Alien Exchange Student by Jim Cooper
Good news! Balty Estrella is starting middle school! Better news, he’s involved in an exchange program! Bad news – it happens to be on another planet, far away from his parents and surrounded by strangers – all of whom are literal aliens. We wish we could say that’s as bad as it gets for Balty, but… it’s not.
Coming in November be sure to check out Alien Exchange Student!
Alien Exchange Student Cast and Crew!
Who the heck are these people?
Why, it’s the writer and the cast of “Alien Exchange Student!” that’s who! You’ve never heard a more talented group of kids than these folks right here.
From left to right:
Jim Cooper (writer), Rachael Weiss, Lila Ward, Zoe Ros Egilsson, Isabella Dixon, Kerry Cooper, Charlie Hobert (laying down), Sam Navarro, Jamie Mazur, Sam Levitt & Madison Levitt
(oh, and glowering over their heads? That’s Walt Disney. We’ll give you a shoutout if you can guess what he’s thinking.)
Jim Cooper
Writer (but he also plays Coach Wyncoop!)
Jim attended UCLA Film School where he wrote and directed his feature-length student film “Drums, Bass & Guitar.” The film caught the attention of DreamWorks Pictures, who hired him to adapt the Marvel Comic Book Mort the Dead Teenager. This led to him to developing feature and television projects both in the live-action world and in animation.
In live action, Jim has written projects for Columbia, Warner Bros, Paramount, Focus Features, MTV and was part of the Walt Disney Writers Project. Jim wrote the British independent feature film Vinyl, about an aging punk bandʼs great rock nʼ roll swindle.
In animation Jim has written projects for Pixar Animation Studios, Warner Animation Group, Cartoon Network and Paramount/Nickelodeon. In television, Jim wrote and pro- duced the animated series Dragons: Riders of Berk for DreamWorks Animation. Cur- rently he is developing the original animated television series Curses! for DreamWorks Animation.
Craig Good – Sound Design
Craig Good worked over 30 years at Pixar, starting at Lucasfilm in 1982. He did a little of everything in the old days, and in the last half of his tenure specialized in virtual camera operation. He wrote the screenplay for the first Pixar University live-action short, ”Violet”, co-directed the short “Calendar Confloption”, and did executive producer like duties on a few more shorts. He has provided voices for several films including ”Toy Story” and “Cars”. His voice is still the one you hear on Pixar’s phone system. He now teaches Visual Storytelling at California College of the Arts, and both teaches and performs improv. He has done audio post and sound design on multiple short films, including ‘The Dinner Scene”, “R&R”, and “Anya”. He did sound design, post, and mastering for Earbud Theater on most of their episodes since “This Monstrous Life” in December of 2014.
Kevin Hartnell
Composer
Kevin Hartnell is a musician and producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. Having grown up in a family of drummers, he began an early professional career as a musician and session drummer. This led to teaching drums and percussion for fifteen years while touring and providing workshops for musicians in the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia. He is the primary composer for the multi-award-winning horror anthology, Campfire Radio Theater, which quietly celebrated over 1 million downloads in 2019. His work has been used in film, commercials, plays, games, instructional videos, and podcasts. Kevin is the owner of the indie label Overlook Hotel Records. Find more of Kevin’s work on his Bandcamp Page!
Marita De La Torre
As Mrs. Estrella
Marita is an entertainer passionate about telling relevant and meaningful stories. An actor by trade, she also writes and produces film and theater. Now residing in the Northeast of Los Angeles, she hails from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She co-founded the Highland Park Independent Film Festival and she is a member of Teatro Arroyo and the Arroyo Arts Collective. Highlights from recent roles include playing the mother, Camila in the Sunshine Room, a cutting-edge technology versus cultural bond story by director Nick Lopez recently named a Semi-Finalist for the 2020 Student Academy Awards. www.maritadelatorre.com, Instagram: @maritacine, Facebook: @maritadelatorre
Miguel Perez
As ?
Miguel Pérez was born in San Jose CA. He dropped out of college and joined the Marines in 1975. Honorably discharged in 1979 Miguel moved to New York City to begin his acting career. His graduation from the National Shakespeare Company Conservatory, was followed by stints in many regional theaters as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway. He now lives in DownTown LA and works in Theatre, Film and Television.
Website – http://miguelperezactor.com
Twitter – @MPproActor
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/miguelperezactor
Nicholas Thurkettle
Nicholas Thurkettle as Mr. Markos & Mr. Cutler
Nicholas Thurkettle is a writer, actor, and filmmaker. His on-screen acting work includes the feature films Cloudy With a Chance of Sunshine, Aventura!, Afterthought, Revelator, and To a Dead Friend, from Sundance alumni filmmaker Mike Sakamoto. For his role in Reclaiming Friendship Park, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Love International Film Festival, and he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Filmquest Festival for his role in the sci-fi short film Prefigured. He is a prolific voice actor in animation, videogames, and audiobooks; and performed for five seasons with the heralded outdoor festival Shakespeare Orange County, serving as Artistic Associate and Casting Director for two of those years. He is a writer, producer, director, and performer with the award-winning sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology audio drama podcast Earbud Theater, as well as producer/head writer of their live stage spin-off. He is also the principal narrator for the Brick Moon Fiction Podcast, showcasing new short stories from up-and-coming sci-fi and horror authors. @NThurkettle
Casey Wolfe
Director, Producer
Casey Wolfe is a producer with over twenty years of experience in the feature film business both as an indie producer and a studio executive at Walt Disney Pictures.
In 2012 Casey created the scripted-audio anthology podcast Earbud Theater which has featured works from a variety of creators including Neil Gaiman. Casey has produced every episode, acted as sound engineer, and has written and directed multiple episodes including the 5-part serial “After The Haunting.” As of 2019 Earbud Theater has won several awards including “Best Anthology Production” from the Audioverse Awards and has over
half-a-million downloads.
Most recently Casey oversaw the creation of Brick Moon Fiction – an indie publishing company that focuses on the creation of speculative short fiction from diverse voices. To date BMF has published 15 anthologies, one novel, two novellas and owns the publishing and ancillary rights to over 200 short stories. In 2016, BMF launched its own narrative fiction podcast and boasts 95 releases and a Parsec Award nomination.
Jason T. Reed Producer
Jason T. Reed is a film and television producer and the owner of Jason T. Reed Productions, a company focused on producing high-quality film, television and digital content, as well as building integrated franchise worlds for a global audience. Mr. Reed is currently in post-production on the live-action feature film adaptation of Mulan directed by Niki Caro, starring Yifei Liu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Gong Li, for The Walt Disney Company. Most recently, he served as an Executive Producer on The Crossing, a one-hour drama series staring Steve Zahn, Sandrine Holt and Natalie Martinez for ABC, Of Kings and Prophets, a 10 episode event series for the ABC network, and Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film for Paramount Pictures.
Before launching his producing career, Mr. Reed was an Executive Vice President at the Walt Disney Studios specializing in franchise management and cross platform development. While there he oversaw a wide range of successful films including Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Enchanted, Hannah Montana: The Movie, Deja Vu, Bringing Down the House, The Last Song, Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the National Treasure franchise. Mr. Reed also served as the General Manager of Walt Disney Studios International Production, a division focused on producing award-winning Disney-branded films in China, Russia, India, and the Middle East.
In addition, Mr. Reed co-founded and serves as the publisher of Brick Moon Entertainment, a media company that produces original science fiction short stories and audio dramas by working with writers from diverse backgrounds to explore the impact of technology and trends on human society.
Mr. Reed received degrees in Philosophy and Cinema-Television Production from the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.