John Fortson – Writer/Director/Actor/Producer – Brian
John Fortson is an award winning writer/director/actor making his directorial debut with RATED. He started his career as an actor in theatre while winning many roles in indie/studio films and TV shows. He’s also written and performed 2 critically acclaimed one person shows which played throughout Los Angeles for more than 3 years being seen by more than 2000 people. With every job, John’s kept a close eye on the directors with whom he’s worked with a vision of directing himself. Among the 21 awards RATED won, John was honored with a Best Actor Award and was twice nominated for Best Director. John has adapted Rated into a feature script and is in development now.
Christie Lynn Smith is an award winning actress and has been delivering emotionally powerful performances starring in more than 80 of TV’s most watched shows and films. Some of her many stand out roles include starring in Grey’s Anatomy opposite Camilla Luddington, The Resident opposite Emily VanCamp, Chicago Med opposite Brian Tee, Breck Eisner’s hit remake The Crazies opposite Radha Mitchell, Bones opposite Emily Deschanel, Justified opposite Timothy Olyphant, Togetherness opposite Melanie Lynskey, Castle opposite Nathan Fillion, Weeds opposite Mary-Louise Parker, Criminal Minds, and General Hospital. Christie received widespread critical praise for her portrayal of Maggie in RATED and won a Best Actress Award for her dynamic performance.
Abby Ryder Fortson was named 2019’s “One of the Top 30 Stars Under the Age of 18” by The Hollywood Reporter. She recently starred in the Amazon series, Tales of the Loop, directed by Mark Romanek and Jodie Foster. Abby’s earned countless rave reviews for her strong performances, both dramatic and comedic, in such films and TV shows as the Marvel blockbusters Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, Dog’s Journey, Forever My Girl, Speilberg’s acclaimed series, The Whispers, the Emmy winning series, Transparent, and for playing Mark Duplass’ daughter in the Duplass Brothers HBO show, Togetherness.
Deepti Gupta is fluent in English, Hindi and Urdu, her career spans across India, Singapore, Pakistan and the United States. Deepti has garnered international acclaim for the depth of emotion she displays in her work. Her powerhouse performance in the feature film, Walkaway was met with praise from fans and the media, including the New York Times. Her performance was also recognized in the Sundance Film Festival nominated sci-fi romantic thriller, Record/Play. She can currently be seen in Disney+’s High School Musical The Musical, Netflix’s The Politician, and Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere.
Ayman Samman was born in Cairo, Egypt. After earning a degree in Egyptology and fronting one of the very first Heavy Metal bands in Egypt, he moved to Chicago where he fell in love with acting and studied and performed with Chicago’s best. He now lives in Los Angeles. Ayman starred opposite Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. TV work includes: Blindspot, NCIS: Los Angeles, Scandal, Madam Secretary, The Looming Tower, and NICS: New Orleans. Ayman is an award winning Filmmaker, most recently directing his dramatic short film, Jumper, which was a finalist in Cannes 2019.
Bronwen Bonner-Davies – DanikaA multifacited talent as well; writing, producing and starring in her hilarious own webseries, Overparenting. She recurred on the supernatural hit, Angel, Teachers, and Beethoven and in films like Tristan + Isolde. You may have seen her in a commercial or two, ok maybe like a hundred or so…
Patrick has been a fixture of late with TV work that includes both comedies and dramas: Lucifer, Big Bang Theory, The Goldbergs, The Kids are Alright, Queen America, Game Shakers, All That, Kingdom, Adam Ruins Everything, and recurring on the hit HBO series, Silicon Valley.
Kate Morgan Chadwick – Julie
Kate most recently starred in and co-wrote the award-winning short, Oh Baby! A constant on the stage, she received a Stage Raw Award for Leading Female Performance and Ovation and LA Drama Critics Circle award nominations for her role as Holly in Bed by Sheila Callaghan at the Echo Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has also appeared on Showtime’s Shameless, Major Crimes, Happy Endings and in Whatever, the web series, as well as in the Cohen Bros’ film Hail, Caesar!
Oann Krekorian – NeighborThe only person who could pull off a role like neighbor was our actual neighbor. authentic, real, down to earth, joann brought that sweet salt wrapped up in her beautiful smile and nailed it. we love her!
Joshua Fortson – JoshuaWhat a good listener this little guy was, so patient and sweet. We all rated Joshua a five star actor for his first film role. Joshua has gone on to star in multiple commercials for companies like: Apple, Xfiniity and Dunkin’ Donuts. He’s also recurred in the Blackpills series, Urban Nightmares. We all rated Joshua a five star actor for his first film role.
Crew
Director John Fortson
Written by John Fortson , Christie Lynn Smith
Producers
John Fortson
B.D. Gunnell
Lindsay Lanzillotta
Heath Ryan
Christie Lynn Smith
Andrew Troy
executive producers John Fortson, Christie Lynn Smith
director of photography Olivia Kuan
Editor Heath Ryan
Music Ed Alton
Line producer BD Gunnell
First assistant Director Louis Sallerson
Second assistant Director Sarah Snow
Art director Angelina Lyubomirova
Camera 1st ac Michaela Angélique
Camera 2nd ac/dit Elijah Kagan
Script supervisor Katie Anderies
Sound Steven Deichen
Costume designer Victoria Miranda
Gaffer Zach Rassmussen
Key grip Ivan Herrera
Swing Niko Edwards
Still photographers Michael Rababy, Bravo Valenti
Post production supervisor Andrew Troy
Web pages seen in film Rachel Owens
Makeup/hair Deborah Schuhr
Additional makeup Lindsay Shuman
Additional makeup pickups Alicia Cameron
Production assistants Glenn Robinson, Carlton Hudson
Catering Stephanie Dyer
Equipment rentals Quixote
Lighting rentals Cinestache
Arri Alexa rental hydrakraken
In association Kelly Andrea Rubin
Post production
Titles Matteo Sardini
VFX Cinibees studios pvt ltd- Chennai (india)
VFX executive producer Thilak Vasu
VFX producer Rekha Mohan
VFX compositors
Senthil Kumar
Marimuthu Laksmanan
Gopi Murthy
Parthiban Rajaram
Selva Kumar
Lenin Manikumar
Manoj Raj
Gopal Swamy
Mohammed Altaf
Sornalingam
Tharanipathi
VFX paint artists
Ratheesh Babu
Mohan Sowdaiah
Rajesh Sivasubramaniyam
Durga Vasanthan Partharao
Priya Selva Kumar
VFX roto artists
Kumaran Ramalingam
Nidhi Singla
Murali
Sasirega Ratheesh
Pranesh
Rohith Vinayak
Samrakshitha
Muthu Krishnan
Loganathan
Colorist Matteo Sardini
Sound editorial and mixing Andrew Troy
Sound editor Nate Keil
Assistant sound editor Brendon McGlone
Original song
“Open up your eyes”
Written by Bobby Maoynahan
Produced by Rich Jacques
Performed by Ballerina Black
www.ballerina.black
Special thanks
Craig Archibald
Steven chester prince
Stefen Fangmeir
Tom Banks
Jay Duplass
Mark Duplass
Stephanie Langhoff
Raj Mohanty
Terroni
My friends at Terroni
Peyton Reed
Gayle’s Perks
Mark Romanek
Erin Studer
Jeffrey Kushon
Chime Charter
Matt Hastings
Thomas Ethan Harris
Justin Reardon
Todd Harter
Tom Donahue
Lee & Darlene Smith
Ilan Arboleda
Frank Fortson