Noah Rothman (“Zeke”)
Raised in Hunterdon County in Western New Jersey, Noah has been in theater productions since he was 7 years old. By the time he was 18 he had performed in over 30 high school and repertory theater group productions. Noah trained and studied performance in such institutions as The American Academy of Performing Arts and NYU’s Stone Street Studios and attended Drew University where he received the prestigious Presidential Scholarship in performing arts. In 2002, he went to work for WABC in New York City and soon became a research analyst and producer for The John Batchelor Show on ABC Radio Networks. In 2003 he created, produced, and hosted a well received comedy-talk show, The Freakin’ Radio Show on WSNR. In 2004, he revived the concept to host and produce The Spence and Noah Show on WNSW. In 2004, Noah interned with The Opie and Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio where he worked with several nationally recognized comic talents and became a regular character on the program. By 2006, Noah decided to take up performing again, appearing in the online series The Scene, where he played the recurring character “Slipknot” and added his voice to the animated series pilot. He is very excited to take on the role of Zeke in the much-anticipated series, Issues.
Noah’s Issues
Favorite Role to Date: Anatoly in Chess. “Less about the character and more about the production, which was the most memorable.”
Geeky Interests: Wii Golf, web applications and computer stuff
Word Association: Laughter? Chalk. Clerk? First job. Cartoon: Mega Man, the Animated Series
Louise Flory (“Mackenzie”)
Louise was most recently seen on stage in Look After You (SoHo Playhouse, 2009 New York International Fringe Festival), Maieutic Theatre Works’ The Oath (ArcLight Theatre) and Extant Arts Company’s Blue Surge (The Wild Project). Film projects include the current award-winning festival short Elli and the Astronaut and the upcoming independent feature Paper Cut. Now something “issues” related?! Hmm… okay. Although often prophetic in her subway karma and cinematic plot twists, her most exciting experience with superpowers came when she sweet-talked the police out of an arrest after being caught on the top of what remains of the Berlin Wall (“Sorry Mom and Dad, it was a dare! But yes… those pieces of the Wall are real!”). Visit her website at www.louiseflory.com
Louise’s Issues
Geeky Interests: The Oceanic Six, Hogwarts, Sudoku, Boggle and the Millenium Falcon
Recent Comic Book Reading: Watchmen
One Fictional Character She Can’t Relate To: Cruella DeVille in 101 Dalmations
Kevin Sebastian (“Jackson”)
The man behind Comic Relief’s resident Supreme Overlord, Kevin Sebastian, has been logging some serious time on the stage and behind the camera. Here are just some of the select credits from Kevin’s resume: New York: Importance of Being Earnest, Dark of the Moon, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Waiting for the Bus (American Globe Theatre Best Actor Award), Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged, Wizard of Oz, and a 3-pack of Off and Off-Off Bway Shakespeare at the American Theatre of Actors. Regional & Tours: Sick (original cast) at New Jersey Repertory, A Few Good Men at Cortland Repertory, Perfect Wedding at the Bickford Theatre, Valhalla (Star-Ledger Nomination) & Omnium Gatherum at The Theater Project, The Clandestine Marriage at Centenary Stage, Ragtime & West Side Story at NJPAC, A Christmas Carol at Tri-State Actors Theater, National Theatre for Children Natl. tour, Legend of Sleepy Hollow Regional tour, Emperor’s New Clothes Regional tour. Film & Television – Killswitch at Cannes Film Festival & Seattle’s Science Fiction Short Film Fest, NYC Horror Film Fest’s award-winning The Lake Passage, Flatland Film Festival’s The Cyclist, Goyband, Itch, Sunday Times, Chad Lowe’s Beautiful Ohio, Saturday Night Live and No Love in the City. From Kevin: Love always to my wonderful family, Jenelle, Scott and the Issues crew, and the libraries of comic book knowledge that have gotten me wherever it is that I am today. Contact: kevsebastian[at]gmail[dot]com
Kevin’s Issues
Geeky Interests: “I have over 1,200 comic books. Seriously. I also have a thing with categorizing things (shrug).”
Fictional Character He Can Relate To: “I’ve felt a kinship with Peter Pan, feeling like the boy that could never grow up. I’m also enjoying Peter Petrelli on Heroes for his ever-present need to get involve and save a situation.”
Word Association: Laughter? Utter bliss. Cartoon? Saturday Fanatic? religious and violence, fun, huh? ☺
Autumn Weisz (“Bobby”)
Autumn has studied professionally in both LA and New York City, and holds an MFA from the University of Texas. Her list of credits includes TransAmerica, starring Felicity Huffman, and the acclaimed HBO film Something the Lord Made, featuring Alan Rickman and Kira Sedgewick Autumn has also appeared in the film Fire Island, which was produced in 2008 as an off-off-Broadway play. In addition to her film credits, Autumn has been involved in television and theatre. Her full resume is available on her website, www.autumnweisz.com Autumn can also add singing to her list of talents, and has sung the National Anthem at Camden Yards. In her spare time, she enjoys hitting karaoke bars as often as possible. Autumn’s philosophy on tackling Bobby? “Who needs a f@!#$ing monologue – let’s do this!”
