congrats to aaron speiser on his recent academy award winning work with will smith on the set of king richard

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Turner’s most recent portrayals include a dark turn as Ghislaine Maxwell in LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT as well as the self-appointed doyenne of the cul-de-sac in the Lifetime movie, THE BABYSITTERS REVENGE. 

She has appeared in the feature films JEWTOPIA, directed by Bryan Fogel (ICARUS); James Ponsoldt’s SMASHED, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; THE UGLY TRUTH alongside Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. She also co-starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in JUST MY LUCK. 

Other television credits include THE MENTALIST, RAISING HOPE, THE WEDDING BAND, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, THE GHOST WHISPERER, MASTERS OF HORROR and COLD CASE. 

Born and raised in Northern California, Turner came South to attend UCLA, where she actively pursued her passion for dance and theater. She worked as a professional dancer for seven years, appearing in such movies as MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, THE BIG LEBOWSKI and AUSTIN POWERS. She was featured in the iconic GAP KHAKI dance commercial campaign, and was a backup dancer with Cher for the American Music Awards, choreographed by Kenny Ortega.

Bree is currently the co-host of THE GRIMMCAST, a GRIMM rewatch podcast produced by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner for Apple.

Bree Turner is probably best known for her six-season run as Rosalee Calvert, the Fuchsbau apothecary on NBC's acclaimed drama series, GRIMM. 

Bree Turner

In addition to teaching for The Groundlings, Phyllis coaches and designs and runs writing, character, improv, and musical improv classes independently. She has been a guest teacher at a variety of schools, (UCLA, USC, The Piven Theatre Workshops, ArtCenter College of Design, and the 16th Street Actors Studio in Melbourne, to name a few) and is a recurring guest teacher at the Collaborative, Audition Workout, Margie Haber Studios and the Actors Comedy Studio. She’s consulted on casting for CBS, designed and directed a diversity program and show through The Groundlings for Nickelodeon, and for 11 years has run a workshop she created for LA Opera’s Young Artist Program. Some of her corporate clients include Facebook, Google, Mindshare, Omaze, Yoplait, Activision, Olipop, and the Troika Design Group.
 
Phyllis also directs her own improvised stage creations, most recently Opera Meets Improv (With LA Opera’s Young Artists), A Bunch of Losers Reading Their Essays (a satire of storytelling shows), and the stage music series Fake Benefits, which so far includes The Benefit to Buy Harper Scharfman Higher SAT Scores and The Benefit to Help Bitsy Petrauskus Get Some of Her Teeth Fixed. Her memoir, Hipwrecked is available on Amazon, or she’ll be happy to read it to you over the phone, for a small fee. She’s married to photographer Rob Lewine and has never met a dog or cat she didn’t wish was hers.

Phyllis Katz is an actor, writer, director, improviser, teacher, and coach who has worked in film, TV, and stage for most of her adult life. She is a former member of Chicago’s Second City Touring Company, as well as a pioneer member, director, instructor, and current board member of The Groundlings Theatre, where she also co-created the school.  

Phyllis Katz

As a writer, she launched her career with the pilot Appletown, which landed on the Tracking Board’s Young & Hungry List. On the television side, with her writing partner, she staffed on TNT’s hit show The Librarians and sold a pilot: Mansfield Park to Tornante Media.

On the feature side, her and her writing partner wrote Something Blue, the sequel to the breakout hit Something Borrowed (Kate Hudson) for Black Label Media, as well as the book adaptation of Serpent’s Bite by Warren Adler (War of the Roses) with Grey Eagle Films. They recently sold their feature I Won’t Be Home For Christmas to UCP for USA Networks. Their feature Lion in the Library is in pre-production with Level Forward & Prodigal Entertainment.

As a producer she has overseen and/or produced ten shorts, and is in active development on two micro-budget features. .
Alexa is an adjunct professor of Screenwriting at USC., and also teaches screenwriting at New York Film Academy for both BFA & MFA students. She has had speaking engagements with Women in Film, Brian Patacca, and Caricon among others. She serves as a Backstage Expert, and was recently a contributing writer to The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writers’ Life In Prison.

She is a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in theater and history.

Alexa started her career as an actor, working in independent features, as well as hit shows such as Masters of Sex, Lucifer, The West Wing & more, she’s most well known for playing Allison on the Emmy winning AMC Drama Mad Men for four seasons, for which she won a SAG Award.

Alexa Alemanni

In 2007, he co-founded an Emmy award-winning full-service post-production company, which provides editorial, VFX, finishing, and on-set supervision and production services for Television, film, and commercials. His experience has led him to work on a wide variety of projects all over the world.

Sam has been working in the entertainment industry for over a decade acting, producing, writing, and directing.

Sam Kryszek

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Academy award winning work

Aaron Speiser worked with Will Smith in both pre-production and on set for the entirety of his award winning performance in King Richard.

Aaron has been working with Will for over 20 years— his performance in King Richard earned him an Oscar for Best Actor as well as a SAG Award, Critics Choice Award, and Golden Globe.