Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Alyssa first trained at UCB, and continues to do stand up all over the country. She has performed her solo show “No Bad Days”, in which she uses stand-up, sketches and even Zumba to look back on losing her father to brain cancer, at multiple festivals including Providence Fringe, Cinderblock and Improv Boston. She continues to host a podcast with May Wilkerson called “Crazy; in Bed”, where the two best friends join each week to discuss mental health, pop culture and more. Alyssa stars in the Gravitas Ventures film, TOO LATE, which can be found in select theaters and on digital platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Fandango Now and all major cable/satellite platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Señor Jr. was born and raised in Miami, Florida. In the summer of 2021 he made his film directorial debut with the HBO Original Documentary Revolution Rent, Executive produced by Neil Patrick Harris . He was the Associate Director of Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s musical On Your Feet! on Broadway, Netherlands, and UK West End Productions as well as Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. He served as Associate Director on the new musical FLY at Dallas Theatre Center w Jeffrey Seller. Andy made his professional debut in the Tony Award winning musical RENT as "Angel," playing the role on Broadway, London’s West End, and US National and International Tours. Later he became the Assistant Director to Michael Greif on the RENT revival Off Broadway, and went on to re-stage the production in Tokyo, Japan and the historic production in Havana, Cuba. Most recently he directed two new Nilo Cruz plays, Tsunami and Farhad and the Secret of Being. He holds a BFA in Theatre from Florida International University who honored him with a Torch Award, noting him as a distinguished alumni, and further trained at The Public Theatre’s Shakespeare LAB where he appeared in All’s Well That Ends Well at the PUBLIC Theatre Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kimiko Glenn is best known for her work as 'Brook Soso' in the award-winning Netflix series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, which garnered her three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series. As well as her work voicing ‘Peni Parker' in the Oscar winning animated phenomenon SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDERVERSE. Recently, Kimiko can be seen in the YouTube Original, LIZA ON DEMAND, and the Freeform feature GHOSTING starring opposite Aisha Dee. She appeared in the second season of THE GUEST BOOK on TBS and DRUNK HISTORY as 'Maya Lin' on COMEDY CENTRAL. She has also guest starred on HBO's hit-series, HIGH MAINTENANCE, and was in second season of the Facebook Watch series SACRED LIES opposite Juliette Lewis. On the big screen, Kimiko was most recently seen in the feature film CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET starring opposite Alexandra Daddario. Her other feature credits include the feature film NERVE alongside Emma Roberts and Dave Franco and the feature film, IN REALITY. Kimiko is also known for her recurring role on FX's MARRIED, and made a memorable cameo on Comedy Central's BROAD CITY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britton Smith is Co-founder and President of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition (BAC), In addition to his work as an advocate and facilitator and adjunct prof. at Columbia Law School, Britton is a Broadway actor recently featured in Be More Chill, Shuffle Along and After Midnight. Front man and songwriter Britton Smith leads Britton & The Sting with electric passion and mission for total community. The pack of musicians embody liberation in their fusion of SOUL, funk and it’s unique electro-neo groove. Recently featured in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Fault Magazine, and The New Yorker - Britton & The Sting’s latest single “Burn” was highlighted on Paper Magazine’s “Bops Only” 10 Songs You Need to Start Your Weekend Right” list, as well as a featured 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Submission Top Pick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sammi Cannold is a director who is one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, class of 2019. Recent theater credits include Evita (New York City Center), Endlings (New York Theatre Workshop, A.R.T.), Ragtime on Ellis Island, Violet on a moving bus (A.R.T.), and Allegory (La Jolla Playhouse WOW). Upcoming projects include Carmen (Lincoln Center w. MasterVoices), a documentary film, and a feature film. Associate director credits include the Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre... (dir. Rachel Chavkin). Sammi has also served as an Artistic Fellow at the A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow and developed work with Playwrights Realm, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Cirque du Soleil, and Nickelodeon. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Harvard University. www.sammicannold.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actress/director/playwright/educator/activist Regina Taylor is a Meadows Distinguished Visiting Artist. She is the playwright-in-residence at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, a three-year appointment through the National Playwright Residency Program established by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Theatre Commons. Taylor is also writing new plays for Audible and for Southern Methodist University (the black album, about what it is to be Black in 2020).Her playwright credits include Bread (Edgerton Award, WaterTower Theatre); Crowns (four Helen Hayes Awards, including Best Director); Oo-Bla-Dee (Steinberg-ATCA award); Drowning Crow (Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club); The Trinity River Plays (Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award); and stop.reset. (Signature Theatre Residency 5).Taylor received the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre at Fordham University at