| The Cast |
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Jessica Nyel Willis is an actress and writer. She has performed in many venues around the country. She has studied with the Purdue New Directional Players, Screaming Venus Theatre Company, and The Harlem Theatre Company. In the past few years she has spread her wings to act and participate in several independent film productions. Willis writes novels, short stories, articles and television scripts. She is co-founder of the artist collective, SistaPAC, in which the group writes and performs plays, television scripts and screenplays. Willis' latest project is an online casting community for artists of color called The Ripple Effect (www.TheRipEffect.com). She has completed a young adult fantasy novel, entitled Kaylene's Kingdom (www.kayleneskinqdom.com) the first in a trilogy. Willis is hard at work on her second novel, a science fiction thriller entitled "Jessi Devise: Rogue Agent," a non-fiction book proposal co-authored with her mother entitled "Amazing Stories: The American Red Cross Saving Lives" and is also working on her first screenplay entitled "Dating Out The Box." Her articles have appeared in Fashion Manuscript magazine and Wedding Dresses magazine. In the community, Willis volunteers her time as a mentor for Imentor.org and serves as the Director of Membership Services for the Black Fashion Designers Association, Inc. (www.blackfashion.com). Willis has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Purdue University and college internships included The Oprah Winfrey Show, WSB TV-2 in Atlanta, and America's Black Forum in Washington, DC. She is pursuing her MBA in Media Management at Metropolitan College of New York. She currently serves as the Communications Manager for the premiere online community dedicated to African-American women and their families called Nia online.
A talented and multi-faceted actor, originally from the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area. Although bitten by the acting bug at a young age, it wasn't until he finished college that he began to pursue a professional career. Since then, Ryan has managed to stay pretty busy. His previous television credits include a recurring role, as "Officer Truck Garrick" on HBO's "The Wire", a guest-starring role on CBS' "Hack", national commercials for Carmax, the Black Starz! cable network, and Road Runner DSL Service. Ryan has also appeared in various regional commercials and public service announcements. Among his feature film credits are the upcoming films, "Shadowboxer", starring Cuba Gooding Jr. & Helen Mirren and "Fatwa", starring Lauren Holly, Mykelti Williamson, and Roger Guenvuer Smith. Other film credits include "Nothin 2 Lose", "Se Habla Espanol" and "Sinsitivity". Ryan studied acting at the Studio Theatre (Washington, DC) and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (NYC). Realizing that the NBA probably won't be requiring his services in the near future, Ryan also maintains a budding commercial modeling career as well as a graphic design business.
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