Autumn’s Issues
Favorite role to date: Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”. “Talk about stretching as an actor!”
One Fictional Character She Can’t Relate To: Captain Ahab
Secret Skills: White water rafting, karaoke and “some damn fine Rock ‘n’ Roll singing!”
Katie Ritz (“Madeline”)
Katie’s acting resume may not be as ‘expansive’ as others in this cast, but she has no issues in that regard…she is here now and loving every minute of it. The Pittsburgh born portrayer of Madeline moved to the Plainsboro/ Princeton area of New Jersey, and attended high school mere minutes from Comic Relief, the Issues filming locale. Throughout her school years, she performed in numerous skits, shows, and plays. Although Katie had some interest in studying acting in college, she chose a different path down the road of academia. After graduating college cum laude, her interest in acting resurfaced. The Jersey City resident’s major acting credit to date is the starring role in the Revscope Pictures Production, Silent – her character is the only speaking role in an otherwise silent film. Silent premiered at the Reel New Jersey Film Festival in September 2008. Her continuing dream is to become a beloved character in a television series.
Katie’s Issues
Word Association: Laughter?…Always Clerk?…Ummm….Helpful??
Favorite Cartoon: Fraggle Rock (especially Red! ☺ )
Geeky Interests: Katie is a voracious bibliophile, often reading two or three novels at the same time.
Fictional Character She Can Relate To: Jo March (Little Women) – she is fiercely loyal to her family, a non-conformist, and an intelligent dreamer!
CJ Maldonado (“Edgar”)
CJ began his acting career in his parents living room with a camcorder hooked up to a TV and his father lip syncing to songs such as “It Was a Very Good Year” by Frank Sinatra. He has been embarrassing himself ever since. A pack of wild Hyenas couldn’t even recreate his childhood laugh and his imagination as a kid has not failed him in adulthood. Living the 80’s to the fullest, CJ’s ghastly hair styles formed the foundation of his never being afraid to make bad decisions. He has recently portrayed a really, really bad guy in the short film Ilan, as well as an undercover cop in the independent feature, Peru Ana, Ana Peru and a uniformed cop in Puerto Rico on All My Children, and ju no he was a muy guapo en hes uni-form! Under his production company Altostratus Films, CJ released the short film A Passing Afternoon, which was an official selection for the 2009 Big Apple Film Festival.
CJ’s Issues
Guilty Pleasure: Really corny jokes and romantic comedies.
Favorite Cartoon: it is a tie between Voltron, Transformers, Thundercats, HeMan, GI Joe, Smurfs, Snorks, MASK, GoBots, Scooby Doo, Pound Puppies, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Danger Mouse, Tom and Jerry, Road Runner, Dino Riders, Duck Tales, Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff, The Original Ghostbusters, Schoolhouse Rock, Silverhawks, Jetsons, Flinstones, Jem (she was hot), Speedy Gonzales (and that pussy gato), and Tiny Toons.
Geeky Interests: Ren Faires… If you know what that means, you are a geek too, my brethren.
Fictional Character He Can Relate To: Cru Jones from RAD and Bruce Leroy from The Last Dragon… I really do have the glow AND can do a backflip on a BMX bike… get in line ladies, get in line.
Daniel Halden (“Leslie”)
No stranger to the web, Daniel has appeared in the web series Heaven (pilot), Viralcom (Warner Bros. web series) and Ryder’s Reel. He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a geek. He is a big fan of cheesy disaster movies. Daniel has also starred in a smattering of indie films and theatre, both in New York and regionally. Check out www.danielhalden.com for more information. It might rock your socks off.
Daniel’s Issues
Geeky Interests: “Dude…Star Wars times a billion, Harry Potter, LOST, The West Wing (does that count?), baseball stats…”
Fictional Character He Most Relates To: “Luke Skywalker, because I too have a green lightsaber…seriously though, adventure, fighting evil, believing in the Force…”
Word Association: Laughter? Hillary Clinton’s “cackle”…yikes…ouch. Clerk? Rainn Wilson from “Juno”, even though I didn’t see it. Fanatic? The Philly Phanatic.
Tom Hanley (“Jared”)
Tom Hanley is 26 years-old and hails from Middletown, NJ. He has been acting since the age of 1 and has worked in film, radio, television, and new media. He possesses a Masters Degree in Communication and currently works in broadcasting and film. In addition he has trained in the martial arts since the age of 7 and is a 6th degree black belt in Karate. His heroes include Optimus Prime, Hulk Hogan and Ronald Reagan. Furthermore he is deadly with Link on Super Smash Bros. and would love to take any of you on over Nintendo Wi Fi if you have the guts. His friend code is 1289-7880-6620. A fan of comic books and off-color humor, Tom is very excited for the return of Jared in Issues Season 2.
Tom’s Issues
Geeky Interests: Anime and Transformers
Favorite Fictional Character: Frank Miller’s God**mn Batman!!
Word association: Laughter? Joke. Clerk? Quick Stop. Fanatic? Al Gore.
Sarah Croce (“Jane”)
Awe-filled observers of Sarah’s rugby prowess have respectfully called her a “9 pound gorilla on the field.” Her super powers include cuddle-punching kittens and prehensile dreadlocks. A graduate from the University at Albany with a major in theatre, Sarah is best known for her roles in the films Girl Talk and Now They Know About My Madness. Her Levi’s jeans commercial is currently playing throughout the nation on MTV’s Logo Network and on Logos Online. Similarly, her recent Callaway Golf Commercial has just come out on YouTube for public viewing. Sarah has also appeared on the stage in such productions as The Wonderful World of Science and Antigone. You can also catch her guest appearances in the feature film Flicks Chicks and in Morgan Spurlock’s newest documentary Freakonomics. Sarah can currently be seen in the vampire web series Bleeder (www.bleederseries.com).
Sarah’s Issues
Fictional Character She Most Relates To: “Due to the lack of options with strong female characters, I’m going with Roland from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.”
Favorite Role to Date: “Most recently I played a woman named Genevieve who slips deeper into madness. She winds up killing her boss and best friends. Need I say more?”
Word association: Clerk? Apron. Cartoon? Bugs Bunny. Fanatic? Britney Spears.
Sean Beattie (“Ennis”; Assistant Director/Writing Staff)
Sean graduated from DeSales University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s in TV/Film Production. While at DeSales, he studied writing under John Fitzpatrick, a writer for the Nickelodeon show “The Wild Thornberry’s”, and studied acting under Anne Lewis, a supporting actor from the hit film “Girl, Interrupted”. He prides himself in his geeky pursuits (including an unabashed love for anything Ninja Turtles) and finds nothing to be ashamed of with this. Sean enjoys pina coladas, getting caught in the rain and has the unique ability to hyperextend his knees. He will fight anyone who speaks ill of Pink Floyd.
Sean’s Issues
Geek Interests: Comics, gaming, RPG’s (tabletop, though the grenade launcher is fun, too), I read scifi, love watching bad (and I mean bad) movies, and am proud to have a limitless reservoir of useless knowledge.
Guilty Pleasure: “My favorite guilty pleasure is really bad movies. I will watch anything that’s just so bad it’s good. Oh, and I own the first two Ninja Turtles movies on DVD. Go ninja, go ninja go!”
Fictional Character He Most Relates To: Cheshire Cat, for sure. Blends into the background, with nothing more than a smile. Starts trouble without being noticed all that often. Oh, and I drive that Red Queen up a f*&kin’ wall.
Joanne Colan (“Gwen”)
Joanne Colan has 7 years experience hosting, writing, co-producing and creating broadcast television and radio for major networks and cable channels across international markets. A recognized name in New Media, Joanne also hosted the popular vlog Rocketboom from 2006-2009. In 2005 Joanne hosted a HD travel series for the Fine Living Network. The focus was adventure travel and saw Joanne scuba diving, sailing, snow-mobiling, climbing, trekking etc. The thirteen episode series Any Given Latitude airs on Fine Living. From 2000 to 2004, Joanne joined MTV Networks Europe. She wrote, co-produced and hosted shows such as the Top 20 Countdown, MTV News, MTV Movie Special and hosted live, international events including the MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Presents and MTV’s Winterjam. As a face of the pan-European MTV brand, Joanne’s shows were broadcast to over 124 million households in over 50 countries and territories. Joanne generated top ratings for the network. Responsible for MTV’s European Top 20, she created a new identity for the chart show and won ‘Best European Satellite Music Program’ voted by viewers in the What Satellite UK & Europe TV Poll. Joanne also fronted MTV’s World Aids Day Campaigns, traveling to the US and South Africa for MTV’s news and social awareness divisions.Joanne’s “other hat” is an AADP board certified Holistic Health Counselor from Columbia University and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She produces short form series for healthy living multi-media network Lime.com. Joanne is on the Holistic Health Committee at the New Design High School in Manhattan along with Dr Raphael Kellman MD of the Kellman Center for Progressive Medicine and Prof James Fraser of NYU Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences in the Professions.
Joanne’s Issues
Favorite Part Played in the Past: Sandy in Grease (a UK and France tour). “I love her prude shyness that evolves into a sexy vamp.”
One Fictional Character You Can Never Relate To: “Erm…drawing a blank…I was going to say that big fish from the 70’s…but on second thought, I think Jaws and I have a lot in common.”