Lincoln Center. An artistic associate of Goodman Theatre, Taylor is its most produced playwright.Taylor is featured in Netflix’s All Day and a Night starring Jeffrey Wright and Ashton Saunders and directed/written by Joe Robert Cole (writer for Black Panther), and guest stars on Council of Dads (NBC), The Red Line (producer Ava DuVernay, CBS), The Good Fight, and Lovecraft Country (producers Jordan Peele, J. J. Abrams and Misha Green). For her television role as Lily Harper in I’ll Fly Away, Taylor received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress, three NAACP Image Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Her other television roles include The Unit. Taylor was the first African American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s Cora Unashamed, starred as Anita Hill in HBO’s Strange Justice (Gracie Award), and was featured in A Good Day to Die starring Sidney Poitier. She has co-starred in USA Network’s Dig and guest starred in Elementary and The Black List. Taylor’s film credits include Saturday Church, The Negotiator, Courage Under Fire, Clockers, and Lean on Me. Taylor was also the first Black woman to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on Broadway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A vibrant and diversely talented actress, Zoey Deutch can recently be seen in Sony’s highly anticipated sequel to ZOMBIELAND for director Ruben Fleischer, starring opposite Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson. She also can be seen in Ryan Murphy’s first series for Netflix THE POLITICIAN, starring opposite Ben Platt and Gwyneth Paltrow, and is currently shooting its second season. Most recently, Deutch starred in and produced the independent feature BUFFALOED, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and just released for Magnolia to rave reviews. Deutch can also be seen as the female lead of Netflix’s hit romantic comedy SET IT UP starring opposite Glen Powell. Recently announced, she and Glen will be reteaming with the same team of filmmakers for a new Netflix romantic comedy, tentatively titled MOST DANGEROUS GAME with Deutch and Powell also on board as exec producers. Additional credits include Max Winkler’s FLOWER, Russo-Young’s BEFORE I FALL, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE opposite Johnny Depp , REBEL IN THE RYE opposite Nicholas Hoult, EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! from writer/director Richard Linklater, WHY HIM? opposite Bryan Cranston, and more recently THE YEAR OF SPECTACULAR MEN, which she also produced. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Basilone is an American television writer and producer. He attended Emerson College in Boston before eventually moving to Los Angeles to pursue several writing opportunities. He eventually ended up on "Community" from 2011 to 2013 penning a number of episodes alongside his writing partner (and former Emerson College classmate) Annie Mebane. Basilone has since moved on this other projects including the "The Michael J. Fox Show". He was married to Lauren Morelli, a fellow television writer who works on the Netflix original series "Orange is the new Black". Morelli filed for divorce after two years upon coming out as a lesbian in 2014. Basilone currently serves as writer and producer of the ABC sitcom "The Goldbergs". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Sutter is a storyteller. That obligation has manifested into writing, producing, directing, and acting. Born and raised in the homogenous suburbs of Jersey, his home positioned between the Mafia-stronghold neighborhoods to the west and Rahway State Prison to the east. Sutter would struggle with those conflicting influences -- absolute authority and unbridled rebellion -- for most of his life. After graduating from Rutgers University with a BA in Mass Media & Film, Kurt spent several years as an actor in NYC, performing in off-off-Broadway theatres, meatpacking warehouses, and NYPD holding cells. His theatre work eventually led to teaching and directing and in the mid-nineties he joined the faculty of The Gately-Poole Acting Studio on Theatre Row, teaching the Sanford Meisner Technique and directing productions at The Nat Horne Theatre. In the late 90’s Kurt was awarded an MFA Fellowship to attend Northern Illinois University. In Chicago, his exposure to the dramatic masters -- Strindberg, O'Neill, Genet -- inspired Sutter, and he began writing unproducible plays and cultivating ideas for the screen. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts, Kurt moved to Los Angeles where he began his writing career. In 2001, he landed his first gig on FX's The Shield. Starting as a staff writer, he finished the last two seasons as an Executive Producer. Then, in 2008, Kurt created the critically acclaimed drama series Sons of Anarchy for FX. Its seven-year run is the most successful episodic series in the history of the network. In 2014, he followed up SOA with the medieval drama series, The Bastard Executioner. Then, co-created the next chapter of the Sons saga, Mayans MC. Mayans is entering its third season on FX. Kurt also ventured into reality programming with a documentary series on the Discovery Channel, Kurt Sutter’s Outlaw Empires. In 2015, Sutter made his feature writing debut with Southpaw starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Antoine Fuqua. A collaboration with award-winning BOOM! Studios produced several successful comic books for Sutter. Including Sons of Anarchy and two originals -- Lucas Stand, about a drug-addicted vet turned hit man for Hell. And Sisters of Sorrow, where victims of abuse spin their pain and rage into vengeance through the cover of vigilante nuns. The next four issues of Sisters will be on shelves in 2021. As an actor, Kurt had recurring roles on The Shield and Sons of Anarchy. Playing an Armenian hitman with a foot fetish and an incarcerated outlaw with a proclivity for ironic, self-mutilation. Chaos Walking, directed by Doug Liman, is Sutter’s first feature film role. Awards/Nominations Peabody Award (The Shield) Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics: “Come Join the Murder” (SOA) Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics: “Day is Gone” (SOA) Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Music: “This Life” (SOA) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist, and New York Times bestselling author of five books including her latest You're Leaving When, Adventures in Downward Mobility. Other books include: I See You Made an Effort (a Thurber Prize finalist), Wherever You Go, There They Are; and Fired! (also a Showtime Comedy Special). She’s written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, amongst other publications and is currently adapting You're Leaving When? for HBO, centering on her Los Angeles Times op-ed about hosting an at-risk housing insecure couple in her home which was recognized with a 2020 Los Angeles Press Club excellence in journalism award. Gurwitch was the longtime cohost of Dinner & a Movie on TBS; a regular commentator on NPR; and host of WA$TED for the Discovery Channel. Her acting credits include: The World Premiere of Donald Margulies' Coney Island Christmas, The West Coast Premiere of Wendy MacLeod's Women in Jeopardy, and the West Coast Premiere of David Greenspan's Go Back to Where You Are. Her performance in the title role of Joe and Betty off Broadway and in Los Angeles won her inclusion in "The Top Ten Performances of the Year in Theater" in both The New York and LA Times. Other credits include: Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Boston Legal, Dexter, and Melvin Goes to Dinner. She performs her stories with The Moth and at arts centers around the country. Gurwitch lives in Los Angeles and co-hosts the Tiny Victories podcast on the Maximum Fun Podcast Network, which Vulture called a “bright spot of light and laughter in 2020.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeffrey Omura is an artist, activist, labor leader, and candidate for New York City Council District 6. As an actor, he recently appeared on TV in The Blacklist, Limitless, Succession, and Hawaii Five-0, and he's known for his work onstage across the country. He's a founding member of both Fair Wage Onstage and Be An Arts Hero, and an elected officer of Actors' Equity Association. If elected, he will be the first openly gay person to represent District 6 and the first Japanese American ever elected to office in New York State.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Todd has been a film and television producer for over 20 years, and some of her notable credits include THE WAY BACK (2020), ALICE IN WONDERLAND and ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, MEMENTO, and the AUSTIN POWERS franchise. In 2017 and 2018, Jennifer produced the 89th and 90th Annual Academy Awards with Michael DeLuca for ABC, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. She currently serves as an Academy Governor representing the Producers Branch.  Jennifer is currently producing films under her banner, Jennifer Todd Pictures, with a first-look feature deal at MGM. She is partnered with director Thomas Kail (FOSSE/VERDON, HAMILTON) in television, under an overall deal with Walt Disney Television Studios. She also currently serves as an Executive Producer on the Showtime series CITY ON A HILL. Prolific in both independent and studio films as well as television, Jennifer has been nominated for three Emmys, two Golden Globes, and the PGA David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Longform Television. She has won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture, Women In Film's Lucy Award, The Glaad Media Award and a People's Choice Award. From 2012 to 2018, Jennifer served as the President of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's production company Pearl Street Films, where she produced LIVE BY NIGHT for Warner Bros., which Affleck directed and starred in. She also served as an Executive Producer on JASON BOURNE in 2016. Additionally, Jennifer was an Executive Producer on HBO’s PROJECT GREENLIGHT, as well as the series INCORPORATED for the Syfy channel. Some of Jennifer’s other credits include CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER, MUST LOVE DOGS, PRIME, BOILER ROOM, NOW AND THEN, and the HBO film IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JEREMY WEIN (Producer) is a producer and director based in New York City. Jeremy is the founder and artistic director of the virtual theatre initiative Play-PerView. His additional producing credits include Open Mike Eagle: Anime, Trauma, + Divorce: Live Emotional Processing Event (Dynasty Typewriter) Kevin McDonald: ALIVE (Theatre Row, Dynasty Typewriter), Neva (Brooklyn College) Godspell (2011 Broadway Revival) Faux Snow (Thespis Theater Festival), Take Me Home (Incubator Arts Project, Associate Producer, dir. Meghan Finn) and the 2012 documentary The Bitter Buddha (Co-Producer). He is also the founder of the New York City Podcast Festival, which he produced from 2013-2018. His directing credits include 8 by Dustin Lance Black (BMCC) and Neva by Guillermo Calderon (Brooklyn College). He recently produced the debut EP for The U.S Open (featuring Shawn Randell, William Jackson Harper, Steven Boyer, Diana Oh, Jeff Biehl and Bobby Moreno), which will be released later this year. Follow him on Twitter: @ThisMyShow and Instagram: @JeremyWein90 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jordan Thierry is a documentary filmmaker, activist, and storyteller. He has worked for over a decade to highlight the stories of people of color and working to undo the ongoing legacy of systemic racism in the U.S.A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Burton is best known for her Tony nominated work on Broadway (where she last appeared in Present Laughter with Kevin Kline) and for her Emmy nominated work in Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. On film, she was most recently seen in Where’d You Go, Bernadette! She can also  be seen on television in Inventing Anna, Prodigal Son, Charmed and Supergirl. She is a professor at USC and lives in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices