cast & crew

john fortson John Fortson – Writer/Director/Actor/ProducerBrian
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

Christie Lynn Smith – Co-Writer/Producer/ActressMaggie
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

Abby Ryder FortsonHannah
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

Deepti Gupta – Susan
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

Ayman Samman – Tom
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.
 
BronwenBronwen Bonner-DaviesDanika
A 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 Daniel Hdsht

Patrick DanielOne-Star Parent
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.



KateMorganChadwickKate Morgan ChadwickJulie
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 ShamelessMajor CrimesHappy Endings and in Whatever, the web series, as well as in the Cohen Bros’ film Hail, Caesar!

BronwenBonner-DaviesOann Krekorian Neighbor
The 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!


JoshuaJoshua FortsonJoshua
What 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