Amir Abdullah as BERNARD

Amir Abdullah is an award-winning actor and writer from the city of Jacksonville, FL. In LA, he has appeared onstage in more than a dozen productions, most notably at The Geffen Playhouse.  His work on TV includes the comedies, The Odd Couple and Tosh.0, as well as extensive commercial work.

In his most memorable spot, he played the title character in All-Star basketball player Damian Lillard’s Adidas “Swingman” campaign. Amir has appeared onstage in regional theatres around the globe, most notably as Othello in Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s Othello The Remix in Edinburgh, U.K. On the film festival circuit, his award-winning work in The Untimely Concurrence won him Best Actor at the Movieville International Film Festival.

He’s appeared across the film circuit in Boys, Booze and Brownies, Goliath and Love: As You Like It.   Amir’s has been seen online featured in numerous Buzzfeed videos, Netflix campaigns, and on Go90’s first original scripted series, Relationship Goals, as the goofy Felix.As a writer, Amir’s first full-length play titled, Pray To Ball, was produced at the Skylight Theatre as a part of their 2014 season and was lauded in The Hollywood Reporter for, “his exquisite performance and his nuanced writing.” The LA Times called Pray To Ball “an inventive take on a little-explored topic” and The LA Weekly had “been making a plea for such a show, and this one is a breath of fresh air.”

Amir’s non-fiction writings have also been published in The Hollywood Journal. He can next be seen in the feature film, Radioflash, with Will Patton.

Brianna Brown as BRETTA

As an award winning actress, Brianna Brown has been in more than 20 features, ranging from big budget films to indie productions that she co-produced herself. On the small screen, Brianna has appeared in more than 30 different television shows, exhibiting her range in both comedy and drama.

She is most often recognized for her work opposite Claire Danes on the Emmy-award winning series Homeland on Showtime, as the “love to hate” villain Dr. Lisa Niles on ABC’s Emmy-award winning General Hospital, as a series regular on Marc Cherry’s dramedy Devious Maids, and most recently she has reprised the crazy Claudia Blaisdel on CW’s Dynasty.

Brianna has been nominated for numerous awards such as the Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Adults Only, Best Actress by Edgmar Film Festival, Toronto COMMFest, and won Best Actress at Long Island International Film Expo for her work in The Encounter. In the spring of 2013, People’s Special Edition 50th Anniversary of General Hospital, Soaps in Depth, and Soap Opera Digest all named Brianna one of the best villains in the show’s 50-year history. In 2015 Brianna’s role on Graceland was nominated for a PRISM award for her accurate portrayal of substance abuse. In 2016 she was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama by Indie Series Award for her role in Eastsiders.

Alexis Carra as LOLA

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, of Spanish, Cuban and Argentinian descent, Alexis Carra displayed an early passion to perform starting with dance classes at the tender age of two. By her teenage years she started to dance with Tampa’s Bay Ballet Theater and also studied with Alvin Ailey and the Princeton Ballet while she pursued her interest in musical theater.

She attended Yale University where she graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Studies, Cum Laude, during her years at there she took a break and toured the country with Ann Reinking’s production of the legendary Tony Award winning musical, “Fosse” which cemented her love for musical theater.

Upon graduation she headed to New York and quickly procured roles in some of the top Broadway shows including “Wicked,” “Sweet Charity,” and “Fame on 42nd St.”

After closing the Broadway show, “The Pirate Queen” she decided to move to Los Angeles and since then, she has worked continuously. She has guest starred on drama TV series such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Castle,” “The Mentalist,” “Bones,” and “NCIS.” While also working on comedy shows such as “Young and Hungry,” “Anger Management,” and “The Tracey Ullman Show.” The talented actress was a series regular on ABC’s comedy, “Mixology” (a mid-season replacement, also on Netflix). She portrays ‘Jessica,’ a hot young mom looking to find love and fun while getting her confidence back following a divorce. After “Mixology,” Alexis landed a pilot that went on to series on Freeform called “Recovery Road,” where she played the series regular role of Cynthia Molina, a recovering alcoholic high school counselor.

For philanthropic interests her heart rests with women’s causes. She is the VP of Content for The New Hollywood Group, a non profit that supports socially conscious storytellers and change-makers focusing on women and LGBT artists. Alexis has produced directed, and choreographed benefits raising money for causes such as Free The Slaves, American Cancer Society, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and The New Hollywood.

Ben Jurand as LEON

 

Angela Matemotja as TRINA

Angela Matemotja is an award winning actress and filmmaker, an NAACP Theatre Award Nominee, a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She also attended The British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England to study the classics.

After Graduating from the Academy, she moved to NYC where she performed in off Broadway productions ranging from Shakespeare to Experimental theatre downtown.

She left NYC to tour with the Virginia based Shenandoah Shakespeare Company, then relocated to London, where she continued to perform in Television and Film. While in England, she had the opportunity to perform at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre through studies at Morley College, London.

As an actress, Angela Matemotja has appeared on screens big and small. Her notable feature film credits include the role of ‘Christina’ in Tyler Perry’s The Single Mom’s Club and alongside Kevin Hart in the indie comedy film Something Like A Business. Her television roles include appearances on the CBS mega-hit comedy How I Met Your Mother, Amazon’s top cop-drama Bosch, ABC’s long-running series Castle and edgy sitcom Don’t Trust The B…, and Ryan Murphy’s modern laugher The New Normal on NBC. ELEVATE marks Matemotja’s first feature film as writer and director.

Dr. Daniel Matemotja as SIPHO

Dr. Daniel Matemotja was born in Pretoria, South Africa in the late 40’s. He grew up and attended school at the height of Apartheid oppression and extremely blatant police brutality. Forced removals of non-whites to “new locations” were common place.

Dr. Matemotja’s family was also forcibly relocated. With the help of the A.N.C., he was able to leave South Africa, albeit illegally; for studies abroad. Mr. Kekana attended medical school in the then U.S.S.R., and became a Physician and later an Actor.

He says “Participation in this project, “ELEVATE”, has made it even clearer to me that the cancer of bigotry is lethal to us all”.

 

Kit Williamson as DARYL

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

HEY, I’M KIT!

I’m an actor, filmmaker and internet person. I played Ed Gifford on the final two seasons of AMC’s Mad Men and I wrote, directed and starred in the Emmy-nominated LGBT series EastSiders, which is now available on Netflix worldwide, translated into more than 30 languages.

My other acting credits include episodes of The Good Wife, Odd Mom Out, Public Morals, Numb3rs, Bosch, the Lifetime movie Anatomy of Deception, the NBC Universal movie Ana Maria in Novela Land and the independent features Retake (Frameline), Kiss Me, Kill Me (Reeling Chicago) and Best Friends Forever (Slamdance).

I also starred in two seasons of the viral hit web series Hipsterhood. I’ve also written scripted pilots for CBS and Super Deluxe. And I’m fun at parties.

 

Sascha Rosemann as GUNTHER

 

Sascha Rosemann was born in Cottbus, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Inhuman, Going Down and Detached (2009). Sascha is also a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.