Matt Ball is honored to be cast as the “Hunter’s Son” for the reading of Gilgamesh, directed by Robert Scanlan at the 92nd Street Y. Last year, he portrayed “Carruthers” in William Trevor’s Going Home, directed by Ciaran O’Reilly, also at the 92nd Street Y. Matt made his NY debut in Defender of the Faith as “Danny” at the Irish Repertory Theatre, directed by Ciaran O’Reilly. This Spring Matt will be seen in the world premieres of two plays Freak and Things Fall (Meanwhile) produced by Keen Company’s Keen Teens program. As a member of Peachcraft Studios Summit since 2005, Matt will be performing the role of the Prince in the Vocal Conservatory’s production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods in June.

Jack Greenleaf’s first role was on Broadway in the Heidi Chronicles as a fetus. His mother played a pregnant woman (while she was actually pregnant). Since then, Jack has mainly focused on musical endeavors, while occasionally doing school plays on the side. You can find these endeavors on MySpace atThe Mighty Handful and Jack Greenleaf.

Tom comes from Massachusetts originally but now lives in Brooklyn. He is currently a member of The Bats resident acting company at The Flea Theater. He has collaborated with several downtown theater companies like the Obie Award winning group Theater of a Two Headed Calf, Banana Bag and Bodice and TENT. He recently made his film debut in The Wrestler by Darren Aronofsky. He’s held a number of terrible jobs in the past such as ‘futon salesman’ and ‘concessions boy’ at a low rent movie theater. He’s thrilled to be working on this new project and cannot wait to begin.

Anna Koonin is a native of Pasadena, CA. She came to New York City 6 years ago where she attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons. She is currently working on a webseries at abandontv.com as well as a number of commercials and hosting jobs. She’s thrilled to be part of such an exciting project!

Suzan Mikiel Kennedy can be seen in Tze Chun’s upcoming film, The Kids Are Alright. She has performed improv theater throughout New York City, and was on a team at Upright Citizen’s Brigade called “Beautiful Cop”. Suzan has also performed at various Off-Off Broadway houses. Some of her favorite roles include playing an Iraqi Translator, and a suicidal girl from Queens. Along with acting, Suzan’s interests include: guerilla iPhone photography , drawing/painting, and blogging (www.geethatsswell.blogspot.com). Suzan also works for a nonprofit, Team Continuum, that helps cancer patients and their families with their immediate needs.

After spending my infant years in Iowa I grew up in the Albany area, graduated from Skidmore college before moving to Manhattan to pursue an acting career. I was fortunate enough to perform on Broadway and travel the world in tour productions. I now live in Orange County with Allen, my husband of 13 years, our cats Verbal and Rorschach and dogs Peanut and Buttercup. We love to travel and make sure to get to LA and London every year to visit family. Hobbies include sculpting, crafts, home improvement, gardening and being pulled around on skates by my dogs. I sing with a professional caroling group every holiday season and in my roles of various nurses and EMTs, save the lives of soap opera characters.

Lewis Gardner’s career has included performances at Columbia University, Donnell Library Center, Stand Up New York, Performing Arts of Woodstock, Cohoes Music Hall, Larch Hill Players, Philippines Educational Theater Arts League (at LaMama—Villager Award), Shandaken Theatrical Society, Woodstock Theater Cooperative, Theater Off Park, and WNAC-TV (Boston). He has attended workshops at Actors Studio Playwrights & Directors Unit (Harold Clurman), BMI Musical Theater Workshop (Lehman Engel), PlayMarket (founding member; board member), and ASK Playwrights lab. He has worked with directors Peter Bennett, Yanna Brandt, Anne Byrne, Susan Einhorn, Peter Muste, Roger Hendricks Simon, Janet Spencer, and Stuart Vaughan.

Susanna is the writer and director of FLOYD AND THE STRAIGHT EDGE as well as the founder of Von Deren Films. She has worked various film jobs in development and production, and has also made a series of experimental and documentary short films prior to Floyd. She studied political science and humanities and worked in early childhood education before trading that for film. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn but dreams of Oregon or San Francisco. When she’s not writing, editing, or filming she can usually be found arranging flowers or mixing cocktails (or both). She is thrilled to be working with such a glam group of talented people on Floyd! More information about Susanna and this project can be found at www.vonderenfilms.com.

