Break a Leg

Cast & Crew

Yuri Baranovsky [Writer/Director/David Penn]

Born in the deadly serious city of Kiev, Yuri Baranovsky [Writer/Director/David Penn] came to the United States when he was five, and did so primarily for your entertainment. A busy kind of bee, Yuri has published two plays -- 11 Variations on Friar John's Failure and Courting 101 -- both of which have been performed internationally and have the honor of being in the “Top Thirty Most Performed High School One-Acts in the Country.” Yuri also contributes articles and blogs to various places and has been featured and worked for such websites as MSNBC.com and Gizmodo. Currently, he freelances for several sites and publications, among them being the prestigious satirical magazine, The Onion, where, ironically enough, he writes for the slightly more serious "AV Club." As fond of writing as he is fond of chocolate, Yuri hopes to continue doing it until he is put on a raft and shot with burning arrows.

Vlad Baranovsky [Writer]

Being similarly born in the same deadly serious city of Kiev like his younger brother, Yuri, Vlad [Writer] is a musician, a writer, a software engineer and when he’s not busy -- a super hero. Vlad is currently working on a novel, another episode of BREAK A LEG, and an album with his band, FAITHFUL HENRY. He likes to take sole credit for teaching Yuri how to write and be a good person.

Skip Emerson [Sebastian Windlethorpe]

Skip Emerson's [Sebastian Windlethorpe] acting career started early playing Tom Sawyer on a parade float in 1967. Since then he has been involved in theatre, with over 30 years of stage experience. He holds an MFA in acting from UConn and was co-founder of Vintage Repertory Company in Portland, Maine. Skip started acting in film two years ago with the short 'Metal Tears', a film shown at the sci-fi conventions in the US and Canada. To date 'Metal Tears' is his only released film. Others include: Silent Alarm, Life Noir, and Denmark . Skip lives in San Francisco with his devoted cat.

Chad Yarish [Jennifer John Bradley]

Chad Yarish [Jennifer John Bradley], native to San Francisco, has been many things in his life: soldier, artist, minister, bard, pirate, actor, hero. When not sitting around on the set of Break a Leg or arguing with Yuri about when the next shoot is, Chad does a lot of community theater in and around Marin County, CA. Aside from acting, Chad is also working on writing his own pirate musical and getting his dwarven rogue up to level 60 so he can start running some of the big money instances. Chad has high hopes that working with Late Again Productions will bring him the fame and riches he so obviously deserves.

Justin Morrison [Chase Cougar/DP/Editor]

Justin Morrison [Chase Cougar/DP/Editor] started acting when he was a very, very small child, where he starred in a variety of talent shows and plays around Marin County. His film career began in high school and continued through college where he won various acting and film awards. Besides shooting commercials for local businesses, Justin was also one of the editors and cinematographers for the feature film LIFE NOIR -- and has the same job in Break a Leg. He'd like everyone to know that he is, in fact, a big man.

Daniela DiIorio [Francesca Scala]

Daniela DiIorio [Francesca Scala] began acting at a young age, doing speech and theatre competitions all around Marin County and winning various awards in both. She was a lead in several local San Francisco theatre productions and also starred in several independent films, including FROTH and LIFE NOIR. Besides acting, Daniela has also done wardrobe for several theatre and film productions, and is currently working on getting her Bachelor degree in Merchandising and Apparel. She’d like everyone to know that not only is she Italian, but Italy also happens to be the best place in the world. Also, it’s shaped like a shoe.

Alexis Boozer [Amber Turnipseed]

Alexis Boozer [Amber Turnipseed] holds a BA in Drama from Stanford University where she won the Evelyn M. Draper Prize for performance. In her four years at Stanford she appeared in over 30 theatre and film productions, including: The Blue Room, Killer Joe (Sharla), Tape (Amy) and Dutchman (Lula). As a founding member of Mad Th8r, she performed in Death and the Maiden (Paulina) and No Exit (Estelle) in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. San Francisco theatre credits include: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and No Exit and Hamlet with the highly-praised SF company, No Nude Men. She received additional training from the The Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the San Francisco Acting Academy. She has appeared on national television and in several independent feature films, including Life Noir.

