Cement Suitcase

J. Rick Castañeda • Writer/Director

J. Rick Castañeda is a writer/director/producer of feature films, animations and  live-action shorts, and co-founder of Psychic Bunny. His works have been around the world to festivals in Canada, Japan, and Romania, as well as festivals here in the ol’ U.S. of A., such as SXSW. He’s made over 30 short films with his sketch comedy group, Six Finger Fist, earning recognition from YouTube, Crackle, and Funny or Die.  Coma, Period., a 10-episode comedy webseries about a man stuck inside a coma, was given a rave review in the New York Times, and has over 1,000,000 views. He has also directed webisodes for Disney and MSN. A published author, an accomplished director, and a trusted friend, Rick is very excited about Cement Suitcase, his first feature film. You can view his reel here: https://vimeo.com/55810019

Doug Spice, former Data Entry Specialist (Level I), is a filmmaker from a small country known as the United States of America. He is a graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television, and one of the founders of Psychic Bunny, where he has been busy producing and directing award-winning (and non-award-winning) projects for film, web, television, interactive, and “other.  Cement Suitcaseis the second feature film he has produced, and the first to feature dinosaurs.

If you enjoyed the dinosaurs in the movie, be sure to tell him so.

Stacey Wilson graduated from the University of Kentucky. With a BFA Theatre degree in hand, Stacey headed to LA, where she blossomed in front of the camera, and behind the scenes, while working at 525 Post Production, 3-Ring Circus, Telezign/TZLA, and Weller-Grossman Productions, where she produced shows for The Food Network and HGTV. Stacey’s producing experience also includes 2 feature films, as well as numerous theatre and live event shows, including VOXBOX Arts Collective, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Groundlings’ hit, The Black Version, and upcoming shows for the Grand Guignoliers.

 

Born in the United States, Jeffrey spent his formative years around the world, living in seven cities in four countries on three continents before graduating high school. His career in filmmaking began in animation, completing his first 16mm animated short at the age of ten. His passion for imagery gained further momentum in the years that followed, ultimately leading him to California. He currently works as a freelance filmmaker, photographer, musician and entrepreneur in Los Angeles. Jeffrey was recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his work on The Dynamiter.

 

Lawrence Everson is a freelance sound designer and re-recording mixer based out of Los Angeles. Films he’s mixed include the critically acclaimed 45365 (Independent Spirit Award Winner and recipient of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize), and Vanishing of the Bees, narrated by Academy Award Nominee Ellen Page. His portfolio spans works as diverse as radio theatre engineering to developing sound design for US Army training simulators, and he has recorded location audio around the world from rural Uganda to Mt. Everest base camp. Lawrence is excited to be a part of the Cement Suitcase team, and one of these days will think of a wittier way to conclude his biography.

Sonia Pineda is a writer, producer, and multiple-hat wearer. In high school, she co-wrote The Freedom Writers Diary, which MTV and Paramount Pictures turned into a movie starring Hilary Swank. After serving as an advisor on that film, Sonia began work on “Stories From An Undeclared War,” the follow-up documentary, which recently became an Official Selection at The Newport Beach Film Festival. Sonia continues to produce, most notably at Psychic Bunny, where the projects range from WWI shorts to a webseries for Disney Interactive.

John William Ross grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He studied at the University of Southern California, earning a degree in Cinema-Television Production, then continued his studies at the California Institute of the Arts, receiving an MFA in Writing in 2004. His short films “The Stress” and “Miss Goldman” have been featured in various film festivals and distributed internationally. His first feature film, “Freaky Faron,” is now available on DVD and Netflix Streaming.  He currently resides in Los Angeles where his is hard at work on his ninth feature length screenplay and various other film projects.

While Patrick Ibarra is an Associate Producer for Cement Suitcase, he’s worn many other hats over the years, some of them even cool fedoras. Patrick was a sports journalist for seven years after graduating from Gonzaga University in 2003, working as a sports writer and/or editor at such places as the Sacramento Union, the Tri-City Herald, the Mountain Democrat and Village Life Newspaper, but he’s recently set his sights on higher education, currently serving as a coordinator at a college in Washington state. Whether tackling auditions for the film or handling some of its public relations duties, Patrick’s a writer at heart who maintains his own Website at www.thesportsinformant.com, and is excited to be working on a project he thinks will be the next big thing.