Kyle is a Brooklyn based producer and director. He recently saw the Plexifilm release of YOU THINK YOU REALLY KNOW ME: THE GARY WILSON STORY, which he associate produced and music supervised. For the last two years he has worked as director of licensing & special projects at Gorgeous Entertainment overseeing numerous documentary projects and working as a liaison licensing Broadway shows to Japan. He recently worked as a producer on the short film, DASH, which is currently in post-production and heading to festivals this winter. He is also in the production stage of his own feature documentary. Kyle is also an avid record collector and DJ.

Margaret relocated to New York City from her hometown of Dallas, Texas to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she earned a degree in theater. After playing the lead in a feature length thriller, Absence, her film and TV credits include Guiding Light, Love Monkey, Six Degrees, Spider-Man 3 and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Margaret continued to work in the theater in shows such as the Obie award-winning Keen Company’s The Breadwinner, The Theatre Studio’s Three Sisters and The Vortex, and even won the “Best Actress” award at Manhattan Repertory’s Summer Festival. Her experience of co-producing and starring in the independent feature film Friends (With Benefits) was Margaret’s foray into film production. More recently Margaret has spent time writing, producing, and portraying the title role in a short film called Tabitha’s Aquarium, which she is now adapting as a feature-length script. Margaret is also interning for Magnolia Pictures and working in production on a number of short films, and continues to audition, train and act.

Corinne hails from Cleveland, but now lives in the NYC area. She is professionally trained as a script supervisor for feature films, commercials and visual effects. Personal Motto: Why not?

Andrey was born in Kiev, Ukraine. He grew up in New Jersey, and has been living in New York for the last five years. He has an associate degree in Photography from FIT, and has been a photography assistant for the last year. He enjoys music, and has been currently hooked on Pandora.com. Laying around on the beach is another favorite hobby of his; although he may need to rethink that, with the approaching season being what it is. He enjoys riding motorcycles and sitting down with a latte while looking through magazines at bookstores (someone once told him it’s a good way to meet women; its never happened but as a result of lots of trying he actually learned to enjoy the sitting, reading, drinking part of it). Some of his fears include public speaking, disappointing those he cares about, not becoming a millionaire by his midlife crisis, and writing bio’s about himself.

Susie Yeo is a recent graudate of the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY. She is originally from Chicago but currently lives and work as a massage therapist in New York City. Susie’s relationship with NYC is a turbulent one, and while she often entertains wild, girlish fantasies about leaving the city for a new life in a quiet place, Susie knows that, at least right now, she could never leave it. In the meantime, she spends her days cultivating a lifestyle of health and cohesion, cooking for friends, depending too much on NPR’s Fresh Air and This American Life for a sense of a human connection, and swearing to write, paint, and practice yoga enough to claim them as honest-to-god hobbies. She seeks to abandon trendy sarcasm for sincerity and hopes one day to hold a less judgmental attitude towards pigeons, rats and other urban wildlife in general.

I graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education four years ago and I have become an active member of the culinary community of New York City. Green markets have been a great influence in my life and cooking style ever since my grandmother took me to the Moscow markets starting at the age of eight. My focus has always been local markets, where you can find the most interesting and important people. I’ve been blessed to have lived in many cities around the world and have always been inspired by their local produce. I work in restaurants and catering companies, but most importantly I often cook at home and invite friends for dinners. In this way, I can motivate others to see the importance of supporting farmers.

Katinka has been doing bodywork since 2001. Inspired by a trip to India, where she first learned Reiki, she has spent the past seven years learning to work with her hands and understand health. Her specialties include integrative relaxing full-body massage, cranial sacral therapy, and prenatal massage. She is currently studying herbalism and learning to grow and harvest her own medicinal plants.

Ana Monroe was born in Georgia and came to New York via Columbia University. After studying History and Foreign Languages therein, she came to Production and Set Design mostly by accident. It has been a happy experiment for three years now. She has worked extensively in fashion and advertising for clients as diverse as Vogue and Pfizer. Floyd and the Straight Edge is her first foray into film, and she is very much excited to be a part of it.

Rebecca is a freelance writer/editor. She is a fashion and retail writer with a weekly Shops column in Paper Magazine’s Papermag.com. She is also a hobbyist film actor, with experience on several TV shows and films in New York. Rebecca has worked in various business and creative fields since graduating New York’s Fordham University with a degree in Sociology and a Double Minor in Women’s Studies and Performing Arts. She’s lived on the Bowery for over 6 years, and Floyd marks her first foray in the Wardrobe department for film.

Odile Schalit is a freelance casting associate/casting director. Odile graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a BA in Psychology but quickly gravitated to the film business. Before starting her casting career, she worked in production on Brutal (Lionsgate ‘07) and in production and wardrobe on the Sundance ‘08 Entry, Pretty Bird (starring Paul Giamatti and Billy Crudup). She has worked with Lina Todd Casting on the films: Dragon Ball (20th Century Fox), Don’t Look Up and Off Hours. She is currently working with Lina Todd on Istvan Szabo’s Half of Two Lives, Amos Poe’s USCITA and others.

David Black is a cinematographer and photographer living in New York. In addition to studying at The Cooper Union and N.Y.U. he received his B.F.A. from The San Francisco Art Institute in 2003. Last year he was named by Print Magazine as a Top New Visual Artist under 30, this year he was included in The Art Directors Club of New York “Young Gun’s 5″ show and book. His work has been seen on Sundance Channel, MTV, various shorts and music videos and he is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Interview and Stop Smiling Magazine. He is also visiting faculty at The Pratt Institute and The San Francisco Art Institute. You can see his work at www.davidblackphotography.com.

Although my I have a first name, people tend to call me Vidoli. I am a graduate from SVA. Nowadays I make pretty pictures.

Mo Rida has shot and directed numerous shorts, and has worked as grip and electric on numerous others. Born in Alexandria, and bred in Brooklyn, he is a Lebanese-American set on changing the manufactured image of what is alien. Through the power of film, and his distinct background, his goal has been to dispel the resulting misconceptions of the “us and them” mind-set.

In 2003 Daniela Merino moved from Ecuador to New York City to study documentary photography at the ICP (International Center of Photography). Her photographic work has been exhibited in Quito, New York, The Philippines and Italy. She met Maude Von Deren in 2004 and they worked together in all her previous films. Now, after working for different magazines and teaching photography, she has decided to specialize in film and media studies. She is earning her Master’s degree at the Newschool University in New York.

Ukrainian by birth, but according to my father – raised as a man of the world. Migrated from the Slovak lands to Brooklyn, NY (where I currently reside), about 5 years ago. After trying music, business and archeology, and a little side of fashion/retail, decided to pursue filmmaking. Once I figured out how to turn the light on, and point it in the right direction, I realized how movies were made. And here I am… gaffing, shooting and trying to write/direct. What else? I have a permanent beard and like to smile a lot. The pic is just so ironic!

28 year old recent graduate from brooklyn college film program. working on mastering the art of editing film. a positive cynic who doesn’t understand human understanding.

Denny is from Brooklyn NY with a background in photography. He is also a Writer/Director/Producer. By wearing these multiple hats he has developed a pseudonym known as “DennyDoes” He can do a lot of things. Find out what he knows at DennyDoes.com.

Frank was born in NY and studied film at CUNY Brooklyn. He has been working as a freelance sound mixer on TV, Doc, and Film for the past three years. When he’s not on set he likes to travel, listen to music and watch sports.

Hi my name is Dre representing LI, NY. 28 yrs of age. I’ve been doing sound now for 1 1/2 years and see myself down the line as a producer and camera operator.

Mustafa Bhagat is known for his creativity and technical skills in film and music. Nominated for an Emmy in 2008 for his editing on the PBS documentary series “Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie”, Mustafa has edited a wide variety television programs and films. An accomplished sitar player, he regularly travels to India to study under the world renowned sitar player Pandit Manilal Nag, whose performances he documents regularly. Most recently Mustafa produced and performed on the soundtrack for the Mike Myers comedy “The Love Guru”.