Daniel George [Claudio/Humphrey]

Daniel George [Claudio/Humphrey] holds an interdisciplinary degree in American Studies from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. A man of diverse interests, Daniel has spent years both in the theater and studying animal behavior in the mountains of the American West. Having performed Shakespeare, Commedia dell’Arte, and farcical plays on the stage, he can also often be seen improvising with Bay Area troupes. Daniel is stoked, keyed, and feverishly elevated to be working with Late Again Films on “Break A Leg.”

Dustin Toshiyuki [Mint/Sound]

Dustin Toshiyuki [Mint/Sound] is a San Francisco native who has been involved in music and acting for over twelve years. He is a classically trained guitarist and is set to graduate “Cum Laude” from San Francisco State with a major in Sound Design. Dustin has done sound work for several films and theatre shows and has received praise from the San Francisco Chronicle for his sound design in the live production of Walkin' Talkin' Bill Hawkins: Searching for My Father's Voice at The Marsh Theater in Berkeley, California. He is proud and slightly sickened to be a part of the cast and crew of Break a Leg.

Flynn Kelleher [Larry]

Flynn Kelleher [Larry], never giving the creators a bio, is a man of mystery. Rumors have it that he lurks in the shadowey streets of San Francisco, surviving solely on pigeons and the homeless, he makes his living selling body parts and used tea kettles. Some say he is a spook story, told to kids who refuse to eat their vegetables, others say that he himself is half-salad. Only one thing is known about the mysterious Flynn -- it's that he absolutely adores working on this production and would sacrifice his own life for a chance to see Yuri smile.

Drew Lanning [Jimmy "Goat Legs" Scotch]

Drew Lanning [Jimmy "Goat Legs" Scotch] started acting in high school for the same reasons we all do: to meet chicks. And meet them he did! He was politely rebuffed dozens of times, but was told he was a great friend. He fled his hometown humiliation to San Francisco eleven years ago and has starred in dozens of short films, feature films, industrials, commercials, and theatrical productions. Roughly half of those involved Yuri somehow or another. While rehearsing for The Miss Firecracker Contest he met the woman that would eventually become his wife, and just less than two years ago they had a beautiful baby boy. Fatherhood is Drew's favorite role yet. Some of Drew's favorite things are his child's laughter, his wife's devotion, and long slow dumpers on a cold Sunday morning.

Claudio Brescia [Stan Marley]

Claudio Brescia [Stan Marley] is a trained improvisor currently studying in LA’s famed Second City Improv school. He has starred in several short and feature films, among them HUM-POP and LIFE NOIR, and was one of the leading members of Actor’s Without Lines -- an improve troupe based in San Francisco. When he’s not working, auditioning, or getting married, he likes to annoy his director by never saying the lines that are written in the script.

Dashiell Reinhardt [Editing/Visual effects/Crew Guy]

Dashiell Reinhardt [Editing/Visual effects/Crew Guy] was born in LA and quickly fell into the Hollywood lifestyle. His film career came to a startling halt however, when a dispute with Orson Welles removed him from the set as a toddler. He only recovered in college, where he got a Bachelor's in Film and Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz. Dashiell has taken part in every aspect of film production, but his skills primarily lie in post-production. His range of work has included editing, visual effects, and cinematography. He's also had a few major acting roles, including: Gary the Zombie for the short, Hum-Pop, and Crew Guy for Break a Leg.

Hillary Bergmann [Production Coordinator/Craft Services]

Hillary Bergmann [Production Coordinator/Craft Services] majored in theatre at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts. She broke into the San Francisco independent film scene in late 2002 when she worked on a short called, 'The Quick Brown Fox' written and directed by Aren Haun. After working with Aren on numerous projects (film and theatre), she worked as the Production Coordinator for LIFE NOIR with Yuri Baranovsky. Hillary is a skilled bargain 'craft services' shopper and enjoys surprising the cast and crew with their favorite miniature diet sodas. Yuri and Vlad have promised Hillary a juicy role in upcoming episodes of Break a Leg, a promise she intends to hold them to.