A coming-of-age drama that tackles some of today's most prevalent issues including religious prejudices, sexual orientation and bullying.
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Elizabeth "Betsy" Russell (born September 6, 1963) is an American actress who is best known for her roles in Private School (1983), Tomboy (1985), and as Jill Tuck, one of the primary characters of the Saw film series from 2006 to 2010. Russell was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Constance (née Lerner) and Richard Lion Russell, a stock analyst, and the granddaughter of journalist and educator Max Lerner. Her father and maternal grandfather were Jewish. Russell wanted to be an actress since the age of eight and started acting in school plays. She appeared in a Pepsi commercial that was taped locally while in high school. After graduating from Mission Bay High School in 1981, she moved to Los Angeles and began taking acting classes before landing her first role. She did a masters program in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica and is a certified hypnotist and life coach, also from the University of Santa Monica. Russell's first role was in the 1982 film Let's Do It! That same year, she landed roles on T. J. Hooker, Family Ties, and The Powers of Matthew Star. In 1983, Russell's breakout role came as Jordan Leigh-Jensen in the sex comedy Private School. While shooting the action film Avenging Angel, she was offered to audition for the 1985 film Silverado but turned it down. She said in an interview, "Everything happens for a reason. I always believe my career would have been different had I done that part. I can't say if it would have been better or worse. I’ve had a great run." She went on to star in a series of B movies in the 1980s, including the comedy Tomboy and the slasher film Cheerleader Camp. Russell also appeared on TV series such as The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote, 1st & Ten, and an episode of Superboy, which was a reunion with her Tomboy co-star Gerard Christopher. Russell resides in Malibu, California. In August 1988, Russell was engaged to actor Vincent Van Patten, son of Dick Van Patten. They were married nine months later on May 27, 1989, in North Hollywood. Their wedding reception was at Van Patten's father's Sherman Oaks home which was attended by numerous A-list celebrities. They divorced in 2001 and have two sons: Richard Van Patten (March 1993) and Vincent Van Patten, Jr. (September 3, 1995) Russell was previously engaged to film producer Mark Burg. After a brief retirement from acting, Russell appeared in a small role in Saw III playing John Kramer's ex-wife, Jill Tuck. She went on to star in the sequels, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D. She played a role in the 2010 film Chain Letter, the SyFy film Mandrake, and My Trip Back to the Dark Side. Description above from the Wikipedia article Betsy Russell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Veteran filmmaker Julia Verdin is a multi-hyphenate - she is known as an accomplished producer, award-winning Director and has written a number of screenplays. Having been in the film business for 30 years, Julia has established herself as one of Hollywood's leading independent producers, with over 36 critically acclaimed feature films produced to date. She founded and has been running Rough Diamond Productions since 1995. Julia's films have been selected for many major film festivalicluding Sundance, Toronto, Venice, AFI, Raindance, Vancouver International, and London. As a director, her former acting background has given her the tools to support her actors and bring out amazing performances, and her producing background enables her to stay on budget while bringing out the best creative results. Her directorial debut, Lost Girls, starring Bar Paly, Marisol Nichols, and Jamie Harris did well on the festival circuit and won several awards including Best Social Impact film at The Culver City Film festival. The film has also been broadcast as part of an educational program on sex trafficking of minors and has been screened by organizations and communities and is currently in distribution. Her first feature that she directed, wrote and produced, Angie: Lost Girls, had a limited theatrical release in December 2020 at a drive-in due to Covid-19 and distributed by Freestyle in the U.S. and Jinga Films worldwide. Set around the world of child sex trafficking again, this time focusing on a victim's difficulty re-integrating with her family, re-finding her self-worth whilst combating ongoing threats to herself and loved ones from traffickers. The film stars Olivia d'Abo, Dylan Sprayberry, Anthony Montgomery, Randall Batinkoff, Jane Widdop, M.C. Lyte and Amin Joseph. Her second feature, MAYA, is currently in post-production and showcases how young, vulnerable teens with no support at home can be lured by traffickers online. It stars Patricia Velasquez, Rumer Willis, Gian Franco Rodriguez, Rena Owen, Anthony Montgomery and newcomers Isabella Feliciana and Billy Budinich. She directed a short promo for GIFT (Global initiative fighting Trafficking) and 2 short films, Brown and The Inheritance, in partnership with non-profit Kids in The Spotlight, which were stories written by and acted in by foster youth. Brown screened at Paramount Studios in November 2019 and screened at several film festivals. The Inheritance premiered at the Orpheum Theater in November 2021. Julia founded and serves on the board of directors of Artists For Change, a 501c non-profit with a mission of raising awareness on key social issues through film and media.
Joey Beni is an actor and writer, known for Killer Date (2019), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and M.F.A. (2017).
