Duncan Birmingham is a writer, TV producer, and filmmaker. As a writer, his television credits include Maron and Blunt Talk. His short fiction has appeared in the Mystery Tribune, Volume 1 Brooklyn, Joyland, and Maudlin House, among other publications. Birmingham’s debut story collection, The Cult in My Garage, was published in 2021. Most recently he wrote and directed his first feature film, Who Invited Them.
In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury (1920 - 2012) inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick and was nominated for an Academy Award. He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater and won an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree. Bradbury was the recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, among many honors.
Tate Donovan has appeared in more than 45 films, including Respect, Worth, Rocketman, The Upside, Manchester by the Sea, Argo, Good Night and Good Luck, Memphis Belle, Ethan Frome, Love Potion #9, Clean and Sober, and the title voice in Disney’s animated feature Hercules. His television credits include MacGyver, The Man in the High Castle, 24, Damages, The OC, and Friends. Donovan has appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning productions of Good People, Amy’s View, and Picnic. He has also directed several episodes of Madam Secretary, Damages, Glee, Weeds, Gossip Girl, Nip/Tuck, The OC, and Bloodline, as well as the ESPN documentary Arthur and Johnnie about the tennis star Arthur Ashe, for which he won an Emmy Award.
Cristina Henríquez is the author of The Book of Unknown Americans, a New York Times Notable Book that was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Henríquez is also the author The World In Half and Come Together, Fall Apart: A Novella and Stories. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Oxford American, The American Scholar, and elsewhere. Henríquez was a 2020 Fiction judge for the National Book Awards. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novel, The Great Cut, about the building of the Panama Canal, is forthcoming from Ecco in 2024.
Etgar Keret was born in Ramat Gan and now lives in Tel Aviv. A recipient of the French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, the Charles Bronfman Prize, and the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, he is the author of the memoir The Seven Good Years and story collections including Fly Already; The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God; The Nimrod Flipout; and Suddenly, a Knock on the Door. His work has been translated into over forty-five languages and appeared in The New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, Paris Review, and The New York Times, among other publications.
Wendie Malick is a two-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee, best known for her work on Dream On, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, and Hot in Cleveland. Recent television credits include Grace & Frankie, BoJack Horseman, This Is Us, American Housewife, Mom, The Ranch, Bluff City Law, Physical, Darrow & Darrow, Dear White People, Young Sheldon, and Billions. Malick’s film credits include The American President, Waiting, Jerome, 50 Nothing, and The Surrogate. She was last seen onstage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Big Night. Upcoming projects include Meli, Mother of All Shows, The Re-Education of Molly Singer, and Mack & Rita.
Michaela Watkins is best known for her leading role on the Hulu series Casual and starring most recently in the comedy series The Unicorn on CBS. Recurring TV roles include Search Party, Big Mouth, Transparent, Enlightened, and New Girl, as well as starring on Trophy Wife for ABC. Additional film roles include Werewolves Within, Brittany Runs a Marathon, The Way Back, Sword of Trust, and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Watkins will appear in the forthcoming miniseries The Dropout and will star opposite Owen Wilson in the film Paint.