leahmckendrick

Trailers:

MFA : youtube.com/watch?v=0QQ3Ync7DbI

Turkey Bowl : youtube.com/watch?v=FpzLcPYOuIE

Doug Messenger was born in New York on Long Island on March 9, 1942. After his dad got a new job opportunity, his family decided to made a big move to Mexico City, Mexico where he spent most of his younger years from the age of 4 to 17. Doug's passion for learning landed him back in the United States where he studied at Princeton in New Jersey, earning a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. While traveling back to visit family in Mexico in the summer of 1962, Doug met the love of his life, Jeanne Thompson. Doug and Jeanne soon married after he graduated from Princeton and he worked at Bethlehem Steel's Export Office in New York City. Doug knew he was destined for more so he quit his job and decided to move to Boston, Massachusetts to enroll in the esteemed Berklee College of Music. Unfortunately, Doug's wife, Jeanne became very sick so he was only able to attend the music school for 2 years, but he knew he wanted to play music so played in R&B bands all over Boston, one of which was the best band in town with Roger Pace, considered to be the white James Brown.

As a side musician, Doug had the thrill of backing up some of the best soul and R&B legends of our time including Al Green (1965), Chuck Berry (1966 & 1971),Etta James (1967), Dee Clark (1966) and a 415lb singer called Lotsa Poppa (1966). In 1968, Doug also played guitar for Darrell Banks for the song,"Open The Door To Your Heart" and Dyke & The Blazers, "Shotgun Slim," in 1970.

One of the biggest songwriters Doug worked with was Van Morrison from 1971-1973, where he played guitar and arranged songs for Van's album, St Dominic's Preview and got the chance to collaborate with piano legend, Vince Geraldi. After one of his house band shows, as fate would have it, Doug ended up playing Monopoly with Jimi Hendrix (Doug is still bitter that Jimi landed on Boardwalk his first time around the board), known at the time as Jimi James. They would meet again in 70s, a few months before Hendrix passed away.

Over the years, Doug played in over 20 house bands from 1965-1975 and was hired for sessions for Warner Brothers, MGM, ABC, Original Sound and a few for Motown in 1971 & 1972. Doug also played with songwriter/composer, Jackie De Shannon and also played in a band called Mudd with Willie Weeks on bass and also backed up Carly Simon on "Speak Out To Me," but now Doug wanted to start his own band.

Currently, Doug Messenger is working with Paul Denman, Sade’s producer and Daniel Ash from Bauhaus and will be recording the 8th album of the Nikhil Korula Band in January 2020.

For more information, contact Hard Drive Analog & Digital Recording:

(818) 588-1817

4814 Vineland Ave

North Hollywood

yelp.com/biz/harddrive-analog-and-digital-recording-north-hollywood?osq=hard+drive+analog

Alexander Carver is an author, screenwriter, and playwright, originally from Radnor, Pennsylvania. His stories have been published in such literary magazines as: ZYZZYVA, Foliate Oak, The Southern Pacific Review, The Satirist, Dark Matter, and The Writing Disorder. Razor Literary Magazine selected his story "Uber Trouble" as a prize winner in it's annual short story contest. His first feature film is set for production next Fall and O Jackie! is his debut novel. Today, Alexander lives in Santa Monica, California with his beloved wife, Elise, and his nemesis, her pet rabbit, Lucy.

O JACKIE! is a story about the internal and external chaos created when an artist with both a superman and an inferiority complex chooses to be the self he wishes he was, instead of the self he truly is.

IG: @ kennedy_projec

alexandercarverwriter.com